One problem related to instrument panel has been reported for the 2008 Jeep Patriot. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
On my 2008 Jeep patrtiot, on braking, usually when coming to a stop at a traffic light or stop sign, most of the dash lights, including 4wd, abs and esp, come on briefly. This has happened many times over the past couple of years, beginning at about 35,000 miles. Usually, the only symptom of the problem is the dash lights come on accompanied by a warning chime, but the engine remains running. Recently, however, it seems to be happening more frequently, and even more worrisome, is the fact that the engine sometimes dies when this happens. This morning, the lights came on, the warning chime sounded and the engine died when I was turning a corner, causing me to lose forward progress, power steering, etc. I have had the vehicle to a Jeep dealer and an independent garage, and neither has been able to diagnose or fix the problem.