10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
8,917 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #19

Jun 122022

Gladiator

  • miles
My truck malfunctioned at an automatic car wash. It has approximately 54k miles. I had no warning lights or system alerts on vehicle or Uconnect app. I stopped in the parking lot & put the Gladiator in Park, I left the ignition on. I got off truck & got a towel to clean interior.There are several spaces to vacuum. I put the vehicle in DRIVE to move forward & out of the way of a patron that was going to reverse out. In DRIVE, I pushed the gas pedal in a slight & normal way. The truck REVERSED in DRIVE position. It accelerated to an unknown speed, it felt constant. I pushed break with foot I pushed D with. Right foot. The breaks didn-€™t work. I tried breaking several times during incident, it was approximately 10 seconds. I didn-€™t have time to use e- break. I don-€™t believe back up camera was displayed. I concentrated on physically looking at surroundings & steering. I avoided hitting 1 car, a SUV & a brick wall. The truck made contact with around 4 trees & a sign. The damage was mainly to L side. There-€™s damage to R side & R back tire had a bulge on it. I went over a concrete, grassy area & felt the impacts of front & back ends going over it & landing. I went over another concrete curve & hit a tree at an angle around the middle of front L cab. The impact caused the car to bounce forward. It didn-€™t move. I put the truck in Park from D position. I pushed off button. I couldn-€™t get out of truck of driver side door it-€™s damaged. 1 witness & lady from suv stopped to check on me. I called police to crash site. He noted witness & lack of break marks. Roadside service wait was long, officer called one. I made a report to Uconnect that evening. They gave me a case # told me they-€™d move vehicle to a dealer, inspect, analyze & call me. I-€™ve called, recorded calls & told case was elevated to higher level & no info can be given to me. They refused to tell me where car was, if inspected, warranty info, or what malfunctioned. My ribs, clavicles, r shoulder hurt for a month.

- Lufkin, TX, USA

problem #18

May 042022

Gladiator

  • miles
Electrical system malfunction. Gladiator is burned down completely. Copart now has it under my insurance companies instruction. Large electrical fire. I took my vehicle into the dealer because the start stop feature stopped working. I received a call at the end of the day and was notified that both my batteries where bad. They replaced both under warranty and kept it over night for testing. Received a call the fallowing late morning informing my that my vehicle was repaired and was ready to be picked up. On my way home I was stopped at a light and noticed smoke coming out around the hood. I immediately pulled over and opened the hood. The electrical wire on the passenger side below the fuse panel were burning. I tried to put it out with a towel but was burned. I called 911 but by the time the fire department came it was too late. My Gladiator was completely burned down. This incident happened in front of a school as they where letting out. A police officer was there directing student to walk around the dangerous incident. The incident was inspected by the fire department and was confirmed in a report that it started in the engine compartment. No warning lamp or messages.

- Sanger, CA, USA

problem #17

Jan 072022

Gladiator

  • miles
I am getting a "service shifter" error and then my power steering goes out and the vehicle goes into "limp mode" This has happened at 70mph on the highway causing me to almost lose control of the vehicle around turns and slow down to an unsafe speed. I have taken it to multiple dealers that could not duplicate the issue but could see codes in the system. The vehicle is once again in the shop now and they are trying to blame everything but the Jeep itself. I know a few other Gladiator owners this has happened to.

- Ruskin, FL, USA

problem #16

Jul 312020

Gladiator

  • 0 miles
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V028000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

- New Springfield, OH, USA

problem #15

Feb 032021

Gladiator

  • 4,000 miles
Very concerned about the clutch pressure plate recall, I am paying a lot of money for this Jeep that I dont feel safe driving as it can catch on fire. The fact that there is no fix right now is ridiculous. I have driven Jeep my whole life and never had a life threatening issue like this. If there is no solid solution I will never get another fca again

- Livonia, MI, USA

problem #14

Jan 282021

Gladiator

  • 22,500 miles
There are now 2 recalls on manual transmission clutch failures. Original recall 20V124000 and a new one 21V028000. Both are for catastrophic pressure plate failures for clutch slipping, overheating and fragmenting. What is going to happen to all these pressure plates when the clutch disk wears down over time as is normal for a manual transmission and starts slipping then? it will most likely overheat these pressure plates and cause failure then. If these pressure plates are defective they need to be completely replaced and not just reroute electrical lines and reprogram the software to limit engine torque. Fix the issue!

- Carmel, ME, USA

problem #13

Dec 232020

Gladiator

  • 200 miles
Death wobble and vibration when vehicle hot in different surfaces like crossing bridge wheels and steering uncontrollable at high speed over 40 mph. Unusual smell inside cabin. This happens on highway after about two hours of driving.

- Valdosta, GA, USA

problem #12

Dec 252020

Gladiator

  • 16,000 miles
I noticed a strong burning smell driving my 2020 Jeep Gladiator while driving a forest access road in Colorado. When I turned the car off and then back on again the car failed to move when put into gear. After multiple attempts - the Jeep would go into gear but the wheels never engaged. It was towed from the mountains to the dealer in denver where it was discovered that the clutch was "charred". the Jeep had 16,000 miles on it.I have driven manual transmissions my entire life (I am 60 yrs old) and never had a clutch go under 100K on 6 vehicles

- Denver, CO, USA

problem #11

Dec 262020

Gladiator

  • 11,000 miles
The vehicle starts with the front suspension moving uncontrollably from side to side and yanks your steering out of control ( death wobble) did it 6 times to the point that I can not trust the vehicle because it goes out of steering control both front tires move uncontrollably side to side like if both where flat and yanks you side to side takes you out of road

- Valdosta, GA, USA

problem #10

Nov 022020

Gladiator

  • 23,000 miles
I entered the highway and my power steering light came on. I then lost power steering. Immediately got off at the next exit and pulled into the gas station. As I exited my vehicle I observed smoke coming from the hood vents. The engine bay then became fully engulfed in flames and the fire department responded to extinguish the fire. Vehicle is total loss.

- Dorchester, MA, USA

problem #9

Aug 082020

Gladiator

  • 4,900 miles
Rear locker engaged while towing a winnebago hike 170S travel trailer on the interstate in 2H at 70 mph. The rear locker should not engage unless the vehicle is in 4low. The rear locker would not disengage resulting in a road-side assistance call and tow to dealership.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

problem #8

Aug 082020

Gladiator

  • 4,800 miles
I was driving on the interstate at 70 mph and noticed my rear locker light on my dash and switch. This should be impossible, I do not have a tazer and "fat fingering" the switch in 2H would only cause a message saying you must be in 4L. Anyway, I instinctively hit the all off button and the light started to flash. I headed for the nearest off ramp. When I slowed down, the light went off. I attempted to turn on the locker, and received a message about needing to be in 4L seems like a potential safety issue if one or both of the lockers engage on their own while driving down the road at highway speeds.

- Peculiar, MO, USA

problem #7

Mar 042020

Gladiator

  • 4,004 miles
Around late February the vehicle started making a noise from the front drive shaft area. We took the vehicle to the dealer in denison Iowa 3/4/20 and they told us the front drive shafts were defective and the parts are back ordered fro 4-6 weeks. They told us it was safe to drive but after they took it apart it started doing it more frequently and when it made the noise it pulled hard to the right and seemed unsafe. We contacted fca customer assistance and they told us they would have their parts team locate the required parts. It has now been 41 days and they still do not have the parts, and they are telling us they do not know when they will have the parts. They approved rental car but due to the expense we returned it after 1 month. We can only get the money we have paid for the rental car after our vehicle is repaired which now seems like another month. We could not afford to pay our monthly car payment plus the rental charges. At this point the vehicle has been sitting in our driveway and is not safe to drive.

- Charter Oak, IA, USA

problem #6

Nov 292019

Gladiator 6-cyl

  • 26 miles
Steering; scary to drive on hwy. Manual transmission feels like it grinds clutch related I thought that was normal cause it was brand new and not broken in. Not so problem still there. Back up camera doesn't always engage I wonder if the manual shifting has any flaws. Too much crap for such a high price. When can I return. Lmk.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #5

Feb 222020

Gladiator

  • miles
I bought a brand new 2020 Gladiator not even a month old, 6 speed manual. Vehicle started smoking profusely and was expecting a fire, luckily only burnt clutch smell. Concerned about driving it and its brand new. The truck can either start on fire or explode! this is basically a rolling ticking time bomb. It's in at the dealership now with still no remedy. Fca should buy this back from me. W12 recall pressure plate is only a guess and frankly its [xxx]. the entire transmission needs to be replaced with a more robust and rugged solution that matches Jeep brand. Parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Pleasant Hill, IA, USA

problem #4

Feb 032020

Gladiator

  • 5,500 miles
Unsure of what the issue is but have occasional issues with clutch and steering is very loose.

- Knightdale, NC, USA

problem #3

Jan 152020

Gladiator

  • 14,000 miles
Lose drive power

- Aurora, CO, USA

problem #2

Nov 182019

Gladiator

  • 2,500 miles
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. When the contact attempted to engage the select speed control, the vehicle made a metal to metal grinding noise coming from the front driver's side. The contact stated that the failure occurred twice. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 2,500.

- Ozark, MO, USA

problem #1

Sep 212019

Gladiator 6-cyl

  • 7,000 miles
Driving on interstate 70 with approx speed of 65. Caught on fire. Flames and lots of smoke coming from under Jeep. Smoke entered cab. What I think is transmission fluid left trail on interstate. I have photo.

- Tucson, AZ, USA