Jeep Wranglers are some of the highly revered vehicles that you’ll find in the off-roading market with superior technologies. Their capabilities will take you the distance that no other vehicle would even dare to dream of, and you’re going to fall in love with the strength and comfort Wrangler variants have to offer at your service.
While such is the case for models that have come out for the past three and a half decades, it’s highly disappointing that we’re having to warn you about a few models from certain years. Our analogy for the Jeep Wrangler years to avoid are based on statistical evidence from prominent sources.
Consumer Reports and Car Complaints are our prime data references behind our claims. These data are based on real consumers who were avid users of those particular Wrangler year vehicles. Our analysis will shed light on the matter and equip you with sufficient knowledge so that you can avoid making purchases from those specific years for your convenience!
Jeep Wrangler Years You Must Avoid
Some of the Wrangler models had stooped so low into reliability that USA Today had to intervene in order to let the consumers know of these mishaps and hassles faced by the consumers. From our credible sources, we now go into the details of why you should fully avoid the following Jeep Wrangler years and save you some serious trouble.
2007
This is the year that many people refer to as the cursed year for Jeep Wrangler models. Consumers witnessed a large number of issues some of which remain unfixable till date. One such major issue for this year’s cars has been the “death wobble”. Let me explain.
While the newer Wranglers relish in smooth operations and supreme driveability, the 2007 models however fell significantly short in this account. Death wobble refers to a high degree of vibration in the steering wheel that severely compromises your handling abilities.
Within a couple of years, Jeep realized how big of a screw up this has been as the 2007 models became the ones receiving the highest number of complaints overall. These issues became so severe that at some points the users had to reach a complete halt in order to save them from accidents.
On top of that, the electronics unit in this series also failed frequently, leaving the Totally Integrated Power Module or TIPM a complete loss which was supposed to be a highlight feature for the vehicle. 2007 models are reported to find the least amount of spare parts in the open market which makes repairing almost impossible in many locations.
To sum up, DO NOT purchase any 2007 Jeep Wrangler model if you want to remain safe and keep your sanity, as this is probably one of the worst years of Wrangler production.
2008
Somehow the 2007 problems remained unfixed in this year’s models as well, with the same death wobble and noisy engine issue bugging the minds of thousands of consumers. It even consisted of an airbag problem which violates the safety regulations of traffic rules and has been notified to the authorities.
It’s a shame that Wranglers would have similar problems two years back to back and the level of disappointment remains immeasurable among many.
2012
This is the year that can compete with 2008 in terms of being one of the worst years for Jeep Wranglers, if not the worst of all time. 2011 models had issues with the V6 engine that 2012 somehow made even worse and it would cost a sizable amount of money to get that fixed.
The TIPM issue from 2008 started to recur in this year’s models as well. Starting from faulty fuel gauges, doors falling out, rumbling noise underneath the vehicle or leaking of hot air into the cabin stand out as some of the most common problems reported by the consumers.
2013
The engine issue carried on to this year as well and it seemed Jeep was struggling with the V6 versions to work perfectly with all the models they produced that year. It was so bad that even the engine died out while driving in some people’s cases, and Jeep had to call back quite a few models to fix such mishaps.
2014
Despite being the second last year into the JK generation which is supposed to be the epitome of progress, 2014 turned out to be quite the opposite. This year turned out to be the recipient of the second most complaints ever in Wrangler’s history even though the cars had improved significantly over their predecessors.
Gone were the death wobbles or dead engines. The only major issue that saw the complaints was the fuel tank leakage that cost a handsome amount of money to get fixed. Other than that, this actually is a comeback year for Wranglers, but we’d still recommend avoiding it for added safety.
Reliability Ratings
Here, we are going to project the reliability ratings done by consumer reports of Wrangler years within a span of the past decade. This should give you a brief understanding on how well Jeep has produced their vehicles over the years!
Wrangler Model | Reliability Rating (Scale: 5 Best; 1 Worst) |
2012 Wrangler (JK) | 2 |
2013 Wrangler (JK) | 1 |
2014 Wrangler (JK) | 1 |
2015 Wrangler (JK) | 1 |
2016 Wrangler (JK) | 1 |
2017 Wrangler (JL) | 3 |
2018 Wrangler (JL) | 1 |
2019 Wrangler (JL) | 1 |
2020 Wrangler (JL) | 1 |
2021 Wrangler (JL) | 3 |
Verdict
Now that you’ve reached the end of our article, you now have a broader idea about Jeep Wrangler years to avoid that’s going to be beneficial for your pocket in the long run. As our article is driven by data and backed up by substantial evidence, you can take our word for the years we’ve advised you to refrain from purchasing.
If you avoid 2007, 2008 and years of 2012 through to 2014, you’re probably going to be safe from any major failure that are quite common to these models. However, no one can guarantee that any other year won’t disappoint you, and at the same time buying any model from the mentioned year would be unfortunate.
It’s basically a data driven analysis based on consumer feedback to avoid any sort of unprecedented incident that can take a good chunk out of your pocket. Also, once you’ve sorted out the worst years in your filtering process, take a look at the best Jeep Wrangler years to learn further on where you can look to make a success story with your new Wrangler!