Model years Jeep Grand Cherokee
2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee
This year drew an ordinary 800 complaints for a Jeep Grand Cherokee — the model's median is 399. What they were about is the unusual part: 31.3% of them mention electrical, against 8.1% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 2 of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which began in 2011 and ran to 2021. 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 | 800 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 399 |
| Involving a crash | 23 |
| Involving a fire | 27 |
| Recalls | 10 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 16 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- electrical — 31.3% of this year's complaints, against 8.1% across the other years of this generation (3.8×). Owners wrote it as: electrical, electrical system, distribution, distribution disconnect.
- part needed — 9% of this year's complaints, against 0.8% across the other years of this generation (11.5×). Owners wrote it as: part needed, perform, perform repair, unavailable perform.
- service brakes — 11.8% of this year's complaints, against 3.3% across the other years of this generation (3.5×). Owners wrote it as: service brakes, hydraulic, brakes hydraulic, brakes service.
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.
What owners wrote
NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 15V879000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, INTERIOR LIGHTING), 17V435000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM), AND 17V572000 (SERVICE BRAKES, SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC). WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 15 MPH, THE ALTERNATOR INDICATOR ILLUMINATED AND THE…
A NOTIFICATION FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS: 14V391000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) AND 14V154000 (SERVICE BRAKES, SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC). THE PART NEEDED WAS UNAVAILABLE TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER WAS UNABLE TO INFORM WHEN THE PART WOULD BECOME AVAILABLE. THE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V813000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 17V435000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 17E061000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 17V572000 SERVICE BRAKES Fixed free of charge.
- 14V154000 SERVICE BRAKES Fixed free of charge.
- 15V879000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 14V391000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 15V115000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Showing 8 of 10. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee? What happened to yours?
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