What is going on with this Jeep Grand Cherokee? The model is Jeep’s flagship vehicle, but a recent TikTok might lead you to believe otherwise.
According to goodcarbadcar.net, the Grand Cherokee “has consistently been one of Jeep’s best-selling models, popular for its blend of off-road capability, luxury, and value,” but you may not suspect it after watching a recent video by the popular car-rating site Edmunds.com.
Edmunds (@edmunds) posted the video on Tuesday. It shows a Jeep Grand Cherokee that the company bought as a tester vehicle last year. Unfortunately for Jeep, the video, which has over 153,300 views as of this writing, shows the SUV being towed back to its original dealership for the third time in a row.
What’s wrong with the Grand Cherokee?
In the video, which was posted to the car-rating service’s TikTok account, the car can be seen loaded onto a flatbed tow truck. The video’s caption reads, “For the third time in a year of ownership, our Jeep Grand Cherokee has broken down and had to be towed to the dealership, leaving us stranded. We think that this time, like the most recent previous instance, it’s due to a pin in the ECU that apparently keeps unplugging itself.”
ECU refers to the SUV’s Electronic Control Unit, which controls one or more of a vehicle’s electrical subsystems, e.g., the fuel injection. The pin in question refers to a plug-in on the unit’s circuit board.
The video goes on to show the Grand Cherokee’s dashboard as a person in the driver’s seat lists out the malfunctioning systems. “And here we go. AutoPark Disabled. SOS unavailable. Service the airbag system. What else? There’s gotta be more. ParkSense unavailable, service required. Parking brake’s unavailable, and we have no power steering,” the man says as he checks out various alerts on the dash.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Jeep via email for a statement.
According to Edmunds’ YouTube channel, the car-rating service bought the car in July of last year. In the video description, the team states, “We just added a 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe to the Edmunds Long-Term Test Fleet, and we can’t wait to pile on the miles!”
@edmunds For the third time in a year of ownership, our Jeep Grand Cherokee has broken down and had to be towed to the dealership, leaving us stranded. We think that this time, like the most recent previous instance, it’s due to a pin in the ECU that apparently keeps unplugging itself 🫠 #jeep #mopar #jeeplife #cartok #cartiktok ♬ Killswitch Lullaby (Slowed + Reverb) – The Lonely Tree
CarParts.com found that the Jeep Grand Cherokee was “average in terms of dependability. It received a reliability rating of 3.5 out of 5 from RepairPal and ranked 15th out of the 26 midsize SUVs reviewed based on data from different model years.”
The site also stated that the “four most common Jeep Grand Cherokee problems are erratic electronic shifting, engine stalling while driving, alternator failure, and ignition switch malfunction,” though it did not specifically mention the ECU.
Viewers had mixed reactions
Many of the video’s viewers took the opportunity to drag both Jeep and the Grand Cherokee in the comments section. However, the company and the SUV had their defenders as well.
Joe (@joevill23) wrote, “It’s a standard feature of Jeep,” while Scot Masters (@scottpmasters) added, “they should sell jeeps in a two pack one to drive and one to drive to the dealership to get the other one.”
However, GNMESQ (@gnm268) wrote, “Love my 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited X. Not a single problem after five years.”
Another viewer wrote, sympathetically, “And here I am mad that my 370k mile Toyota needs a radiator.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Edmunds via email for further comment.
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