Other steering problem on the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2 crashes 1 injury 3 of the 37 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee report other steering problem at a median of 190,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 145,000 miles and a quarter after 200,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 135,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 205,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 72,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 135,000 miles | 146,000 miles | 189,000 miles | 199,625 miles | 207,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 2 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 28 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2016, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 190,000 miles.
By volume the 2021 carries the most reports, with 55; the 1996 has 37. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 jeep grand cherokee. The contact stated that when driving the vehicle it "shimmies" all over the highway. He stated that the steering box is defective because one of the attachment lugs on the box is broken. The lower control arms have been re torque-d by the owner approximately one week ago and so far the failure had not returned. The dealer was unable to detect the failure. The failure mileage is approximately 50,000. The current mileage is approximately 115,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 1996 jeep grand cherokee. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact attempted to make a turn then a loud noise emitted from the front end of the vehicle. The contact also stated that the steering wheel locked without warning. The vehicle was towed to the residence and had not been diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000. Updated 4/15/13 *cn
At any speed or teraine, my vehicle will violently shake out of control!!!!!! It happens randomly, and for the past mont I have been checking on what is causing this as well as the best place to have the repairs done. I also have some other issues with this vehicle as well. The last "shaking" incindent happened while driving over an over pass about 45mph, started praying because I thought that I was about to die! So, wanting the repairs done properly I call a 1-800 jeep chrysler number to ask for a certified mechanic. While on the phone I had a feeling to ask about recalls. I was informed of only two (minor) issues. Called the dealership, set an appointment to have the recall repairs done and an estimate of the other issues. I did not end up with both recalls done (they did not feel the converter needed replaced)!!! I declined the price of thier estimate not the repairs! The estimate given roughly totals $3,929.00! Which after checking this website I find that a good part if not all of the repairs may fall under recall!!!! The mechanic I spoke with several times called this "shaking issue" , "the death shake" (and I quote the…
Also reported on the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
Fuel pump failure
Other fuel system problem
Other engine problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 37 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other steering problem happen on the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 190,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 145,000 miles and a quarter after 200,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
37 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed