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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2012 Jeep Wrangler — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 833 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

833

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

22 / 2

Injuries / Deaths

across all reports

Years to Avoid

Jeep Wrangler — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

2010 Jeep Wrangler

686 complaints

2011 Jeep Wrangler

485 complaints

2012 Jeep Wrangler

833 complaints

2013 Jeep Wrangler

654 complaints

2014 Jeep Wrangler

654 complaints

2015 Jeep Wrangler

474 complaints

2016 Jeep Wrangler

460 complaints

2017 Jeep Wrangler

309 complaints

2018 Jeep Wrangler AVOID

1,823 complaints

2019 Jeep Wrangler

742 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Power Train 282 reports

Steering 204 reports

Engine 172 reports

Electrical System 147 reports

Air Bags 128 reports

Unknown Or Other 52 reports

Service Brakes 51 reports

Fuel/propulsion System 42 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Electrical System ODI 11385741 12/31/2020

CAR COMPLETELY DIES WHEN SITTING IDLE. I BELIEVE THE CONTROL MODULE IS FAULTY AND I HAVE HEARD MANY COMPLAINTS FROM OTHER DODGE/CHRYSLER/JEEP CUSTOMERS ABOUT THIS SAME ISSUE. MY 15 MONTH OLD SON WAS IN THE CAR WHEN THIS HAPPENED AND IT SCARED THE HECK OUT OF ME TO BE SITTING AT A MAJOR STOPLIGHT AND THE CAR COMPLETELY DIE. I WAS SCARED FOR MY SAFETY AND SCARED FOR MY SON'S …

Power Train ODI 10669270 12/31/2014

I RECEIVED AN E-MAIL FROM JEEP AROUND DECEMBER STATING RECALL N28 WOULD AFFECT MY JEEP BECAUSE THE POWER STEERING LINE WILL RUB THE TRANSMISSION OIL COOLER TUBE CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO LEAK TRANSMISSION FLUID. I NOTICED ON DECEMBER 18TH THAT MY JEEP WAS IN FACT LEAKING TRANSMISSION FLUID SO I CALLED THE CLOSEST JEEP DEALERSHIP TO ME, GWINNETT JEEP IN STONE MOUNTAIN GEORGIA, AND…

Steering ODI 10557990 12/31/2013

UNABLE TO GET SAFETY RECALL N28 / NHTSA 13V-234 TRANSMISSION OIL COOLER TUBE REPAIRED. HAVE CONTACTED MULTIPLE DEALERS AND THEY ARE UNABLE TO GET THE PART. DEALERS REPORT THEY ARE ONLY ALLOWED ONE RECALL PART PER WEEK OR TWO WEEKS, NOW BACKED UP FOR MONTHS. THEY REPORT 100'S OF PERSONS WAITING ON THEIR LIST. AT THIS POINT I'M JUST TOLD TO CALL BACK AND TRY AGAIN... I CAN'…

Engine ODI 11385676 12/30/2020

OIL LEAKING OFF TOP OF ENGINE. CRACKED PLASTIC PART CAUSED OIL TO LEAK OUT ON ENGINE AND EXHAUST CREATING A BURNING SMELL AND MY MECHANIC SAID IT IS A FIRE HAZARD. FOUND MANY OTHERS WITH SAME ISSUE FROM JEEP AND CHRYSLER PRODUCTS.

Engine ODI 11385712 12/30/2020

OIL LEAKING FROM ENGINE. MECHANIC SAID COULD BE DANGEROUS AS IT WAS GETTING ON THE EXHAUST AND COULD START A FIRE. DOING RESEARCH ON THIS WEBSITE, FOUND OUT IT IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH A PLASTIC PART ON TOP OF THE ENGINES USED BY JEEP AND CHRYSLER. THIS SHOULD BE RECALLED.

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2012 Jeep Wrangler, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2012 Jeep Wrangler reliable?

Owners have filed 833 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2012 Jeep Wrangler, most often about power train. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.

Which Jeep Wrangler years should I avoid?

The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.

Where do these complaints come from?

Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.

Do complaints mean a recall is coming?

Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.