Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (door latches, locks, hood and tailgate latches).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Driving with my daughters to the beach when suddenly my steering wheel froze as I was along a winding road. Towed truck to a mechanic who diagnosed that the gear box was broken at that point he repaired the gear box. Approximately 1 week later the same exact thing except that the truck caught fire, again towed the truck back to mechanic who replaced the gear box. I thought I was going to die when I experienced my steering wheel freeze and the fire was extinguished quickly so minimal damage was suffered. In 1 year that I own this vehicle the radiator has also needed to be repaired, the locks on my driver door stopped working, the fan in the cooling system has stopped working, I have been told that the muffler was improperly installed. I never expected so many faults or so much money spent in repairs on a so called certified used vehicle.
Safety issue: power door locks inoperable. 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. On three (3) seperate occassions, we have had to have three (3) seperate electronic locking systems replaced on three (3) seperate doors/hatches on this vehicle. In all three incidents, the "actuator" has failed to either lock and/or unlock each individually effected door. On one occassion, we were unable to exit the driver's door at all, thus having to climb over to the passenger's front door to exit. When we contact the manufactuer - each time - they tell us that these are "normal wear items". After scanning your sight, I find a total of twenty-one such related complaints for Jeep Grand cherokees (not all year 2000 models) and four specifically related, year 2000 complaints. …
My wife and I purchased a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee from the dealership. About two years ago the 4.0 liter 6 cylinder engine started using coolant and causing the coolant light to alarm. The oil pressure would drop to "0" and sound the check gauges alarm. We took the car to the mechanic shop for costly repairs and troubleshooting. They replaced the water pump, couldn't find any leaks, and replaced the oil pump and rear main seal. They checked the bearing clearances and found them within tolerance. The car is still using one to two pints of coolant every three days and the oil continues to drop to "0" after warm-up. We replace the 4 wheel disc brakes and rotors every two years. The hood gas shocks won't hold the hood up and the shocks cost $150 a pair form the dealer and only last one year. …
Tl*- the contact stated that the 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee had a number of problems. The vehicle had problems with the brake rotors since 2005. He had to replace the rotors on 2 occasions since he purchased the vehicle in 2003. The contact had been informed that he needed to have the rotors replaced again. Also, the contact has been having problems with the driver's side door locks. When hitting the unlock remote control to unlock the doors the vehicle did not unlock. On some occasions while in the vehicle and trying to unlock the doors from inside the doors did not unlock. A number of times he's had to get out the vehicle from the passenger side door. In addition, tail lights are malfunctioed. The socket that held the bulbs did not work properly. He stated that his brake lights and his reverse lights have failed. …
I have a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee laredo that has multiple problems that many people have. They are not coincidental. I have the mysterious coolant loss that requires me to fill my Jeep with coolant every three days. Several mechanics have not found in leaks. However in hopes of fixing the problem, I had my water pump replaced, two days later....my low coolant indicator pops up. Then my oil pressure is ridiculous going from zero to max and then making my check gauges light come on. Had the oil pressure sensor replaced because it was supposedly leaking....still having my oil pressure gauge go crazy. My A/C has ceased working as well and now the passenger rear door lock doesn't want to cooperate. I am very upset to the fact that hundreds of people are having the same problems with the 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee laredo. This vehicle must be recalled! …
To whom it May concern, I am writing to you about a two serious safety issues with my 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. First, the door locks are all starting to fail. Without warning they fail to operate and you can not unlock them. This is a serious safety issue if a rescue worker can not get into my vehicle to rescue my children. Second the rear brake lights continue to fail intermediately. This could cause a grave accident killing me or my children in my vehicle. I have talk to twenty to thirty Jeep owners of this same model and approximate year and they all have the same problems. You have to go to this web site; p://www.carsurvey.org/viewmorecomments_review_33943_4.html . This site lists over 700 complaints, most of them with the door locks and brake light. These parts are obviously defective to have such a nationwide outcry. …
I have a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Since July 2004, there has been problems with the power door lock solenoids, one after the other. As of this reporting, I have had to have all the power lock solenoids replaced, including the back hatch which was replaced the Monday prior to this writing. The problems started with the rear door solenoids, left door first, then the right. Problems were significant enough with the rear doors that they could not be opened from the outside after they failed - only from the inside by manually unlocking the door (the outside does not have a key slot). I have incurred almost $2,000 in repair costs over the last 30 months replacing the mechanisms. The same repair shop replaced all five units, and all five replacements are currently functioning. They furnished me this website to contact due to the trouble that I have seen.
1.)the door lock actuators on our 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee are all failing. There are plastic grinding noises that ultimately lead to complete automation failure. .)the consequences of this failure is that it is not possible to lock the vehicle doors, or unlock the effected doors. The consequences are also that the auto door locks are not operational. If the vehicle were in a crash the doors might either be locked closed, or the doors might fly open because they cannot be locked. The auto door lock feature that the Grand Cherokee has when the vehicle is moving would be rendered useless. 3.)the driver door actuator has been replaced with no help from daimler Chrysler. The rear driver side has failed, the rear passenger is about to fail. They have not been replaced yet due to the high cost associated with this repair.
I bought a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee that had a quacking noise when locking and unlocking in the rear hatch. It finally just quit quacking but along with the silence the mechanism no longer works. Now you can't get in the back hatch. I went online to see how to correct this problem only to find out that it's a common occurrence with this model. I feel like this should be a safety recall as there is no way to get in the vehicle should the front or side doors become disabled, say in an accident. There is no way to manually unlock this hatch so you have to rely on this expensive mechanism to do the job. From my research it looks like this has to be replaced several times in the life of the vehicle.
I am another frustrated 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee owner! My rear lift gate lock starting making a horrible grinding sound, and wouldn't unlock. After taking it to a local dealership, I learned that this was a common problem with Grand cherokees, and would cost about $400 to fix. Also, to expect the same problem from the other door locks. Now several months later my driver side back seat door lock is doing the same thing. I'm surprised to find so many other Grand Cherokee owners on line with the same problem(mycarstats.com), yet the manufacturer doesn't feel this is worthy of a recall, and the problem isn't covered under warranty. Jeep is aware of this problem and should recall it.
Door Lock & Latch complaints in other Grand Cherokee years
Frequently asked questions
How common are door lock & latch problems on the 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
NHTSA has 78 complaints about the locks & latches of the 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 5% of the model year's 1,447 complaints. The component named most often is doors › latch (43 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee door lock & latch problems?
No. NHTSA lists no locks & latches recall for the 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, though it has 6 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee door lock & latch problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 68,000 miles, and 8% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 1 fire and 0 injuries to locks & latches problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
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.