2018 Jeep Compass Electrical System
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The vehicle will turn over but does not go into gear. With all emergency systems lighting up. When vehicle was running it would randomly turn off or stall in the middle of the road.
My car has the start/stop when it turns off when your idle, well sometimes when you release the brake to go it will hesitate to turn back on and or even not start again at all and you have to fully turn the car off and back on.
I've had this jeep since September 2021. I've driven about 32,000 miles. When I purchased the car it had 36,000 miles. Every light came on, including the check engine light. I have also seen the car will shut off. Park this vehicle about a month ago.
Car shut down on highway went into limp mode due to electrical issue. Several times already this has occurred. Recall is in place for this situation. Please help. Thanks [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
> After a routine oil change at a Jeep dealer on [XXX], the A/C in my 2018 Compass stopped working the next day. Compressor hardware is fine but the vehicle stored code U0423-00 (“Invalid Data Received from IPC”). This matches the defect covered under Recall T70 (2019 Compass) where invalid cluster data causes A/C failure, but my VIN is not included. This creates a safety concern: without working A/C, I cannot safely transport my [XXX] daughter in Florida heat, and it limits my ability to get to work. I am requesting that NHTSA investigate expansion of the recall to include affected 2018 models. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The car's dashboard will periodically show all the lights and indicate that the car will stop. In some cases, the car does stop, and you lose power steering. When we brought it into the dealership in early April 2024, they cleared the codes and indicated that start/stop relay may need to be replaced. A few weeks later, the same thing happened and the dealership repaired the start/stop relay. Since then, the lights will periodically come on and turning it off eventually clears the codes. May 18, 2025, it happened again. On the radio, it showed P2AF5. We brought it to the dealership and while there were 30-40 codes that were showing (some active and some stored), the P2AF5 code didn't display. The dealership cleared all the codes in hopes that it would only turn on the code that caused all the other codes. No new codes displayed. They offered no further diagnostic suggestions and said to bring it back if it occurs again. Because losing power steering while driving is a safety hazard and because a lot of people on various sites indicate they have similar problems due to the start/stop relay, I want to report this issue in hopes that you can find a pattern and determine a fix.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated that the START/STOP indicator light was illuminated. The contact stated that the engine seized. While attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact had the vehicle set for approximately ten minutes and restarted the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to exceed 20 MPH. The contact stated that the Auto STOP indicator was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle could only be driven for twenty minutes before the failure reoccurred. The contact stated that the vehicle needed to remain parked for ten minutes before being restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure was not duplicated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.
My car will stop while I’m driving, stall and tell me to put in park. It also stalls in the middle of the road saying “stop safely your cars about to shut off” on the odometer. I’ve almost been in two accidents with my [XXX] because of this! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle briefly started shaking violently, before losing motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle initially failed to restart. After waiting approximately one hour, the vehicle was able to restart but operated under reduced power, prompting the contact to discontinue driving the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the powertrain control module wiring harness. The vehicle was repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V524000 (Electrical System), but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 123,478.
My infotainment screen did this (pictures) while I was driving. Not sure what caused this or anything. It tends to fix itself after a few minutes, but other days it does the same thing. Doesn't work then fixes itself. No warning lamps popped up. The component has not been inspected by anyone yet. I have not brought it to the dealer yet for them to recreate the problem. I have not seen a TSB on it. Since the screen does this, it is very concerning for people who use the backup camera religiously as they could run into a person in the parking of a grocery store. Now that I am aware of the problem, I make sure to take extra caution to look when backing up.
The uconnect radio/screen has been malfunctioning for 4+ months. It began with small streaks throughout the screen and glitchy radio play. It elevated to half the screen being black and the other half being streaky. Now it is fully black and will not come in. I have viewed countless Jeep forums and this is a problem for THOUSANDS. The dealership said a new radio system plus labor is >$1000 for something that should obviously be recalled.
The computer screen has failed (is still running but not visible), leaving no access to backup cameras, no access to steering wheel heater and seat heater causing over heating of the driver (the steering wheel gets too hot), draining the battery, and could cause potential wiring hazards. There are thousands of reports of Jeep radio screens not functioning properly and showing streaking, yet there have been no recalls.
My battery keeps corroding, even with cleaning and replacing the battery. Leaving me stranded when the vehicle does not want to start. You can’t let it run idle either the lights on the dash will all go crazy and you have to restart the car at which point it won’t start. This has been ongoing most frequently for a year but since I purchased the vehicle in 5/22 I’ve had electrical issues.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Compass. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the headlights independently turned off. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed; however, the contact was unaware of the result of the diagnostic test. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was serviced under Customer Satisfaction Number: W20 (Reprogram Power Train Control Module) however, the failure with the headlights persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 9,000.
Backup Camera rarely works most of the time just a black screen. The main problem however is that the auto start/stop is stalling my Vehicle when it tries to restart. Sometimes immediately other time in let me drive a tiny bit and than stalls. i have been to the dealership over 6 times and it continues to get worse. i've only had this vehicle 2 years in November.
Connect screen delamination. Screen is hitting all kinds of things on its own, calling 911 while I'm driving causing me to have to take my eyes off the road to frantically hang up the calls every few seconds.
On three separate occassions the vehicle has lost all power while driving and required towing to a repair facility. On two of these occassions the vehicle was traveling at highway speed and caused an usafe situation for surrounding vehicles. The batter and alternator were replaced and the vehicle lost power after these repairs. It is most likely the Totally Integrated Power Module, which has been the subject of numerous lawsuits for Chrysler Fiat vehicles.
radio software prevents the rearview image from displaying on the center screen when in Reverse.
After 40,000 miles on the vehicle The stereo screen went black. By doing so, the backup camera does not work enabling us to see what is behind the vehicle.
Vehicle has intermittently turned itself off while driving, locks the brake, and will not restart for a few minutes. Causing a serious safety concern as its happened while driving down the interstate. I have taken it to two different repair shops that can not find a cause. Currently the Jeep will not turn all the way on saying electronic brake engaged, but will also not turn off saying the car is not in park.
When vehicle in park mode it will not start. Seems to be an issue with Start/Stop system. Must place in neutral to start car. Auxiliary and main battery replaced. Seems to be bringing auxiliary battery down
I purchased a 2018 Jeep Compass 4 months ago with around 52,000 miles. The first month went smooth but going into the second month it began having system problems. The Jeep would stall out and turn off in my job parking lot, traffic, and the drive thru line. Seems as if the auto start/stop system would cause the Jeep to shut off so I would always try to disable it after starting the Jeep up. The entire dashboard and display would just flicker and turn off but I could still hear the radio. The windows would lock themselves when I would try to roll them down due to the heat from the hot weather. I would have to keep jumping the battery numerous times even after changing the aux battery. The Jeep would drive perfectly for a few days and then go right back to not starting up and the lights flickering.
The contact’s son owns a 2018 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact’s son was unable to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the auxiliary battery had drained the core battery. The contact was informed that the auxiliary and core battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable. The VIN was unavailable.
It states Coolant Temperature is to High, Car stops when driving, car wont start at times, Check engine light never goes on, mechanic has no idea what the issue is considering when driven. The teperature is normal.
The touch screen stereo that also houses the back up camera is going out at only 40,000 miles. This controls many functions and randomly stops working and works again. It first started one month ago but is not fully out. It will have lines through the screen then they go away on their own.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2018 Jeep Compass has 70 Electrical System complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.