VOIDED Factory Warranty after taking it through mud

[Rollcast]

Food for thought: all you guys that have your tops popped when the passing t-storm rolls thru....and your radio/electronics/etc get soaked by rain... no more warranty for you...that's considered neglect/abuse/stupidity...

Results may/will not be covered by warranty...

Nah, more like:

"all you guys that have your tops popped when you drive through a car wash....and your radio/electronics/etc get soaked.. no more warranty for you...that's considered neglect/abuse/stupidity...

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[Jeeperjamie]

Food for thought: all you guys that have your tops popped when the passing t-storm rolls thru....and your radio/electronics/etc get soaked by rain... no more warranty for you...that's considered neglect/abuse/stupidity...

Results may/will not be covered by warranty...

Good point but to my knowledge no one I know has ever had that happen. My JKU saw it's fair share of down pours with doors and roof off and I never had any issues with the electronics or the electricals. Plenty of guys in our local jeep clubs have experienced it as well. If something did happen I would expect my warranty would probably be void. Jeep didn't say you could ride around in a down pour with the jeep totally exposed. Be no different than riding around in my BMW 440I convertible with top down and getting caught in a down pour. Stuff can get damaged, that's why you don't do it or try not to have it happen. Goes back to using common sense.

 

[CMac]

Good point but to my knowledge no one I know has ever had that happen. My JKU saw it's fair share of down pours with doors and roof off and I never had any issues with the electronics or the electricals. Plenty of guys in our local jeep clubs have experienced it as well. If something did happen I would expect my warranty would probably be void. Jeep didn't say you could ride around in a down pour with the jeep totally exposed. Be no different than riding around in my BMW 440I convertible with top down and getting caught in a down pour. Stuff can get damaged, that's why you don't do it or try not to have it happen. Goes back to using common sense.

Ya, I only used that as an example...but...there are people in this forum that have been caught out in various degrees of downpour...and with no top. One incidence that comes to memory was a guy that went into a movie theater and came out in the middle of heavy rain. Jeep had no top on whatsoever.

 

[BAT]

After watching my brother play in all the mud he could find years back with his vehicles and the money it cost him I can tell you even though I have a JT. I have no intentions of playing in any mud or going near any mud. I will be steering around the stuff if at all possible.

 

[Gladiatrix]

First off, Merry Christmas everyone!

What we have here is a failure in responsibility!

"I took my Jeep in some mud that at the time seemed like fun........I screwed my Jeep up........I accept zero responsibility and if you don't fix it for free.........I am going to sue you, FCA!"

This is what is wrong in the US. The lawyers are sitting back making $200-$300 an hour off of people who can't accept the fact that they screwed up. The lawyers don't lose, we do! Or clean it up and sell it to someone else, then it's their problem. Now, that is a fine outstanding US citizen right there! That's the American spirit, lie to pass your problem to someone else because you're not man enough to accept responsibility for your actions!

Tell the Jeep dealer you did not think the mud would mess up your new truck, but it did, my fault, my responsibility! Ask if they would help you out getting your truck fixed and back on the road! It is going to cost you for going mudding..........responsibility!

I take full responsibility...it was a major mess up for sure. If anything I just want others to be careful and aware so this doesn't happen to you.

 

[Gladiatrix]

1000%

Every time I’ve had a problem, getting stuck or fkn something up, it’s been in mud. Mud is a massive PIA. Learned that lesson at 19 years old on a $6k Jeep. Not at 40 on a $50k Jeep.

Don’t understand the appeal of mudding.

I will NEVER hit the mud again. In fact we are supposed to go out today but it was raining this morning and my PTSD doesn't want me to go.

I'm wondering why the truck wasn't brought back to the dealership where it was purchased first?

It was over 100 miles from where we were. They wanted to charge me almost $1000 to tow it there. So I went to a dealership I had been to before when I was shopping.

 

[PJTree]

Nah, more like:

"all you guys that have your tops popped when you drive through a car wash....and your radio/electronics/etc get soaked.. no more warranty for you...that's considered neglect/abuse/stupidity...

Sorry for my stupidity, but is that true? I agree if it is, but just checking.

 

[Freebooter]

From OP's first post:

"I have 4500 miles on it and the restriction on my warranty was placed on day 5 of ownership."

"I think it’s time to get a lawyer. Any suggestions?"

My bad.........I must be misinterpreting your last sentences from your first post! I thought you were upset about your warranty being put on "restriction" by the first dealer you took your 4 day old mudded Jeep to and you were thinking about suing FCA.

Thanks for the warning! I do hope you get your Jeep fixed!

 

[WhatExit?]

Yeah, but if you abide by my #1 then you don't have to worry about your #1

So what you're saying is your #1 made your #2 irrelevant

 

[PyrPatriot]

Food for thought: all you guys that have your tops popped when the passing t-storm rolls thru....and your radio/electronics/etc get soaked by rain... no more warranty for you...that's considered neglect/abuse/stupidity...

Results may/will not be covered by warranty...

This has been well documented and discussed by Jeep. They designed the JL/JT to be unexpectedly caught in showers with the top off. They run a mister for many hours as testing the water seals. Engine bay can be hosed down (not pressure washed)

After watching my brother play in all the mud he could find years back with his vehicles and the money it cost him I can tell you even though I have a JT. I have no intentions of playing in any mud or going near any mud. I will be steering around the stuff if at all possible.

Yah, I got the desire to go through mud out of my system a couple months after getting my JT. I wanted to do it when it was still new and the seals could hold up better. I didn't go through a mud hole, but rather sped at neighborhood speeds through a parking lot flooded with river mud. It got EVERYWHERE and I LOVED it. The tech at the dealership was nodding in approval, said it was fine. Has done so with JLs and Cherokees. But again, did it, was blessed by the Grace of God to have had nothing go wrong, and now I cringe having to slowly go through mud filled dips on county roads in the backwoods of Eastern KY.

Quoting pic/post for those who may not be reading through all 12p

I must have gotten really lucky with mine when I drove through 3" of slop mud.

Taken at about 2k miles, now at 30,800 miles

Updated showing the last mud hole I went into, SLOWLY. This a public, county road used to get to a few nice camping spots.




Washing out the underside of my Jeep yesterday (haven't gone wheeling since that video and did a couple washes since then), I found mud on top of the transfer skid plate and INSIDE the cross-skids. Pressure washer couldn't get the transfercase skid mud off, so I had to shovel it out by hand. May end up taking skid plates off to clean out the underside better and re-paint them from all their scratches.

 

[rayvonp]

It sucks that you’re going through all that not saying that I agree with the dealer putting a restriction on your warranty and FCA not wanting to do anything about it but I what do before taking my Jeep to the dealer is pressure wash the mud and stuff off so they can’t point fingers at me and say I did something wrong

 

[Wicked1]

I learned my lesson with mud. I started having over heating issues right after hitting the mud. As for original post, I had a jeep renegade before my JT and took it to a ohv park and ended up braking my drive line off and ruining my differential. This was only after maybe two months of owning the renegade. I got it towed home and completely power washed the bottom and outside of it and called the Jeep dealership and told them that my driveline fell off while driving down the street. When I brought it in the lady was very skeptical about it and told me she was not sure the warranty would cover it but I got a call about an hour later saying that they could not find I didn't anything wrong so they had to fix it through the warranty. did you not clean up the truck and spray it down and try to take all the mud off before you went to the dealership?

 

[PyrPatriot]

How do you folks clean mud from the underside? Like driving as pictured by myself and others gets mud UP there. Do you raise it on jacks? I have had a modicum of success with using ramps

There's no hiding the dents and scrapes to my skids and marks on the frame. I guess I'll just have to say those happened a long time ago and not related to any potential future (hopefully never) issue

 

[Koja]

7/24/2020 - Purchased 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon with upgraded Mud Tires I didn't even want.

7/26 - Hit the trail. Plowed it through the mud a bunch of times. It was covered in mud for sure and killed the alternator. Had it towed to the closest Jeep dealership. Russell Westbrook of Van Nuys.

@7/28 - Dealership told me that it was going to cost (starting at) $3K to fix my truck. Nothing was going to be covered under warranty. They wanted to start at replacing the alternator, radiator and both batteries. I wasn’t happy with this so I called the dealership I bought it from and they told me to have it towed to them.

7/30 - had it towed to the dealership I bought it from. They replaced the alternator and I was only charged a small deductible and told me that everything was all good with my warranty still. They didn't see the need to replace the radiator of the batteries.

8/6 - Picked my truck up from the dealership

10/31 - I notice my rear center brake light is out

11/5 - I notice that the Auto Stop/Start isn’t working which means that there is a battery issue

11/7 - my rear axles appear to be engaging in 2H while driving on the freeway at 70MPH. Once I slow down I realize that they are in fact locking up. I can’t unlock them if I try. I ended up fishtailing on two separate occasions while getting onto the freeway on dry California pavement.

11/9 - dropped it off at my dealership and pick up a rental car

11/12 - They tell me that they need to replace the entire rear axle, both batteries and fix the short that is in the taillight but there is a restriction that was put on my factory warranty that says that no repairs can be made and the extended warranty that I had purchased also won’t cover it since they say that the factory warranty should be covering it.

11/13 -FCA tells me that there was a restriction put on my truck by a dealership (the first dealership that I took it to) I call the dealership and they assure me that they don’t have the power to do that.

11/14-12/1 - I am being bounced around from FCA to both of the dealerships that Ive been to to talked to General Managers of stores and on 12/1 FCA calls me and says that there is nothing that they can do about removing the restriction on the factory warranty because I "submerged" it in mud (it was less than a foot deep)

I have 4500 miles on it and the restriction on my warranty was placed on day 5 of ownership.

I think it’s time to get a lawyer. Any suggestions?

Alex Simanovsky
877-570-5413
[email protected]

 

[REDBEAST]

Not exactly, if the OP is using the truck as intended(within the limits) then it possibly could be a warranty issue. Also, look at the timeline he has for various issues... I would think it is hard for anyone legally to claim they all came from the initial mud incident.

I'm sorry but if it were me I would pull the alternator off, clean it up and reinstall it. They are real simple to work on. I've had to do it in the past on other 4 by's. A lot cheaper than a retainer for a lawyer and you keep your warranty. I made up my mind a long time ago to never bring a vehicle in for warranty issues unless there is a catastrophic failure.

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