NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
Electrical System complaints
143 reportsClear category filterMileage unknown · Jan 2, 2025
Electrical SystemEngineService Brakes
On 4 separate occasions over a 5 day period, the electronic parking brake system spontaneously engaged. This caused the vehicle to lose power and slow until it came to a complete stop/stall. The EPB indicator was displayed on the dash. I tried several courses of action to resolve the issue including putting the car in park, att…
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On 4 separate occasions over a 5 day period, the electronic parking brake system spontaneously engaged. This caused the vehicle to lose power and slow until it came to a complete stop/stall. The EPB indicator was displayed on the dash. I tried several courses of action to resolve the issue including putting the car in park, attempting to disengage the EPB as well turning the vehicle off and on again. This issue presents itself with no prior warning. Fortunately, I was not highway driving during any of the mishaps. I was able to coast to the side of the road or to a parking lot safely. This issue presents itself a dangerous issue that other Jeep Compass owners are also experiencing with seemingly no true resolve from the Jeep manufacturer.
NHTSA ODI #11633568
Mileage unknown · Dec 30, 2024
Electrical System
The screen that shows the radio, backup camera, car play etc is 2/3 blank. It has been going out for over a month but now is just out all together. I did grow up in the era where you didn't have backup cameras however the way these new cars are made and all the blind spots, it makes it more difficult to backup without the ass…
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The screen that shows the radio, backup camera, car play etc is 2/3 blank. It has been going out for over a month but now is just out all together. I did grow up in the era where you didn't have backup cameras however the way these new cars are made and all the blind spots, it makes it more difficult to backup without the assistance of the rear view camera. I saw on the national news last week that Jeeps 2020 and newer were recalled but I believe the recall should also include 2019. When I googled it, you tube says the entire screen needs to be replaced which can cost at least $500.
NHTSA ODI #11633274
Mileage unknown · Dec 30, 2024
Electrical SystemEngineFuel/propulsion System
Stopped at stoplight. Engine start/stop was selected on and stopped engine per usual. Released brake and engine didn’t restart leaving vehicle un-powered in traffic. Shifted to park. Let vehicle recycle on/off power a few times. Engine was able to be restarted several minutes later. This happened before ~1 year ago and dealer …
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Stopped at stoplight. Engine start/stop was selected on and stopped engine per usual. Released brake and engine didn’t restart leaving vehicle un-powered in traffic. Shifted to park. Let vehicle recycle on/off power a few times. Engine was able to be restarted several minutes later. This happened before ~1 year ago and dealer replaced aux battery and torque sensors but couldn’t replicate failure and never disclosed any actual fault found.
NHTSA ODI #11633269
80,000 miles · Nov 25, 2024
Electrical SystemParking Brake
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while idling at a red traffic light, the Auto START/STOP system engaged, causing the parking brake to erroneously engage. The contact released the brake pedal, and the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact restarted the vehicle for the vehicle to respond as…
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The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while idling at a red traffic light, the Auto START/STOP system engaged, causing the parking brake to erroneously engage. The contact released the brake pedal, and the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact restarted the vehicle for the vehicle to respond as needed. The Auto START/STOP warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated while at a green traffic light, the parking brake unexpectedly engaged, and the vehicle failed to move. The contact restarted the vehicle, depressed the brake pedal, and released the parking brake. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
NHTSA ODI #11627175
Mileage unknown · Nov 24, 2024
Electrical SystemEngineService Brakes
I was driving my 2019 Jeep Compass Trailhawk and had just started to accelerate when my car showed a warning light for "High Coolant Temp." The car subsequently lost all engine power and immediately initiated my parking brake. The car was stopped in the middle of the roadway, posing a serious danger risk to myself and other driv…
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I was driving my 2019 Jeep Compass Trailhawk and had just started to accelerate when my car showed a warning light for "High Coolant Temp." The car subsequently lost all engine power and immediately initiated my parking brake. The car was stopped in the middle of the roadway, posing a serious danger risk to myself and other drivers. Had this occurred 30 more feet, I would've been in the middle of a railway crossing. After a few seconds, the temperature indicator returned to normal, though the car still had no power. I had to restart my car two times, then the issue was temporarily resolved and I was able to drive back to my house.
NHTSA ODI #11627111
28,000 miles · Nov 20, 2024
Electrical SystemParking Brake
The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Compass. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the message that the electric parking brake was engaged, and to depress the brake pedal and to push the Push to Start button was displayed. The vehicle then stalled. The contact stated that upon depressing the brake pedal and pushing the Pu…
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The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Compass. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the message that the electric parking brake was engaged, and to depress the brake pedal and to push the Push to Start button was displayed. The vehicle then stalled. The contact stated that upon depressing the brake pedal and pushing the Push to Start button, the vehicle responded as needed. Additionally, the contact stated that the instrument panel lights, and the instrument cluster had become inoperable while driving. The contact stated that upon turning off and restarting the vehicle, the instrument panel lights, and the instrument cluster became operable. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the contact was informed that there was no failure was found. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 28,000.
NHTSA ODI #11626335
Mileage unknown · Nov 10, 2024
Electrical SystemUnknown Or Other
I came to a stop for a red light at a hazardous intersection, and waited for the green arrow for my left turn. When the green arrow came I attempted to accelerate but the brakes locked and subsequently the vehicle began drifting into oncoming traffic. I lost power steering. I managed to stop it after getting out of the inters…
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I came to a stop for a red light at a hazardous intersection, and waited for the green arrow for my left turn. When the green arrow came I attempted to accelerate but the brakes locked and subsequently the vehicle began drifting into oncoming traffic. I lost power steering. I managed to stop it after getting out of the intersection by throwing the gear into park. The parking brake seemed to have been engaged by the stop/start system. Subsequent research on this issue revealed this is a recurring issue and especially with 2019 Compass, and people have experienced the stop start stalling their cars in highway traffic at speeds of 65 m.p.h. Obviously, this is a severe life threatening defect. Because this happened on a weekend, the mechanics have not yet evaluated the vehicle. Please have Jeep held accountable.
NHTSA ODI #11624435
Mileage unknown · Oct 10, 2024
Electrical SystemUnknown Or Other
The UConnect screen that comes with the Jeep Compass purchased and many other Jeep models during this time period has an apparent systematic lifetime problem. The vehicle has less that 40K miles on it and the screen started to appear discolored with lines distorting the images a couple of months ago, and would get progressively …
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The UConnect screen that comes with the Jeep Compass purchased and many other Jeep models during this time period has an apparent systematic lifetime problem. The vehicle has less that 40K miles on it and the screen started to appear discolored with lines distorting the images a couple of months ago, and would get progressively worse as the car heated up. The screen has gotten progressively worse to the point where it now does not display anything after ~30 seconds of being in the car. We are bringing the vehicle to a Jeep dealer today, but from looking online this seems like a very prevalent issue with Jeep Compasses and Jeep models. Without the screen, several safety features and namely the requirement of a backup camera display are completely unavailable.
NHTSA ODI #11619049
Mileage unknown · Sep 12, 2024
Electrical System
screen for climate control, radio, rearview Camara doesn't work
NHTSA ODI #11614242
Mileage unknown · Sep 11, 2024
Electrical SystemEngineUnknown Or Other
The vehicle will randomly show a coolant warning temperature light, then suddenly the engine will turn of. The car must be completely turned off to start it again. This happens when the car is not hot, there is plenty of coolant etc. When this happens the fobs also will not work. It has happened 4 times the last two weeks. My sa…
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The vehicle will randomly show a coolant warning temperature light, then suddenly the engine will turn of. The car must be completely turned off to start it again. This happens when the car is not hot, there is plenty of coolant etc. When this happens the fobs also will not work. It has happened 4 times the last two weeks. My safety was put at risk because I was in the middle of driving when my car died in the middle of the road. Yes the vehicle was inspected and the batteries were replaced. The issue was not reproduced when it was in the shop.
NHTSA ODI #11614023
NHTSA investigations
1PE22013 · False Overheat Leading To Loss Of Motive Power
Opened Dec 2, 2022 · Closed Dec 10, 2023
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Engine; Engine And Engine Cooling
On December 2, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE22-013 to investigate allegations of loss of motive power accompanied by high coolant temperature messages on the dashboard of Model Year 2019-2020 Jeep Compass vehicles. At the time this investigation was opened, ODI was aware of fifteen Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) for Model Year (MY) 2019-2020 Jeep Compass vehicles alleging a loss of motive power (LOMP) while driving. The LOMP events were often accompanied by a high coolant temperature or coolant temperature too high message appearing on the dashboard of the vehicle. In most incidents, the high coolant temperature or coolant temperature too high dashboard messages spontaneously self-corrected or were corrected after the vehicle was stopped and restarted. One complainant alleged no immediate restart, and the vehicle was towed. A Preliminary Evaluation (PE) was opened to assess the frequency and potential safety consequences of these engine shut down events. On January 19th, 2023, ODI sent an information request letter to Fiat Chrysler US LLC (FCA) requesting pertinent information on the subject 2019-2020 Jeep Compass vehicles. FCA provided its full response on March 2nd, 2023. ODI has reviewed the information FCA provided as well as new reports submitted to NHTSA’s Vehicle Owner Questionnaire database. Based on a review of available information, ODI has identified 173 subject vehicles that likely experienced a shutdown event associated with the high coolant temperature or coolant temperature too high dashboard messages. ODI found the 2019 Model Year (MY) Jeep Compass as having the highest failure rate while also being the oldest group of vehicles in this investigation. The 2019 Jeep Compass vehicles that experienced a failure represent an incident rate of about 0.09%. The 2020 Jeep compass vehicles that experienced a failure represent an incident rate of about 0.04%. After reviewing the information available at this time, ODI identified one allegation of a crash and no allegations of injury, fire, or fatality. The alleged crash occurred at a stop light and was able to be restarted immediately. In its response to ODI, FCA provided its assessment of the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. FCA believes the alleged defect does not pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety. FCA stated that allegations related to this investigation involve the vehicle notifying the driver of an overheat condition, via a message and telltale lights, followed by an engine shutdown. FCA goes on to say that once the engine shuts down, the driver is instructed via an instrument cluster message to place the vehicle in park. After the vehicle is placed in park, it can then be restarted and immediately driven with no issues. This is consistent with ODI’s observations. Based on the analysis conducted by ODI indicating a low failure rate and given that the vehicles normally can be re-started immediately after the shutdown event, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. NHTSA reserves the right take additional actions if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Engine And Engine Cooling
On December 2, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE22-013 to investigate allegations of loss of motive power accompanied by high coolant temperature messages on the dashboard of Model Year 2019-2020 Jeep Compass vehicles. At the time this investigation was opened, ODI was aware of fifteen Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) for Model Year (MY) 2019-2020 Jeep Compass vehicles alleging a loss of motive power (LOMP) while driving. The LOMP events were often accompanied by a high coolant temperature or coolant temperature too high message appearing on the dashboard of the vehicle. In most incidents, the high coolant temperature or coolant temperature too high dashboard messages spontaneously self-corrected or were corrected after the vehicle was stopped and restarted. One complainant alleged no immediate restart, and the vehicle was towed. A Preliminary Evaluation (PE) was opened to assess the frequency and potential safety consequences of these engine shut down events. On January 19th, 2023, ODI sent an information request letter to Fiat Chrysler US LLC (FCA) requesting pertinent information on the subject 2019-2020 Jeep Compass vehicles. FCA provided its full response on March 2nd, 2023. ODI has reviewed the information FCA provided as well as new reports submitted to NHTSA’s Vehicle Owner Questionnaire database. Based on a review of available information, ODI has identified 173 subject vehicles that likely experienced a shutdown event associated with the high coolant temperature or coolant temperature too high dashboard messages. ODI found the 2019 Model Year (MY) Jeep Compass as having the highest failure rate while also being the oldest group of vehicles in this investigation. The 2019 Jeep Compass vehicles that experienced a failure represent an incident rate of about 0.09%. The 2020 Jeep compass vehicles that experienced a failure represent an incident rate of about 0.04%. After reviewing the information available at this time, ODI identified one allegation of a crash and no allegations of injury, fire, or fatality. The alleged crash occurred at a stop light and was able to be restarted immediately. In its response to ODI, FCA provided its assessment of the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. FCA believes the alleged defect does not pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety. FCA stated that allegations related to this investigation involve the vehicle notifying the driver of an overheat condition, via a message and telltale lights, followed by an engine shutdown. FCA goes on to say that once the engine shuts down, the driver is instructed via an instrument cluster message to place the vehicle in park. After the vehicle is placed in park, it can then be restarted and immediately driven with no issues. This is consistent with ODI’s observations. Based on the analysis conducted by ODI indicating a low failure rate and given that the vehicles normally can be re-started immediately after the shutdown event, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. NHTSA reserves the right take additional actions if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
Engine
On December 2, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE22-013 to investigate allegations of loss of motive power accompanied by high coolant temperature messages on the dashboard of Model Year 2019-2020 Jeep Compass vehicles. At the time this investigation was opened, ODI was aware of fifteen Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) for Model Year (MY) 2019-2020 Jeep Compass vehicles alleging a loss of motive power (LOMP) while driving. The LOMP events were often accompanied by a high coolant temperature or coolant temperature too high message appearing on the dashboard of the vehicle. In most incidents, the high coolant temperature or coolant temperature too high dashboard messages spontaneously self-corrected or were corrected after the vehicle was stopped and restarted. One complainant alleged no immediate restart, and the vehicle was towed. A Preliminary Evaluation (PE) was opened to assess the frequency and potential safety consequences of these engine shut down events. On January 19th, 2023, ODI sent an information request letter to Fiat Chrysler US LLC (FCA) requesting pertinent information on the subject 2019-2020 Jeep Compass vehicles. FCA provided its full response on March 2nd, 2023. ODI has reviewed the information FCA provided as well as new reports submitted to NHTSA’s Vehicle Owner Questionnaire database. Based on a review of available information, ODI has identified 173 subject vehicles that likely experienced a shutdown event associated with the high coolant temperature or coolant temperature too high dashboard messages. ODI found the 2019 Model Year (MY) Jeep Compass as having the highest failure rate while also being the oldest group of vehicles in this investigation. The 2019 Jeep Compass vehicles that experienced a failure represent an incident rate of about 0.09%. The 2020 Jeep compass vehicles that experienced a failure represent an incident rate of about 0.04%. After reviewing the information available at this time, ODI identified one allegation of a crash and no allegations of injury, fire, or fatality. The alleged crash occurred at a stop light and was able to be restarted immediately. In its response to ODI, FCA provided its assessment of the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. FCA believes the alleged defect does not pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety. FCA stated that allegations related to this investigation involve the vehicle notifying the driver of an overheat condition, via a message and telltale lights, followed by an engine shutdown. FCA goes on to say that once the engine shuts down, the driver is instructed via an instrument cluster message to place the vehicle in park. After the vehicle is placed in park, it can then be restarted and immediately driven with no issues. This is consistent with ODI’s observations. Based on the analysis conducted by ODI indicating a low failure rate and given that the vehicles normally can be re-started immediately after the shutdown event, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. NHTSA reserves the right take additional actions if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
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