Advice on Lemoning my Gladiator

[dspingelt]

Sharing an update on my joy with my 2020 Gladiator. New part/module came in and installed but now they need to replace the power steering pump and assembly. They need the car another 5 days. We are at 60 days as of today I think. Jeep service advisor assures us that they guys working on it are really motivated and skilled to get it fixed, but also quietly recommended that we should at least file a claim with the lemon law. (As a reminder, this was a perfect truck for 21K miles and we love it. then suddenly total electronic failure.). We have now filed a lemon law claim and asking for a replacement as we were advised to do. Sounds like we will get contacted in a few days from and advisor to discuss options. Dealer thinks it is reasonable to get an extended warrantee. Also on repeat, I have 7 cars now and we love cars and even crappy cars sometimes and have never had a single issue like this, used or new. AAhhhhh. continued thanks for the moral support. We need this pick up back. I just had to take the Audi A8 on a donation and dump run! Worked better than you might imagine. lol. anyway, I'll hopefully be able to close the loop on this soon.

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[Rat2Desert]

Sharing an update on my joy with my 2020 Gladiator. New part/module came in and installed but now they need to replace the power steering pump and assembly. They need the car another 5 days. We are at 60 days as of today I think. Jeep service advisor assures us that they guys working on it are really motivated and skilled to get it fixed, but also quietly recommended that we should at least file a claim with the lemon law. (As a reminder, this was a perfect truck for 21K miles and we love it. then suddenly total electronic failure.). We have now filed a lemon law claim and asking for a replacement as we were advised to do. Sounds like we will get contacted in a few days from and advisor to discuss options. Dealer thinks it is reasonable to get an extended warrantee. Also on repeat, I have 7 cars now and we love cars and even crappy cars sometimes and have never had a single issue like this, used or new. AAhhhhh. continued thanks for the moral support. We need this pick up back. I just had to take the Audi A8 on a donation and dump run! Worked better than you might imagine. lol. anyway, I'll hopefully be able to close the loop on this soon.

I'm in kind of the same situation . . . been in the shop for 3 months, told it needed a new engine a month ago and it would be October before the engine would be available. The new engine came in this week, way early. I've been in touch with Cares and already broached the concept of a lemon. They've said proceed with getting it fixed first and then we talk.

Don't know, I feel like I've gotten the run around in the past with them, but they are generally pretty responsive. At this point I'm trying to balance how I feel about a new engine with perhaps continued long term issues vs the time of waiting on the lemon process and new vehicle. Neither option is appealing, though if the new engine had not come early I absolutely would have done a buyback.

The vehicle now has 23K miles, issues started at 13K, I'm in California.

 

[dspingelt]

Rat2Desert, curios what the issue is that requires engine replacement? We are at 71 days, just did a count. No word as of today on success or not of PS unit replacement. That doesn't feel promising. Went to dealer to grab dog bed and a few other things that were int he truck. it is all torn apart, seats out, dash parts pulled, and dirty in the back lot. sad to see.

 

[Rat2Desert]

Rat2Desert, curios what the issue is that requires engine replacement? We are at 71 days, just did a count. No word as of today on success or not of PS unit replacement. That doesn't feel promising. Went to dealer to grab dog bed and a few other things that were int he truck. it is all torn apart, seats out, dash parts pulled, and dirty in the back lot. sad to see.

Hi Doug . . . the belt broke, they replaced it, it broke again after 5 miles of driving. Decided to replace rollers, etc, including alternator. Saw it was still vibrating, noticed 2 bolts missing from the AC compressor. Replaced those, the noticed the oil pressure sender was bad. Went to replace that and found a bunch of metal in the engine. 2 months to determining a new engine. No idea why the metal is there, they think Jeep will tear down when they get it back.

The transfer case had been replaced 5000 miles earlier due to a slight leak. Can't figure how that repair would have caused the metal. Also no idea about missing AC compressor bolts. I only opened the hood once when I got it just to look. I'm a total gearhead and do all my own maintenance on other vehicles, but swore off on touching anything due to having a warranty.

The shop that did the transfer case apparently also recharged the AC system and told Jeep it was just an oil gasket they replaced. I did tell Jeep my receipt and service manager said the entire transfer case cover was what was replaced, no mention of the AC system.

All of it is very unnerving, but I will say I had a very nice chat w/ Jeep Cares. She has been proactive in saying they want to make sure I'm happy with the repair and that I feel fairly compensated for all the hassle. Basically a cash payment, extended warranty options, an exchange vehicle and complete buyback are all options. I spoke to a lawyer this week and he said I have a very solid case, he also said FCA are generally more reasonable than others.

Supposedly they start install next week. I do feel for the service guys, they are way backed up and the parts situation is a nightmare.

Don't know, part of me says buy an older truck of some sort, maybe old enough to still have a reliable diesel. But . . . damn I just love having the new technology and a real Rubicon truck. Sigh . . .

Jeff

 

[dspingelt]

We got out Gladiator back yesterday. Runs great s expected. Was in the shop for 77 days. Reading through the material it looks like they replace several models including the main ECM. Ultimately it appears to the the power steering pump that needed replacing and that provided the final fix. The notes say it was putting out 7Volts and should have been 5volts.... I think. I don't really know if there was a cascade of failures or if it was the power steering unit the whole time as the only issue. Comment on paperwork says "The P/s Pump has been causing the complaint."

We did file a lemon claim and are looking really for additional warrantee as it is out in 3K miles. I was a bit underwhelmed as the car came back filthy, like sitting in the backlot in the dust and hot sun for 77 days-filthy. It wasn't freshly clean when it died, but this was insane. Guess they don't wash cars at the dealers any more? Also we asked the Service manager to call us three times as a courtesies to better understand what was going on and never heard from them.

Glad she's back on the road and fun to drive! Long story short, if your having the issues we had, look first at the P/S steering pump voltage! .

Thanks everybody for your help. Happy Jeeping!

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