2011 Jeep Compass: steering wheel locks up

Filed Apr 29, 2025 · Electrical · MI

The vehicle shuts off while driving at any speed. Steering locks and will not allow driver to pull over to safety.

Filed Aug 13, 2021 · Engine, Fuel system · 105,000 miles · CT

The contact's son owns a 2011 Jeep Compass. The contact stated while his son was exiting the parking lot and driving approximately 15-25 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently stalled and the steering wheel locked-up. The contact did not know whether there were warning lights illuminated. The contact's son was able to veer to the side of the road. The contact stated his son was able to restart the vehicle and drove to his destination. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving. The contact's son was able to restart the vehicle and drove to the dealer. The dealer diagnosed that the roll over bent valve in the fuel tank was not closing properly leaking fuel into the EVAP system causing the vehicle to stall and lock the steering wheel. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency for assistance. A case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 105,000.

Filed Jan 2, 2020 · Engine · 102,880 miles · IN

Several times after filling up my 2011 jeep compass with gas, I turn the car on and drive off. In minutes the steering locks up and car stalls. Car is getting power, all components are still working (lights, radio, etc.). I turn car off and restart and it sputters and finally starts and is drivable. I have read several other complaints of the same issue and it is dangerous due to the steering locking up and the inability to control the car when it stalls.

Filed Sep 16, 2019 · Transmission · 70,000 miles · IL

Loss of power and steering locked. Accelerated and engine would rev up, but car would not move. Had to stop, turn car off, and restart. Then it moved. Very very scary to have happen while driving! In town driving going about 25 MPH.

Filed Aug 29, 2019 · Fuel system · 95,000 miles · PA

Jeep stalled after filling it with gas. Steering wheel locks up, due to overflow of gas. Fix would require replacing whole gas tank and system.

Filed May 26, 2018 · Engine, Fuel system · 63,500 miles · IL

Filled the 2011 jeep compass with gas and pulled out of gas station. Two seconds later my car completely shut off and the steering wheel locked up. I managed to get it partially to the side of the road by letting it roll and brake, but cars behind me were not prepared for this and 3 cars swerved out of the way at the last minutes before slamming into me.

Filed Aug 31, 2017 · Engine, Steering · 78,900 miles · WV

First time this happened, I refueled my vehicle all the way to full. I drove off and got on the highway on-ramp, while I was accelerating, the car shut off, locked up the steering and the engine shut off while the car was still in drive, and the key was still in the ignition. I quickly stopped the car, put it in park and restarted the car, got on the highway and the incident didn't occur again. A few weeks later, the same thing happened. I refueled until the tank was full, drove about 100 yards, and the car shut off while still in drive with keys in ignition and the steering locked up while I was going around a sharp turn. I could have died if another car came around the turn at that time. I restarted the car and the same thing happened again within 50 feet. After that, restarting it a second time I was able to drive the car without it happening again. Scared to refill the car again. During each incident, no warning lights or indication came up on the dashboard, there was no way to tell what was happening.

Filed Jul 20, 2012 · Engine · 4,000 miles · TX

We purchased our 2011 jeep compass in december of 2011. Approximately 3 months later my wife experienced an engine stall in the middle of making a left-hand turn going approx. 20 MPH. There was no warning light or indication that the engine was no longer running. The power steering locked up and became very difficult to maintain control of the vehicle since happened in the middle of a turn into on-coming traffic. Within a month later it happened to me and again while making a slow left-handed turn. My wife notified the dealership where we purchased the jeep and they said to bring it in next time it happened. It happened a 3rd time with my wife in june 2012 -again while making a left-handed turn. We then took the vehicle to the dealership for scheduled maintenance and to investigate the problem. They kept it for a week and said the computer diagnostics reported no issues. They said until it happened with them they couldn't isolate the problem. Today, july 18th, 2012 it has happened again with my wife for the 4th time making a left-handed turn again. This is an extreme safety hazard and upon researching other customer complaints, it is quite common. In fact, I am finding that 25-50% of the customer complaints about the 2011 jeep compass are related to this engine stall out while driving. We have returned the vehicle to the dealership as we were instructed and I left them copies of the research I did and customer complaints so they have no reason to say it is isolated to just my vehicle because there is a definite trend that warrants a safety recall in my opinion. At this time it is in the hands of chrysler to bring this to a resolution. The vehicle only has about 8000 miles and lots of warranty left so I am hoping to see chrysler stand behind their reputation and do the right thing.