"How reliable is the 1996 Jeep Cherokee?"

"Based on 584 NHTSA complaints, the 1996 Jeep Cherokee has a median complaint mileage of 140226 miles. The most common issue is SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR."

"What are common problems with the 1996 Jeep Cherokee?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1996 Jeep Cherokee is SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR, accounting for a significant portion of the 584 total complaints filed."

1996 Jeep Cherokee: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 584 complaints

584

Total Complaints

140,226mi

Median Mileage

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

103,000 25th Percentile

140,226 Median Mileage

181,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR:HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE

SUSPENSION

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:PARK/NEUTRAL START INTERLOCK SWITCH

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"CONSUMER WAS DRIVING WHEN APPLY THE BRAKE IT PULLS TO THE RIGHT CAUSING ACCIDENT THE AIR BAG DIDN'T DEPLOY AND SEAT BELT DIDN'T RESTRAIN HEAD HIT WINDSHIELD ."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 86 NY: 43 PA: 38 TX: 31 MD: 29 FL: 27 GA: 25 OH: 25 NJ: 21 VA: 20

Who Files Complaints?

39.2%

Original Owners

60.8%

Second+ Owners

Jeep Cherokee — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1990	368	142,868	SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP	18
1991	297	174,735	SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP	14
1992	175	131,940	SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR	21
1993	571	130,625	SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR	60
1994	618	115,500	STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR:HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS	68
1995	732	111,500	STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR:HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS	110
1997	496	125,000	FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY	60
1998	553	117,000	SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR	42
1999	516	79,000	SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR	49
2000	506	69,800	SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR	32
2001	329	59,650	SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:ROTOR	33
2014	3932	36,000	POWER TRAIN	97
2015	2629	25,659	POWER TRAIN	80
2016	2013	43,000	POWER TRAIN	52
2017	1886	40,000	POWER TRAIN	41
2018	964	31,436	POWER TRAIN	18
2019	2271	17,000	POWER TRAIN	65
2020	315	18,750	POWER TRAIN	11
2021	173	27,364	POWER TRAIN	16
2022	60	39,050	POWER TRAIN	2

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28