2020 Jeep Gladiator Complaints

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 09/02/2026

Instrument Panel Failure. The center LCD screen that displays speed, tachometer, oil temp, coolant temp, oil pressure, battery voltage, and transmission temps, fuel gauge, tire pressure readings, warning messages, and many other things just stopped working. This is obviously a safety risk and can cause an increased risk to safety and crashes, as it has been recalled on many other Jeep Gladiators and Wranglers. This screen started out working upon purchase, but would often have a digital background that would show up. The dealership it was purchased from informed us there was nothing wrong with the screen. It just stopped working and there is nothing on the display.

POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 08/25/2026

Clutch overheated and cause an immense amount of smoke during drive with no warning indication from hud. Dealer stated that clutch has gotten well passed 390c Heat from clutch has also caused front driver caliper to lock up and damage rotors.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 08/29/2026

the driver instrument cluster has failed. completely blank no fuel gauge no odometer. was told this vin is not covered under the recall even though this is the issue behind the recall.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 07/23/2026

My 3.5 instrument intermittently goes out for days and will come back on and back off again. I took it to the nearest dealer but this did not sjow up on his scan but it out again. As you will see in the photo the vehicle is running but no display. Milage is a little over 69,000. Dealer informed me that many of these were recalled but not my particular vehicle. He said it would cost me $1600 to get it repaired. It appears to me the recall may need to be expanded. I also contacted the jeep website but was told my vehicle was not covered under the recall.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 05/15/2026

The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the instrument panel failed to display critical safety information as intended. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local Midas, where the battery was replaced; however, the failure persisted, and the vehicle was diagnosed and determined to need a new instrument panel. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 05/22/2026

The instrument Custer went blank during a vacation trip, did not know how much fuel was in it. Took to dealer they tried to put in a new one and it was also faulty, been waiting 3 weeks and still no new part

SEAT BELTS — Filed 04/10/2026

I was rear ended while stopped and the seat belts didnt lock causing injury to my face from hitting the steering wheel.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 11/28/2025

The digital dash that displays the speed, shows fuel level and if 4x4 is active went blank, when I went to turn my vehicle on

STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE — Filed 08/18/2025

The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle had suddenly started to vibrate and shake. The contact stated that the vehicle was maintaining its lane but was lurching from left to right. No warnings illuminated. The contact stated that she pulled off to the side of the road; however, when she turned the vehicle on, it would start shaking again. The contact stated that she would keep driving while the vehicle was shaking, and the shaking would eventually stop. The contact stated that the shaking was occurring at any speed and was also triggered when she would drive over any small bumps or dips in the road. The contact stated recently, while she was driving in traffic at approximately 10 MPH, the vehicle started to shake again, however, this time violently. The contact stated that at the time, it was raining. The contact stated that it felt like the vehicle had lifted up, and then she crashed into the guard rail on the driver's side front bumper. The contact stated that the bumper and an LED light bar attached to the front grill had made contact and were slightly damaged, and the driver's side headlight stopped functioning. The police were not called, and the contact was not injured. The contact reported that the driver's side front air bag had deployed but had not inflated and was draped on her lap. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed and was not repaired. The contact reported that after the crash, she observed the check oil and check brake warnings illuminated. The contact stated that she needed to depress the brake pedal with more force in order to stop. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 109,000.

ENGINE — Filed 10/15/2023

The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Gladiator Overland. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, they would smell a burning odor coming from the clutch. The local dealer was contacted but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated the vehicle caught on fire after being driven for a while. The contact exited the vehicle and the fire department extinguished the flames. No injuries were sustained. A fire report and police report were filed however no information was not available. The contact stated the vehicle was towed to another dealer where it was diagnosed that the clutch needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.

POWER TRAIN — Filed 10/20/2023

I was driving on the highway going 80mph in 6th gear and my wife smelled something then the gears started grinding I put it in neutral as I was slowing down I was trying to get to the exit which was about 1/4 mile away so I put the truck in 4th and thats when the transmission exploded sending fire and transmission parts on the highway. I saw flames come out from under the vehicle and from the engine compartment, I told my wife to get out and we got everything that we could grab and within 5 minutes the Jeep was engulfed in flames

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 04/20/2023

I was driving at about 5 MPH and about to go onto the Freeway on ramp in Riverside, California, when the sensor in my car went off and locked the brakes, causing the person behind me to rear-end me. This is not the first time this has happened with this vehicle. Luckily, I was not injured, however, this could have been a serious injury if I was traveling at a higher speed or under many other circumstances.

STEERING — Filed 01/29/2023

Steering is very loose, wanders all over the road and is especially noticeable at higher speeds. It’s very exhausting constantly correcting the steering to keep straight on the road. There is a lot of play in the steering box. I’ve taken my jeep to be fixed by the dealership more times than I can count. I’ve had the steering box replaced 3 times with no improvement. This has been a day 1 issue that hasn’t been fixed. It’s especially dangerous in the snow, I had a perfect driving record till I went off the road during my first winter. Dealer confirmed there was a lot of play in the steering but hasn’t fixed it, they’ve just basically throw their hands up in the air. This isn’t what I expected when I bought a new Jeep, it’s been a nightmare.

POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 06/12/2022

My truck malfunctioned at an automatic car wash. It has approximately 54k miles. I had no warning lights or system alerts on vehicle or Uconnect app. I stopped in the parking lot & put the Gladiator in Park, I left the ignition on. I got off truck & got a towel to clean interior.There are several spaces to vacuum. I put the vehicle in DRIVE to move forward & out of the way of a patron that was going to reverse out. In DRIVE, I pushed the gas pedal in a slight & normal way. The truck REVERSED in DRIVE position. It accelerated to an unknown speed, it felt constant. I pushed break with foot I pushed D with. Right foot. The breaks didn’t work. I tried breaking several times during incident, it was approximately 10 seconds. I didn’t have time to use e- break. I don’t believe back up camera was displayed. I concentrated on physically looking at surroundings & steering. I avoided hitting 1 car, a SUV & a brick wall. The truck made contact with around 4 trees & a sign. The damage was mainly to L side. There’s damage to R side & R back tire had a bulge on it. I went over a concrete, grassy area & felt the impacts of front & back ends going over it & landing. I went over another concrete curve & hit a tree at an angle around the middle of front L cab. The impact caused the car to bounce forward. It didn’t move. I put the truck in Park from D position. I pushed off button. I couldn’t get out of truck of driver side door it’s damaged. 1 witness & lady from suv stopped to check on me. I called police to crash site. He noted witness & lack of break marks. Roadside service wait was long, officer called one. I made a report to Uconnect that evening. They gave me a case # told me they’d move vehicle to a dealer, inspect, analyze & call me. I’ve called, recorded calls & told case was elevated to higher level & no info can be given to me. They refused to tell me where car was, if inspected, warranty info, or what malfunctioned. My ribs, clavicles, r shoulder hurt for a month.

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 02/29/2020

A braking sensor failed on the Gladiator causing the ABS, 4WD, and cruise warning lights to become illuminated. The brakes then did not work properly causing an accident. The EDR report shows the ABS system was turned off as a result of the sensor. The attached documentation shows an expert reviewed the information and came to the conclusion the failed sensor caused the ABS to be off which in turn caused the brakes to lock. The brakes locking caused a skid which caused the accident. Also to note the general manager of Bellevue AutoNation let me know the sensor has since been changed out along with the brake cables on 06/05/2021 for all Jeep Gladiators. Jeep has known this is a problem and has not done a recall.

POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 05/04/2022

Electrical system malfunction. Gladiator is burned down completely. Copart now has it under my insurance companies instruction. Large electrical fire. I took my vehicle into the dealer because the start stop feature stopped working. I received a call at the end of the day and was notified that both my batteries where bad. They replaced both under warranty and kept it over night for testing. Received a call the fallowing late morning informing my that my vehicle was repaired and was ready to be picked up. On my way home I was stopped at a light and noticed smoke coming out around the hood. I immediately pulled over and opened the hood. The electrical wire on the passenger side below the fuse panel were burning. I tried to put it out with a towel but was burned. I called 911 but by the time the fire department came it was too late. My Gladiator was completely burned down. This incident happened in front of a school as they where letting out. A police officer was there directing student to walk around the dangerous incident. The incident was inspected by the fire department and was confirmed in a report that it started in the engine compartment. No warning lamp or messages.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 08/07/2021

While exiting the vehicle from the front passenger door, I put my left hand on the door frame to close the front door. Simultaneously, the passenger in the rear passenger side exited the vehicle and closed the door. One of my fingers got caught between the door frame and the door and severed part of my my finger off. While I understand closing the door on my hand is not Jeeps fault, the normal result of closing the door on a finger is not instant amputation! I used a stick to see if I could replicate the results, and 100% of the time the door snapped the stick when placed above the door hinge. If that had been a childs hand, it would have cut it clean off.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 06/01/2021

Truck had very low power from day 1. Start/stop functionality mpcb short. Engine shacking and making noises. Engine burns oil. Trucks fuel economy is worse then a v12!I was getting 14 miles per gallon. The steering sucks it tilts to the right. Truck feels very unsafe to steer. The steering radius on ir is terrible. Trucks engine temperature goes up when is idling. Starter was staying on and hard to start. Engine would stall crossing the street. Engine stalled in the highway going 65 mph.it generated 10 check engine codes.the chassis of the truck is not completely welded trough. There is gaps all over it.over all the truck flimsy and unstable. The 4x4 was making noises. My oil would get black after 3k miles of driving it.If I was to leave truck on for it to get warm or cold any body could jump in and steal it, even if I have the keys. Truck started having issues at 7 k miles Ac didn’t blow very cold air. Hot air from outside will come in the pit. At last truck broke down it stalled in the middle of a intersection, or would not no into neutral to push it out of the road. I was trying to start it but the stater was very sluggish and after 3 times of me pushing on the start button it started smoking, when I saw this I panicked and trying to make it stop from starting but the starter kept going and going until it kept smoking after 5 minutes it stoped, I open the hood and it smelled like a electrical fire, I was going to call the fire department but it ceased smoking, so I stopped and somehow got it to a safe place. Truck didn’t want to start ever since. I never did any upgrades so that I would not void my warranty, I always did my oil changes and did my tire rotations. Never overloaded my truck or took it off-road. I never put a big trailer on it.I always washed it and took the best care of it as possible.mind you this all happened at 34 thousand miles and I am under new car warranty, even after all this I would still buy another Jeep gladiator

AIR BAGS — Filed 04/03/2021

I HIT A GUARDRAIL AT 70 MPH ON AN INTERSTATE WITH THE FRONT RIGHT BUMPER AND ROLLED THE VEHICLE WITHOUT ANY AIRBAGS DEPLOYING.

POWER TRAIN,STRUCTURE,ENGINE — Filed 11/02/2020

I ENTERED THE HIGHWAY AND MY POWER STEERING LIGHT CAME ON. I THEN LOST POWER STEERING. IMMEDIATELY GOT OFF AT THE NEXT EXIT AND PULLED INTO THE GAS STATION. AS I EXITED MY VEHICLE I OBSERVED SMOKE COMING FROM THE HOOD VENTS. THE ENGINE BAY THEN BECAME FULLY ENGULFED IN FLAMES AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDED TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE. VEHICLE IS TOTAL LOSS.

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 10/28/2020

FIRST INCIDENT WAS APPROACHING A TURN OFF INTO A SHOPPING AREA, A CAR WAS STOPPED THERE WAITING FOR TRAFFIC AS I APPROACHED I APPLIED THE BRAKES AND THE BRAKE PEDAL WENT TO WAY DOWN, I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO RECYCLE BRAKE PEDAL AS IT WENT SO FAR DOWN I WAS HITTING GAS PEDAL, THUS CAUSING ME TO COLLIDE. SECOND INCIDENT OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING TO TOWN AND A STRONG BRAKE BURNT SMELL WAS OCCURRING, WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO STOP AGAIN BRAKE PEDAL WENT WAY DOWN AGAIN WHICH THIS TIME I HAD TIME TO REGAIN CONTROL FROM HITTING GAS PEDAL AND FORCE STOP, INSPECTED BRAKES AND FRONT BRAKES WERE EXTREMELY HOT AND SMOKING AS IF BRAKES WERE BEING CONSTANTLY APPLIED, I DID NOT FEEL BRAKES BEING APPLIED GOING DOWN THE HIGHWAY JUST SMELL AND INSPECTION OF FRONT BRAKES HEATING UP. I CALLED ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE AND VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO REPAIR STATION WAITING ON RESULTS. I FEEL THAT IF NOT TAKEN CARE OF TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE WOULD OCCUR AND MAJOR ACCIDENT.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 07/25/2020

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2020 JEEP GLADIATOR. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 45 MPH, FLAMES WERE COMING FROM THE BED OF VEHICLE TOWARDS TO THE CAB. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER THE VEHICLE AND JUMP OUT. THE CONTACT STATED THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISH BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. A FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT WAS FILED WHICH STATED THE FIRE STARTED UNDERNEATH THE BED OF VEHICLE. THE INSURANCE ADJUSTER DEEMED THE VEHICLE A TOTAL LOSS. THE CONTACT STATED LOCAL DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. A CASE WAS FILED WITH THE MANUFACTURER. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 12,900.*DT*LN*JB*JB*DT*JB

UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 05/06/2020

THE CAR GOES INTO COMPLETE HALT UNDER BRIDGE WITH LOTS OF VIBRATION. IT REACTS BY PRESSING THE BRAKES. IT HAS CAUSED ME TO CRASH. *TR

EXTERIOR LIGHTING,SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 02/29/2020

I PURCHASED THE JEEP ON 12/30/2019. IT HAD 1,200 MILES WHEN THE INCIDENT OCCURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION WHEN 4WD AND ABS WARNING LIGHT CAME ON TO INDICATE FAILURE. I HIT THE BRAKES AND NOTHING HAPPENED. THE VEHICLE DID NOT STOP AND CAUSED AN ACCIDENT WHEN I COULD NOT STOP AT A RED LIGHT.*DT CONSUMER IS CURRENTLY WAITING ON DIAGNOSIS AND NO REPAIRS HAVE BEEN MADE. DURING THE ACCIDENT CONSUMER HAD NECK, BACK, AND SHOULDER INJURIES. POLICE REPORT HAS BEEN FILED CASE [XXX]. ('PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).')*JB

POWER TRAIN — Filed 09/21/2019

DRIVING ON INTERSTATE 70 WITH APPROX SPEED OF 65. CAUGHT ON FIRE. FLAMES AND LOTS OF SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER JEEP. SMOKE ENTERED CAB. WHAT I THINK IS TRANSMISSION FLUID LEFT TRAIL ON INTERSTATE. I HAVE PHOTO.*DT*JB*DT *JS