A Recall For The Jeep Cherokee

It seems that American manufacturers are not yet out of the woods when it comes to recalls. After last year’s record-smashing number of recalled vehicles, FCA just announced that 170,000 2014-2015 Jeep Cherokees will have to be brought back to a dealership to fix an airbag problem.

You read that right; the last few months have been plagued by reports that these pieces of safety equipment were not as safe as we thought (from the massive Takata scandal to last week’s 2.1 million car recall), and the NHTSA just confirmed that 170,000 Jeep Cherokees built between 2014 and 2015 were equipped with side curtain and seat airbags that could pop out without warning. If it were to happen while driving, you would probably lose your concentration (and possibly crash your Jeep).

• Also: Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk Vs. Ford Escape: City Mouse Or Country Mouse?
• Also: The Jeep Cherokee Heads to the Garage

According to FCA, the repair is simple: a reflash of the airbag module should be enough to quell the problem. The manufacturer will start notifying owners shortly, and repairs will start on March 26th.

While your Cherokee is in the shop, ask the service advisor to install the latest transmission update as well. If your vehicle still doesn’t want to shift into 8th or 9th, a new algorithm has been published by ZF that should solve the issue.

As a reminder, a similar update was done in May of last year (and the very same problem plagued the Cherokee’s initial launch).