Other brake problem on the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1 crash 1 of the 184 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 brake problem gets reported
Owners of the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee report other brake problem at a median of 50,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 15,000 miles and a quarter after 72,500 miles, from 49 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 7,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 92,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 86,510 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
39% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7,090 miles | 15,000 miles | 49,000 miles | 71,800 miles | 93,600 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, 1 a crash is 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 $300–$1,800 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 29 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 15,000 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 150,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 202; the 1999 has 184. 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.
Between 45k-$65k miles have had continuous problems with the front brakes. Rotors have been replaced and re-machined twice, most recently advised to upgrade to aftermarket ceramic pads, 10k miles later exact problem has returned. Brakes pulse at all speeds once warm, both during driving and particularly when applied causing vehicle and steering wheel to shimmy. 80% of my driving is highway and this is completely unacceptable. Multiple dealers have acknowledged this as a very common problem on the 99-01 models but that chrysler will not resolve the issue. Now I've been advised to replace with a newer caliper design that will cost an addtl. $450 bringing my total brake expenses on the front axle to well over $1000 in 1 year. *nlm
In april of 2002 I purchased a used 1999 jeep grand cherokee from a local dealer because it had only 14000 miles on it. I have had to replace the brake rotors and pads due to vibration 2 times. At 46000 miles I put new tires on this to quiet a noise problem. Now at 65000 miles the noise is extreme coming from drive train. I was told today there is a defect in the ring/pinion gear assemblies used on the 99/00 model year jeeps. But there has yet to be a recall regarding this condition. I am very disappointed in the durability of the product, as it should have lasted far longer than 65000 miles, especially for the amount paid for it! Hopefully chrysler will take responsibility for poor engineering and design quality. But I doubt it. The roaring and howling noise is so loud that you can not hear others talking at road speed, and I am greatly concerned about the safety of the vehicle, but due to the great cost of it, I cannot trade it or afford to repair it because I am on disability!!!!!!!!!! *nlm
I purchased a new 1999 jeep grand cherokee in may 1999. After 11,000 miles this vehicle began shuddering when braking at speeds above 35 MPH. I took the car back to the dealer and the front rotors and pads were replaced under the warranty. At 27,000 miles (nov. 2002) the problem returned . This time the warranty has expired. The dealer said they would provide the parts at no charge but I would have to pay for the labor to replace the rotors. The dealer assured me that this would be the long term solution to the brake/shudder problem. Yesterday, seven months and 5,000 miles later it took the car back in for the same braking problem. This time, I have to pay for the labor to have the calipers replaced and warped rotors. I am finding that this brake problem with jeep grand cherokees is not isolated to my car. The dealer acknowledges that there are "problems" with the brakes for this year and model. Chrysler/jeep should be forced to recall the 1999 grand cherokees and permanently fix this flawed braking system. *jb
Also reported on the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Differential or transfer case failure
Other visibility problem
ABS module or sensor failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 184 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 brake problem happen on the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
Across 49 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 50,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 15,000 miles and a quarter after 72,500 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other brake problem on the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
184 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.5 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