The headlights and interior lighting flickers when turned on. The vehicle often will not start, but once hooked up to a jumper pack starts immediately despite the batteries being inspected previously and being okay. The start/stop function doesn't always work, and the engine stalls while driving, causing a massive safety issue.
Jeep Compass headlights problems
94 of the 3,736 owner complaints about the Jeep Compass describe headlights failing or too dim, most of them for the 2018 model year.
- owner complaints
- 94
- worst model year
- 2018
- typical mileage
- 60,000
By model year
Often reported together
Wipers 11Stalling 11Check engine light 4Overheating 3Lane assist 3Fire or smoke 3Won't start 2Warning lights 2
What owners say
Relay box underneath drivers side headlight prone to corrosion, causes jeeps from this era to stall and die randomly.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while receiving an oil change, the contact was informed that the passenger’s side headlight failed to operate. The contact attempted to replace the light bulb; however, the headlight failed to illuminate. The original light bulb was reinstalled. The contact stated that the START/STOP system failed to restart the vehicle after an idle stop. The message “Battery Charging System Failure” was displayed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 175,000.
The contact owned a 2021 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she noticed black smoke coming from the front passenger side headlight. No warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that prior to the failure, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate as needed. The contact pulled over and safely exited the vehicle with her daughter. The vehicle then caught fire and was engulfed in flames. The firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire, but they were unable to determine the cause of the fire. A fire department report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard, where it was deemed totaled by the insurance company. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 118,000.
12/16/25 I almost was hit by a Mac truck the car kept saying my blind spot was temporarily unavailable and also states auto high beam unavailable service required, in which my screen went black, and the car completely turned off. I took the car into have services on 12/19/25. My car was kept for a week and the service department stated they were unable to created it. My car kept having the service lights come on every day that I drove it. On 12/31/2025, I brought the car in again with a picture of the incident that kept occurring several times on 12/30/25. The service department is stating that they were unable to duplicate the issue, and I picked up my car on 01/09/26. My car continued to have the same problem when I almost home. On 1/11/26, the error message for the blind spot and high beam errors came on 13 times when I was out and about. It seems to happen when making turns, going over small bumps, switching lanes, going around curved ramps, and when picking up speed. I need an email from the corporation to send the video clip to that happened on 01/11/26.
I am submitting this complaint to report a serious and repeated safety-related electrical failure involving my 2023 Jeep Compass. While driving, the vehicle experienced a sudden and dangerous electrical malfunction. The windshield wipers activated on their own, both digital screens began flashing uncontrollably with warning messages, headlights and dashboard controls turned on and off without driver input. Most critically, the automatic emergency braking system became disabled while the vehicle was in motion. During the first service visit to an authorized Jeep dealership, I was informed that the Body Control Module (BCM) was not responding, and that multiple vehicle systems showed inactive status and communication failures. The dealership stated they could not identify the root cause. Instead of repairing the issue, the system faults and communication errors were cleared/reset, the battery was replaced “as a precaution,” and the vehicle was released without a confirmed repair. The next day, the same failure occurred again while driving on the highway. The windshield wipers activated randomly, the screen displayed a red warning stripe, multiple system failure messages appeared, and the emergency braking system was disabled at highway speed. This created an extremely dangerous situation. The vehicle behaved unpredictably, critical safety systems were unavailable, and I could have been involved in a serious or fatal accident, putting my life and the safety of others at risk. Thankfully, my children were not in the vehicle at that time. Due to the severity of the malfunction, the vehicle was unsafe to operate and required towing back to the dealership. The issue remains unresolved. This appears to involve a serious defect with the Body Control Module (BCM), vehicle communication systems, and possible wiring or grounding faults, which directly affect vehicle safety and warrant investigation.
On 6 occasions in varying driving conditions “Service AEB System Immediately” message and warning lights has appeared on instrument cluster. When this occurs all safety features are also disengaged. Furthermore, on a different occasion the vehicle was parked for 4 hours and after starting the vehicle I received a “Power Steering Overheat” message and warning light on the instrument cluster. Due to this the steering also became stiff. Finally, on 4 occasions now a “Parking Light Out” message has appeared on the instrument cluster. When exiting the vehicle it is observed that the DRL in the passenger headlight will frequently turn off during operation and just go black. Then after restarting the vehicle will come back on. This vehicle has already been in service twice (and is going in a 3rd time this week) for these issues and have shown no signs of resolution. I am seriously wanting to lemon law this vehicle at this point as it does not feel safe to operate with the many electrical faults.
The ABS wont go off it constantly stays on I put a brand new battery in it went out about a week later had to jump start it...When it rains or snow it is like my wipers and headlights goes crazy and sometimes my backup camera is all blue for no reason...I feel like there is something major wrong in the wiring somewhere
I purchased a brand new 2025 Jeep Compass Latitude, and shortly after, I started getting repeated error messages for several safety features, lane departure unavailable, blind spot monitoring unavailable, auto high beam unavailable, and automatic emergency braking unavailable. These warnings appear randomly: sometimes as soon as I start driving, other times 5–10 minutes later, or even after 30 minutes to an hour of driving. There’s no consistent pattern, and when they activate, all the affected systems stop functioning until I restart the vehicle. I’ve taken the vehicle to the dealership three times for this issue. The first time, I was told there was nothing they could do because no active code showed at that moment. The second time, they said they couldn’t look at it because they had no loaner available. The third time, I left it for nearly two weeks. They said they test-drove it, the error never came on, and that Jeep engineers have acknowledged this is a known issue with some Jeep and Dodge models. I was told there may eventually be a recall or software update, possibly within a year, but no fix is available right now. I don’t feel safe driving a new vehicle with unreliable safety features that turn off unexpectedly and can’t be repaired. I rely on these systems for highway and night driving, and it’s unsettling that the dealer and manufacturer both admit to an issue but expect me to continue driving and just wait for a future update.
Headlights work intermittently. Driver side comes on but passenger side doesn’t or vise versa. Also sometimes neither come on. No warning messages or anything. Yes the jeep dealership saw the issue with the lights and so did an independent mechanic.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Jeep Compass headlights
Which Jeep Compass years have headlights failing or too dim problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2018 (44 complaints), 2022 (8 complaints) and 2007 (6 complaints).
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