Half the complaint volume of the years on either side, and it is inside the Power Transfer Unit replacement recall. The 2018 is the quietest of the pre-refresh cars, provided the 2.4L has not been drinking oil since new.

2018 is the model year where owner accounts of this are loudest. One owner documented adding 'quarts plural of oil in this thing every month' on a car bought new, and was told by the dealership that 'the 2.4 liter engine is just really bad about that, they're known to consume a lot of oil.' Months later the same owner received Chrysler's program letter and noted, correctly, that it is 'not a recall, technically it's called a customer satisfaction notification.' The program is XB1, published as Warranty Bulletin D-23-01 for 'Select 2014 - 2019 Jeep Cherokee (KL),' and its procedure is 'performing an oil consumption verification test and possibly replacing the long block.' The same owner made a distinction worth repeating: 'this does not apply to the turbo engine, I'm talking about the four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine, the 2.4 liter.' Chrysler also has a 2017 and 2018 note telling dealers to call engineering before replacing a Tigershark long block, which is what a manufacturer does when it is tracking a pattern. Coverage terms are not stated in the bulletin summary; check eligibility by VIN.

Both of these landed on the 2018 2.4L specifically. Recall 17V-670 (Chrysler code T65) covers 2018 Cherokee and Compass with 2.4L engines whose engines 'may have a cracked oil pump housing that can result in oil pump failure,' and if the oil pump fails the engine stalls. Dealers inspect the pump and replace it as necessary, free. Recall 18V-282 (code U39) covers 2018 Cherokees with a 2.4L that 'may have been manufactured with a fuel tube that may leak fuel into the engine compartment,' which is a fire risk with an ignition source right there; dealers inspect and replace the tube, free. Neither is optional and neither is expensive to confirm. Look both up by VIN before anything else on a 2018 four-cylinder.

The powertrain control module, or PCM, is the computer that runs the engine. On a batch of 2018 and 2019 Cherokees, plus a long list of other Fiat Chrysler vehicles, that module 'may be equipped with a voltage regulator chip in the circuit board that may fail, causing a stall or a no start condition.' A stall in traffic is the reason this is a safety recall. Dealers replace the whole module, free, under Chrysler code U87. This is a straightforward VIN check with a straightforward answer, and it is exactly the sort of campaign a private seller has never heard of.

The ZF nine-speed automatic (the 948TE, from German gearbox maker ZF) is the Cherokee's reputational weak point. A mechanic who repairs them says 'every second or third will have some kind of transmission issues' and describes replacing five or six, 'some of them were fixable, some of them were not.' For 2018 Chrysler published a shift-quality reprogramming bulletin describing 'longer than usual shift times when performing garage shifts (P to R and R to D)' and a 'bump' on a foot-on-throttle downshift. There is also a documented electronic shifter fault covering 2015 to 2018 cars: a 'Service Shifter' message on the cluster with communication codes U0103 and U0103-87. Jeep calls the fluid lifetime fluid, and the transmission is sealed with no dipstick and only drain and fill plugs, so assume nobody has serviced it. Warm it up and work every gear both ways before you buy.

The V6 is a 3.2L Pentastar, unique to the Cherokee. Its documented wear item is the oil filter adapter housing, which leaks at the joint with the block; Chrysler's bulletin spans model years 2014 to 2022 and directs dealers to replace the inlet O-ring and gaskets above 30,000 miles rather than the whole adapter. A mechanic puts the labor at three or four hours. The second V6 symptom is a ticking noise from the top of the engine caused by a worn rocker arm, which can develop into a misfire and is, in one reviewer's words, 'a pretty expensive fix.' Look for oil residue around the housing and listen at idle.

Three smaller campaigns. Recall 18V-494 (Chrysler code U78) covers 2018 all-wheel-drive Cherokees where 'the bearing cage for the right front halfshaft assembly may not have been properly heat treated,' which can break the cage and either cut drive or let the car move while in Park; dealers replace the halfshaft, free. Recall 17V-543 (code T53) is a compliance recall on 2017 and 2018 cars whose certification label was printed without tire and rim size information, fixed with a corrected label. Recall 18V-332 is the large multi-model cruise control campaign, where a wiring short can prevent cruise control from disengaging, fixed with a software flash. All free.