10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
101,054 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 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee:

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

problem #44

Jun 212023

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
2 recalls have not been taken care of by the manufacturer. I purchased this vehicle 2 years ago and have noticed that the seats do indeed over heat. The airbags haven't deployed thankfully, but I'm not comfortable taking any chances. Do I have to pay a dealer to complete these repairs? Also, since I have had this vehicle, my blinkers and brake lights do not work consistently. They were in operable for almost a month. I had a Mechanix check them, and they said they were dine. Homer's auto shop florence oregon) I didn't drive at night for almost a month. Then my blinkers just started working again. All the fuses are fine, and no other electrical issues. Brake lights started working also. Up until 3 days ago, a driver behind me pulled around next to me at the stop light to tell me the brake light was out. I checked it when I got home and it was fine.

- Florence , OR, USA

problem #43

Oct 172020

Grand Cherokee

  • 176,000 miles
Driver's seat frame/bracket broke in front of driver's seat, allowing the driver seat to lean detach from the floorboard and move backward toward the rear seats. When researching this specific issue, it seems that this is a common issue and is an obvious safety defect. If the driver seat frame cannot hold up to normal use, how will it hold up to the forces exerted upon it in the event of a rear-end collision? this is an obvious safety defect and based on the volume of other consumers that have had this issue, it is unbelievable that action has not been taken to resolve this issue.

- Loveland, CO, USA

problem #42

Feb 272019

Grand Cherokee

  • 150,000 miles
Front seat brackets for power seats snapped and separated causing seat to no longer be attached to floor. Seat wobbles from side to side especially in curves and turning. Renders seatbelts useless in an accident.

- Rossville, GA, USA

problem #41

Jul 082014

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that whenever the front driver seat was occupied there was a side to side movement due to the faulty track. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the seat was extremely loose due to the poorly designed track. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable.

- Fredericksburg, VA, USA

problem #40

Sep 152013

Grand Cherokee 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 140,000 miles
The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. While driving at an unknown speed, the front driver seat fractured without warning. As a result, the contact fell backwards into the rear seat. There were no injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact had the front driver seat replaced three times. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000. Updated 11/20/15

- Newark, OH, USA

problem #39

Nov 202014

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign id numbers: 09V117000 (seats), and 15V046000 (air bags). The contact stated that the parts were not available for months. The dealer did not give a specific date for when the parts would become available. The manufacturer was notified of the delay. The contact was not experiencing a failure.

- Austell, GA, USA

problem #38

Apr 052014

Grand Cherokee 4WD 6-cyl

  • 99,000 miles
Seat heaters have been getting progressively hotter. Passenger side got so hot I thought I was burned. My husband and I heard a pop on passenger side and seat heater slowly cooled down and now does not work. Driver side seat so hot we can't use it. I was talking to another Jeep owner and he said he experienced the same thing whereas his wife actually had red marks on her body for a few days. Why is there no recall?

- Webster, MA, USA

problem #37

Mar 242014

Grand Cherokee

  • miles
The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the necessary part required to repair the seat was not available. An authorized dealer stated they were unable to complete the required repair and indicated that they could not get the bolts out of the seat which would have caused too much damage to repair the front drivers side seat. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was not available.

- La Porte, IN, USA

problem #36

Jun 032013

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 147,000 miles
The car should be recalled because the driver seat design/manufacture is defective. I first noticed a clicking noise when in the car. I became accustomed to the noise and basically overlooked it for months. One day when getting into the car in a parking lot I landed in the back seat. As I was getting into the car the driver seat tilted backwards like a rocking chair and I was halfway dumped head first (upside down) into the rear of the car. I was not injured. I looked under the seat and was able to see that the seat frame is bolted to the car and that the front of the seat is attached to the seat frame by two very thin "cast iron" brackets. The two brackets (left and right) had both simply sheared off and there is nothing holding the front of the seat to the seat frame (the rear of the seat is still attached to the frame). I speculate that the brackets just gave out overtime from the simple activity of getting into and out of the car. I was lucky the car was parked and I was simply getting into the car when the brackets gave out. If in fact I had been rear-ended I expect I would have been thrown out of the seat (seat belts or not) and seriously injured or killed. I reported this on the Jeep facebook page so other folks could be aware of the potential danger. Jeep responded to me on facebook, email and telephone but basically said it was a 10 year old car and the defect was not their problem - sorry! when looking online to find out how to repair the seat I discovered what appears to be thousands of consumer complaints for the same exact defect. In fact companies have been started to make frames and brackets just to fix this defect and I am fearful that people have been seriously injured in accident (or killed) because of the defect. In my opinion no one should be driving around in a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee unless the defect is repaired.

- Northfield, NH, USA

problem #35

Dec 272013

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 159,000 miles
While driving under normal conditions I heard a pop and the left corner of the driver side seat fell forward. The base of the seat rocks back and forth now. When vehicle accelerates, the seat rocks backwards and when the brake is applied the seat rocks forward. I have done some research on this issue and have found numerous complaints and a refusal by Chrysler to recall and fix the seat bracket. jeepseatbracketproblems.blogspot.com/

- Georgetown, IN, USA

problem #34

Oct 232013

Grand Cherokee

  • 90,212 miles
I am the original owner of the car. Within the last two weeks the right forward bracket on the seat frame has separated from the seat holder. In researching the net I find that this condition is rather wide spread. Used frames are available but that would seem like doubling down on a poor design and spending $400 bucks for an iffy repair. www.jeepseatbracket.com sells a repair kit that fixes the problem but I doubt if a Jeep Agency would install non-Jeep parts and at 81 I doubt if I could remove the seat by myself. I consider this a safety hazard. Being a MA bell retiree through habit I drive carefully but and unanchored drivers seat makes me very nervous. I feel that in the event of an accident I would go sailing out the front window.

- Athens, GA, USA

problem #33

Aug 012013

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 168,000 miles
The drivers side seat began to wiggle and in checking found that the brackets mounting it to the floor had broken.

- Howell, NJ, USA

problem #32

Apr 032012

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 110,000 miles
Driver side seat bracket is broken. My seat bracket broke during normal use and I am average weight. Apparently 1,000's of these are broken and many people on the internet are complaining about it. The broken bracket allows the seat to wobble and possibly fall back while driving. Bracket is made of thin gauge steel. This is a very dangerous problem, please investigate.

- Holland, MI, USA

problem #31

Mar 012013

Grand Cherokee 8-cyl

  • miles
2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Consumer requests reimbursement for repairs to heated seat elements recall notice. The consumer stated the seat heater was not working properly. He became aware of the recall and had the dealer check, but was informed that his vehicle was one of the few that was not included in the recall of seats that posed a danger of catching on fire. The consumer stated he was led to believe, that his vehicle was not included in the recall, because the heated seat element posed no danger of fire. Having been led to believe the part posed no fire hazard, and that it may have just worn out, the consumer agreed to pay the cost to replace the heated seat element. However, when the element was replaced by the dealer, it was discovered the part was not worn, but clearly damaged by fire.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #30

Sep 042012

Grand Cherokee

  • 155,000 miles
We are the original owner's of our Jeep Grand Cherokee (2003) and the front driver's seat started wobbling from side to side, which makes driving disorienting particular when going around curves. When taken in to the shop we were told that the brackets attaching the seat frame have failed and are broken and need to be welded or need a replacement seat. After researching this issue we found that this is a common issue and replacing the seat or re-welding the seat brackets will only result in this happening again because brackets are made of cheap metal. I am very fearful that the seat will cause an accident (due to the disoriented it causes when driving) or that an injury will occur because the seat will completely detach in which case the seat belt is basically worthless in preventing injury during an accident. Given the number of complaints on this issue that can be found in a basic google search it is disgusting that daimler/Chrysler has done nothing to remedy this situation.

- Kenosha, WI, USA

problem #29

Jan 042013

Grand Cherokee

  • 150,000 miles
The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the front driver's seat would shake and rock to the sides. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.

- Muncy Valley, PA, USA

problem #28

Oct 242012

Grand Cherokee 4WD 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 128,000 miles
The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at different speeds, the front driver's power seat bracket fractured and caused the seat to shimmy. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who diagnosed that the seat needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 128,000 and the current mileage is 180,000. Updated 03/12/13

- Isanti, MN, USA

problem #27

Jan 092013

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 154,000 miles
While driving the front drivers power seat bracket broke causing the seat to wiggle, then release. Now it appears a new seat may be the recourse as this has been reported over and over again and there is no recall. As Jeep knows about this they should be made responsible to provide a replacement to make it safe.

- West Springfield, MA, USA

problem #26

Nov 122012

Grand Cherokee

  • 120,000 miles
The contact owns a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the front driver and passenger side seats over heated and burned a hole in the seats. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnose that the wires for the heater unit burned through the seat. The contact spoke to the manufacturer and was told that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA recall campaign id number: 03V117000 (seats: Front assembly: Seat heater/cooler). The failure and current mileage was 120,000.

- Avon, NJ, USA

problem #25

Sep 032012

Grand Cherokee 6-cyl

  • 145,000 miles
We are the original owner's of our Jeep Grand Cherokee (2003) and the front driver's seat started wobbling from side to side, which makes driving disorienting particular when going around curves. When taken in to the shop we were told that the brackets attaching the seat frame have failed and are broken and need to be welded or need a replacement seat. After researching this issue we found that this is a common issue and replacing the seat or re-welding the seat brackets will only result in this happening again because brackets are made of cheap metal. I am very fearful that the seat will cause an accident (due to the disoriented it causes when driving) or that an injury will occur because the seat will completely detach in which case the seat belt is basically worthless in preventing injury during an accident. Given the number of complaints on this issue that can be found in a basic google search it is disgusting that daimler/Chrysler has done nothing to remedy this situation.

- Haverhill, MA, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »