VOIDED Factory Warranty after taking it through mud

[JCHGlad]

Time to lawyer up...unfortunately

Sponsored

 

[Renegade]

Got any pictures of this Jeep immediately after the mud “plowing”? Without context, how could we possibly form opinions or recommendations? For all we know this Jeep was sunken.

 

[DLAW]

First....document document document! Keep a log of all contacts. People's names. Dates times and what they said. Photos if applicable.

In my recent experience, "Jeep Wave" are different servicing agents than "Jeep Cares".

If you have Jeep Wave, contact them. Might help.

Put in a ticket with BBB on the specific dealership causing you a problem. Be very specific about your description of the issue. This becomes a public record and the dealership gets a nastygram from BBB. Then they need to respond with a resolution. It helped me once when a dealership jammed me up. (I'm getting old, so hopefully BBB is still a thing, lol)

Blow them up on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit are options. Most big companies have a social media team monitoring things. Potentially viral negative stories can cost them a lot more profit than honoring your warranty.

Last resort in my book would be a lawyer. But I'm talking about days, not weeks or months. That's when your documentation will come in handy.

Good luck.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Sounds about right, I mean not trying to be on FCA's side but if you caked it in mud and killed the alternator and done some electrical damage then not sure why you would think the warranty would cover that. Be about like sticking 40's on a jeep and then your ball joints going out at 8,000 miles and then trying to say FCA puts crappy ball joints on.

 

[JCHGlad]

Sounds about right, I mean not trying to be on FCA's side but if you caked it in mud and killed the alternator and done some electrical damage then not sure why you would think the warranty would cover that. Be about like sticking 40's on a jeep and then your ball joints going out at 8,000 miles and then trying to say FCA puts crappy ball joints on.

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.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

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.

It's not intended to be buried up in mud, you can use it for that but it's not intended for that, two different things. All could of most definitely came from the same problem but maybe could of taken longer for issues to come up. Kinda like buying a car that's had flood damage. It may not show initially, but a few months or even a year later you could run into issues. Mud would be no different. If you went through water to deep and hydrolocked your engine, I promise your warranty wouldn't cover that, I don't see this being any different. It's going to be a long hard fight on this one and I see it probably going in FCA's favor. It sucks for sure.

 

[FloridaMan655321]

Only getting one side of the story here, need Paul Harvey on this one. Just because a truck has mud tires doesn't mean you can drive it through the Everglades and expect the manufacture to fix what broke afterwards. I think you need to get FCA and the two dealerships on a conference call.

 

[Renegade]

Sounds about right, I mean not trying to be on FCA's side but if you caked it in mud and killed the alternator and done some electrical damage then not sure why you would think the warranty would cover that. Be about like sticking 40's on a jeep and then your ball joints going out at 8,000 miles and then trying to say FCA puts crappy ball joints on.

Well, they (Dana) did put crappy ball joints in it...

 

[Mac]

So my rear locker sensor going out in November (which is a super common problem) is because I went through mud in July??

If you sunk it deep enough in mud to kill the alternator all bets are off, after all it is pretty well protected and on the top front of the engine. The rear locker sensor could be unrelated and a common problem but based on how you used it your use could have caused it as well.

 

[ZTMAN]

Got any pictures of this Jeep immediately after the mud “plowing”? Without context, how could we possibly form opinions or recommendations? For all we know this Jeep was sunken.

That is what I was wondering. Where are the pics.

Sounds like this was a hold my beer and watch this moment.

I bet the first dealer took pics

 

[Caraholic]

following

 

[PyrPatriot]

you got me...I have since updated the post. Thank you for keeping me honest.

Plowed it through the mud a bunch of times. It was covered in mud for sure and killed the alternator.

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

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If you sunk it deep enough in mud to kill the alternator all bets are off, after all it is pretty well protected and on the top front of the engine. The rear locker sensor could be unrelated and a common problem but based on how you used it your use could have caused it as well.

Beat me to it - that's a common known issue. Several forum members have had this exact same thing happen and yes, they replace the entire rear differential assembly to fix it.
Not sure how you could possibly cause that one rock crawling, driving through a foot of mud, or whatever. It's a problem with an electric part internal to the axle assembly. It's sealed unless you got SO deep the vent was submerged - but then I thought these vents didn't allow mud in.

And yeah, these engine compartments are really boxed in - hard to imagine what it would take to get mud in the alternator so without more context.
On the other hand - Jeeps in the 1970s had the alternator mounted LOW, about even with the bottom of the block if it was a 360 or 401, etc. Those get into water and mud very easily.

 

[MudderTruker]

What is with all the negativity here???

He bought a JEEP (FFS) ... A JEEP! It is made to go off-road, and spoiler alert, there is MUD OFF-ROAD! I'm sorry, but if going through mud stops the alternator from working and/or causes other issues, then it IS a warranty issue, as the JEEP was not designed for purpose!

OP - get a lawyer and get this sorted ASAP. As others have said, document every commination (date, time, person spoken to, gist of the conversation).

 

[Renegade]

What is with all the negativity here???

He bought a JEEP (FFS) ... A JEEP! It is made to go off-road, and spoiler alert, there is MUD OFF-ROAD! I'm sorry, but if going through mud stops the alternator from working and/or causes other issues, then it IS a warranty issue, as the JEEP was not designed for purpose!

OP - get a lawyer and get this sorted ASAP. As others have said, document every commination (date, time, person spoken to, gist of the conversation).

Jeeps are built to go off road, but they aren’t boats. The OP needs to provide evidence to the jury here. Without that, it’s all hearsay evidence, which is inadmissible. The plaintiff may proceed...

Sponsored