10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
98,389 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.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #45

Jul 062013

Grand Cherokee 8-cyl

  • 182,000 miles
Driving my children home from New York on the 6th of July 2013, some where on the turnpike my 16 year old daughter complained about the heated seat being to hot. I told her that she should turn it off then, to witch she replied I already did dad but its still hot. She drove the rest of the trip with the seat off. As soon as we could pulled over to take a look at it we did. When we took a look at the effected area it looked like a tennis ball size blister. Just to be safe I had to take her to the er and it was a 2nd degree burn!!

- Bellmawr, NJ, USA

problem #44

Nov 102011

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 100,000 miles
Hit from behind, rearended, . first impact threw me forward then hit again 2nd impact broke seat back and I fell back flat into backseat.. 2 torn rotator cuffs and shoulder ball and socket damaged due to trying to hold onto wheel and maintain control of car while seat was collapsing.

- Richmond, VA, USA

problem #43

Jan 122013

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 219,000 miles
The driver's side power seat bracket had broken in two, tipping the seat to the right.

- Culpeper, VA, USA

problem #42

Jul 202012

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 134,202 miles
The driver's side power seat bracket had broken in two, tipping the seat to the right, making me over-steer very quickly to the right which I had to compensate for in order to avoid running off the road into the ditch. I have since read online that this is a common problem of metal fatigue from under strength rails.

- Germantown, OH, USA

problem #41

May 162006

Grand Cherokee 4WD 8-cyl

  • 29,465 miles
After just less than 30K miles, both front seat elements started to get overly hot, then stopped working. Took into dealer, found short in bottom element. Vehicle was stilll under warranty, I had also bought an extended warranty. Everything for that eight way powered seat was covered but the heater element. Was told it would be an $800 per seat fix. I declined to have it fixed. Now I find out that there is a recall for this exact issue, but that it does not cover my VIN number according to both the dealer and DaimlerChrysler. It just doesn't make any sense how they can get away with this after reading all the blogs from people with this same issue and the same response from Chrysler. Sure could use some help getting them to stand behind their product.

- Leo, IN, USA

problem #40

Aug 012012

Grand Cherokee

  • 131,465 miles
While driving, I stepped on my brake, I heard a loud "bang" and found myself first jammed into the steering wheel/dash area, and then, once my vehicle was stopped, I was in the rear seat area. Upon further investigation, I found that the rear seat brackets on my front (drivers) seat were broken through; the metal that the seat bracket is made of was broken at both rear corners, and the front bolts were pulled-through. The thin metal the bracket is made of had a couple of cracks, and overall, the seat is almost useless when it comes to driving the car in a safe manner. Fortunately, when my seat broke I was not going so fast as to not be involved in an accident! if I had been on the freeway, I believe I would not be here today writing this complaint. There are no reasonable local sources to replace the bracket;(the Jeep dealers want to sell a new seat for approx. $700, unless you want to pay $300+ for another seat from a wrecking yard, which will also have the same thin metal bracket). I am attempting to get it welded, but I have already been informed that this will be a temporary repair at best; the metal the bracket is made of is far too thin to handle the weight of a person using the seat for a long period of time, and will break again). Help!

- Dover, DE, USA

problem #39

Dec 142011

Grand Cherokee 4WD 8-cyl

  • 117,000 miles
The drivers side front heating element started to smoke. Unit was turned off quickly & has failed to operate ever since.

- Germantown, WI, USA

problem #38

Jan 022003

Grand Cherokee

  • 103,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. The contact stated that the driver and passenger side heated seats would overheat and burn the back of the seat occupants legs. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the vehicle did not fall under NHTSA campaign id number: 09V117000 (seats: Front assembly: Seat heater/cooler). The manufacturer was not contacted and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 0 and the current mileage was 103,000.

- Redondo Beach , CA, USA

problem #37

Mar 142011

Grand Cherokee

  • 152,137 miles
Recently my front driver seat on my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee overland started to rock back and forth and felt very "loose". I looked under the seat and found that the very thin metal that had been connected to the seat frame/rail had fractured and one bolt had actually bored through the metal hole opening between the two assemblies.

- Henderson, CO, USA

problem #36

Mar 142011

Grand Cherokee 4WD 6-cyl

  • 213,000 miles
Front driver's seat seemed wobbly, looked under seat and bracket that holds seat to the rails is broken on front left and right side. You can now lean back and front of seat lifts up. Very dangerous. If there was a crash, you could easily end up in the back seat of the car. I have looked and found many complaints about this situation with the Jeep, 1 site had over 2600 complaints in a 2 year period. I took off the side of the seat and added 2 nylon straps to hold seat down to rail. I have read many places where people have this welded back together and it breaks again. Metal is very thin, not built to take strain of any kind.

- Middletown, NJ, USA

problem #35

Mar 072011

Grand Cherokee

  • 108,800 miles
Noticed a failure of driver's side seat mount. Seat now rocks back and forth because front of seat mounts became fatigued and failed. After doing some internet research, this seems to be a common problem with this model and should be investigated.

- Willard , OH, USA

problem #34

Jan 032011

Grand Cherokee 4WD 8-cyl

  • 70,000 miles
The heated seat on my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee overland overheated and burned my legs. I now leave the heated seat turned off. I took the car to the Jeep dealer and they stated it needs a new seat heater assembly and will cost $800. I cannot afford to pay that much so I did not have it replaced. I saw a recall notice on the NHTSA web site and discussed this with the Jeep dealer. The Jeep dealer stated that my Jeep is not covered in the recall.

- Stone Ridge, VA, USA

problem #33

Jun 152006

Grand Cherokee 4WD 6-cyl

  • 100,000 miles
The support frame for the drivers side seat failed at approximately 100,000 miles. It causes the car seat to shift as there are only 3 support points instead of 4. I had a mechanic attempt to fix it but that only lasted until 150,000 miles. A moderate to high impact accident may cause the entire seat to come loose thereby nullifying any safety effect a seat belt may have to save my life.

- Chester, PA, USA

problem #32

Nov 062010

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 107,700 miles
This evening, while making a left turn in my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, the metal base structure of the driver's seat sheered off in the right front position. This has resulted in the seat being secured to the vehicle by only the other three positions, and the seat wobbles back and forth. The vehicle is now unsafe to drive. In a collision, the failure of this seat is assured.

- Abilene, TX, USA

problem #31

Oct 042010

Grand Cherokee 4WD 6-cyl

  • 98,411 miles
I have a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The seat frame broke through completely with normal wear, less than 100K miles on the car. I took the car to get it inspected and it failed because of the seat. Something this serious should be recalled.

- Fairfax, VA, USA

problem #30

Oct 012010

Grand Cherokee

  • 83,000 miles
My 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo front drivers seat has broken loose while driving from the floor frame twice and the seat back twice. This is caused by under quality strength of metal and welds. Form asks for a date of incident below but this has happen four times over a three to four year period.

- Clarkston, WA, USA

problem #29

Jul 042002

Grand Cherokee

  • 108,000 miles
Defective front seat on my Jeep Cherokee 2002 had broken.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

problem #28

Nov 092009

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
Took my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee into dealership to fix a window. When I picked it up they had changed some part that was a recall on my heated seats. The heated seats then burned out a module and the dealership said that it was not their problem and that it would cost $200 per seat to fix. I couldn't believe it. Obviously I now have seats that only heat on high.

- Blissfield, MI, USA

problem #27

Mar 132010

Grand Cherokee 4WD 6-cyl

  • 106,000 miles
Drivers side front heated seat worked intermittently at first then one time got extremely hot and no longer works. The mechanic where we purchased found the heated seat element had burned in two and the foam cushion had burnt as well. Told us to contact Chrysler, they said our vehicle was not included in recall.

- Woodland Park, CO, USA

problem #26

Jan 012008

Grand Cherokee

  • 130,000 miles
Driver's seat frame broken, 3rd time. Welded twice before to repair.

- Centereach, NY, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »