Common Problems With The Jeep Renegade (According To Owners)

In 2024, Jeep announced that the Renegade would be discontinued, though used models of the crossover SUV have great resale value. Clearly, it still has something going for it. Yet for whatever strengths it had, the Renegade's 2015 model landed on the list of the top 10 used Jeep models to steer clear of. And that isn't the only Renegade year with a laundry list of problems.

The 2015 Renegade is considered as a must-avoid model due to consumer complaints surrounding its powertrain and engine. Unfortunately, 2015 was the model's debut, putting it off to a bad start. Nonetheless, the Renegade continued to be produced for a decade. Moreover, the reasons Jeep gave for discontinuing the model didn't include problems with the design itself. Instead, the company stated that sales numbers were down, and Jeep was looking to shift focus away from subcompact SUVs and towards larger vehicles like the newly updated Jeep Wagoneer.

Whatever the reasons for the Renegade's ultimate demise, consumer complaints found on online forums and review aggregates give valuable insight into the mixed opinions of the subcompact SUV. While criticism and praise for the Renegade are often shared in the same breath, it's worth examining the downsides of the Jeep Renegade before we write it off. 

Transmission problems are one of the biggest red flags when choosing a vehicle, and the Renegade unfortunately had its fair share. However, the only model year that was recalled for transmission issues was 2015. The recall was due to a problem with the sensor clusters, which had the potential for the transmission to randomly switch from an engaged gear to neutral. That's a dangerous flaw, but it's not the main complaint surrounding the Renegade's transmission. 

While the 2015 Renegade saw a recall on its transmission, customer reviews expose a litany of issues with subsequent model years as well. One terrible experience was posted to Edmunds.com, with a buyer reporting that their transmission failed after driving only 10 miles off the dealership's lot. The second-worst came from Brett West reviewing their 2015 Renegade, claiming the transmission was overall "sluggish" — besides the SUV also unexpectedly dying in the middle of the road. 

But aside from transmission failures, a more common complaint simply regards the transmission's rough, noisy operation. One review on CarBuyer.co.uk says the, "noisy auto transmission, when hunting gears at lower speeds, makes a nasty clacking noise." "Nasty" isn't a great descriptor, but other reviewers echo the sentiment. A reviewer named Brenda on Edmunds says that their "transmission bangs between 2nd and 3rd shift — and on the down shift." They also claim the transmission, "hesitates going from 1st to 2nd, then lunges forward." 

The takeaway is that the transmission struggles the most in lower gears. And while its noisy performance might be annoying, it's also a red flag for those hoping for a long-lasting, reliable transmission. 

The four-wheel-drive and all-terrain build of the Jeep Renegade make it an excellent SUV for tackling snowy roads. For instance, one reviewer on Edmunds.com says the "4WD works great in the snow, [with its] 8-inch ground clearance." And that's certainly valid praise. However, the Renegade's aptitude for traversing icy, snowy conditions isn't the problem. Instead, many customers have complained about issues with the Renegade's performance in cold temperatures, a problem that spans the entire model line's catalog.

Some customers reported that their Renegades are prone to fail to start in cold temperatures. An owner of the 2020 Jeep Renegade Orange Edition shared their experience on Edmunds.com: "The moment it turned a bit cold in the state of Michigan, the car refused to start, and both the foot brake and emergency brake were blocked." Another reviewer gave their 2020 Renegade 2 out of 5 stars, their complaint surrounding the failure of the heated seats which "stopped working after 1 year." To drive the point home, an owner of the 2017 model says they struggled with "electrical problems in the winter," among a long list of other issues. 

For an SUV marketed for those looking for an all-weather, all-terrain workhorse, any shortcoming related to winter preparedness is a major flaw. If you find yourself over-revving the engine in the winter to warm it up, it probably won't help. In fact, doing so may actually cause damage to your vehicle's components. 

No one would expect an SUV to drive as smoothly as a sports car like the Lamborghini. Still, it's not unreasonable to want a big brand like Jeep to produce vehicles that, at the very least, can handle turns with some finesse. That's why the Renegade's stiff, jerky handling is so disappointing. Consumers have consistently reported poor steering from their Renegades through the years.

Indeed, the words stiff, jerky, and sensitive appear frequently in owner reviews of the Renegade. For instance, one reviewer on Parkers complains about their 2015 Renegade's ZF 9-speed gearbox, saying the many gears still don't provide enough torque, resulting in a driving experience that's "too jerky." They claim their Renegade was "jerking through gears," which threw the driver and their passengers forward every time the automatic transmission switched gears. 

Unfortunately, it appears that there weren't any significant improvements made to the design across its near decade of production.

An owner of the 2023 Renegade posted a review on Edmunds, saying, "you really have to grab the wheel hard and take good control over it." That particular owner did not recommend the Jeep Renegade. To add insult to injury, consumers also complained about the overpowered brake assistance. High-tech doesn't necessarily mean successful, as the brakes of the Renegade proved, according to one reviewer, "way too over-power assisted, which can make for uncomfortably jolts when braking." Once again, a word like "jolts" conjures up the common theme of a jerky, uncomfortable riding experience. 

Jeeps aren't exactly known for their aerodynamics. For example, SlashGear's review of the 2024 Jeep Wrangler posits, "It has all of the aerodynamic properties of an aircraft carrier ... on the radio, the 392 and road noise are performing the lead vocals." That's not great, but it's also not unexpected for such a boxy SUV. And the Renegade suffers from the same complaints. 

From the beginning of the model line, an owner of a 2015 Renegade shared this criticism on Parkers: "One major annoyance is wind noise. Would I buy another? Probably not." Other 2015 owners echoed the sentiment. One unhappy customer recounted on Edmunds how they sent their Renegade into the shop to get the wind noise fixed multiple times. Surprisingly, after some frustrations, they actually managed to reduce the buffering sound. 

But newer models don't appear to have addressed the problem. An owner of the 2017 Renegade says, "The cabin is quite noisy at highway speeds," while a Reddit user reached out to the community only two years ago in search of a "fix for [a] whistling sound" that would start its song once their Renegade surpassed 35 mph. The responses suggest duct tape and pulling hard on the door while cruising on the highway. 

Thus, it would seem that the wind noise that pops up at high speeds isn't due to a particular design flaw. That's discouraging, since it implies that the causes of wind noise among the Renegade model line can be the result of any number of issues with the SUV's aerodynamics and therefore not easy to identify and fix. However, at the end of the day, wind noise is annoying, but not necessarily hazardous.

In 2024, Jeep fans got a well-rounded catalog of electrified models that could help slash pump prices. But the Renegade never received a fully electric model. Instead, its line was markedly gas-guzzling, without a single model that would ever reach an average economy over 27 mpg. Customers lament this in numerous reviews. 

There are 37 variants of the Renegade recorded on FuelEconomy.gov. The list starts with the 2015 Jeep Renegade, a 4-cylinder, 9-speed, 2WD SUV that kicked off the line. It ran on regular gasoline and hit an underwhelming combined fuel economy of 25 mpg. Its 4WD contemporary was worse at 24 mpg. A year later, the 2016 9-speed 4WD automatic also scored 24 mpg, while premium gasoline models from the same years only reached one or two mpg higher. 

The Renegade models with the best fuel economy are the following: the 2021 2WD automatic, the 2020 2WD automatic, the 2019 2WD automatic, the 2016 4WD manual, and the 2015 4WD manual. All five models take regular gasoline and have a turbo engine, but the "high score" fuel economy is only 27 mpg.

Indeed, the earliest Renegades received complaints about poor fuel economy. One owner of the 2016 Renegade writes, "Cruising at 2,000 revs... only returned 28.4 mpg, which is awful. The fuel consumption around town is 20 to 24 mpg." Another observes of the 2023 Renegade, "the gas mileage... Not as good as listed in city... 16.5 mpg so far for city." Across the pond in the U.K., a 2017 customer complained their Renegade suffered from, "very poor petrol consumption, average 26 mpg and a small petrol tank."

Considering the numbers on FuelEconomy.gov, such complaints are expected.

The Jeep Renegade was touted as a new-age SUV with a more "sophisticated" and "refined" design, one which delivered the boxy, off-roading capabilities of classic Jeeps while also offering interior comforts. Such interior bells and whistles included a navigational touchscreen display and other modern tech via the Uconnect infotainment system. Unfortunately, owner reviews describe these features as unreliable, and the 'high-tech" features failed to impress. 

The failures of the electronics made the cost of new Renegades seem overpriced to reviewers. Additional problems surround the Renegade's infotainment system. It's been described as "glitchy," presenting "constant" problems, and based on a UConnect Nav system that's "slow to respond." Harsher criticisms claim that compatible technologies like Android Auto "constantly froze" and a computer system susceptible to going completely "haywire."

It's important to recognize that the abundant complaints surrounding the Renegade are often just one piece of the review puzzle. Such electronic shortcomings may have been corrected in later generations, since the tech inevitably improved in later generations. Nonetheless, paying top dollar for a purportedly "high-tech" modern vehicle that ultimately doesn't deliver on its promises is one more valid complaint in the varied list of the Renegade's failures.