Transmission Problems For The Jeep Renegade

It seems that a known problem is rearing its head at Jeep: the first Renegades that came off the line seem to have trouble with their nine-speed automatic gearbox.

In a recent interview, FCA’s CEO Sergio Marchionne announced that the small Jeep had unexpected problems with its automatic transmission, and that this was slowing down deliveries to dealerships.

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If this seems familiar, it’s because the Cherokee had that same exact problem when it was launched in 2013 (And it comes with the same gearbox. It’s not a coincidence.).

The programming seems to be the culprit here. We don’t know exactly what’s wrong with it, but a recent test-drive of this vehicle showed us that the ZF-sourced unit was always hunting for the right gear and was somewhat slow to react.

While the obvious solution would be to take the Cherokee’s programming (which isn’t perfect, but it’s still better than the Renegade’s), since Jeep’s smallest offering is built on a different platform and doesn’t use the same AWD setup, the whole system would need to be recalibrated anyway.