Quite a few Jeep Wrangler 4xe owners reported their vehicles being disabled after an over-the-air update this past weekend, reports The Stack. After installing the update, owners reported their Jeeps suddenly losing power, lighting up a bunch of dashboard warning lights, and coming to a stop. A message would appear instructing drivers to put the transmission into park, after which it refused to shift back into drive, leaving them stranded.
This is far from optimal behavior, to say the least. While some owners couldn’t even start their Jeeps (which, admittedly, is the safest failure condition since you’re already parked), others reported engines shutting down while driving or even in the middle of the highway. As one member of the Jeep 4xe Enthusiasts Facebook group described:
This happened to me today-went through the update in the morning and then continued to drive and had it die on me on the interstate- it was absolutely terrifying. Was driving 70 mph and it just shut off and told me to shift to park- was able to make it off onto the shoulder, turned it off and back on again, tried getting back on the interstate and it wouldn’t accelerate. Finally got it off the exit. Shut it off for a few minutes and then tried driving it again, worked for about 5 miles then did it again- pulled off the interstate on a very narrow shoulder with cars speeding by. Restarted it and barely made it to the next exit where I had to have it towed to the dealer.
Some owners posted videos about the problems they were encountering, warning owners not to install this update due to the problems it was causing. Wranglers that had not installed it appeared to continue working just fine.
Spontaneous shutdown
Across the internet, owners complained that Jeep dealers were not being particularly responsive to the issue. Vehicles were being towed in with this problem, but dealers had no idea what it was or how to deal with it. Stellantis seemed to be actively working on it behind the scenes, and its Social Engagement Team updated owners on forums throughout the weekend. After several owners posted about the problem on the 4xe Forums, Kori from Jeep Cares posted the following explanation:
This is a telematics box module update, not a radio software update; for those who received the update, it will not change that radio software version.
The update was canceled yesterday evening (10/10/25); however, if your vehicle had already downloaded it, even if you have not seen the pop-up screen yet, we do not have a way to cancel that and remove it from your vehicle.
We are continuing to receive information in real time and will post back when we have specific instructions from our engineering teams about exactly what we can do to help everyone.
A follow-up post the next day provided a solution:
A fix was launched after 6 PM EST. In order for the vehicle to receive the fix, it does require the vehicle to be turned on in good cellular coverage. There will not be a pop-up message.
After allowing the vehicle to be on for at least 10 minutes, the recommendation is to turn the vehicle off, back on, and ensure there is no code/fault on the instrument cluster and you see ‘Ready.’
For those that had vehicles towed to dealers, we should be able to have all dealers assist in ensuring this is completed Monday morning so vehicles are ready for pickup quickly.
For anyone that incurred a towing cost or a diagnostic fee (or any other related expense), we will assist in reimbursing or canceling any fees. This will commence on Monday.
Some owners are reporting success with this procedure, while others are still reporting problems, including some at dealers who are trying to help the best they can. Jalopnik reached out to Stellantis for comment and will update this article if and when we hear back from the automaker.
‘It’s not a bug, it’s a feature’
There are many reasons why this problem, which breaks a perfectly functional vehicle, should never have happened. The obvious one is that this buggy software update should not have been deployed in the first place. A problem this significant should have been caught during testing, which makes me wonder how thorough the testing was. From gaming to social media, software companies seem not to be doing enough quality assurance, releasing buggy software to the public and relying on them to report problems instead. It’s one thing when the problem causes a harmless graphics glitch like faceless characters in Assassin’s Creed, and quite another in a moving car when the motor shuts down or the electric steering doesn’t respond.
Stellantis also released this particular software update late on a Friday afternoon. When I worked in the software industry, this was a huge no-no unless a company wanted to risk dragging its development team back into the office over the weekend after breaking the product. People go home for the weekend, leaving the company ill-prepared if something goes wrong with an update. Mid-week seemed a better time to deploy, while fully staffed and able to respond instantly if an update went wrong and a fix had to be deployed quickly. Communication teams would also be at work, able to keep dealers in the loop about the problem and solution, instead of leaving dealers caught with their pants down when a bunch of bricked Jeeps suddenly get towed in.
When manufacturers require you to install OTA updates, they need to ensure they actually work first. The more software goes into modern cars, especially hybrids and EVs, the more auto manufacturers need to start thinking like software companies. A buggy update may not launch your car into orbit when you crash into a swing set like in GTA IV, but it could increase the odds of you crashing into a swing set in real life.
