What ownership is like, what breaks at what mileage, what the repairs cost, and what to check before you buy one.
← All Jeep Grand Cherokee generations
NHTSA complaints per catalog listing run from 13.35 for 2004 (1,295 complaints across 97 listings) to 60.73 for 1999 (2,004 across 33), against a generation median of 27.85. Older years have had more time to collect complaints, which is why the rates fall each year. 1999 is 2.2 times the median, and 8 of its 18 enriched ads (44.4%) mention a problem against a 27.2% median, and with the 'rust' flaw excluded it is 5 of 18 (27.8%) against 10.2%. With 33 listings it clears our minimum of 30, so our rule flags 1999 (details under 'Years flagged'). Owners most often name the hydraulic brakes, the power train, air bags and visibility.
| Miles | Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| age-driven; reports at 140,000+ miles | 4.7L V8 overheating in traffic, even after a new radiator | Not verified - no source priced it | Three owner threads describe a WJ 4.7 that climbs past 210-230F in traffic or on hills: a 2000 Quadra-Drive bought at 142,000 miles, a 2004 Limited, and a 2003 whose radiator was replaced but still overheated until an electric fan and a transmission cooler were added. These are owner reports, not a diagnosis. A go-parts guide for the 4.0L notes a 2003-2004 radiator build-date change, so match parts by build date. |
| any | Fuel tank vent tube welds (recall 00V195000, MY2000) | Free at a Jeep dealer when the recall is open | NHTSA's record says some sport utility vehicles may have been built with fuel tanks with suspect vent tube welds. We have it recorded under model year 2000. Confirm the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. |
| age-driven | Transfer case shift motor (four-wheel-drive shifting) | $548-$1,198 (RepairPal, Grand Cherokee transfer case shift motor, all model years) | RepairPal's page prices the shift motor replacement for the Grand Cherokee as a whole, not the WJ specifically. YourMechanic lists a transfer case output shaft seal from $154. Test every 4WD mode on the drive. |
A year is flagged by our rule only when all three hold: (1) its NHTSA complaints per catalog listing is at least 2.0x the median for its generation, (2) the share of ads that mention a problem is above the generation median, and (3) we track at least 30 listings for that year. The cutoff was fixed before we looked. Ad mentions are not failures, and a flag is a reason to inspect harder, not a verdict on any one car.
Complaints add up over a car's whole life, so older years in a generation can look worse here than they are. Read this flag next to the complaint details below.
| Year | Complaints | Top components | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2,004 | Service Brakes, Hydraulic, Power Train, Visibility | |
| 2000 | 1,829 | Service Brakes, Hydraulic, Seats, Engine And Engine Cooling | |
| 2001 | 1,111 | Visibility, Service Brakes, Hydraulic, Seats | |
| 2002 | 1,476 | Air Bags, Visibility, Service Brakes, Hydraulic | |
| 2003 | 761 | Air Bags, Visibility, Seats | |
| 2004 | 1,295 | Air Bags, Visibility, Seats |
source: NHTSA complaints database (api.nhtsa.gov). Complaints are owner reports, not confirmed failures.
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We don't tell you to skip a year; we flag by a fixed rule (see 'Years flagged'), and five years trip it: 1999, 2005, 2011, 2012 and 2014. For 2011, NHTSA complaints are 9.59 per catalog listing (1,640 across 171) against a WK2 median of 2.43; 2012 is 8.22 and 2014 is 5.48. The ad-mention margins on the WK2 years are small. Stivers CDJR's dealer blog also names 2011-2014 as the years to be careful with. 2013 had a high complaint rate (5.00) but its ad rate equals the median, so it is not flagged.
RepairPal prices an air spring replacement at $1,865-$1,945. A Jeep Garage thread says $2,000-$4,000 depending on what needs replacing, and one 2011 Overland owner was quoted $8,000 by a dealer to fix the whole system. YourMechanic lists an air bag replacement from $327. Only Overland, Summit and some other trims have it, so check the build before you worry.
Go-Parts says shop quotes run $1,100-$1,900 because the intake manifold has to come off. A 2017 owner reported almost $900 for an aluminum aftermarket part at an independent shop. Autos of Chicago says the plastic housing cracks past 60,000 miles on the 2014-2021 3.6L, though that is one shop's view.
Owners report it. CarCareCamp says a 5.7 Hemi lifter replacement can cost up to $3,500, and two owner threads report $6,000 quotes on Grand Cherokees. RepairPal prices a camshaft replacement alone at $1,172-$1,545. We could not find a source that counts how many Hemi Grand Cherokees are affected, so we do not claim a rate.
ZJ 1993-1998, WJ 1999-2004, WK 2005-2010, WK2 2011-2021 and WL 2022 to the present (Vehicle Bright, Elk Grove CDJR, CarBuzz). Production-date sources such as EncyCARpedia run each a year later. Model year 2021 had both: the outgoing WK2 and the new three-row Grand Cherokee L, and Wikipedia says Jeep still sold the WK2 alongside the WL for 2022.
Both. Car and Driver reports the outgoing Grand Cherokee continued for 2021 while the new three-row Grand Cherokee L launched, and MoparInsiders dates L production to March 2021 and a two-row WL to August 2021. Our generations put every 2021 in the WK2, so the 2021 figures (506 NHTSA complaints across 208 listings, 2.43 per listing) cover both. Check the VIN and the body style before you read a WK2 or WL guide for a specific 2021.