No-start or intermittent start failure on the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee
When no-start or intermittent start failure gets reported
Owners of the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee report no-start or intermittent start failure at a median of 97,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 77,500 miles and a quarter after 117,500 miles, from 34 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 62,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 162,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 100,500 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.
9% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61,500 miles | 78,239 miles | 98,347 miles | 118,004 miles | 162,000 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
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 2006 has 39. 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 2006 jeep grand cherokee. While turning on the vehicle, it failed to start. All of the lights on the instrumental panel were illuminated. The contact stated that after 3 attempts, the vehicle finally started. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the transmission and the rear end differential were serviced prior to the failure. The contact stated that the failure was related to the previous service repairs that were made. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 80,200.
While driving in normal dry conditions this past evening unexpectedly all my interior gauges and dash electronics started flickering on and off to include the radio, hazard lights and everything inside. At the same time I realized I was also loosing my exterior headlights and also brake control because my car was essentially running but with no electronics. It started making a weird grinding pulsating noise that would accompany the flickering lights. This forced me to exit the road at a gas station. It then stopped and I began driving again only to have it resume shortly. Thankfully I was close to my destination and was able to shut the vehicle off for the night. This has happened occasionally in the past couple months during the day but this is my first night experience. I thought it was just a glitch but it is definitely getting worse and has become regular. The next morning I was able start and drive my vehicle to work and it repeated this behavior a couple more times. At days end I went to leave and now my jeep won't start and hasn't for two days. All the electronics come on but when I turn the key it just clicks. I also had…
While driving in normal dry conditions this past evening unexpectedly all my interior gauges and dash electronics started flickering on and off to include the radio, hazard lights and everything inside. At the same time I realized I was also loosing my exterior headlights and also brake control because my car was essentially running but with no electronics. It started making a weird grinding pulsating noise that would accompany the flickering lights. This forced me to exit the road at a gas station. It then stopped and I began driving again only to have it resume shortly. Thankfully I was close to my destination and was able to shut the vehicle off for the night. This has happened occasionally in the past couple months during the day but this is my first night experience. I thought it was just a glitch but it is definitely getting worse and has become regular. The next morning I was able start and drive my vehicle to work and it repeated this behavior a couple more times. At days end I went to leave and now my jeep won't start and hasn't for two days. All the electronics come on but when I turn the key it just clicks. I also had…
Also reported on the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Other electrical problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Stalling while driving
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 39 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 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
Across 34 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 97,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 77,500 miles and a quarter after 117,500 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 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
39 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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