Other brake problem on the 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee
When other brake problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee report other brake problem at a median of 20,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 35,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 21st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 60,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 55,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
88% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,700 miles | 10,750 miles | 21,500 miles | 32,750 miles | 58,700 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 $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 2003 has 9. 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.
When braking, the pedal felt soft and intermittently the driver would simultaneously apply the accelerator pedal. This caused the vehicle to lurch forward. The dealer was notified and informed the consumer that the brake pedal was a normal characteristic of the vehicle. Nothing was said concerning the brake and the accelerator pedal being too close. *ph the dealer verified that the 2003 models had softer brake pedal than the previous year models. The pedal was so low that it was easy to hit the gas pedal. *scc *jb
I took my vehicle in for the routine oil change at the dealership I purchase the vehicle. After that day, the vehicle vibrates to the point you cannot play a cd. They are telling me this is how the vehicle performs. I have been to the dealership many times with the same response. I also have taken it to other chrysler dealership with the same answer, it seems that the answer is the same after they look at the repair history. I also have met with the chrysler marketing rep twice, and the dealership told me that the chrysler technical rep drove the vehicle. Yet when I requested a encounter with him they declaim and said there is no technical rep. I also met with the general manager from the dealership twice, sales manager many times, I need this to be look into because I think my vehicle was tampered with, because if it was running like this when I bought it I would have not bought it. The vibration is getting worst. I do have a extended warranty, that I cannot use because they refuse to even look at the vehicle. Their solution was to sell me another vehicle, which I declined because they wanted more money down. Why should I buy…
Vehicle shook uncontrollably. Consumer was able to maintain control the vehicle, and drove it to the dealer. Mechanic determined that brake pads and rotors needed to be replaced. Consumer informed the mechanic that this problem happened at 13,000 miles, and brake pads and rotors were replaced. Currently, at 20,000 miles the problem resurfaced again. Mechanic advised the consumer that he was financially responsible for the repairs. *ak
Also reported on the 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Other visibility problem
Other body or interior problem
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
Blower motor or climate control failure
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 9 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 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 20,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 35,000 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 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
9 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