No-start or intermittent start failure on the 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee
When no-start or intermittent start failure gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee report no-start or intermittent start failure at a median of 150,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 145,000 miles and a quarter after 180,000 miles, from 15 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 20th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 70,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 190,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 119,000 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.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71,800 miles | 145,000 miles | 150,000 miles | 180,000 miles | 190,800 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
Putting it right typically runs $200–$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 26 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 1,900 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 165,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 222; the 2002 has 20. 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.
My 2002 jigs special edition w/ v8 4x4 has an unidentified electric problem. 3 times so far in 2005 when trying to start the jeep the system goes completely dark. No electricity at all. It won't start, the lights won't work, the remote won't work. You can't even jump start it. The first time the dealer replaced the battery (even though I replaced it 8 months prior). The second time it started when the tow truck driver went to check the miles, so the dealer said there was no way for them to figure it out. Last night it happened again, again it has been towed to the dealer and I am waiting for results. *nm
Vehicle would not start. Had it towed to a repair shop and the starter was out. Needed to replace the starter. There are way too many repairs on this vehicle with only 57,000 miles on it. *tr
I was driving on university approaching the stop light on 66th st in lubbock tx, as slowing down from approximately 35 MPH, I heard an overwhelming loud bang come from the front of the jeep, it shook the entire vehicle it felt like I had hit someones car. I was getting leaving lubbock headed home to plainview. Me and my daughter stopped at walmart where I left my vehicle idling for no more than three to ten minutes max. I came out from walmart and smoke was coming from my car. Antifreeze was spilt out everywhere and the person parked next me that my car had overheated and to let it cool down before driving it again. I came back to lubbock yesterday with my daughter and I almost stalled on the highway but was able to make into the walmart parking lot. A friend pointed out the radiator fan was all busted up. The jeep will not start and is in the parking lot at the walmart on ave. Q in lubbock. Trying to figure out why it will not start up I believe it could be the radiator relay. *tr
Also reported on the 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Other visibility problem
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
Radiator or coolant leak
Other body or interior problem
Blower motor or climate control failure
Other brake problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 20 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 no-start or intermittent start failure happen on the 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
Across 15 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 150,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 145,000 miles and a quarter after 180,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is no-start or intermittent start failure on the 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
20 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