An Over-The-Air (OTA) update to the infotainment system in some Jeeps appears to be causing certain models to go into a limp mode or otherwise fail to operate. The update appears to have gone out on Friday.
OTA updates have become more popular recently as automakers try to avoid the costly and annoying requirement that customers schedule service merely for something that involves updating software. This was first popularized by Tesla, but the practice of doing OTA updates is becoming increasingly common.
There’s an entire category of new cars and trucks called “software-defined vehicles,” which are vehicles that offer advanced software-based features that somehow supersede the driving experience. The downside of all of this software is that cars seemingly ship now with more issues than in the past, similar to what’s long been common with phones and other devices. Tesla repeatedly sends OTA updates, both to add features and to fix bugs.
It’s not clear what the most recent update from Jeep was supposed to do, though owners are referring to it as a “U-Connect update,” which is to say that it’s possibly related to the infotainment system.
How that results in the vehicle’s powertrain failing is not yet obvious, though this happened before with at least one other automaker.
Back in 2023, Rivian pushed out an update for its electric trucks that failed. The vehicles would get to 90% and then not complete the installation. While this was an annoyance, we reported at the time that the vehicles could still be driven. Rivian blamed the incident on a “fat finger” coding mistake. In 2023, some Lucid owners also reported that an update caused their cars to “brick,” which is to say the vehicle stopped functioning.
With the Jeep issue, this seems to have made it so that some owners have difficulty driving their vehicles. It’s unknown the full extent of the issue, but it seems to be impacting primarily the Wrangler with the 4Xe plug-in hybrid system.
How It’s Happening
A Jeep owner behind the Wrangler 4XEFans/Jeeps On The Run group decided to take one “for the team” and attempt to drive his Jeep after accepting the U-Connect system update on Friday.
As you can see in the video above, he was able to get his Jeep started and drive a short distance before encountering a power loss.
“We just came to a screeching halt. Every light in the thing came on… service stability control… now we’re stuck. I can’t even come out of Drive now.”
The gauge cluster throws a check engine light as well as other warnings. You can see the driver has an issue getting the vehicle to shift gears, though is eventually able to turn the vehicle off and get some power in the hybrid drive mode.
“Do not drive your vehicle if you’ve got this,” he warns.
He’s not the only one. A reader wrote into our tipline this morning complaining of the same issue:
I had this happen to me after the software update ran last night. I was able to limp in electric mode to get where I needed to be this morning (After our ā17 Pacifica wouldnāt start, but that is probably bad timing with just a battery)
If you go on Reddit, you’ll see plenty of complaints, like this one claiming that the loss of power happened while on the highway:
I was driving 65 on the left lane of the highway when my car started slowing down. It started saying to put it into P and to push to start. The car was off and I couldnāt accelerate! I almost crashed trying to get onto the right lane shoulder. 4 lanes over before it completely stopped and caused a huge accident They are saying itās something with an update jeep is doing and the cars are just stopping! There were 4 jeep wranglers on the side of the highway as I tried driving to the nearest dealership 25min. It turned off 3 times
Because this is a Reddit post, it’s not possible to verify it, but I did speak with a large Jeep dealer on the East Coast, and they confirmed, on background, that they were aware of multiple customers experiencing this issue.
The poster above said the dealership told them not to update their vehicle.
Should You Update Or Not?
Until you hear from Stellantis, I’d be tempted not to update your vehicle.
However, JeepOnTheRun posted a YouTube Short saying he was told by someone that if you park the vehicle in an area with good cell service, you should turn on your Jeep for ten minutes and that it’ll automatically download a fix with no pop-up.
His vehicle is at the dealership, so he couldn’t confirm. Multiple commenters on his video did say that the fix seems to have worked.
Again, this doesn’t appear to be an update, but rather a fix that’s automatically downloaded.
Photo: Jeep/Reddit user Raider222x
I was just at the jeep dealership Friday getting an oil change on my non-internet-connected gas wrangler. Service guy claimed the 4XE had most of its electrical issues ironed out now itās a couple years old. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
The whole concept of ‘software defined vehicle’ bothers the crap out of me.
I suck in my dentures and shake my gnarled, arthritic, clenched fist at it. š
I can confirm the update on Friday bricked my wife’s Wrangler 4XE WHILE MOVING, thankfully near my house while driving slow with lots of places to pull over. Happened every min until I was able to crawl it back home. The “fix” update that got sent out yesterday seems to have solved the issue for now, drove 15 miles last night no problem.
I’ve had lots of unreliable cars before – land rover, porsche, VW – and while all of them did leave me stranded on the side of the road at least once, and the rover did have an OTA update that turned off navigation sound in carplay and never solved it until I sold that car, none of them ever repeatedly turned off ignition while moving due to an untested software update. This isn’t an iphone or an app, that you can just write codes for and release to the world without testing, it’s a mode of transportation that can kill people in and around the car if it decides to just stop in the middle of the road. Hopefully someone (or some team) got fired over the weekend for this, and I fully intend to join the inevitable class action lawsuit.
This is our first Stellantis product and will be our last.
“This is our first Stellantis product and will be our last” is their entire moto. If the Previous owner survived of course
So glad I got rid of my 4XE earlier this year. Stellantis is so bad at this.
Modern vehicles are going to be f*cked when the updates are no longer available.
Modern vehicles are going to be fixed when updates are no longer available =)
Depends on what state they are in when updates quit releasing, and what bugs exist in the vehicle that will be later triggered by time/sensors/mileage/date/who knows?
āAfter our ā17 Pacifica wouldnāt start, but that is probably bad timing with just a batteryā
My take on this article, this person has two bricked CDJR products sitting in their driveway.
Stellantis people are starting to sound more and more like 2019-era Tesla stans with each passing day.
Still love the
truckPacifica and Wrangler!Jeep life is having to abandon your bricked Wrangler in a shitty part of town because of a software update and coming back to find a plastic duck dressed like a Minion sitting on the fender.
Okay that’s funny I don’t care who you are.
Itās a Jeep thing, you wouldnāt understand.
Itās a Jeep thing,
youeven they wouldnāt understand.Just Exiting Electric Performance
This feels like something that shouldn’t ever be physically possible on any vehicle, ever. We may have gone down the wrong path at some point
I’d say to blame Tesla, but even without them we were gonna end up down this road eventually. Once companies figured out that you can push out a half-baked product and just update it later, it was all over.
At least Tesla updates don’t brick the vehicles.
The issue is every other automaker trying to grab a piece of Tesla magic. Then not understanding the software side has to be well written. Not a branded UI over a mishmash of incompatible supplier software for the individual modules.
lol at “Tesla magic”
Tesla did the seemingly impossible of making EV’s desirable on their own merits with the S. They also made the best EV charging network for uptime and location. At the time other automakers were expressing ridicule. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery with VW’s Electrify America and GM also a little in the charging business with their branded chargers.
I just can’t believe that we still have people that will give Tesla credit in any way, shape, and form. The whole enterprise is smoke and mirrors, but I love that you outed yourself here
It’s possible to dislike an organization or person yet recognize the accomplishments they managed.
Also, prove me wrong. Ad hominem attack notwithstanding.
As you’re typically actually here and engage people, and not a troll (we don’t have so many here, but still), sure. Why not!
First, you do or do not accept and agree that most claims made by Tesla (fully automatic driving as a good one) are in fact false? Additionally, that much of what they make includes terrible build quality with problems far in excess of the rest of the industry?
I do utterly dislike Musk, because he’s garbage. But my comment actually had exactly zero to do with Musk, because I don’t need him in order to be right…unless we look past the Circus Musk and instead are dealing with the Tesla CEO Musk.
Notice how I didn’t say anything about the vehicles themselves. I’m not going down that rabbit hole.
Statistics about charging networks bear me out. There’s a reason every other automaker wanted access to the Superchargers. The “big” CCS networks don’t have the reliability of the Superchargers.
I also stand by my point that making a big, fast EV showed that EV’s could be more than commuter boxes like the EV1 or LEAF. All the viral videos about Teslas slaying on the dragstrip did a lot to show off the potential. Keep in mind, at the time every other automaker was basically making an EV as an ICE car with a motor and a few batteries. Compliance cars. Now nobody’s doing that because Tesla forced them to compete.
First point: fine!
I don’t mind the charging metric thing. I think that’s a good point as a whole. I would easily agree with that, though I certainly agree that charging is such a mess as a whole, the overall impact is muted at best. Even this website recently showcased the silly problems with chargers welding themselves to cars. This doesn’t even get into how immature the tech and saturation of said chargers is across this country. So, it’s great that the chargers have a Tesla standard! My county has one inoperable charging station, and I’d have to drive at least half an hour to find a charger if I didn’t have one at home. The standard charger impact is minimal as a result.
If you’re going argue style, sure. I mean, I’ve been in Teslas as Ubers and they’re quite nice. All that fancy tech doesn’t impress me (I’m thinking the screens and all that) because I daily a Lexus. But the idea that an EV could be more is great! Let me know when they are. The CEO has actually had to be a carnival barker to distract the masses from the awful product they put out, to pump up the vals to make his money. But I know you know how awful Teslas are, have been, and/or can be. Style and chargers are like having the best frosting on an otherwise shit cake. Everyone eats the frosting and leaves the rest…which is exactly what’s happening with Tesla.
Yep, I own one. They ironed out most of the issues by the time they made mine.
Back ten years ago, the EV landscape was basically Teslas stomping high performance ICE cars on dragstrips and everyone else making compliance cars. It’s hard to overstate how much of a big deal the Model S was by being so different than any other mass produced EV up to that point. 2010’s Tesla laid the groundwork for us having a good variety of usable EV’s today.
Time marches on and companies/people change. 2010’s Tesla was a very different company from 2025 Tesla.
My favorite compliance car is the Mazda something something that was made for California…while the European one has a range extender. I would buy it tomorrow if I could…so I understand the idea of compliance vehicles fully.
However, considering that most if not all of Tesla’s success (I mean, are they successful?) is based on lies which have actively killed people, among other outcomes that didn’t involve death…it’s just not going to work for me, and quite a lot of other people. And now that even the models that might have an argument have withered on the vine without replacement, there’s just no value in the brand, no matter what Wall Street says.
Valid point of view that some features of the cars were/are half-baked and people put too much trust into them.
Or as my kids satirically say: I love that for you
This is the way
Heard many times of Tesla cars bricking.
I’m even more worried “We aren’t making enough money brick everything over 10 years old”
Like Apple not fixing any thing over 5 years old.
Yep, it’s happening with tons of “connected” devices already. And Tesla has already been disabling features when people sell their car so that the 2nd buyer is left without features they thought they were buying.
I’m an advisor at another large CDJR dealer on the East Coast. I’ve received my 15th call about this issue this morning. Nothing like a holiday weekend OTA update to brick every 4xE in the country (with a Nor’easter going on!). Our advice at the moment is that if you are unable to bring it in today, to leave it outdoors somewhere with a cell signal so that if an emergency update is pushed out OTA that it will be downloaded. Happy Monday to any fellow CDJR employees!
UPDATE! Looks like we need to force an update for basically every major module in the vehicle. We’ve got probably 35 of them in over the weekend / this morning.
Against my better judgement, I’ve been looking into Hurricane Ram 1500’s. Is this going to affect them as well? And as an advisor, are you seeing a lot of these come in for issues? I was thinking something like a Warlock with less stuff to go wrong might be a (slightly) smarter bet.
My unprofessional opinion (I’m not the same guy so take this with a grain of salt) is that while this specific oopsie seems Wrangler 4xe-specific, the underlying seemingly lack of care applies to all connected Stellantis products.
Look into whether you can disconnect the cellular radio on any Ram you look at.
Toyota lets you call in to disable the cellular connection, but you’re SOL with Kia.
(You could probably install an update manually too with a flash drive, on your own terms if need be but that’ll be vehicle-specific.)
Normal Stellantis issues. They had random misfires at the beginning of production, usually solved by a PCM update. I just finished up an oil pump on a 6000 mile Wagoneer with the Hurricane. I drive a single cab Whipple F150, I think the 5.0 F150 is the supreme 1/4 ton right now
Thanks. I’m also looking at the f150. Actually, I started off only looking at the 150, but then I started seeing so many rave reviews of the 3.0. Of course those were from reviewers, not necessarily owners. Joining an owner group has pretty much cured me of wanting one.
Living in the NE, the aluminum body is a huge draw to the Ford. I’m thinking the 2.7 is fine for my needs.
IMHO, the 2.7 may be the best truck engine out there right now, although even it got slightly worse when they went to the wet oil pump belt. Overall they’re reliable, powerful, and reasonably efficient if you can stay off the loud pedal.
I can’t necessarily say the same for the truck around the engine (my Dad’s had a number of expensive failures unrelated to the powertrain), but the engine is a peach.
Yeah, I haven’t heard anything bad about the later 2.7, other than the wet belt, but that’s ALL F150 engine choices, even the 5-oh.
The hybrid is appealing to me too, but I just wish it were based off the 2.7 rather than the 3.5, which seems to have its own set of issues.
Totally agree. The combined HP with the 3.5 hybrid is absurd overkill, and I have to think the 2.7 would have gotten even better mileage while still having plenty of power for anything you should do with a half ton truck.
Serves you right for not celebrating Indigenous Persons Day and taking the day off like these guys.
Can we request prior to days off sandbag some stories and release them on your imaginary holiday? Sorry I go for immediate gratification but I do find visiting the comments on articles that were posted after I read the article a good placebo
Here I was, annoyed that Ford doesn’t push their recall fixes OTA when it’s a software issue. I guess that when it’s updated at the dealership it’s not failing in traffic.
What would be the funny “Problem/Not a Problem” spare tire cover for this?
With modern Jeeps, apparently, it should say “Problem” in both orientations.
Blue tire cover of death?
Do you ever hear any really good news about Jeep?
Not since they were a part of AMC.
Don’t remember where, but I read that the auto industry can’t compete for software talent with the high profit margin companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple. I know one person hired by Apple for car related software work for above 300K.
Even companies in the software industry can’t compete with the big players. We keep losing people to NVidia for AI because we can’t possibly pay them what a 4 trillion dollar company can.
This is so depressing to me. I have a Grand Cherokee (ZJ but not Holy Grail ZJ) and I’m tempted to put a carburetor on it just so I don’t have to deal with the absolute garbage that is Chrysler electronics. All it’s got is a PCM. That’s right. One box to control the engine and transmission. How many little boxes do they put in a new one? And have they gained any experience with making them work?
I mean, if youāre going to the trouble of putting a carb on it, then MAKE it a Holy Grail and swap in a five-speed!
which engine? The EFI on the 4.0 is one of the few things Chrysler actually improved.
97 4.0. I wouldn’t actually do it and expect a better engine. (In fact won’t do it at all.) I just get frustrated with the electronics on a so called bulletproof motor.
I’ve owned a ton of 4.0’s and can’t say I ever had issues with the EFI (other than a CPS)
The EFI is fine. It’s the PCM and PCM connections. Right now I have the connections hose clamped on and it’s working. But not sure how long that will last
IMO the Holy Grail ZJ is the ‘niner.
I removed my Honda’s communication module due to potential issues like this. I would recommend doing the same for any car owner. Also prevents auto companies from selling your data.
Nice idea.!
Kinda surprised that doesn’t just completely brick the vehicle, seems like the kind of thing OEMs would do.
I am sure it is in their plans. Similar to the videogame industry with their “Always Online” games. It’s stupid because some of those Always Online games are single player.
Yep, it’s why I still refuse to buy Tony Hawk 1+2 remake. I’m not going to buy an always-online single player game, that’s insanity.
The OEMs will 100% make the communications inextricably integrated unless they are prevented by law.
Jeep Owners Are Reporting That
An OTA Software Update Is Disabling Their Vehiclesthey are just realizing that they purchased a Stellantis product.FIFY
Jeep’s long tradition of reliability, now extended to the information age.
Automakers should stick to auto making, not software.
Eh, there’s been software in cars since the 1980s. Even without any infotainment, cars wouldn’t run without software.
Too bad the only real competitor for the Wrangler is the Bronco, and Ford isn’t exactly a beacon of quality right now either. I’d still take one over a Stellantis product, but that’s not saying much is it.
There’s always Land Cruiser, if you’re looking for an off-roader with reliability numbers that aren’t painful.
For the type of off-roading your average buyer does, I’d agree. For the image people want to project with their purchase, probably less so. I hope the hybrid version of their turbo-4 drivetrain is better than the normal one I had in a 4Runner rental. That thing was pretty loud and lethargic, wasn’t impressed with that vehicle at all.
I feel The Lexus GX is going to be the sweet spot for anyone buying a Toyota SUV, once they’ve had some time to depreciate. I’m aware of the casting flash issues with that V6, but that’s since resolved.
GXs historically depreciated a lot more than 4Runners did. So ultimately they end up quite a bit cheaper to buy used.
I need to get another vehicle and TBH, the GX’s are just LC Prado’s with leather. So yeah, they’re on my radar.
Reliability numbers versus purchase price numbers
Stellantis is investing billions in innovative 21st century technology to break your Jeep in new and exciting ways!
According to the 4xe fans FB group, Jeep released an update to the update that appears to have fixed it! Fingers crossed it sticks, Jeep definitely doesnāt need any more public hiccups.
Fingers crossed it sticks, Jeep definitely doesnāt need any more
public hiccupspeople to realize that they are garbage.According to their new ads out, they are the original influencers! I hate that ad so much now, and it is everywhere.
Consider the upside for humanity if the ad succeeds in making it uncool to be an influencer.
Yup. That’s why my car disconnected and I’d rather bring my car in if it actually needs an update and not some BS update to add emojis or some feature I don’t care about. At least if it’s at the dealer, they can take care of an issue like this and give me a loaner. That’s setting aside the large privacy and security issues of a connected vehicle that do not come near cancelling out the smaller annoyance of bringing it in, but I’m just a luddite to the willing slaves of billionaires who defend this garbage.
> Iām just a luddite to the willing slaves of billionaires who defend this garbage.
Nice one, I may have to borrow this phrase!
I tell you what: I’m this () close to figuring out what fuse to pull to disable OTA updates to my Kona N. I’m afraid this kind of crap is going to happen more and more often.
My Mercedes has the download as an option, where it just notifies me. Maybe there’s a setting to disable it from installing automatically?
There may be different paths. Toyota lets you call in via the car to disconnect the radio, Kia has nothing so I worry Hyundai has nothing too.
Maybe there’s a setting in the infotainment to at least not install automatically?
“Bless their little hearts”
Meta-autopian.
Metapian?
Characterized by two positions in the benzene ring that are separated by one carbon atom?
There’s a lot more carbon built up in the readership’s engines.
TLDR. AV guy here. Never do software/firmware updates on Friday. If is me, I wouldnāt just do an update if it is super recent. I donāt want to be the first guy in the block with a crappy update.
Pushing to production on a Friday? I too like to live dangerously! Someone just did some weekend work as a result
As an IT engineer/consultant, I VERY much second not being first in line for an update other than the very worst, currently being exploited zero-day exploits (and even then, be damned careful about it), at least on production systems. And for most people, their car is a production system with no backup. There’s a startup idea – an automotive software backup system…
Though don’t be like some of my clients and never update anything until it’s replaced with new. There’s a happy medium in there somewhere.
I like the idea!
I also agree about the happy medium.
I’m not in comp sci or IT or anything, so excuse my bad terminology and such. But I think Android updates have a backup of the current revision, and if the update fails it can fall back on that. I guess in Jeep’s case the update isn’t failing per se, it’s just a bad update. But I wonder if car mfrs can implement something similar.
You would think they would. But the problem with all sorts of updates is that the update can brick the system such that the backup isn’t readily accessible. In theory, with a computer you can boot off alternative media to restore the system (a “bare metal restore”), but that is a tad bit more difficult for a car. But it should not be impossible to implement either.
Probably related to ignition security, iirc the infotainment is linked to vehicle security systems. iCE engine turning off sounds same as what happens when you donāt program a key correctly (engine starts and then dies).
Another fun stellantis software bug that they seemingly wonāt address; their automatic headlight software no longer sets faults or gives drivers a warning if the light sensor has a problem. It just goes into fail mode operation, which is headlights on but no running lights. If you see a stellantis brand vehicle driving at night with headlights but no tail lights thatās probably whatās going on with it
Thank you for that. I have seen two vehicles recently on my way in to work in the dark with zero running lights and what looked like very bright DRLs. I couldn’t make sense of it. One was a minivan (possibly Chrysler) and the other was a Jeep SUV something I don’t care enough to remember.
Saw two Jeeps with no tail lights driving in the dark last night.
On the highway at 60 mph.
A very unsettling experience but at least they had ducks all along the dash.
> If you see a stellantis brand vehicle driving at night with headlights but no tail lights thatās probably whatās going on with it
The real reason Jason doesn’t drive Jeeps, in spite of his enduring friendship with David.
I hate to tell you that that it’s super easy to do that without a fail mode. You see, on some vehicles the DRLs are the same as the low beams. So if you accidentally switch your headlights from Auto to Off and your display brightness is set low, you can easily drive away without noticing that you have no running or taillights working. For some of us, it’s user error, not a product fail, although, perhaps not the best user interface choice. Ask me how I know.
Well buddy, I actually know what Iām talking about because I had to diagnose the issue and report it stellantis dealer support, I know how the system is wired, how it should work and how it doesnāt work.
But thanks for jumping into the conversation to try make yourself sound smart. It didnāt work.
poster didn’t say you’re wrong, they said that’s not the only way for a headlights without taillights condition to occur.
WTF? You are just completely wrong about what I said. Read it again or something. All I was saying is that I failed, not you. I was in no way disagreeing with you. Duh. However, I may be smarter than you because I can apparently read better. That’s on you.
Only in a Jee………………