2015 Jeep Cherokee
Complaints about this year name transmission far more often than the model's other years — 37% of them, about 4× the usual rate of 10.2%.
Generation 1 of the Jeep Cherokee, which began in 2014. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 1,780 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 681 |
| Involving a crash | 45 |
| Involving a fire | 28 |
| Recalls | 11 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 23 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- transmission — 36.7% of this year's complaints, against 11.1% across the model's other years (3.3×).
- shifting — 11.7% of this year's complaints, against 3.6% across the model's other years (3.3×). Owners wrote it as: shifting, hard shifting.
- software — 10.4% of this year's complaints, against 3.1% across the model's other years (3.4×). Owners wrote it as: software, update, software update.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- service shifter — 8% of complaints, 16× usual
- shifting — 12% of complaints, 4× usual
- gears — 9% of complaints, 4× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE PARKED, THE LIGHTS ON THE SHIFTER ALL TURN RED AND A MESSAGE APPEARS ON THE DASH SCREEN SAYING, "SERVICE SHIFTER". ALSO, THIS HAPPENS WHILE DRIVING AT NORMAL SPEEDS. AT TIMES, THE TRANSMISSION MAY SLIP WHILE SHIFTING GEARS. ANOTHER ISSUE IS WHEN COMING T…
Yesterday, I began experiencing transmission-related issues: rough, delayed or sudden shifting; grinding noise during shifting; harsh engagement of gears; and reduced power when shifting. The ‘Service Shifter’ indicator came on while driving. This is an ongoin…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V332000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 15V393000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 17V824000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 16V590000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V529000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 15V461000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 15V041000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V826000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 11. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Jeep Cherokee was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2015 Jeep Cherokee? What happened to yours?
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