Lemon Law: What Would You Do?

[Sunbeam63]

Hello Forum,

I’ve been following this site for a while, and now I have a situation I would like to get opinions on. I am the owner of a Billet Silver 2021 Jeep Gladiator Sport with the Max Tow Package. It’s nothing special: base model, manual locks and windows, cloth seats and I love the truck. It’s the first vehicle I’ve ever purchased new, let alone ordered from the factory, and it’s everything I want it to be. To me it reminds me of my International Scout, except that it’s brand new.

Early August, at around 2500 miles, the truck was misfiring and released a bunch of misfire/camshaft related codes. I called Chrysler, and they towed my truck to the nearest dealer. The dealer couldn’t work on it the first week, and after 3 weeks at the dealership (8/19), they told me they were still diagnosing the truck. Here we are today, 8/31, and I have not heard any updates (yet) on the truck (I'll reach out to the service department today). If I’m reading Oregon Lemon Law correctly, my truck has been out of service for 30 days and now falls under that title.

Everyone is telling me to reject it as a lemon. However, I’m not entirely sure how the process goes; it appears that it takes time and frustration. And here is the main issue: I don’t want to give up my truck. From an emotional attachment standpoint, I want to see if it can get fixed and wait if there are any further issues. Perhaps this forum would understand. I’m wondering if I can keep the truck and work something out with Jeep, perhaps a free extended warranty or something.

So, what are my options? What would you do?

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[sharpsicle]

Lemon law is there to really protect the consumer from being saddled with a vehicle that simply refuses to work properly. The best way to measure this is obviously the number of repairs attempted and the time you are without the vehicle. It doesn't sound like you're at that point yet. Your post leads me to think this is the first issue and the repair has not yet been attempted.

If you feel Jeep has tried but is unable to fix the problem, it's time to look at lemon law. If you're just upset that they haven't worked on it yet, that's a different complaint that should be aimed at the dealership. Lemon law is really a last resort for the "I've tried and tried but it just never gets fixed" scenarios. Doesn't sound like you're at that point yet. But you could definitely mention it to the dealership to get them moving.

Also keep in mind that when it gets to applying the law, you are going to be in a much better position if you make reasonable attempts to work with the dealership to rectify the problem before getting a lemon law attorney. "Good faith" is often thrown around in this context to fight against abuse of the law. "Each malfunction must be reported to the manufacturer or dealer. They will have an opportunity to fix the problem."

 

[Dennis K]

Have a Subaru that threw Check Engine light and was in for nearly 30 days through several visits for the same thing. A threat on the lemon law and discussions (email) with the regional office got it fixed. Wound up being the VIN was entered wrong on the ECM of all things....

And now, after 51,000 miles, the ECM threw it into some mode that made the engine overrev, melted a couple pistons at 80 mph, new block and heads installed under warranty and I can't wait to trade it on my ordered Gladiator... Subaru Forester XT... Fun little car but,,,

 

[JMJ52876]

If you haven't contacted Jeep Cares, do that first. They will start a Star case and get involved with service to find a fix or solution. I had problems with mine, they got involved with a Jeep engineer and finally figured it out. I had a buy back request in process, but in the end they gave me compensation instead of buying back. Mine has ran top notch since. Also, my problem was with the electronic steering pump shorting out.

 

[sharpsicle]

Also, I'm no attorney, but be careful with using the timeframe argument for lemon law process. "30 days in the shop" could very well mean that it must actually be in the shop with attempts to fix being made. It may not count the time it waited in line to be serviced after the tow.

 

[Jefe1018]

Sorry to hear this OP.

In your case it doesn’t sound as much of a lemon issue as it does either a backed up shop or one that hasn’t done anything quite yet.

However, with being expensive as these things are, seems like extra insult to receive no update or timely diagnosis.

I would simply ask the service writer in a very non threatening matter if lemon law would apply here - it might get them in gear and you back on the road.

During our unprecedented times, labor shortages and parts scarcity does seem to factor in and things are taking longer for the sake of it… so keep that in mind al…

If it happens again, then perhaps you can pursue a replacement truck. Just my unbiased .02.

Hope it works out.

 

[sharpsicle]

Here's a good breakdown:
https://www.rosslawpdx.com/law-blog...n-five-things-to-know-about-oregons-lemon-law

In essence, it appears that you must make written notification to the manufacturer, the manufacturer must then be given time to attempt a fix to the vehicle. The 30 days clause doesn't appear to start until those conditions are first met. This goes back to the "good faith" argument I brought up earlier. You've got to inform them and give them a chance before filing.

Notification to mfg >> Mfg has 30 days to correct >> Lemon

 

[heftysmurf]

Here's a good breakdown:
https://www.rosslawpdx.com/law-blog...n-five-things-to-know-about-oregons-lemon-law

In essence, it appears that you must make written notification to the manufacturer, the manufacturer must then be given time to attempt a fix to the vehicle. The 30 days clause doesn't appear to start until those conditions are first met. This goes back to the "good faith" argument I brought up earlier. You've got to inform them and give them a chance before filing.

Notification to mfg >> Mfg has 30 days to correct >> Lemon

So I'll second this. After my JK, I purchased a ZR2 brand new. Fun little truck but from day 1 I had infotainment issues. I had taken it to the dealer 3 or 4 times and they replaced the unit, some harnesses, etc. and no sooner than I'd get out of the parking lot, the issue persisted. Such a silly little issue with no REAL safety concern but it rubbed me wrong that a $4X,XXX truck was having issues. In FL at least, our rules are 30 days in the shop or 3 attempts then you contact the BBB for Lemon arbitration. Basically, the BBB does a lot of the work for you but YOU still have to do some legwork. After a month of this, and getting calls from GM corporate, I was told to A. submit in writing that I am beginning a Lemon Law process and B. I would have to afford GM one more good-faith attempt to correct this.

FFWD to when I picked up my JT, Jeep dealer offered about $1k more than what I paid for my ZR2 even after disclosing the infotainment issue and it was a done deal. I figured I'd get that money from the ZR2 and it'd be easier to swallow the large pricetag of the Mojave.

What I'd suggest is for you to find another dealership that potentially has less of a backlog, or, as others have said, hit up @JeepCares and see what can be done. Certainly unacceptable for a < 3K mile vehicle to experience those issues.

And, as an aside -- ALL vehicles can/will have an issue. My 14 JKU had a head replaced at around 10k miles due to janky lifters or valve seals -- can't remember. Dealership squared it away. It also had other gremlins here and there that I was surprised the dealer handled well.

 

[WXman]

I wouldn't mention legal action to the dealer or customer service until you're serious. Once you mention it, they'll cut ties with you and then you'll HAVE to use a lawyer to communicate with them.

What I'd do is take the truck to a better dealership.

It's amazing how many people have misfiring issues with those engines. I had 4 of them, and all were flawless. But I read about the misfiring on nearly a daily basis from somebody.

 

[maligator]

I recommend contacting Jeep via jeep chat or even just emailing FCA NA. If anything they can remind/pressure your dealer to work on the problem or at least communicate better about what is holding them up. Don't let them use the generic "it's 2021 supply shortage blah covid" excuse unless they can give you a specific part or something they are looking to replace or are waiting for. If you like the truck and it can be fixed right now- to find a replacement would be extremely difficult unless you want to go through the whole battle of lemon law/legal bs and then either wait to build another jeep or try to find anything any better right now.

I originally got my jeep to replace my F150 and planned to turn my car in because I wanted to just have one car, but as I waited for my jeep and read a few horror stories about the wait for paltry parts and so on I decided to keep my second car until things normalize again so I am not out a car for an unknown amount of time.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I wouldn't mention legal action to the dealer or customer service until you're serious. Once you mention it, they'll cut ties with you and then you'll HAVE to use a lawyer to communicate with them.

What I'd do is take the truck to a better dealership.

It's amazing how many people have misfiring issues with those engines. I had 4 of them, and all were flawless. But I read about the misfiring on nearly a daily basis from somebody.

And my observations have been that the vast majority have been resolved with smoother running and no further instance of misfire after diagnosed and the applicable TSBs applied (meaning cam, flash, etc.)

Happy to see the lemon law responses have been specific to OR as it CAN vary a bit from state to state. Generally they are close -but............ in law, technical differences are everything.

DO get Jeep / JeepCares involved. If nothing else they may help find another dealer to work with or share communications, etc.

 

[Dennis K]

Also, I'm no attorney, but be careful with using the timeframe argument for lemon law process. "30 days in the shop" could very well mean that it must actually be in the shop with attempts to fix being made. It may not count the time it waited in line to be serviced after the tow.

In Utah it's 30 working days without the car and the car being in for the same fault. I got an 8 year warranty out of the deal anyway...

 

[Free2roam]

I just got mine back after a month and a half of waiting on parts. Died while driving. Injector pump catastrophically failed. Had to replace the entire fuel system. Wasn't even a question in my mind.

 

[gouacats]

As mentioned above, get JeepCares involved if you haven't already. My Mojave was in the shop for over 30 days with a couple of issues, but like you, I love my truck so wanted to give them a chance to get everything fixed up. However, I did document every contact with the dealer and JeepCares in great detail. In AZ, you have 2 years to make a lemon law claim (going off of memory). I now have that documented if I should have further problems and decide to go down that route in the future.

 

[whiteglad]

As you probably noted, the fault is with the dealership. Other than going elsewhere, get the area Tech Advisor involved, and beyond that, the Area Manager if needed. It is very unfortunate that many dealerships have techs/service writers/service managers who don't know about the recent TSBs, STAR cases, etc. and for whatever reason, just put the Jeep into the back lot and try to forget about it. There is a bureaucracy in the service arena that you have to get through or around, and it is worthwhile to do so.

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