I am constantly finding reasons why it's a bad idea to buy one of these used. The high residuals seem to encourage a beat-it-and-trade-it mentality. I've owned my current truck for 16 years and it took the first 10 to figure out and fix/bulletproof all of the dumb stuff that happened to it in its first 5 years of life.
Love it.
Agreed, buying any used offroad vehicle is risky unless you really know your stuff or have a trusted mechanic who does...
Well, wouldn't you be able to tell by simply looking under it? Any vehicle that has even been remotely off-roading would have mud residue way up in places normally it wouldn't reach without some splashing. Frame/skids would have marks on them, ball joints and steering components would be excessively worn out from larger tires, etc. Most of what problems would come from would be visually noticed.
Not electrical - the most insideous of problems. Works sometimes, doesn't other times. Man, a can of worms for sure!
I just watched the video on this, that isn't even rocking mud that hard7/24/2020 - 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 wasnāt 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 isnāt 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 canāt 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 wonāt 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 donāt 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 itās time to get a lawyer. Any suggestions?
Jeep understands how their vehicles are used and are generally pretty lenient on warranty coverage. Sometimes service managers want to prove how smart they are by embellishing the reason the repair needs to be made. Your issue is with the dealer. They are the ones that put the restriction on your warranty. This is just a guess but discovery will probably show that you are not the only one they have done this to. What state are you in?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 wasnāt 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 isnāt 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 canāt 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 wonāt 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 donāt 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 itās time to get a lawyer. Any suggestions?
Thatās a pretty good way to make sure you spend tens of thousands of dollars that youāll never see again, and could have used to just fix the truck.
The advice you received was solid. You most likely would have lost. Unless those new wheels and tires were the exact weight as OEM then the manufacturer would have a case that the vehicle was altered from manufacturer spec. However unlikely that your mod caused the issue, in the legal sense the manufacturer was covered from liability.
Not to mention Jeep has a water fording depth rating of over 30".
The most expensive part of the lawsuit wont be the lawyers but the "expert" witnesses who will have to present the believable testimony convincing a jury/judge one way or another. Prelim report, a good one, from an engineer will be about $20k easy. FCA just has to bring in the guys who designed theirs. Or, even better just show that your circumstances are nearly identical to the last guy who they beat and it wont cost them anything
