Jeep Wrangler

Which Jeep Wrangler years should you avoid?

Going by 15,925 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Jeep Wrangler years to avoid are 2018, 2021, 2017, 2008 and 2012.

• 20181,827 complaints, 4.5× a typical Wrangler year, most often about the steering.
• 2021958 complaints, 2.4× a typical Wrangler year, most often about the electrical system.
• 20172.3× the usual share of fires, crashes and deaths for a car of its age (21 fires, 19 crashes).
• 2008873 complaints, 2.1× a typical Wrangler year, most often about the airbags.
• 2012836 complaints, 2.1× a typical Wrangler year, most often about the transmission.

Too new to judge: 2025 and 2026. Complaints take a few years to arrive, so a new model year looks better than it is.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →