NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
What owners actually said
80 reports80,000 miles · Sep 22, 2023
Electrical SystemSteering
The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Compass The contact stated that while the vehicle was idle the engine was running, and the vehicle turned off independently. The contact restarted the vehicle and the vehicle returned to normal operation. The contact stated that occasionally, several attempts were needed to restart the vehicle. The v…
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The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Compass The contact stated that while the vehicle was idle the engine was running, and the vehicle turned off independently. The contact restarted the vehicle and the vehicle returned to normal operation. The contact stated that occasionally, several attempts were needed to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the steering module failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
NHTSA ODI #11545980
Mileage unknown · Sep 18, 2023
Unknown Or Other
Error message on dash "Coolant Temperature Too High" and vehicle shuts down. This is happening multiple times. Sometimes it happens multiple times in a week and won't do it for a couple months and then it starts to happen again. Sometimes the vehicle will self resolve after 5-10 seconds and let me keep driving, other times it wi…
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Error message on dash "Coolant Temperature Too High" and vehicle shuts down. This is happening multiple times. Sometimes it happens multiple times in a week and won't do it for a couple months and then it starts to happen again. Sometimes the vehicle will self resolve after 5-10 seconds and let me keep driving, other times it will shut down and make me restart the vehicle. After restarting, the vehicle is fine as if nothing happened. This has happened going 5-10mph and has also happened driving down highways at 60mph. In some instances, this is happening when stopped and then turning into oncoming traffic and the vehicle stalls which may cause someone to crash into me. Thankfully it hasn't happened yet. After some internet research it appears an investigation was already opened on 2019-2020 jeep compass's for this same issue (PP 22-013).
NHTSA ODI #11545252
Mileage unknown · Sep 10, 2023
Power Train
A common problem, which mine has, is a growl in the rear end at around 30mph. In forums I have seen people get a software update to fix, but it just changes the problem to around 50mph. If I drive with the traction control button off, or put it into manual mode, the sound goes away. On the forums the only fix is to replace the e…
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A common problem, which mine has, is a growl in the rear end at around 30mph. In forums I have seen people get a software update to fix, but it just changes the problem to around 50mph. If I drive with the traction control button off, or put it into manual mode, the sound goes away. On the forums the only fix is to replace the entire rear end. It's done this since I got it at about 20,000 miles. There are also clunks in the front end. The steering rack is designed to not be serviced by the consumer and you cannot replace inner tie rod ends. I don't believe there's any other vehicle designed this way. You have to replace the whole rack. One way for the dealer to make sure you come back for service. The plastic sway bar links go out under 40,000 miles and result in sloppy steering that could be dangerous. Again, on the forum boards, people have been replacing with MOOG that are a quality product and not plastic. The parking brake engages for no reason while the vehicle is moving. The auto start/stop feature is dangerous and nearly got me into an accident, twice.
NHTSA ODI #11543692
Mileage unknown · Aug 10, 2023
Exterior LightingUnknown Or Other
Unconnect screen is faulty causing lines down the screen and causes the screen to go completely black. Issue has been noted by hundreds of other jeep owners available online and dating back to 2018. Vehicle is available for inspection upon request. This issue puts me and others at risk due to the possibility of loss of visual lo…
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Unconnect screen is faulty causing lines down the screen and causes the screen to go completely black. Issue has been noted by hundreds of other jeep owners available online and dating back to 2018. Vehicle is available for inspection upon request. This issue puts me and others at risk due to the possibility of loss of visual location on the screen while using navigation, poses possible distraction to the driver which can cause an accident involving other drivers. Problem confirmed by independent service center. Has not been inspected by insurance, manufacturer etc. There were no warning signs before distortion began. Started as 1 single line through the center of the screen and quickly progressed. Lime forst appeared in October 2022.
NHTSA ODI #11537804
Mileage unknown · Aug 2, 2023
Air BagsCrash
I got t-boned and my airbags didn’t deploy and I smashed my head on the window
NHTSA ODI #11536187
Mileage unknown · Jun 10, 2023
Unknown Or OtherCrashFire
Rear ended decelerating someone and the car went up in flames then blew up. We are not sure why this happened or what failed for this to happen. Had I not gotten out to check on the other vehicle I could have been seriously injured or worse and this has been looked at by our insurance company.
NHTSA ODI #11526378
Mileage unknown · May 13, 2023
Electrical System
When the vehicle is in fuel economy it turns off completely and I have to change the transmission to park to turn it back on. This happens when I stop at a light, at a stop, or just stop to wait for someone to cross the street. Both the dealer and the manufacturer are aware and have not been able to find the reason why this is h…
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When the vehicle is in fuel economy it turns off completely and I have to change the transmission to park to turn it back on. This happens when I stop at a light, at a stop, or just stop to wait for someone to cross the street. Both the dealer and the manufacturer are aware and have not been able to find the reason why this is happening to the vehicle. This situation has been occurring since 2021 and the alert appears in the bus cluster. It is a risk for my family to have a vehicle with this situation, since we could have an accident that could cause death.
NHTSA ODI #11521849
Mileage unknown · Apr 26, 2023
Electrical SystemEngineService Brakes
The Jeep's engine decided to shut off at a red light. This jeep has the automatic shutoff for the engine when idling too long. I could not restart the engine. I blocked 2 lanes of traffic, and was unable to push the vehicle out of the way. I Tried restarting the engine several times. The accessories would come on, but the parkin…
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The Jeep's engine decided to shut off at a red light. This jeep has the automatic shutoff for the engine when idling too long. I could not restart the engine. I blocked 2 lanes of traffic, and was unable to push the vehicle out of the way. I Tried restarting the engine several times. The accessories would come on, but the parking brake would NOT disengage and I had several issues trying to get the shifter into neutral to push the car out of an intersection. The fire department lucky was behind me after this happened, and helped me so did local police. 5 different people could not get the car to start or engage into neutral and disengage the parking brake to move the vehicle to a safe location. This was a rental so lucky I am not the owner of a failure of a jeep. This was an emergency situation while it was raining in traffic at an intersection. Police called a tow truck to tow the jeep out of the intersection because it was inoperable at this point. This is the strangest issue I have ever had with a vehicle and I am a automotive mechanic. Jeep had only 50,000 miles and no previous issues. Engine light was illuminated and I didn't have a scan tool with me (out of town). The vehicle was taken to a service shop requested by the rental company. We never knew the root cause. My advice if you have to spring for a jeep go for a bigger and better model. These and the patriots are the worst jeeps in terms of reliability.
NHTSA ODI #11519150
Mileage unknown · Feb 6, 2023
Electrical System
It’s happened 3 times now. I’ll be driving and everything is fine, and suddenly an error will pop up on the dash that will read “coolant temp too high” and the entire car will power down while driving. It’s almost caused me to wreck all 3 times. The coolant had been at a normal temperature all 3 times. 2 of the times it has been…
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It’s happened 3 times now. I’ll be driving and everything is fine, and suddenly an error will pop up on the dash that will read “coolant temp too high” and the entire car will power down while driving. It’s almost caused me to wreck all 3 times. The coolant had been at a normal temperature all 3 times. 2 of the times it has been able to turn right back on and continue driving, 1 time I had to sit and let the car cool down for 30 minutes before it would turn back on (it was the middle of summer)
NHTSA ODI #11505900
Mileage unknown · Oct 24, 2022
Vehicle Speed Control
Turn on cruise control, press +, hold until the rental car begins to accelerate, and release. Car continues to accelerate. This is not the same as my 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid that accelerates only as long as the button is being depressed. The mileage of the rental vehicle is unknown. I DO NOT wish to receive safety recall alerts…
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Turn on cruise control, press +, hold until the rental car begins to accelerate, and release. Car continues to accelerate. This is not the same as my 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid that accelerates only as long as the button is being depressed. The mileage of the rental vehicle is unknown. I DO NOT wish to receive safety recall alerts from NHTSA because the vehicle is a rental from Enterprise in Lake Park, FL.
NHTSA ODI #11490517