[Scottyk]

Same problem with my 2015 Jeep GC. When the AHR is replaced,,,,,Is it upgraded or do they use the same faulty plastic parts???

Great question that I regretfully don't have an answer for yet. My part has not arrived, but I will have the replacement in the next couple of days. Regretfully, I fear that it will simply be the same part manufactured more recently.

Since the NHTSA investigation is still open, FCA has not acknowledged a problem with the AHR. My hope is that a newer part will provide me with added time until either the NHTSA investigation forces FCA to Redesign and Recall or one of the Class Action Lawsuits forces FCA to take responsibility.

I just received the new AHR and it appears to be the same part number/design as the previous one which failed due to plastic fatigue. Simply have to swap out tomorrow and should be good to go until the replacement AHR fails in a few years. Hopefully the NHTSA investigation or one of the class actions leads to a recall by FCA in the near future.

 

[DonandPatty]

Second Post.. Re: My Jeep GC AHR... 2015 With 50,000 Miles..
On 8/28/20 I found the AHR on the passenger side broken open. FCA calls this "Headrest Restraint Deployment" I call it bad design and cheap plastic!!!
9/2/20 Brought the Jeep to my Dealer in NC...Told them this was a safety issue. They agreed...Said my Jeep was out of warranty and the fix would be about $650.00. I complained, and they agreed to waive the labor cost. So now it would cost me $445.00....I did not agree. So they gave me the FCA phone number (800 334 9200) This was answered by very nice people in South Fl..They gave me a case # and said to expect a call and visit from one of their agents in four days. I waited until 9/9/20 and called back. I was given another phone # (877 426 5337) This person said I was in the system and will be called in a day or two...Hard to believe, but I got a call the next day...From FCA in Michigan. They said they are authorizing my dealer to fix the problem under "Warranty" ( I have no warranty.)
9/18/20 Replacement completed by my dealer!! No Cost! The installer told me the part was new, but was the same as the old one....I am happy for the repair,etc....but have questions: Why has this part not been redesigned??? Why is there no recall? (We all know the answer. $$$$$$$$) Also,,,why are there not more success stories on this forum?

 

[Scottyk]

Second Post.. Re: My Jeep GC AHR... 2015 With 50,000 Miles..
On 8/28/20 I found the AHR on the passenger side broken open. FCA calls this "Headrest Restraint Deployment" I call it bad design and cheap plastic!!!
9/2/20 Brought the Jeep to my Dealer in NC...Told them this was a safety issue. They agreed...Said my Jeep was out of warranty and the fix would be about $650.00. I complained, and they agreed to waive the labor cost. So now it would cost me $445.00....I did not agree. So they gave me the FCA phone number (800 334 9200) This was answered by very nice people in South Fl..They gave me a case # and said to expect a call and visit from one of their agents in four days. I waited until 9/9/20 and called back. I was given another phone # (877 426 5337) This person said I was in the system and will be called in a day or two...Hard to believe, but I got a call the next day...From FCA in Michigan. They said they are authorizing my dealer to fix the problem under "Warranty" ( I have no warranty.)
9/18/20 Replacement completed by my dealer!! No Cost! The installer told me the part was new, but was the same as the old one....I am happy for the repair,etc....but have questions: Why has this part not been redesigned??? Why is there no recall? (We all know the answer. $$$$$$$$) Also,,,why are there not more success stories on this forum?

Your persistence, and in my opinion success story as well as phone number helps others. To wrap up my experience, the headrest replacement took 45 minutes which included finding the tools, disconnecting the negative battery terminal and swapping out the AHR. The reason for FCA not taking action sooner is obviously about an actuary in a room and crunching the numbers. I hope that your experience is the writing on the wall that FCA will take responsibility for this moving forward in the form of a recall.

 

[Lotus504]

Second Post.. Re: My Jeep GC AHR... 2015 With 50,000 Miles..
On 8/28/20 I found the AHR on the passenger side broken open. FCA calls this "Headrest Restraint Deployment" I call it bad design and cheap plastic!!!
9/2/20 Brought the Jeep to my Dealer in NC...Told them this was a safety issue. They agreed...Said my Jeep was out of warranty and the fix would be about $650.00. I complained, and they agreed to waive the labor cost. So now it would cost me $445.00....I did not agree. So they gave me the FCA phone number (800 334 9200) This was answered by very nice people in South Fl..They gave me a case # and said to expect a call and visit from one of their agents in four days. I waited until 9/9/20 and called back. I was given another phone # (877 426 5337) This person said I was in the system and will be called in a day or two...Hard to believe, but I got a call the next day...From FCA in Michigan. They said they are authorizing my dealer to fix the problem under "Warranty" ( I have no warranty.)
9/18/20 Replacement completed by my dealer!! No Cost! The installer told me the part was new, but was the same as the old one....I am happy for the repair,etc....but have questions: Why has this part not been redesigned??? Why is there no recall? (We all know the answer. $$$$$$$$) Also,,,why are there not more success stories on this forum?

Just purchased my 2014 GC yesterday. I was in the car today cleaning and wiping down the seats and I heard a loud pop almost made me jump out the car. I look up and it looks like my passenger head rest just exploded ...So after hours of research, this is the most helpful thing I have found. I will try these numbers in the morning Thanks

 

[BradWK2]

It looks like they will be extending the warranty on the faulty headrests for 10 years/unlimited miles from date in service. It appears Durango's are first and 11-18 Grand Cherokees showing TBD. At least there appears to be a plan

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10177508-9999.pdf

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10177532-9999.pdf

 

[Scottyk]

I just got notification in the mail from FCA US LLC Customer Service about the AHR warranty period being extended to 10 Years / Unlimited Miles for certain 2014 - 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. In the even of a past, current or future issue with the AHR inadvertent deployment which can't be reset due to internal damage contact your dealer for repairs. If you have already experienced this problem and previously paid for a repair, you may be eligible to receive reimbursement by submitting a claim at Contact Us - Reimbursement Form and follow directions. If you have questions or need assistance please call FCA US LLC Customer Care at 1-877-426-5337 for assistance.

 

[LLS88]

My driver's side headrest inappropriately deployed over the weekend (I was in the driver's seat and it hit my head and neck, but thankfully I was stationary having just parked). I found this page and was very pleased to see the Service Bulletin 23-018-20 REV. C (https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10180277-9999.pdf) and that people in the US had received notification that this will be covered. While the bulletin states it's applicable to 'vehicles within the following markets/countries: North America, APAC, EMEA and LATAM', Jeep Australia weren't aware of it nor was the dealership where I need to have it reviewed. I've reached out to Jeep on Facebook and await a reply. Surely we should be provided the same warranty extension and coverage? Anyone else had this issue resolved?

Edited to add: car is a 2014 MY15 Jeep Grand Cherokee WK, so meets criteria as per the bulletin.

 

[BradWK2]

Hey all, I know they issued a 10 year warranty extension on these head restraints failing but did we ever determine if Lifetime Maxcare would cover this when it fails outside the 10 year window?

 

[GoodOldLiberty]

Good news from my side. The broken head rest (AHR) was replaced by the dealer yesterday!. Here is some relevant timeline of events:
1. Head rest (driver's side) popped out while parked during first week of Nov. '20.
2. Took the vehicle to the dealer on November 14th. They advised to fix this at my expense.
3. Came home and posted in this website, jeep garage.org. @JeepCares contacted me and asked for vehicle/incident details. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) contacted the dealer and provided some instructions
4. Went to local dealer on four days in December for various issues with my Jeep. On Dec 30th, dealer advised to come back after 5 months to talk about this AHR as there are many recalls for this issue.
5. Fortunately, I got a call from the dealer on January 6th, 2021 saying that the replacement head rest has arrived. I went in with my good old Jeep Liberty to get the driver side AHR replaced. The total invoice price was $690 and this price is covered under an "extended warranty".

Hope the above information helps. Please use it for reference only. Thanks to Jeepgarge.org and @JeepCares. Without your help, my Jeep would be running with a broken headrest!

 

[kidkotic2001]

This happened to my passenger side headrest, They told me it was going to be a 1k fix. So I looked up some DIY and was able to JBweld the metal back in and it has been good. I got a letter yesterday about this. I wonder if it would still cover it since it was broken from the start.

 

[mjb4450]

So according to the bulletin, https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10180277-9999.pdf, it states: This bulletin applies to vehicles built on or before September 01, 2017 (MDH0901XX). Has anyone confirmed or been told from a dealer that any build date after this has a modified part, or is it just a matter of nothing after that build date has failed yet? My GC is a 2018 with a build date of Aug 2018. I'm sorry I found this problem online. Now when I drive I keep waiting to get beaned in the head. Thanks.

 

[adl6009]

I am very concerned about this happening to my wife or myself of course. Seems like FCA has been aware of this for a very long time and should have at least upgraded the design before my 2014 GC was made. But also if you look at the service bulletin 23-018-20 REV. C they allow .3 hours, thats 18 minutes, to replace one headrest. Several of the posts listed some pretty sky high pricing the dealers wanted to charge to replace the headrest. One post mentioned $1000. Let me estimate this out, just shy of $500 for the headrest at retail pricing, leaving about $500 for labor, I estimate an hourly rate of $1666.66. I could be wrong.

 

[Lboogie157]

Hi mds5062,

If you decide to visit your local dealership for further diagnosis I'd be happy to offer assistance if needed. Just PM our page with your VIN and let me know!

Andrea
Jeep Social Care Specialist

Hi mds5062,

If you decide to visit your local dealership for further diagnosis I'd be happy to offer assistance if needed. Just PM our page with your VIN and let me know!

Andrea
Jeep Social Care Specialist

I had the same thing happen to me this weekend. I would like some additional information on how to get this resolved.

 

[JeepCares]

I had the same thing happen to me this weekend. I would like some additional information on how to get this resolved.

Hi, Lboogie157. Have you visited a dealer yet for assistance? We recommend doing so at your earliest convenience and if you need extra assistance while there, please send us a private message.

Kate
Jeep Cares

 

[Nws]

Good news, Andrea helped me get my headrest fixed. Best of luck to those of you still dealing with this problem. Hopefully there will be no wrecks caused by these faulty AHRs.

Lucky. I was basically told to suck it up and pay to have it replaced for $500+ we can change the headrest ourselves $300-400 for just the headrest is outrageous when this is a known issue.

 

[mvproskey2]

So I have a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland with 32k miles and overnight in the garage the passenger seat AHR deployed. I watched a Youtube vid on how to reset it but it wouldn't reset. When I looked closer there were broken tabs (plastic pieces). I called the local dealership and they told me likely not covered under my bumper to bumper warranty. They implied that they broke when trying to reset it and wouldn't cover that. When I told them I didn't break them and I wouldn't have been resetting it if it didn't deploy they just repeated that it would likely not be covered. I have an appointment 9/5, so I guess I'll find out for sure then, but seriously how can that not be covered under warranty? How does Jeep expect to get repeat business (or any business at all) without backing up their products?

Same thing here. I have a 2015 Jeep GC Summit was recently in the shop getting work done and got it home. The very next day went out and sat down and the driver side AHR was deployed with broken tabs, sitting in the garage over night. Very frustrating after spending a small fortune to have another repair done to the Jeep.

 

[Rhonda Eickhoff]

I just had this head rest issue happen over night while Jeep was parked. Can anything be done to get this fixed? Seems like a lot have had issues. Who do I contact?

 

[Richardar6]

Driving in rush hour traffic on I95 in the rain when something hit the back of my head all of a sudden. It was my headrest. Are you kidding me? I can take the common cracked thermostat housing, no biggy. I could even deal with the hood bubbling and having it repainted, but being scared blank-less because of an unexpected whack on the head from a poorly designed headrest that uses cheap thin plastic (and from this post, seems like a common issue) is just too much. What if my wife had been driving? She's already skiddish having to drive with the nuts down here in south Florida. With our narrow lanes, all it would take would of been a jerk wheel reaction to send her into another car. This needs to be more than a service bulletin. The stupid cruise control recall and Uconnect hack got a quicker response. Unbelievable!

 

[neiltb]

Jeep are only going to take this seriously after someone is seriously injured/dies/causes an accident where another dies.

 

[RandyS]

2014 Jeep Patriot driver side deployed while parked. No recall on it but called FCA @ (800) 992-1997, gave my name, last 8 digits of VIN, verified year and model. They told me for the Patriot they have extended the warrantly on this safety feature to 10 years and just give the dealer service department code X-86 (no paperwork from FCA required). Service dept looked up the warranty code for instructions and full replacement...only on a unit that actually deployed. Dealer got me set up but then later called to say it would be 3 months before the part was available.