Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (doors, hood, frame, rust, paint and trim).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
1. Airbag light was on when I purchased the vehicle from SRQ in Bradenton Florida February 2020. 2. The hood handle inside the vehicle was broke replaced it, it broke again. 3. The hood will not shut properly due to the latch inside the vehicle broke. Now the Hood will not stay up by itself property, began in August 2022. 4. Both door handles inside vehicle in the back were broken now the passenger side is broken no way to open vehicle door from inside. 5. December 2022 battery light is coming on, battery is no more than 2 years old check engine light keeps coming on. 6. Sunroof is leaking inside the vehicle when it rains. Hardly ever use/open sunroof. 7. Traction control light comes on blinking quite often since I purchased a vehicle in February 2020. 8. Sometimes vehicle will go into third gear from drive and will not switch down to any other gear or back into drive. It stays in 3rd. …
On June 11, 2013, I pulled into a convenience store parking lot. I put my (2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee) in park & got out (the engine was still running). After a moment or so, my Jeep started rolling forward. It rolled between the fueling islands & it was headed towards the street. My Jeep hit a yellow pole & that stopped it from rolling into the street. (the yellow pole is a safety pole that protects the fire hydrant). I am 100% confident that I put my Jeep in park before I got out of it. I was shocked & scared when I saw it rolling down the lot. I filed an accident claim with my insurance company. The damage was around $6,000. My deductible was $500. Today, (August 13, 2013), I received a safety recall notice from Chrysler. …
Approx. 2012, the casing that the inside door handle sits on cracked and broke apart; and, as a result, the door could no longer be opened from the inside because the handle was no longer secured and just hanged. I noticed approx. A year ago that the handle's casing was cracked on both the back driver and front passenger sides. Since, the back driver's side has broken and the door cannot be opened from the inside. I just noticed that the driver's side is also cracked and with time it will also break and the door can no longer be opened. This is a dangerous because once the casings break it does not allow anyone to exit from the vehicle. I am in awe that the issue has not been resolved when many others have the same safety concern. This is not a matter of wear and tear because very seldom does anyone sit in my back seats. …
Please save the children! The front passenger side and both rear passenger interior door handle latches don't function and no one can get out of the vehicle. Only the driver can exit the vehicle. My husband carpools our child and neighborhood children to school. We took our car into get it repaired at tallahassee Dodge Chrysler Jeep today and they quoted us $650 per door or $1,950. The blue book value of the car is less than that. Why is there not an nhtsb recall on these? I've seen thousands of complains online. Please help! This is madness! It is an obvious defect. If you review the complaints, you will see that most of those affected have lost functionality in all four doors and the driver can't even get out of the car. We are, unfortunately, waiting for that to happen, as well. Thank you, kindly, for your consideration. The vehicle was stationary, as we were trying to exit the car.
2005 Jeep has been slipping into neutral since February 2013. It caused me to have an accident because I couldn't get out of the way of rear-oncoming traffic. No major damage was done thankfully! A few weeks later I experienced a rollaway. I went into the sitter to pick up my son. After about 5 minutes of being inside I my Jeep roll across the street! I go running outside, opened the door and pulled up the emergency break...just missing an embankment! Since the "neutral" thing started I have had several service lights come on. My mechanic performed a diagnostic check and he said its all electrical. Also, I've had issues with the front passenger window going up/down slower than the rest of the windows since 3 months into purchase. Other issues are cracked door handles (both front doors), replacing taillight kit, ac switch-a few times as it would only work on high.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the instrumental panel, interior, and exterior lighting failed. The failures occurred intermittently. In addition, the vehicle stalled. The contact also mentioned that the interior passenger and both rear door handles fractured and detached. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the shifting cluster needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The contact received NHTSA campaign number: 14V438000 (electrical system) exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer stated that the parts would not be available until approximately September 2015. The manufacturer was made aware of the delay. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 80,000.
The interior door handles are connected by piece of cheap plastic and the plastic breaks easily; rendering the interior handles useless. It's happening on 3 of my 4 handles. It's a safety issue because it makes the indoor handles un-useable. If involved in an accident, it May make it difficult, if not impossible to exit the vehicle. There are many,many complaints. I believe it's involves most Grand cherokees from years 2005-2010 and Jeep is aware of the issue. However they have offered no resolution other than replacing them. This requires replacing the entire interior door panel at an expense of at least $500 per door. I as well as many others can not afford to replace them. Nor should consumers have to foot the bills for an obvious, costly and dangerous design flaw.
When backing into parking space the car took off like a rocket ship/full throttle (5.7 Hemi) like it had a mind of it's own. The result was property damage (unknown amount) and car damage over $7600.00 not including car rental for 2 weeks. Chrysler sent inspector to body shop and their determination was they found nothing wrong and said the case is closed. A Jeep/Chrysler dealership replaced the throttle body January 31, 2014 under warranty. We know this was not driver error. It was the scariest 15 seconds of our lives and could have easily killed someone. Now we wonder when will it happen again? We would like to know, has there ever been an engine going to full throttle accident involving a 2005 Jeep/Chrysler product?
All 4 interior door handles are cracking and breaking at the base of the handle. I can barely get out of my Jeep opening from the inside, and I have to get out to let my son out at school. My children must wait for me to open their doors, and if I were to get into a collision and my car on fire, I would in no way have time to roll my window down, get out, then let my kids out before an explosion of gasoline and other fluids engulfed my vehicle. This is not normal wear and tear, or the driver handle would be the worst, for it is most used. The driver handle was the last to break, and I'm not happy for the money I'm soon to spend, especially when I search online and find so many others having the very same complaint.
Interior door handle assembly has cracked on all 4 doors (handle has completely fallen off on right rear passenger door) and handles are now inoperable. This is a huge safety hazaard. Driver and passengers are unable to open doors from the inside. If in an accident there would be no way for the occupants of this vehicle to easily exit. Jeep/Chrysler does not acknowledge that this is a known problem on this vehicle. The only option available is to replace the entire interior door panel which is approximately $700+ per door. This is absolutely absurd. Jeep/Chrysler needs to recall these vehicles and fix this issue before someone is killed because they are trapped inside a vehicle whose doors will not open from the inside.
Body complaints in other Grand Cherokee years
Frequently asked questions
How common are body problems on the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
NHTSA has 405 complaints about the body & structure of the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 20% of the model year's 2,051 complaints. The component named most often is body › door (221 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee body problems?
No. NHTSA lists no body & structure recall for the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, though it has 3 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 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee body problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 75,000 miles, and 3% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 7 crashes, 1 fire and 12 injuries to body & structure 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.