all vehicles · every Wrangler year · method

Jeep Wrangler 2018

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

5.35 per 1,000

4.7 times this nameplate’s own median · from 1152 complaints filed in the first three years, of 1826 ever. 95% lower bound 5.04.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	0.42	36
2009	0.36	30
2010	1.53	135
2011	0.78	85
2012	2.78	367
2013	1.93	287
2014	0.80	133
2015	0.46	87
2016	0.49	96
2017	0.53	102
2018	5.35	1152
2019	1.73	405
2020	1.13	243
2021	2.12	431
2022	1.15	221
2023	1.60	271

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Steering 1117 complaints

wobble	287	26%
bump	259	23%
play	148	13%
slow down	115	10%
damper	107	10%
wanders	91	8%

Suspension 343 complaints

wobble	160	47%
bump	148	43%
death wobble	135	39%
slow down	61	18%
bridge	47	14%
damper	39	11%

Electrical System 268 complaints

steering	104	39%
power steering	71	26%
shifter	31	12%
blank	24	9%
traction control	24	9%
stability	20	8%

When it breaks

87% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 6,200 miles, from 1201 complaints that recorded one).

Failures cluster early, which is the signature of how the car was built rather than of wear. A low-mileage example has not yet passed the risk window.

What NHTSA did

5 investigations covering this model year, 2 of which list a recall campaign. Owners had filed 689 complaints about this component over roughly 16 months before an investigation opened.

Frame Weld Deficiencies

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

11076098 · 11078631 · 11080200 · 11083434 · 11083854 · 11088501

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.