AutoUtility currently tracks 458 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 Jeep Patriot. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 211 complaints (46.1% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 24 filings cite a crash, 8 cite a fire, 16 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 458 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (211 reports • 46.1% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (99), Powertrain & Transmission (74)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 24 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 8 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 16 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
458
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
24
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
8
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
16
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2016 Jeep Patriot

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 46.1% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

211 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🔥 2 fire reports 🩹 1 injury report entry
#2 Problem Area 21.6% of complaints

Electrical System

99 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🔥 2 fire reports
#3 Problem Area 16.2% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

74 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 1 injury report entry
#4 Problem Area 10.7% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

49 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 2 injury report entries
#5 Problem Area 9.6% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

44 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 14 crash reports 🔥 1 fire report 🩹 14 injury report entries
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Jeep Patriot

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Engine & Cooling 6.1% of complaints

Engine Stalling / Sudden Shutdown

28 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Powertrain & Transmission 3.3% of complaints

Loss of Motive Power While Driving

15 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Jeep Patriot

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11757914
Filed: 08/19/2026

"One month ago while driving on Business US10, the vehicle had the sensation like the engine had stopped no acceleration, lightning bolts and engine light came on with a sound of a ding ding, ding. Pulled over to the entrance of a Shell station. Shut the vehicle off. restarted within 5 minutes and..."

Incident Date: 07/20/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11756677
Filed: 08/13/2026

"My 2016 Jeep Patriot is cutting off while I’m driving on the highway at 65 mph. The lights on the dashboard are on and for no apparent reason. Now my radio system is cutting on and off sporadically.Rendering my satellite radio and hands free use of my phone useless. I’ve been told that my car has..."

Incident Date: 08/11/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE
Electrical System NHTSA ODI ID: #11755904
Filed: 08/10/2026

"I have a 2016 Jeep Patriot, and I am having intermittent stalling and the RPM gauge dropping to zero. It is a safety risk because you do not know when it is going to happen, and no warning lights come on the dashboard. Yes, I have taken it to a mechanic, and they were able to drive it, and it..."

Incident Date: 07/13/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Seats & Interior NHTSA ODI ID: #11749716
Filed: 07/11/2026

"While I was driving, driver's headrest suddenly popped off and hit me hard on the back of the head while driving. I have two children in my car who were startled from the sound. Head has been hurting since the incident."

Incident Date: 07/11/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Electrical System NHTSA ODI ID: #11746340
Filed: 06/24/2026

"Driveshaft sensor failure Vehicle stalling while driving dropping to zero rpm vehicle dying completely to zero start at low rpm’s"

Incident Date: 06/24/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Jeep Patriot

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2017)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Jeep Patriot 313 14 1 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Jeep Patriot Current Page 458 24 1 Current
2017 Jeep Patriot 59 7 0 View 2017 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 Jeep Patriot

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 109 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 98 0 1 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 29 1 3 2 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 23 1 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 21 1 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 20 7 1 8 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 15 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 15 1 0 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 14 0 0 0 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 11 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 10 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 10 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 8 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 7 1 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 7 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 7 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 6 1 0 1 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 5 0 0 1 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 5 1 1 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 5 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 4 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 4 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 0 0 1 0
STEERING,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 1 0 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ENGINE 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 3 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 3 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEATS 2 1 0 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,STRUCTURE 1 1 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE,SEATS 1 1 0 1 0
AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 1 0 2 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEAT BELTS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,ENGINE 1 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,TIRES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN,SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 1 0 0 0 0
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
PARKING BRAKE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEAT BELTS,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SEAT BELTS,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
SEAT BELTS,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SEAT BELTS,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SEAT BELTS,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,STRUCTURE 1 1 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 1 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,STRUCTURE,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 1 0 0 0 0
TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
WHEELS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (458). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (4)

1 OPEN 3 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
OPEN Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA21002
Opened: 2021-09-17 • Currently Active

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

Affected Component: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious...

Active federal investigation. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Recall Query (RQ) ODI Action #RQ22002
Opened: 2022-07-22 • Closed: 2025-06-16

Stall from Crankshaft\Camshaft Failure

Affected Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:CRANK/CAMSHAFT POSITION SENSOR

On December 13, 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received recall 16V-907 from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) that identified a safety defect involving crankshaft or camshaft sensor failures on certain 2016 Model Year Dodge Journey, Jeep Compass, and Jeep Patriot vehicles. The failure of the crankshaft or camshaft sensor may lead to a loss of motive power (LOMP) in the recalled vehicles.  Following the receipt of...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Preliminary Evaluation (PE) ODI Action #PE19014
Opened: 2019-09-09 • Closed: 2026-02-25

Active Head Rest Inadvertent Deployment

Affected Component: SEATS

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19014 on September 9, 2019, to investigate 128 consumer complaints alleging that the Active Head Rest (AHR) inadvertently deployed without the occurrence of a crash or other rear impact event in model year (MY) 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango vehicles.When ODI opened the investigation, ODI was aware of thirteen alleged injuries.A small number of Early Warning Reports identified driver...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA19001
Opened: 2019-04-19 • Closed: 2024-09-19

Electrical overstress

Affected Component: AIR BAGS: AIR BAG/RESTRAINT CONTROL MODULE

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect.  During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (AC...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 20V024 Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.