Model years Jeep Grand Cherokee
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Complaints about this year name door handles far more often than the other years of this generation — 15% of them, about 38× the usual rate of 0.4%.
First year of a new generation. The Jeep Grand Cherokee was redesigned for 2005. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 2,051 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 399 |
| Involving a crash | 82 |
| Involving a fire | 24 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 15 mpg |
Also unusual this year
- door — 25% of complaints, 7× usual
- interior door — 12% of complaints, 29× usual
- door handle — 10% of complaints, 14× usual
What owners wrote
INTERIOR DOOR HANDLES .CRACKED PLASTIC CAUSES DOOR HANDLES TO NOT WORK.NORMAL OPERATION OF HANDLE CAUSES BREAKS IN PLASTIC .HAZARD ONLY ABLE TO OPEN DOOR FROM OUTSIDE ,IF ACCIDENT OR FIRE CAN ONLY OPEN DOOR FROM OUTSIDE.
ALL FOUR INTERIOR DOOR HANDLES HAVE CRACKED AND BROKEN FROM REGULAR WEAR. REAR PASSENGER DOOR WILL NOW ONLY OPEN FROM THE OUTSIDE. I HAVE SPOKEN TO SEVERAL OTHER JEEP CHEROKEE 2005-2006 OWNERS WHO HAVE HAD THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPEN.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 14V438000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 09E012000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING
- 13V175000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 09E039000 SUSPENSION
- 05V396000 POWER TRAIN
How this was worked out
Every year of the Jeep Grand 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 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee? What happened to yours?
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