2008 Jeep Wrangler 2-DR 4X4 problems
Owners have filed 430 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 Jeep Wrangler 2-DR 4X4. Fuel system is the most reported problem area, at 30% of complaints. Next are air bags (19%) and electrical system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 430 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Fuel system 30% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 8
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 40,000 miles 386 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 54 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 125 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 86 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 50 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 35 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 15 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 13 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 386 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 40,000 miles. For fuel system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 30,000 miles (106 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 3 complaints mention a crash; 8 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 89% of model years in our database.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
I don't know who to contact or what to do, I was the owner of a 2008 jeep wrangler I have owned it since 9/11/08 I ordered it brand new from factory through a dealer. Yesterday may 31, 2008 at around 630 pm or so. I was driving to a local state park when my vehicle burst into flames in the engine compartment area, while I was driving about 45MPH down a gravel rode. There was a pop and the vehicle lost drive power at the same time the flames shot out from under the drivers side engine compartment.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 jeep wrangler. The contact stated that his transmission over heated and the fluid leaked on the exhaust which caused a fire to occur. The failure caused the plastic fuel lines to melt which caused the fire to spread under the engine compartment destroying the entire vehicle. There were no injuries. The manufacturer stated 22 days ago that a representative would inspect the vehicle; however, he has not received a call. A police/fire report is available if needed.
When filling my 2008 jeep wrangler (2 door) with gas and the pump automatically shuts off about 0.5 gal of gas will spill out of the fill tube on me, my car, and the ground. Got a nice gas burn on my foot the first time this happened. The second time I stood away from the car not knowing if the problem was with the gas pump or my car.
Occasionally my transmission violently "pops" out of first gear when I am moving from a complete stop. I have now made a habit of holding the shift level into 1st gear and sometimes it forces my hand and the shift lever out of gear no matter how hard I am pushing the shift lever.
Air bag light stays on. Cruise control no longer works, horn doesn't work and air bags don't work. Dealership says it's a bad clock spring but it wasn't covered under my extended warranty. Had to buy and replace component myself. Should be recalled for faulty clock spring as many 07-08 jeep jk's are having this problem. It is unsafe to have no airbags and no horn.