500 miles - 'unsafe to drive'.

[Hootbro]

......................... why in the world would you telegraph shitty service to those that didn’t buy from you? You’re just ensuring that they don’t buy from you in the future either.

One would think it would be common sense for them to not do it, but we no longer live in that world and that is 20+ years in the past. Use to be a time a salesman would call you a week, month and year after the sale to see if everything is going ok. I am lucky if any salesman I have dealt with is there 6 months after the sale or any other face I saw when I made the purchase.

There is just no loyalty either way from the dealership to the customer or the customer to the dealership. It is rarity that loyalty to a dealership pays off.

Sponsored

 

[thejeepster]

On the positive side, your jeep looks great- even broken and on a lift!

 

[sapientiam]

Thank you all for the replies.

It was shifting just fine when I drove it to the dealer. So that's good to hear.

Today was the first time passing somebody on some Kentucky back roads. That 3.0 diesel has some pep to it, went from 40 to 70 real quick. So much different than the 2008 wrangler unlimited I use to have.

I agree, it is a gorgeous jeep. What's not so gorgeous is my cart subtotal for extras I want, err need for the jeep.

 

[Rusty PW]

The is a couple of oil filter threads in the diesel section.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/diesel-oil-filter-no-longer-available.71369/

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/docs-filters.77031/

 

[Koolcarguy]

Hello everybody!

I'm new to the JT world. And did it start off bad. I purchased a new 2023 diesel gladiator, 22 miles on the odometer. Hard to pass up 18k below msrp. I looked all across the USA couldn't find the exact jeep I wanted, but I found one about 4 hrs away that was real close. So I drive down there, buy the jeep. I have them ceramic coat it, and set it up for delivery. A week later it gets delivered to me, so now its 3xx miles on it. And I smell a chemical, I describe it as cat urine smell. I think, oh maybe its just the ceramic coating chemicals they use. So I drive it for a couple hundred miles in 2 days, and still occasionally notice that horrible smell. I notice a bit of oil in my driveway, I assumed it was a delivery vehicle. Next day I notice a little more. I crawl under the jeep, entire bottom is covered in oil.

And so starts my saga. I'll keep it brief, the whole Jeep Wave well take care of you spiel, is nothing but that. A marketing thing, its no good at the time of any issue. So after I give up on talking to them, I drive the jeep to the local dealership, Chrysler of Lawrenceburg in KY. Cause hell at this point what's a couple more miles on it. Mind you im 1.5 hrs away from my home. Very nice, very helpful dealership. Put it up on the lift, see below. And tell me I have a transmission intercooler/heater leak. And the vehicle is unsafe to drive. They recommend me have it towed back to the selling dealership, Watermark chrysler in madisonville, KY. Because this should have been caught on presale inspection.

So I call jeep, they tell me it will cost me 1700 dollars to tow it. But the jeep wave might reimburse me for it. So I call watermark dealership. And they were and are absolutely horrible to deal with. Eventually the service manage calls me back, and tells me they already fixed that issue on the jeep. And was surprised the dealership I was at said they didn't want to fix it and to tow it back to them. So some sort of back and forth goes on between the two service managers. I start trying to get a rental car, because I stuck hours away from home with nothing to drive. I call the jeep wave people, they say sure we can cover 40 dollars a day for a rental car. Im like awesome, how do I get one. They say I have to pay up front, and how I get there is on me. The nearest place is some 15-20 miles away, I ask do you suggest I walk? and they just started repeating the same script over and over to me. Worthless. 4 hrs later, my local dealership is going to fix it and they do indeed have a rental car I can drive. Now when I first asked them, they said no. So im not sure what changed.

Talked to the selling dealership Manger at watermark Chrysler, and he told me in a few more words, 'tuff shit, you bought it, its yours to deal with'.

Jeep wave, next tier support, eventually got back to me, a couple days later. And extended my warranty to 60/120k, what's funny is the person I talked to recommended me to return the jeep and get a refund. Watermark told me, they would not accept the vehicle back.

A week later, and its fixed. Only time will tell how much damage occurred.


Now on to my first project of adding adaptive cruise control to it. I've read the one thread I could find, its possible, just not easy.


Also what is up with the 110 dollar Mopar oil filter?

Good looking Jeep ! Bummer you had a bad experience my local dealership I used for 25 years was sold a couple years back to a big dealer group and now they are horrible!! But in the next town over about 50 miles theres a Jeep dealer that is absolutely awesome! They come and get my Jeeps and Rams for service or warranty. My advice find a good dealership and stick with them

 

[DbqDude]

With my Rebel ecodiesel I bought a 3 pack of mopar oil filters on ebay for $75. The dealers get $90 for one filter and nearly $250 per oil change. That's why I started changing it myself.

As for adding adaptive cruise that's gonna be a difficult and expensive add on after the fact. There are a lot of sensors and camera pack that are required. I specifically searched for a rubucon jt that already had all of the options.i do miss that diesel pulling power through.

Happy trails!

 

[Reddog]

Hello everybody!

I'm new to the JT world. And did it start off bad. I purchased a new 2023 diesel gladiator, 22 miles on the odometer. Hard to pass up 18k below msrp. I looked all across the USA couldn't find the exact jeep I wanted, but I found one about 4 hrs away that was real close. So I drive down there, buy the jeep. I have them ceramic coat it, and set it up for delivery. A week later it gets delivered to me, so now its 3xx miles on it. And I smell a chemical, I describe it as cat urine smell. I think, oh maybe its just the ceramic coating chemicals they use. So I drive it for a couple hundred miles in 2 days, and still occasionally notice that horrible smell. I notice a bit of oil in my driveway, I assumed it was a delivery vehicle. Next day I notice a little more. I crawl under the jeep, entire bottom is covered in oil.

And so starts my saga. I'll keep it brief, the whole Jeep Wave well take care of you spiel, is nothing but that. A marketing thing, its no good at the time of any issue. So after I give up on talking to them, I drive the jeep to the local dealership, Chrysler of Lawrenceburg in KY. Cause hell at this point what's a couple more miles on it. Mind you im 1.5 hrs away from my home. Very nice, very helpful dealership. Put it up on the lift, see below. And tell me I have a transmission intercooler/heater leak. And the vehicle is unsafe to drive. They recommend me have it towed back to the selling dealership, Watermark chrysler in madisonville, KY. Because this should have been caught on presale inspection.

So I call jeep, they tell me it will cost me 1700 dollars to tow it. But the jeep wave might reimburse me for it. So I call watermark dealership. And they were and are absolutely horrible to deal with. Eventually the service manage calls me back, and tells me they already fixed that issue on the jeep. And was surprised the dealership I was at said they didn't want to fix it and to tow it back to them. So some sort of back and forth goes on between the two service managers. I start trying to get a rental car, because I stuck hours away from home with nothing to drive. I call the jeep wave people, they say sure we can cover 40 dollars a day for a rental car. Im like awesome, how do I get one. They say I have to pay up front, and how I get there is on me. The nearest place is some 15-20 miles away, I ask do you suggest I walk? and they just started repeating the same script over and over to me. Worthless. 4 hrs later, my local dealership is going to fix it and they do indeed have a rental car I can drive. Now when I first asked them, they said no. So im not sure what changed.

Talked to the selling dealership Manger at watermark Chrysler, and he told me in a few more words, 'tuff shit, you bought it, its yours to deal with'.

Jeep wave, next tier support, eventually got back to me, a couple days later. And extended my warranty to 60/120k, what's funny is the person I talked to recommended me to return the jeep and get a refund. Watermark told me, they would not accept the vehicle back.

A week later, and its fixed. Only time will tell how much damage occurred.


Now on to my first project of adding adaptive cruise control to it. I've read the one thread I could find, its possible, just not easy.


Also what is up with the 110 dollar Mopar oil filter?

Sorry for your bad luck, but customer service is dead in America. My Jeep dealer salesman lied with a smile on his face, and I knew it. They don’t care, their job is selling cars. The dealership cheated me out of $700 and then lied to me about it. They don’t care. My neighbor who lives next to our vacation cottage owned three car dealerships and just sold two of them. He said he can see the end and got out before dealerships are worthless. The time is close when you will but your new car directly from the factory, and dealerships will become service centers and places to go LOOK at new vehicles, but not buy from them. Truth? Maybe, maybe not. But my neighbor thinks so. Dealerships no longer have mechanic either, they have technicians with marginal if any training. Sorry for the negative here but there are just too many stories like yours today where people pay a small fortune for a vehicle that underperforms. No answers here, I just hate what vehicle dealerships have become. Good luck to you.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

The dealershit experience sounds familiar. I’m in Southeastern (Hampton Roads) Va. I bought mine from a dealership where I had family in management at the auto group. That didn’t make a difference in their awfulness. So I switched to a slightly closer dealer that I’ve had good luck with in the past (I’ve owned 4 Jeeps, not including the 42’ MB). I’ve had a terrible experience with both their stores so far. At this point I don’t really have a dealership. I’m not sure where I’d take my Jeep if I have an issue. I certainly wouldn’t take mine anywhere for maintenance that I can just do myself.

Below is what I’ve observed owning this JTRD. The last one I owned was in 13’ and a lot has changed in the industry since then. Between then and the current one I owned an Escape and FRS and found Ford and Toyota’s service to be awful. Thankfully nothing went wrong on that Toyota. The Ford was a pos.

• The industry is in turmoil generally but Jeep is maybe in a worse situation. Stellantis a money grubbing wh$&@, with sinking money holes Chrysler and USA Fiat/Alfa junk dragging their profits down. They’ve clearly decided to make it back with Jeep and Ram owners.
• Customer service has gone down the drain, but it’s also clear that these dealerships, especially in service, have become terrible places to work. Unhappy staff = unhappy customers = unhappy staff…. I know this in part because of family that works in the industry but also because dealership staff keep telling me how awful it is. I guess I look like someone that they can just open up too, but it’s still a bit weird.
• The days of the enthusiast savant Jeep mechanic is mostly over. The days of “I got a guy at dealership X, that does good work, who I’m on a first name basis with” is mostly over. The same goes for parts counter people. The same goes for bike shop people, ski or kayak shop dudes, etc. I used to have a beer guy at the wine store that was a walking encyclopedia. That store was run out of business by chains and now people can barely direct me to where the things they stock are located. Economy-wide, employees and customers alike have been reduced to a commodity with the predictable results of heavy turnover and people always looking for the exists for something better or green labor coupled with zero budget for proper training and almost zero trades education.
• A lot of these dealerships aren’t even local. They’re part of larger corporate entities. Many aren’t even fully U.S. owned anymore. Again, this has predictable results. The current dealership I’ve taken the truck to is now owned by some Iranian nationals down in Florida. They record all phone calls to the dealership but you can’t actually get an employee on the phone. The service writers tell me their phones don’t work. This is the 4th dealership network I’ve dealt with where you can never get someone on the phone. They tell me it started with Covid. Apparently voip phones catch viruses too.
• I experienced the same towing nonsense through Jeep roadside assistance. $175 miles to tow me 10 miles under warranty. Use your car insurance. I told Jeep to pack sand and called Geico. It was free and the guy was there in 15 minutes, rather than the 3 hours Jeep told me.
• I experienced the same nonsense with the rental car. Again, it’s just cost shifting like all the other anti-consumer changes that have come about in the last few years. I had a rental car from a Ford dealer for 4 months back in 14’ when we bought our lemon Escape. I didn’t have to do anything, other than prove I had insurance and put gas in it. And they really want you to take a rental car now. They insisted on it for my CP4 fuel pump same day replacement. I told them I’d wait, since I had my laptop with me and it just end up spending the day driving back and forth to the dealership sitting in HR traffic. This resulted in a lengthy argument. They really don’t want customers hanging out in the service lounge waiting. I think because they don’t want to be asked continuously when the car is ready. Again, these service writers are stuck between shitty management, shitty Stellantis and angry, demanding customers. They just want to get you out of their hair.
• The techs suck. They can’t do oil changes on the Ecodiesel without screwing it up. I’d do it myself if I was you. I don’t trust a Jeep dealership to work on the diesel if they don’t sell Ram too. I don’t trust dealerships to do oil changes with bulk oil. I’ve been burned too many times over the years with improperly filled oil or the wrong oil. I don’t trust their green labor to have the requisite mechanical skills or be able to troubleshoot things systematically. They don’t have good reading or listening comprehension skills, either.
• Don’t buy parts from your dealer. Buy them online from one of the Mopar store clones, which themselves are just dealerships trying to make more money. You can get the OEM oil filter for $75. Don’t buy anything like a filter from Amazon. You can get the Europlatinum oil cheap from Amazon however. My dealership quoted me almost $600 to do an oil change. Another dealership I was considering switching to said they couldn’t give me a price until the work was complete, because the price of oil changes apparently by the hour ?
• Unless you’re one of the lucky few with a good dealership, and or good mechanic do as much as you can yourself. But chances are, that good mechanic is under-appreciated and disgruntled. I don’t want that guy working on my car either.
• When you have an issue that may be warranty related, try and do as much self-diagnosis yourself so you can give the dealership as much specific information as possible. You have to lead them around by the nose or they will screw it up or give you the “can’t replicate” nonsense.
• I’ve been told that’s it’s now policy at most dealerships that they no longer apply any TSB without a customer complaining about symptoms outlined in the TSB first. This includes ECU updates. This is because Stelantis is refusing to pay for any problems that may result and has gotten shitty about reimbursements in general. So do your own TSB research. I told 2 dealerships about all my suspension issues on the stock JTRD. Apparently there was a TSB to replace all the shocks on it in late 21. They never told me about it. I ended up lifting it anyway and only found out about that TSB, which explains the problems I had from day 1, this year from this forum.

 

[salvino]

Hello everybody!

I'm new to the JT world. And did it start off bad. I purchased a new 2023 diesel gladiator, 22 miles on the odometer. Hard to pass up 18k below msrp. I looked all across the USA couldn't find the exact jeep I wanted, but I found one about 4 hrs away that was real close. So I drive down there, buy the jeep. I have them ceramic coat it, and set it up for delivery. A week later it gets delivered to me, so now its 3xx miles on it. And I smell a chemical, I describe it as cat urine smell. I think, oh maybe its just the ceramic coating chemicals they use. So I drive it for a couple hundred miles in 2 days, and still occasionally notice that horrible smell. I notice a bit of oil in my driveway, I assumed it was a delivery vehicle. Next day I notice a little more. I crawl under the jeep, entire bottom is covered in oil.

And so starts my saga. I'll keep it brief, the whole Jeep Wave well take care of you spiel, is nothing but that. A marketing thing, its no good at the time of any issue. So after I give up on talking to them, I drive the jeep to the local dealership, Chrysler of Lawrenceburg in KY. Cause hell at this point what's a couple more miles on it. Mind you im 1.5 hrs away from my home. Very nice, very helpful dealership. Put it up on the lift, see below. And tell me I have a transmission intercooler/heater leak. And the vehicle is unsafe to drive. They recommend me have it towed back to the selling dealership, Watermark chrysler in madisonville, KY. Because this should have been caught on presale inspection.

So I call jeep, they tell me it will cost me 1700 dollars to tow it. But the jeep wave might reimburse me for it. So I call watermark dealership. And they were and are absolutely horrible to deal with. Eventually the service manage calls me back, and tells me they already fixed that issue on the jeep. And was surprised the dealership I was at said they didn't want to fix it and to tow it back to them. So some sort of back and forth goes on between the two service managers. I start trying to get a rental car, because I stuck hours away from home with nothing to drive. I call the jeep wave people, they say sure we can cover 40 dollars a day for a rental car. Im like awesome, how do I get one. They say I have to pay up front, and how I get there is on me. The nearest place is some 15-20 miles away, I ask do you suggest I walk? and they just started repeating the same script over and over to me. Worthless. 4 hrs later, my local dealership is going to fix it and they do indeed have a rental car I can drive. Now when I first asked them, they said no. So im not sure what changed.

Talked to the selling dealership Manger at watermark Chrysler, and he told me in a few more words, 'tuff shit, you bought it, its yours to deal with'.

Jeep wave, next tier support, eventually got back to me, a couple days later. And extended my warranty to 60/120k, what's funny is the person I talked to recommended me to return the jeep and get a refund. Watermark told me, they would not accept the vehicle back.

A week later, and its fixed. Only time will tell how much damage occurred.


Now on to my first project of adding adaptive cruise control to it. I've read the one thread I could find, its possible, just not easy.


Also what is up with the 110 dollar Mopar oil filter?

I live in the Pacific NW. Bought might Launch Edition in Billings, MT a very long way from where I live. My local Jeep dealer does most of the maintenance. I spend a good deal of time in AZ. Two dealers there work on it. The subject of where it was purchased has never come up.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

That is always the risk of not buying local. Mine is cool about warranty work even if I did not buy there, but I can see how some dealers hate it because while they are bound by their franchise agreement to work on any customer vehicle, they are not inclined to step up or go above and beyond.

Dealerships make their coin off the new sale to a small degree but the lions share is off your trade in and upsells in finance. Warranty reimbursement structure under pays them. So an outside vehicle brought in for warranty work is usually a losing proposition for them.

I once had a service manager tell me that they had a "hierarchy" of how jobs got into the shop for work:

1. Their customer's non-warranty work
2. Non-customer's non-warranty work
3. Their customer's warranty work
4. Non-customer's warranty work

I don't know if that's an industry standard, but it seems they prioritize non-warranty work because it pays better.

 

[Hootbro]

I once had a service manager tell me that they had a "hierarchy" of how jobs got into the shop for work:

1. Their customer's non-warranty work
2. Non-customer's non-warranty work
3. Their customer's warranty work
4. Non-customer's warranty work

I don't know if that's an industry standard, but it seems they prioritize non-warranty work because it pays better.

Yeah, have heard the same also. Not first come, first serve. Understand why it is like that.

 

[Gvsukids]

I have a service guy at the dealership that's great, but after having work done I find a second issue.

When you have an issue that may be warranty related, try and do as much self-diagnosis yourself so you can give the dealership as much specific information as possible. You have to lead them around by the nose or they will screw it up or give you the “can’t replicate” nonsense.

Yes. I detail the issue and replicate it myself if I have to.

I’ve been told that’s it’s now policy at most dealerships that they no longer apply any TSB without a customer complaining about symptoms outlined in the TSB first.

Found out I missed a TSB for the drip gutters for my 2020, but I'll pay for that install.

 

[JeepJunky]

Hello everybody!

I'm new to the JT world. And did it start off bad. I purchased a new 2023 diesel gladiator, 22 miles on the odometer. Hard to pass up 18k below msrp. I looked all across the USA couldn't find the exact jeep I wanted, but I found one about 4 hrs away that was real close. So I drive down there, buy the jeep. I have them ceramic coat it, and set it up for delivery. A week later it gets delivered to me, so now its 3xx miles on it. And I smell a chemical, I describe it as cat urine smell. I think, oh maybe its just the ceramic coating chemicals they use. So I drive it for a couple hundred miles in 2 days, and still occasionally notice that horrible smell. I notice a bit of oil in my driveway, I assumed it was a delivery vehicle. Next day I notice a little more. I crawl under the jeep, entire bottom is covered in oil.

And so starts my saga. I'll keep it brief, the whole Jeep Wave well take care of you spiel, is nothing but that. A marketing thing, its no good at the time of any issue. So after I give up on talking to them, I drive the jeep to the local dealership, Chrysler of Lawrenceburg in KY. Cause hell at this point what's a couple more miles on it. Mind you im 1.5 hrs away from my home. Very nice, very helpful dealership. Put it up on the lift, see below. And tell me I have a transmission intercooler/heater leak. And the vehicle is unsafe to drive. They recommend me have it towed back to the selling dealership, Watermark chrysler in madisonville, KY. Because this should have been caught on presale inspection.

So I call jeep, they tell me it will cost me 1700 dollars to tow it. But the jeep wave might reimburse me for it. So I call watermark dealership. And they were and are absolutely horrible to deal with. Eventually the service manage calls me back, and tells me they already fixed that issue on the jeep. And was surprised the dealership I was at said they didn't want to fix it and to tow it back to them. So some sort of back and forth goes on between the two service managers. I start trying to get a rental car, because I stuck hours away from home with nothing to drive. I call the jeep wave people, they say sure we can cover 40 dollars a day for a rental car. Im like awesome, how do I get one. They say I have to pay up front, and how I get there is on me. The nearest place is some 15-20 miles away, I ask do you suggest I walk? and they just started repeating the same script over and over to me. Worthless. 4 hrs later, my local dealership is going to fix it and they do indeed have a rental car I can drive. Now when I first asked them, they said no. So im not sure what changed.

Talked to the selling dealership Manger at watermark Chrysler, and he told me in a few more words, 'tuff shit, you bought it, its yours to deal with'.

Jeep wave, next tier support, eventually got back to me, a couple days later. And extended my warranty to 60/120k, what's funny is the person I talked to recommended me to return the jeep and get a refund. Watermark told me, they would not accept the vehicle back.

A week later, and its fixed. Only time will tell how much damage occurred.


Now on to my first project of adding adaptive cruise control to it. I've read the one thread I could find, its possible, just not easy.


Also what is up with the 110 dollar Mopar oil filter?



Study the 'Lemon Law' for your state The pamphlet probably came with your Jeep. I had a dealer Offer it to me after repeated problems on a new Jeep several years ago. The dealer bought it back for a bit more than I paid for it. naturally, I bought a new, different model jeep that same day. A more expensive one, but heck, I was sold on their integrity. That jeep never failed me, traded it in a few years later and bought a truck to haul an RV with, Lemon Law, is a Law, and dealer can't say 'no' to it. Well they can, but not smart for them.

 

[fireproof69]

One would think it would be common sense for them to not do it, but we no longer live in that world and that is 20+ years in the past. Use to be a time a salesman would call you a week, month and year after the sale to see if everything is going ok. I am lucky if any salesman I have dealt with is there 6 months after the sale or any other face I saw when I made the purchase.

There is just no loyalty either way from the dealership to the customer or the customer to the dealership. It is rarity that loyalty to a dealership pays off.

I feel pretty lucky to have a few connections at a local dealership. Used the same sales guy in 2012 to buy my Ram Crew Cab, that I used in 2021 to buy my wife a Grand Cherokee.
Now he is a Finance Manager and I have a new sales guy when I bought my 2023 Gladiator. But the previous guy recognizes me and always comes out to say hey when I’m in.
New salesman has called me a few times to see how I’m loving the Jeep and if I need anything.

 

[Hootbro]

I feel pretty lucky to have a few connections at a local dealership. Used the same sales guy in 2012 to buy my Ram Crew Cab, that I used in 2021 to buy my wife a Grand Cherokee.
Now he is a Finance Manager and I have a new sales guy when I bought my 2023 Gladiator. But the previous guy recognizes me and always comes out to say hey when I’m in.
New salesman has called me a few times to see how I’m loving the Jeep and if I need anything.

That is good to hear. Is it a family own franchise dealership?

There does seems to be a distinction between single/family owned dealerships vs. larger corporate group owned and run dealerships on what level of personalized service one gets.

The 2008 recession really gutted the family own and often more rural domestic make dealerships. Those were the places you could foster a relationship that could span a couple decades and where loyalty paid off most times.

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