Other steering problem on the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2 crashes 2 of the 48 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 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee report other steering problem at a median of 62,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 37,500 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles, from 38 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 12,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 115,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 103,025 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.
24% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,180 miles | 38,207 miles | 63,000 miles | 80,000 miles | 115,205 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 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 $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 2012 has 48. 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.
Power steering hose burst, spilling fluid, and power steering was suddenly lost after only 400 miles. Fortunately I was driving slowly on a neighborhood street and not yet on the highway. Car was towed to dealership. Mechanic received directive from chrysler on a "fix". He made the fix, as directed, but the new hose quickly burst on him during testing. Chrysler has directed a second fix. I have not yet heard about the status of the second fix. I've been without my car for 4 days. I have read that chrysler had to recall 26,000 vehicles in 2010 for a similar power steering problem. *tr
We had noticed a small puddle of fluid in our garage and took car to be serviced at jeep. They said it was transmission fluid and fixed the problem. Next day we drove 500 miles to oliver bc and when we stopped the car, we noticed a larger puddle of red fluid from the left front area under car. The car was difficult to steer and realized it must be power steering fluid that was leaking. We took it to a dealer in pentiction, bc and they said that there was no power steering fluid left in the system. They "located power steering leak, as clamp was not released, they released clamp, cleaned off the fluids, refilled reservoir, road tested and no leaks." we then drove another 300 miles to our destination and have not had any leaks and the power steering seems fine. We just bought the car in may and it only has 2100 miles on it. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 jeep grand cherokee. While driving approximately 65 MPH, the steering wheel began to vibrate violently. The defect recurred continuously. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer five times for the steering malfunction. The repairs consisted of both front tires being replaced and balanced and a four wheel alignment. The failure continued after the repairs were performed. The vehicle remained at the dealer for additional investigation of the failure. The manufacturer was notified but was unable to provide ny assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 150.
Also reported on the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Other electrical problem
Alternator or charging system failure
Fuel pump failure
Other brake problem
Other engine problem
No-start or intermittent start failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 48 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 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
Across 38 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 62,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 37,500 miles and a quarter after 80,000 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 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
48 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.5 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