Door Lock & Latch complaints by model year
| Year | Complaints | Share of year's complaints | Typical mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 1% | 40,000 miles |
| 2020 | 1 | 0% | 4,000 miles |
| 2019 | 1 | 0% | 13,000 miles |
| 2017 | 1 | 0% | 100,000 miles |
| 2016 | 1 | 0% | 50,000 miles |
| 2015 | 2 | 0% | 50,000 miles |
| 2014 | 4 | 0% | 138,000 miles |
| 2001 | 2 | 1% | 152,000 miles |
| 2000 | 10 | 3% | 105,000 miles |
| 1999 | 10 | 3% | 110,000 miles |
| 1998 | 6 | 2% | 152,000 miles |
| 1997 | 11 | 3% | 54,000 miles |
| 1996 | 5 | 1% | — |
| 1995 | 8 | 1% | 162,000 miles |
Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (door latches, locks, hood and tailgate latches).
Mileage when the problem started
What owners report
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while her daughter was driving at approximately 45 MPH, both hood latches fractured causing the hood to impact her windshield. There was a tire pressure warning light illuminated. The police arrived on the scene and duck-taped the hood down. There was no police report file that the contact was aware of. The contact and her husband then arrived on the scene and drove the vehicle to their residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 138,000.
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that upon opening the tailgate, the tailgate failed to stay open and landed on the contact without warning. The contact did not report any injuries. The contact took the vehicle to an unknown dealer where the parts were ordered for repair. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 155,000. The VIN was not available.
2000 Jeep Cherokee sport airbag warning light illuminates randomly and repeatedly. Not related to actual airbag deployment. It May render airbag unusable. Dangerous condition. Common consumer complaint. All passenger window actuator switches are unusable. Windows will only work at driver panel. Safety issue if passengers have to open windows.very common consumer complaint. OBD error codes are inaccurate (especially when applying to emission control systems p0441, p0442). Diagnosis often lead to unneeded repairs and costly replacement of sensors and computer without cause. Common consumer complaint. Driver seat support structure breaks. Even when driven only in ordinary driving conditions and not stressed unusually. Must be rewelded or replaced. Seat is no longer structurally safe. Common consumer complaint all of these are design issues and not service/maintenance related.
Hood latches, all three of them, failed and hood flew up while we were traveling at 60 MPH. No crash but one injury and over a thousand dollars to repair the damage to the vehicle. The rear view mirror came off and landed in the back seat. The hood was destroyed as were the three panels where the wipers are located and the support bracket below them. The hinges were hyperextended and had to be replaced. After some investigation I found several reports of similar incidents with this vehicle and others where the same latch assembly was used. Five people could have been killed and I am outraged that I was never warned about this obviously defective latch system.
While parked in the driveway, and after being driven for an hour, vehicle inadvertently caught on fire above the manifold. The fire smoldered and put itself out. Owner contacted the manufacturer, who sent an engineer to investigate. Owner was also told by the manufacturer that there was nothing they could do, and advised the owner to seek legal council. The technician replaced the cruise control cable, accelerator cable and hood latch cable.
As my husband and I were on our way to a relatives last weekend, the passenger side window lowered on it's own. I tried to roll it up with the drivers control, and my husband tried with the passenger control ( which has never worked well) but the window just continued to go down. I had my son look at it and he took everything off including door panel, and speakers, but he was not familiar with Jeep windows and could not determine how to fix it. In the meantime, I have checked out some websites on this problem and found out that this is an ongoing problem with jeeps. Now it is going to cost me between $250.00 and $600.00 to repair . Please do something about this so no one else will have such an unexpected expense.
While driving fuel gage fluctuates leaving the consumer with no knowledge of how much gas is in the gas tank. Also, the electrical locking mechanism for the doors malfunctioned. Upon using the automatic lock button, it will not lock unless consumer gets out of the vehicle, and uses the key. Also, consumer has to use the key to lock the tailgate. The consumer sited the recall for the fuelgage needed to fix the vehicle. The vehicle was not covered under the recall for the consumers vehicle.
Hood latches on 1998 Jeep Cherokee sport are corroded and hood would not stay closed, had one replaced already, now the one on the right side of vehicle is acting up causing both to malfunction. This is a severe hazard. We are the original owners of this vehicle.
Frequently asked questions
Which Jeep Cherokee years have door lock & latch problems?
By NHTSA complaints, the 1997 (11), 1999 (10), 2000 (10), 1995 (8) and 1998 (6) model years. Door Lock & Latch complaints make up 3% of all complaints for the 1997.
Is there a recall for Jeep Cherokee door lock & latch problems?
No. NHTSA lists no locks & latches recall for any Jeep Cherokee model year. A widespread problem may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin, so ask a dealer.
At what mileage do Jeep Cherokee door lock & latch problems start?
Across all years, half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 102,000 miles; 26% happened before 50,000 miles.
What part fails most often?
Owners most often name the doors › latch (23 mentions), followed by the hood › latch (16).
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.