Jeep Grand Cherokee WK2 buyers guide (2011-2021) Common problems (CRD/V6/V8/SRT Hemi)

Jeep Grand Cherokee 4th gen WK2 2010-2021 Buyers guide review for 3.0-liter diesel V6 CRD, 3.6-Liter V6, 5.7-Liter V8 Hemi, 6.4-Liter V8 SRT or the might 6.2-Liter Supercharged Trackhawk. Whether you are looking for a basic spec Laredo model at a cheap price or a late trailhawk our guide has you covered. Also includes any trims in between including popular Altitude, Overland, and Limited. Are you trying to decide between a Jeep or a Land Rover or a pickup truck to enjoy on-road and off-road? Avoid buying the cheapest broken Grand Cherokee. In our review and buyers guide, we advise how to avoid the mistake of buying a broken Jeep Grand Cherokee to fix as a project and it becoming a money pit by explaining common faults and common problems. This buyer’s guide covers the Jeep Grand Cherokee 4th generation WK2 platform from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 in all trims and limited editions. Our used buyer’s guide will help you buy and find the right car for sale so that you can say you bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee fourth generation that isn’t a project and instead is something you can enjoy from the test drive to your home. If you are an owner looking for a guide or considering changing our video should be useful but we also have videos on the L322 Range Rover, BMW X5, Land Rover Discovery and Volvo XC90 that you may also be interested in.
The issues discussed in our buyer’s guide for the 4th gen Jeep Grand Cherokee include TPIM module units, delaminating leather, automatic gearbox faults, and faulty brake boosters among others.
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[@AlexSadof]

I've owned Audis, Porsches, Mercedes, and my 2020 WK2 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 5.7 Hemi almost tops the list. I love it.

[@GucciP777]

My 2018 high altitude WK2 3.6 V6 is the best car I’ve ever owned, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about it, it’s beautiful and commands space and respect on the road, people gotta address me different when I’m in it 😂

[@dagramirez]

Nail it ! 2012 Limited “ Trail Rated” with the paramount roof and towing Package. It is still rolling with over 250K miles.

[@GarySmythe]

My 2016 Summit 4x4 5.7 hemi is running great and everything has been working perfectly! Great vehicle and I live in heavy wet snow country in the USA. The vehicle never lets me down. Glad I bought it.

[@seankenrick2832]

How many miles does this have? I recently bought the same year and model with 60k miles

[@lyndon8488]

I have a 2021 grand cherokee 80 th anniversary edition in diamond black. V6 3.6 290 horsepower. Plenty fast. Loaded. Expect it’s not 4x4. It’s rear wheel drive. I live in south so don’t need awd. Has 30,000 miles. No issues so far. Not one issue. Jet sealed the paint it’s a beauty. And it’s based on the ml class Benz. I just got out of a Benz into my jeep. Love the solidity like the Benz in the Jeep.

[@kimbo167]

I've got a 2014 GC Diesel Ltd. Had it 2 years, 2nd owner with no problems. Love the car. Having said that, goes in for new shocks next week. 100,000 klm so probably expected.

[@andrewbourke839]

We bought a 1 owner JGC WK2, 2014 3.0D Overland in the UK. 135K miles on her. FSH, all the receipts. After around 1500 miles of driving, lots of faults came up, electronic throttle, 4x4 inop, check engine light, ABS failure. Temp going to normal, then about 5 mins of driving, falling to zero. Fan came on full, going nuts. It's a P0018 fault, which is the temp sensor, it's right at the top of the deisel engine and it cost £20 for a new one. pair back 2 hoses, take the electrical cable off the existing sensor and then around a spanner (around 18 mm) to get the old one off. 2 man job, as one person needed to put their finger over the hole created when the old one comes out, to stop the fluid spilling out. Easy less than 1 hour job and fixed, without needing a garage repair.

[@davidrmcmahon]

Silly question, but where do you buy oil filters? They seem expensive compared to other cars.

[@DEValentine]

On the 3.6L, the high-failure items I've experienced are: (1) leaky hydraulic motor mounts, (2) thermostat stuck open, (3) cracked/leaky plastic oil cooler. Earlier models also had defective rocker arms, but thankfully mine have been good. On a long drive this winter, I also experienced a failed fuel injector at around 140k miles, despite getting the fuel injection cleaning service at the dealership the year before. Not only did I end up replacing all 6 injectors (very dirty upon inspection), but driving home on a misfiring engine killed my passenger-side catalytic converter. Did the repairs myself. It was pricey -- Bosch injectors and new Walker catalyst cost ~$800. Overall, the WK2 is a very nice SUV. But it's not a Toyota. It must be maintained, and there are certain crappy parts that are just going to fail after significant mileage.

[@markswayn2628]

A few other diesel issues to be aware of include: failure of the turbocharger cooling and z-shaped hoses at the rear of the motor, failed oil cooler and blocked inlet manifold. The first 2 can lead to loss of coolant, overheating and cylinder head issue. The latter will obviously severely affect performance.

[@PTbench]

My 12' Laredo 3.6 I bought new has 150k and has been very solid other than the blend door breaking & new starter recently. Both were $900.

[@Vziera]

My 2015 ecodiesel is going strong

[@jeffkepus2492]

There is a parade of other things Jeep Grand Cherokee owners need to look out for. I have a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Edition with 148k miles on it. You will start to see mechanical issues arise when you start approaching 100k miles. My list is considerable but not in order. I have had to replace/repair: Radiator, Water Pump, Hoses, Evaporator Coil, Heater Coil, AC compressor (two of them), Air Diverter Box (entire dash has to be removed) Rear Wiper Motor, Front Heated Seats, CV Boot & Axel (one), Wheel Bearing (2), Rear Shocks, Multiple Headlights, Rotors, Oil Pan, and Transfer Case. And that is maintaining my vehicle religiously by the maintenance schedule. Pretty sickening. Let's not even mention how unreliable UConnect is. Radio/Sat often blanks out and will loose all stored stations.

[@michaelgabriel4334]

Expect your headrest to pop ($1500) without warning and the molded indicator switch that costs $2000 to fail.

[@netsiteing]

How can you tell whether the WK2 comes with Qudra Drive II or Qudra Trac II ?

[@billycallis1488]

Stalling Gremlin found guys I have a 2012 Grand Cherokee 3L Deisel purchased new It had stalling issue since new at low speed especially when slowing for a traffic light and sometimes no response from ecceleration pedal Since 2012 until this year 2023 no one could find the problem after swapping out many sensors high pressure pump fuel pump and relays the stalling and intermittent acceleration issue would continue Sometimes the engine would be running but would not accelerate and could not turn off engine for a while with push button start The last time this happened just this year in 2023 I removed the push button start and instead inserted the key fob manually turning the car on and off Since I been using the key fob to start the car it has not stalled since so after all these years my Grand Cherokee had a bad ignition switch or faulty stop start button Hope this may help Antoine else with similar issues

[@elie955eai]

A rule of thumb with new vehicles, always check ignition switches. the Mercedes era keys are known to cause problems with the vehicles electronics. I know many mercedes owners who encountered issues such as no start or electrical gremlins just because of the ignition switch.

[@netsiteing]

Which is better for reliability between Diesel and the 3.6L?

[@donfinstad1685]

My 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee has a glitching radio screen, blind spot service message, Auto start stop disabled and the ac fan shuts off and on. All this only happens when when someone is sitting in the front passenger seat. Specifically, when a particular spot in the front 3rd of the passenger seat is pushed on. When no one sits there, everything works fine.

[@elie955eai]

probably a loose connection or a short in the passenger seat electronics. might as well check the battery since it sits underneath the passenger seat.

[@harrybaulz666]

Quadra drive 2 is sensitive to tire height all tires need to be the same diameter or the transfer case gets fouled up 2014 is the last year of dual exhaust on laredo and limited standard

[@benpolishchuk209]

Mine is 2014 but not a dual exhaust…it is a 3.6 if that changes anything…

[@netsiteing]

Which models (in Australia) come with the Qudra Drive II system? Is it only the Overland with Quadra Lift air suspension or was QD2 also in any other models like Limited? I would prefer to have standard suspension to do my own lift instead of air suspension but like QD2 for off-roading.

[@kendyb1123]

2011 5.7 hemi oil pan gasket leak. It’s not a cheap fix either 😞

[@dwkach]

You missed the 2014 and 2015 strange steering behaviour of the rack and pinion. there can be chatter at certain vehicle speeds.

[@hermanpeters549]

2014 jeep Cherokee in shop more then on the road

[@fctejas5205]

Hemi tick $4k, TIPM $1k,

[@alkalk8938]

Early models late models early models late models....on and on with very little specificity.

[@vvapshot3155]

Looking at a 2017 5.7 trail hawk with 73,000 ….. is it a bad idea ????

[@lchamp7946]

I own a 2019 5.7 trailhawk that I purchased new, 31k miles currently on it. I love the vehicle… can do anything and has good power for towing. I did have a steering rack failure at 25k miles. If may have had to do with some off roading with it though.

[@TheGhost2612000]

It is if you don't plan on taking it off-road

[@radarbmw]

You forgot to mention the biggest problem with CRD motor (ecodiesel) :engine crankshaft bearings failure at very low milage (50000) ,jeep do not pay,do not provide spare parts only the entire engine (18000$) , very very frequent (happened to me on a 2019), even with perfect maintenance and low duty use ,totally disappointing, don't buy !

[@themilesdriven]

Great additional information, it appears Jeep have tried to work around this problem by changing the oil specification requirement and even changing the engine mapping. However, as you have pointed out there are still failures occurring, we couldn't get a proportion of failures but understandably those who have had engine failures have widely discussed the topic 👍

[@keponen331]

@@themilesdriven I wish they kept the old Mercedes engine. It had oil cooler leaks and dying glow plugs but the engines were solid

[@ClockFixer]

Soooo many problems with the Grand Cherokee.......big ones like Transmission Failures and Transfer Case failures..........who would ever want to own one?

[@phantom5573]

Transfer case failures only a concern with 4X4 JGC. Not an issue with most V-6 RWD cars.

[@GucciP777]

What year???

[@ClockFixer]

Transmission and Transfer case FAILURES.............pass !!!!!!!!

[@phantom5573]

Transfer case failures only a concern with 4X4 JGC. Not an issue with most V-6 RWD cars.

[@pagebedson3203]

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