general problems of the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee - part 1

While driving down the road my active headrest randomly deployed and hit me hard in the back of the head. When I went to look at it to reset (because there had been no accident or collision) I saw that the plastic locking pins had broken. I researched the issue and saw that there was already a mopar recall for the same issue on the same year and model vehicle I have, but my VIN is not listed as an affected VIN so Jeep will not honor the recall for my product.

On November 6, 2025 at 11:59 am, the active head restraint on my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited deployed without impact as I adjusted the driver’s seat into an upright position. This was a spontaneous mechanical deployment inside the cabin of a stationary vehicle. The dealership confirmed this as a known failure involving the internal plastic retaining clip that holds the deployment pin. This defect was previously covered under a 10-year extended warranty that expired in November 2024. At the time of the incident, I was alone in the vehicle. I later sought medical evaluation for head, neck, shoulder, and lower back pain and was diagnosed with a cervical strain. Because this failure occurs without collision, it presents a serious risk of injury to drivers and passengers. I regularly spend time with elderly individuals in personal, non-commercial contexts and occasionally transport others in my personal vehicle. In such a population, an in-cabin mechanical deployment of this force could cause catastrophic injury. The manufacturer and warranty programs have declined to assist with repair due to expiration despite acknowledging this as a known defect. Estimated repair cost is approximately $1,000. I am submitting this report for documentation, safety tracking, and defect pattern analysis. Submitted [xxx] redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6) information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Was getting ready to go to town, opened back seat for daughter to get into vehicle, and all of a sudden the front seat headrest popped out. Was very scary. Thankfully no one was in the front seat when it happened. I could only imagine there would have been some pain/injury sustained if they were. There were no warnings. No other malfunctions. Headrest is not able to be "clicked" back into place as a bracket is broken inside. There has not been any investigation by manufacturer, police or insurance reps.

We were driving this weekend and the headrest components failed and blew it apart. It shoved my husbands head forward really hard. We pulled over and tried to fix it but all the pieces are snapped inside of it. From our understanding that is a safety feature that is supposed to happen in a crash but we were not in a crash, just doing 55 mph down the road. It was not inspected by anyone yet but from reading online forums this seems to be a common occurrence.

Drivers seat headrest, popped apart while driving. Hit back of drivers head with loud sound, scaring driver and jerking neck, while driving. Checked for recall, none shown.

The headrests activator failed on the driver’s seat and hit me in the back of the head. I was driving about 35mph. This vehicle has never been in an accident. A week later the same thing happened in the passenger seat to a passenger. Upon inspection the plastic failed that secures the latch-pin. We were never notified about this problem!.

Driver active headrest self deployed while driving. No explainable cause as vehicle was not in an accident. It happened while driving normally. No cause can be observed.

Grand cherokee head rest popped out.

Spontaneous deployment of driver seat head rest (without any collision or trauma to the vehicle that might make it deploy). Unable to safely operate my vehicle now that head rest safety function is defective.

The driver side active head restraint unexpectedly deployed while driving the vehicle.

The driver's side active head restraint deployed without warning striking me in the back of the head, fortunately not hard enough to seriously injure me, but hard enough to cause a headache. I had just gotten into the vehicle to drive to work, so it wasn't even moving. There are broken pieces of plastic that apparently used to hold it closed. My vehicle has no uncompleted recalls, but now looking at my vehicle information online I've discovered that there was a "warranty extension" in 2020 regarding a possible failure exactly like this, and I've also discovered there were lawsuits following reports of injuries! Chrysler never notified me, nor did the Jeep dealer bring it to my attention during any of my routine service appointments. Why wasn't this a recall requiring repair instead of left to be a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off??? adding insult to injury, the warranty extension to 10 years after the in-service date in 2013 doesn't cover repairs today! the passenger side restraint hasn't popped open (yet!) but I'm not stupid enough to wait until it fails and injures a family member, so now I have to replace both sides and pay for both out of my pocket. Please make this a recall so Chrysler will have even a slight urgency to notify owners, and hopefully decide to replace the head rests immediately, regardless of how old they are.

-the passenger seat head rest popped open (exploded - it was super loud) when in the process of backing up out of my driveway. - the safety of everyone in the car was put at risk. My husband was in the seat and was hit in the back of the head. My son, his wife and their 2 month old daughter was in the back seat. - the problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by anyone. It just happend last night. - it has not been inspected yet either. - there was no indication of any issue with the head rest. There was no collision or problem prior to the rest rest popping open (or exploding, seriously).

The headrest restraint in the driver's seat spontaneously deployed hitting the back of my head while I was driving. It is available for inspection. The deployment was startling/surprising - quite a distraction - my impulse was to turn around to see what hit me - it wasn't readily apparent until I re-oriented my body in the seat and found my headrest had moved forward making it uncomfortable to drive. A web search indicated other Jeep/durango owners have experienced this - some are attempting to "reset" the headrest on their own. A call to Chrysler/Jeep customer care confirmed that the warranty on this item had been extended to 14 Mar 2023 - no recall. I was not notified to my knowledge. They declined to help me. The vehicle has not been inspected. There were no leading indications of a failure, nor is there an indication currently, other than the headrest is split open and it is uncomfortable to drive. Why has a safety device that has obviously failed in multiple cases and was known to the manufacturer not become a recall?! this is irresponsible! the dealer indicated there is no means to repair this - a replacement headrest. In light of the cost of "repair" it is no wonder owners are trying to fix this on their own.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? --it was taken by Jeep when they repaired it. They likely have it. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? --I was at a complete stop when the headrest deployed into the back of my head causing sever injury. There was no impact. The headrest slammed the back of my head. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? --yes, and there have been news reports about class action suits, but there was no recall. In fact, they notified owners that if you hadn't had a problem then you're okay. No need to do anything. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? --manufacturer (Jeep) were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? --no.

I was driving down the freeway when I felt my headrest strike the back of my head. This caused a momentary distraction as my head was pushed forward and the back of my head was struck. The headrest component of the safety restraint system deployed. It is available for inspection upon request. The dealership inspected and said this is a known problem but they would not cover the repair as it fell outside of their warranty period which ended 10/2023. It would be a cost of $800+ that I would have to pay. There are no warning lamps/messages currently illuminated or displayed. Incident occurred may 30, 2024.

Vehicle was parked in my front yard and sometimes between the hours of 830am and 3pm the driver side headrest activated (popped). No warning lights before or after it activated. Issue could have caused an accident and possibly caused injury to myself or my children had I been driving when system activated. Vehicle is available for inspection issue is a known problem as a simple google search would show.

Passenger seat, headrest deployed, spontaneously going down the road.

Passenger side, headrest deployed for no reason overnight.

While driving the vehicle the headrest deployed striking the driver in the back of the head. Action happened while turning onto a residential street. Driver stopped to access the damage. Driver sustained a headache from impact. Headrest will not reset. If system deployed while driving down the highway it could have resulted in traffic accident. Concern for the owner as subject has severe spinal issues and impact could result in fatal damage. There is no codes visible at this time.

Out of nowhere the headrest "exploded" with force while I was driving and it was like a punch to the back of my head. I am nauseous and have a headache hours later.

Driver side head rest randomly deployed and hit the back of my head very hard pushing me forward while drive down my neighborhood.

We reached to the back seat and heard a pop and then the head rest popped out of place and won’t go back. I’ve seen numerous other reviews about this situation of their headrest popping out. This should be covered by warranty and recalled to have the headrests fixed.

The driver's side active head restraint deployed for no reason.

When sitting in the passenger seat while the car was parked, the active head restraint popped and hit me in the back of my head. After realizing what happens, I read about resetting this and was unable to as the plastic clips that hold the head restraint back were broken.

While driven the vehicle, the head of the driver front seat opened and broke where you can see the broken plastic support in the interior. After a month the head of the seat of the passenger were broke in the same way. They were open and broke and expose the interior of the head seat noticed the plastic pin support broken. ,06.

•driver headrest deployed while driving for no reason. Vehicle is available for inspection. •when headrest deployed, it strike me on the back of my head causing uncertainty of what hit me. •the problem has not been reproduce. •the component has not been inspected by the manufacture, police, insurance representative, or anybody else. • there was no warning, lamps, messages, or any other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.

Passenger head rest deployment while parked with no reason.

The active headrest restraint (ahr) busted open with the broken clip issue and cannot be fixed without a dealership replacement. The car is available for inspection. This was not the result of an accident or collision, as the car was parked. If I were sitting in the seat, it most likely would have given me a concussion or a hospital visit. Since the ahr is supposed to reduce the occurrence of whiplash in the event of a collision, I am now at increased risk of whiplash if something were to happen. Multiple reports claim it has caused injury, and I am now worried for my passengers if their headrest was to also pop out. As of 2023, the NHTSA has received nearly 500 complaints of headrests bursting open, with at least 71 of them involving injury. The vehicle has not yet been inspected, but will need to be taken to a dealership and paid to be fixed since there is no recall at this time, and I expect a costly repair. There were no previous warnings or indications that this would happen. This is a dangerous situation, and I am scared to drive my car in fear of my headrest not working properly in the event of a future collision, and am now scared the headrest on the passenger side will bust open and injure someone else. In a proposed class action lawsuit, "65-page complaint states the defect can be traced back to the failure of a “cheap plastic component” inside the ahrs that are unable to withstand the 75 pounds of constant pressure applied by the ahrs springs. The plaintiffs claim this 'cost-saving measure' puts the ahrs at risk of failure and vehicle occupants at risk of injury. " here is a link to a perfectly good summary of this issue. The article was published in 2020. Https://thomasjhenrylaw. Com/blog/NHTSA-investigates-headrests-bursting-open-in-Dodge-Jeep-Chrysler-vehicles-71-injuries-reported/.

Front passenger side head rest broke apart, looks like a plastic piece or lock mechanism broke on the headrest causing it to break apart and I cannot push it back together and re-lock it. This happened while driving down the road with no external factors at play.

While stopped at a stop sign, the passenger side headrest restraint was deployed while my wife was seated. The headrest made a loud noise and did contact her head, but she was not harmed. If this were to happen on the driver's side, especially while moving, the result could be catastrophic.

While driving normally, the passenger headrest violently shot open. Plastic clips which once held a metal rod inside the headrest can be seen stressed and broken, causing the active head restraint (ahr) systems to deploy. Several independent websites and forums show this is a known issue but there has not been a recall. There were no warning signs of an issue until this point.

While sitting in my car with with it running in a parking spot my passenger side active headrest retention system failed and the headrest deployed violently. Luckily no one was sitting in the passenger seat however this could have caused serious injury of death had the seat been occupied. Upon further investigation by myself I noticed that the metal retention bar was still in place however the plastics that is supposed to secure the bar to the mechanism the bar has broken.

Passenger side front seat headrest (active head restraint) deployed for no reason while sitting at a stop sign.

This happened to me today. I was driving and heard a really loud pop/ rattle noise (almost took me off the road it was so abrupt) and thought maybe it was something that hit my car on the road. Sound nearly took me off the road. I pulled over and after inspection I noticed the driver headrest had deployed and the clip is broke. This seems like a serious safety hazard. It is available for inspection upon request. The headrest has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representative or others as it just happened today. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.

The head rest deployed into the back of my head while driving through an intersection. No collision. No bumps. No contact. Smooth driving and then it deployed. It’s a hard and shocking deployment that hits you in the back of the head very aggressively causing my head jolt forward from the impact.