Problems · by component
2017 Jeep Cherokee steering problems
45 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2017 Jeep Cherokee cite steering, 3% of all 1,338 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
45
3% of all complaints
Crashes
1
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
1
Reported by owners
What owners say about the steering
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“Vehicle has a known safety Bulletin out from Stellantis for the PTU but this model does not fall under it. I am having issues with the PtU and concerns with safety of driving and others. Will need repaired. Frustration that my certain subsection of this model is not covered under the safety bulletin despite known problems and significant safety risk.”
“I believe the PTU is malfunctioning and causing the transmission to slip or jerk. I am experiencing uncontrolled movement while driving. The vehicle is available at any time for inspection upon request. This puts myself and 2 small children at risk while driving, therefore my ability to use this vehicle is extremely limited and high risk. I have taken it to a jeep dealership in porterville ca who stated my transmission needed replacement. they verbally stated my ptu was ok but never confirmed it with documentation. i have taken it to private mechanics who could not find any issues saying that the problem is internal. the mechanics i have taken it to in the past year have not come to a solution other than to suggest i wait for a resolution to the recall. The service all wheel drive light came on/off about a year ago and was consistant for several months but has turned off for awhile now.”
“The contact owns a 2017 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact's husband struck a curb. The contact's husband depressed the brake pedal and attempted to make a turn, but the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The "Service Shifter" message was displayed, and the vehicle made an abnormal sound and stalled while driving. The steering wheel was firm while making the turn. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the failure was self-corrected. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the failure was unable to be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the independent mechanic that the gear shifter needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 127,000.”
“I was driving my 2017 Jeep Cherokee Latitude 2.4L, car won't start, I have oil pressure sensor to warn me when low doesn't alert me at all, only time is when I realized a beep when I made turns and would indicate oil pressure low! I can't get my car to stop and it stalled on me while driving with no indication of low oil, and I have two kids and could have been very bad, since no power no breaks no steering!”
“My Jeep Cherokee(vin [XXX] ) was being flat towed behind a class a motorhome. On 4 separate occasions the front wheels of the jeep started bucking right to left and back to opposite side causing the whole motorhome to violently vibrate. 1) The first time it happened was at about 15 mph while turning left onto a connecting road. It started vibrating so I pulled to side of street and stopped. After getting out and discovering nothing of note I started off and the wobble was gone. 2) Second time was while driving at around 50 mph. There was a bump and grade change in the road and the wobble started. Much more violent than the first. I had to stop while in the traffic lane, with no place to pull over. This time I could see the wobble in the rear camera of the motorhome. Jeep was violently bucking back and forth as before but much stronger. 3) Slower speed at about 20 mph it happended again. Had to come to a stop before it corrected. 4) 40 mph and a very subtle road surface change caused wobble. I disconnected Jeep and drove it by itself to home. Never had an incident other than while being towed. This has happened 4 times in the past 5 trips of around 300 miles…”
“Today while driving, my vehicle’s power steering went out causing me to pull over to the side of the road. My car was running, but I was unable to move it. When I put it in drive, the lights on the shifter would flash, but the car would not change gears. The problem appears to be electrical as the battery is brand new, and the engine was running.”
Showing 6 of 45 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 3, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.