2012 Jeep Liberty recalls & problems

Recent owner complaints

• Jul 13, 2026 · 126,000 milesElectrical system
  The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front windshield wipers inadvertently activated. The contact turned the windshield wipers on and off to deactivate the windshield wipers. Additionally, the headlights inadvertently illuminated, and the doors locked and unlocked independently while the vehicle was unoccupied, parked, and turned off in the driveway. The vehicle occasionally hesitated while starting. The contact stated that the failure had caused the battery to drain. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact associated the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V530000…
• Nov 12, 2025Unknown or other
  Skyroof suddenly stopped working and will not close. No dealers will fix as thry say parts aren't longer available..my car is now worthless and is a safety issue while driving with the roof partially opened.
• Dec 9, 2025 · crash · 1 injuryAir bags
  My daughter was hit by a semi truck on US-23 today. The trailer fishtailed hit the back end of Jeep. I hit the guard rail. All four corners of the Jeep were hit. The air bags did not deploy. The front driver tire fell off. The back window and passenger side trunk window blew out.
• Jul 11, 2025 · 29,000 milesEngine and engine cooling
  The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated that while making a right turn on a main road at 25 MPH, the front lower control arms snapped. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact immediately pulled over onto the side of the road and had the vehicle towed to the residence. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 29,000.
• May 14, 2025 · 171,000 milesElectrical system › Instrument panel › Speedometer/odometer
  Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2012 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated that while attempting to register the vehicle, it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 94,000 and at the time of registration, it was discovered that the mileage was 171,000.
• Jan 17, 2025 · 86,000 milesSeats
  The contact's sister owns a 2012 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated that upon opening the door of the vehicle, the contact's sister became aware that the driver's side headrest had been deployed. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V640000 (Seats, Air Bags). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer for diagnostic testing. A case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 86,000.
• Oct 10, 2024Power train
  The vehicle gears slipped into neutral but back to drive without assistance on my part. Once at a stop sign when I resumed driving. Once turning a corner. Once getting ready to back up. / I took it to have the transmission fluid level checked and it checked out ok. There have been no transmission recalls reported on the 2012 Jeep Liberty. The pan and filter had had a leak and was replaced a couple of weeks before this slippage happened
• Jun 19, 2023 · 95,000 milesSuspension
  The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the contact became aware of an abnormal wobbling coming from the front end of the vehicle. Additionally, there were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact drove the vehicle to the local tire shop where the four tires were replaced and an alignment was performed; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that several days later while driving at an undisclosed speed, the gear shifter seized, and the vehicle turned off unintendedly. The contact pulled over to the side of the road, parked, and inspected the vehicle. The contact called a local mechanic who drove to the…

Owner complaints are submitted to NHTSA by the public and are not verified. Shown as filed (NHTSA removes personal details); long reports are shortened.

NHTSA defect investigations

• EA21002 · opened Sep 17, 2021 · openDesiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
  From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 Blomquist Report at www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.Consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substance that traps and holds moisture) in US vehicles are under recall. These "non-desiccated" inflators either have been or are required to be replaced.In some cases, the remedy part for these recalled…
• PE19014 · opened Sep 9, 2019 · closed Feb 25, 2026Active Head Rest Inadvertent Deployment
  The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19014 on September 9, 2019, to investigate 128 consumer complaints alleging that the Active Head Rest (AHR) inadvertently deployed without the occurrence of a crash or other rear impact event in model year (MY) 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango vehicles.When ODI opened the investigation, ODI was aware of thirteen alleged injuries.A small number of Early Warning Reports identified driver and/or passenger front seat AHR inadvertent deployments without a rear impact event.Reported safety consequences resulting from the AHR deployments include concussions, headaches, soft tissue injuries, disorientation, nausea, vomiting and/or loss of vehicle control as a result of being surprised and distracted by being struck in the head by the inadvertent AHR deployment. On September 24, 2019, ODI sent an Information Request (IR) letter to Fiat…
• EA19001 · opened Apr 19, 2019 · closed Sep 19, 2024 · led to recall 20V024Electrical overstress
  The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect. During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (ACU) for the supplemental restraint system (SRS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) manufactured by ZF-TRW.  The ECU receives signals from crash sensors mounted in the vehicle and deploys the vehicle air bags and seat belt pretensioners in accordance with manufacturer design specifications.  The ECU in the subject vehicles contains a model DS84 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which controls the communication of the crash sensor signal,…
• PE17003 · opened Jun 1, 2017 · closed Dec 25, 2017 · led to recall 17V640000Occupant Restraint Controller Failure
  The Office of Defects Investigation opened this Preliminary Evaluation to investigate VOQ complaints alleging a failure of the Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC) module in model year (MY) 2012 Jeep Liberty.The purpose of the investigation was to understand Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) complaints stating that the air bag warning light remained illuminated while the vehicle was in operation.In many cases the warning light issue was reportedly corrected by a replacement of the ORC module. In 2013 FCA issued NHTSA safety recall 13V282 to address ORC module failures caused by an electrical over stress (EOS) condition that damaged an internal resistor.The failure lead to non-deployment of the active head restraints in rear impact crashes of sufficient severity to require deployment.This condition would also result in illumination of the air bag warning light and set a B2208 diagnostic…
• DP14004 · opened Sep 25, 2014 · closed Jul 24, 2015Totally Integrated Power Module Failure
  In a letter dated August 21, 2014, the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to initiate a defect investigation of alleged failures associated with the Totally Integrated Power Module (TIPM) installed in Chrysler SUV?s, trucks, and vans beginning in the 2007 model year. The petitioner alleges that TIPM defects may result in engine stall, airbag non-deployment, failure of fuel pump shutoff resulting in unintended acceleration, fire, and other symptoms. On September 25, 2014, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened DP14-004 to evaluate the petition for a grant or deny decision. ODI analyzed complaint data provided by CAS as well as complaints submitted to ODI from consumers. In total, there were 296 complaints submitted by the petitioner in the original petition and five supplements, including 271 complaints related to…
• PE13034 · opened Oct 21, 2013 · closed Mar 9, 2014Jeep Liberty Door Fires
  The driver's side power master window switch (PMWS) evaluted during this investigation controls the power windows for all four doors, the power mirrors and door locks.The PMWS is located on the driver's side door panel.Chrysler advised that the PMWS was used on multiple vehicle platforms including model year (MY) 2011 Dodge Nitro, MY 2011-2012 Jeep Liberty and MY 2011 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan for a total of approximately 425,000 vehicles.At the opening of the investigation, ODI identified two reports of fire near the vicinity of the PMWS on MY 2012 Jeep Liberty Vehicles.During the course of the investigation, ODI determined that one of the complaint fires was not likely caused by a PMWS failure as available evidence indicated the fire started in the dashboard as opposed to the door panel area.Accordingly, the report was removed from the above counts.In response to ODI's…