2021 Ecodiesel Big Issues beaware

[Free2roam]

This. As an enthusiast I absolutely despise this system. The middle man, or woman these days, usually has no clue. It’s a total barrier to accurate communication.

Two different times I’ve tried to get the steering and other TSB’s done on mine. At two different dealers.

Same BS answers of “can’t replicate” which in turn translates to “we don’t want to do the work” each time. Asked if the tech could ride along as I can replicate my issues EVERY day and it’s the “oh, we don’t do that” slimy answer. Which really says to me that they are disinterested in helping resolve anything if they don’t smell big money. Maybe FCA doesn’t pay them enough on TSB’s etc.

Worst part of Jeep ownership is their shady service departments.

It's warranty why would they care! Doesn't pay them anything.

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[am1978]

I was told by @JeepCares that they can't do anything about it as each dealer is independently owned. In fact, I got the feeling that jeepcares agents are as frustrated with the dealers as we are.
Seems to me that as a dealer they have to abide by certain guidelines to continue to be a dealer. Perhaps corporate needs to start enforcing it.
Something i just realized when I picked up last week. My service writer is really out of the loop. He has to talk to a shop manager that coordinates with the techs. He doesn't talk to the techs directly. So the person that is responsible for the work never has to be responsible to the customer because they never have to talk to them.

I guess I have an ok service dept then because I talk directly to the guys working on my Jeeps. I’ve taken them in to these guys for jeep wave oil/tire work and some warrant work since I went back to Jeep in 2018. They only bad experience I had was when @JeepCares got involved and it wasn’t the service department who jacked me, it was @JeepCares on reimbursing me for not having my Jeep for a combined 4 weeks over a two month period.

 

[Hootbro]

FCA needs to hold their dealer service departments accountable, start firing people who do what you guy did. That will get their attention.

If the dealership is make or exceeding sales goal, then corporate does not care if they are beating Nuns with dead puppies around back so long as there is no video.

With few exceptions, dealerships do not feel the pain of bad customer service and no longer having that return business because there is new rubes walking in off the streets to replace them everyday.

 

[ACAD_Cowboy]

My service writer is really out of the loop. He has to talk to a shop manager that coordinates with the techs. He doesn't talk to the techs directly. So the person that is responsible for the work never has to be responsible to the customer because they never have to talk to them.

There is a perfectly suitable reason. Having formerly work dealer service for MBUSA.

Customer speaks to service writer who is supposed to write down all of the "customer states..." issues, as well as the customer can express them AND as well as the service writer can interpret or understand them.

Service writer interfaces with service manager who triages and prioritizes the work flow and parcels work to the techs.

Techs on reveiwing the complaint, investigating the complaint and either validating or denying the complaint send the work order back to service manager and then on back to service writer who is supposed to communicate with the customer. If the complaint is validated and the repair is authorized, tech will interface with parts, obtain an estimated time to receive parts, estimated repair cost value and return the work order to the pool until able to continue.

If customers were to speak directly to the techs from the start the whole process would become very disordered with a lot of time spent bullshitting and absolutely zero controls on what may or may not be comp'd or covered or what may or may not currently be under a campaign.

The service writer is the one who is supposed to be the administrative control, the one one who can decided to eat a cost or the one who can break the bad news that no, it can't be warranted even under good faith. Service managers care about book dollars in and tech time dollars out, what's the through put and how long until this board is empty. They honestly don't care about the customer in a normal way, nor should they. Techs tend to be either too caring about customer costs or cold-hearted bastards and very few have the skill of being able to have a relatable human discussion with a customer while also telling them it's not covered and gonna be expensive. Parts is a whole other world and we wanted to talk to general customers just about 0% of the time. Nothing left the desk without a WO# or RO# and I don't care if Jesus H. Christ himself is here to pick up his car... they techs can't release it because the parts aren't received yet because there is a national service campaign and we are all waiting on a big boat from germany full of new alternators... now get the fuck out of my space!

The system is designed so that sleazy sales folks talk people in buying cars, shady service writers keep telling them it'll be covered, shell shocked service managers yell at lazy techs and crafty techs keep banking 100 book hours in 40 work hours while parts guys appear like angels bearing parts.

 

[Free2roam]

So

If the dealership is make or exceeding sales goal, then corporate does not care if they are beating Nuns with dead puppies around back so long as there is no video.

With few exceptions, dealerships do not feel the pain of bad customer service and no longer having that return business because there is new rubes walking in off the streets to replace them everyday.

So true. For instance. My Gladiator EcoDiesel at the dealership. Fuel tank on ground covered in plastic. Now we may not have a high humidity environment here. But the fact of the matter is. Cover something in plastic. Subject it to cooling and heating. Condensation! Ugggg

 

[foo.c]

If the dealership is make or exceeding sales goal, then corporate does not care if they are beating Nuns with dead puppies around back so long as there is no video.

With few exceptions, dealerships do not feel the pain of bad customer service and no longer having that return business because there is new rubes walking in off the streets to replace them everyday.

I agree, but why do they keep pretending with the stupid surveys?

 

[CLM]

There is a perfectly suitable reason. Having formerly work dealer service for MBUSA.

Customer speaks to service writer who is supposed to write down all of the "customer states..." issues, as well as the customer can express them AND as well as the service writer can interpret or understand them.

Service writer interfaces with service manager who triages and prioritizes the work flow and parcels work to the techs.

Techs on reveiwing the complaint, investigating the complaint and either validating or denying the complaint send the work order back to service manager and then on back to service writer who is supposed to communicate with the customer. If the complaint is validated and the repair is authorized, tech will interface with parts, obtain an estimated time to receive parts, estimated repair cost value and return the work order to the pool until able to continue.

If customers were to speak directly to the techs from the start the whole process would become very disordered with a lot of time spent bullshitting and absolutely zero controls on what may or may not be comp'd or covered or what may or may not currently be under a campaign.

The service writer is the one who is supposed to be the administrative control, the one one who can decided to eat a cost or the one who can break the bad news that no, it can't be warranted even under good faith. Service managers care about book dollars in and tech time dollars out, what's the through put and how long until this board is empty. They honestly don't care about the customer in a normal way, nor should they. Techs tend to be either too caring about customer costs or cold-hearted bastards and very few have the skill of being able to have a relatable human discussion with a customer while also telling them it's not covered and gonna be expensive. Parts is a whole other world and we wanted to talk to general customers just about 0% of the time. Nothing left the desk without a WO# or RO# and I don't care if Jesus H. Christ himself is here to pick up his car... they techs can't release it because the parts aren't received yet because there is a national service campaign and we are all waiting on a big boat from germany full of new alternators... now get the fuck out of my space!

The system is designed so that sleazy sales folks talk people in buying cars, shady service writers keep telling them it'll be covered, shell shocked service managers yell at lazy techs and crafty techs keep banking 100 book hours in 40 work hours while parts guys appear like angels bearing parts.

Darn thanks for this, it's the most succinct and accurate thing I've read all day, and amusing in a really sad way. And as we've all seen, this whole pandemic thing has ramped up all the previously existing issues by about double or triple, so here we are. Kinda makes you long for the good old days, which really weren't all that good, but we were blissfully ignorant and thought they were.
I will say that generally speaking I think dealer service depts should be avoided whenever possible, but I have had rare exceptional experiences when I found those remarkable people who manage to juggle all the issues you point out and still make everyone happy. Maybe once every ten years or so.
But yeah, my car is the one single example of that model in my town, you think I'm going to let the local dealer touch it? NOPE. My truck (diesel JT) is mostly tech from the 1950's, I know how to service diesel engines and 4WD, I'll do it myself thanks even if I have to pay $150 for 9 quarts of oil and a filter.

 

[ACAD_Cowboy]

I had the benefit of work for a shop that catered to an up market MB clientele, think NY sports stars who lived in Westchester etc. Got told one day that despite all the work put into getting a brand new Maybach PDI'd and some issues sorted through crafty parts department ways, the client would not be here today as arraigned as his Bell Jet Ranger needed to be picked up the same day. I honestly wish I was joking but if you can imagine, the helicopter for his yatch was more important.

But yes I worked in a very client focused shop where we all worked hard to make the client feel important and still had all the same struggles of on the strip boiler room dealership offering no credit no problem. The issue is the people who make up the system not the system itself.

 

[Koolcarguy]

Dang thats a bummer! I have a 2021 Jt with the diesel i ABSOLUTELY LOVE just hit 15,000 miles not 1 problem gets 23+mpg with 35's . As a car dealer myself i would be pissed if i was treated that way or one of my customers was treated that way i would definitely find a new Jeep dealer and call Jeep customer care or the mopar 5 star service they will help i hope you get your bugs worked i love mine just ordered a new Gecko green Jt Diesel supposed to arrive end of September! Good luck

 

[Klutch]

For Jeep Cares to suggest they can't do anything is beyond absurd. FCA can pull the franchise from any dealer if they want to do so. That's one of the primary purposes of the surveys. And that's why dealers get so pissed about bad surveys. If the bad surveys stack up, FCA will pull their franchise. And there are plenty of rich folks ready to pay whatever it takes to get a Jeep dealership.

 

[brianinca]

I feel like I Dodged a bullet (see what I did there?) finding the truck I wanted in Fresno. I got up to leave when they wouldn't meet the price I set, intending to go to Jim Manning's next. They relented and gave me sticker out the door, problem solved.

Manning's had a great selection in June '20, it could have happened otherwise. YIKES!

I truthfully filled out a dealer service survey and gave the dealer a bad rating for the experience. The service manager called me and told me not to bring my vehicle back and he was canceling my appointment and the parts they ordered were also canceled.
This is the same guy who argued with me for 10 minutes that my stock height JTR was lifted and they couldn't do the steering box update because it was lifted.
This was Bob at Jim Manning Ram Jeep in Dinuba Ca.
Honestly the worst part of owning these vehicles is dealing with the dealers. Recently had to have the hard top replaced. They had the JT for a week and a half and I got it back with the trim missing around around the back window, the defroster wires not hooked up and the trim that covers the top electrical plug missing.
Perhaps we should have a thread that just calls out these crappy dealers by name.
Scratch

 

[brianinca]

Same owners for the Fresno Jeep store, I did an oil change there earlier this year and they were on the money 88 minutes into a 90 minute service. Crummy neighborhood but their service was better than I'd hoped. And, free service was free.

I was told by @JeepCares that they can't do anything about it as each dealer is independently owned. In fact, I got the feeling that jeepcares agents are as frustrated with the dealers as we are.
Seems to me that as a dealer they have to abide by certain guidelines to continue to be a dealer. Perhaps corporate needs to start enforcing it.
Something i just realized when I picked up last week. My service writer is really out of the loop. He has to talk to a shop manager that coordinates with the techs. He doesn't talk to the techs directly. So the person that is responsible for the work never has to be responsible to the customer because they never have to talk to them.
The new dealer I'm dealing with is Clovis Jeep CA. Again I can't recommend them. They need to be named for the crappy service.
.

 

[2kXJ]

I came to this site looking for more info on the JT diesel and ideas on how I might mod it when I get it. I’ve read thread after thread of problems with the trucks and the dealerships. This is a bummer! I totally want one of these trucks, or did anyway.

 

[Mr._Bill]

I came to this site looking for more info on the JT diesel and ideas on how I might mod it when I get it. I’ve read thread after thread of problems with the trucks and the dealerships. This is a bummer! I totally want one of these trucks, or did anyway.

The JT is a great truck. The iconic Jeep design does present cooling system issues for the diesel engine. The emissions requirements forced upon diesel engines creates additional issues. As long as you are aware of and willing to work with the limitations, it should not be a problem to have one.

 

[2kXJ]

The JT is a great truck. The iconic Jeep design does present cooling system issues for the diesel engine. The emissions requirements forced upon diesel engines creates additional issues. As long as you are aware of and willing to work with the limitations, it should not be a problem to have one.

I have a little over a year before I’m buying. Hopefully some solutions are found before then. We’ll see!

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