VOIDED Factory Warranty after taking it through mud

[ShadowsPapa]

I can understand the dealer charging for repairs but I don’t get how they can void the entire warranty altogether - once the mud has killed the alternator what more damage is it going to do to the new alternator? How is the mudding going to affect other unrelated systems? Seems like the dealer was just trigger happy

That's been one of my points. I can see the alternator thing - but the rest of the truck? So if courtesy lights stops working due to the switch being bad - no warranty because of mud outside?
And the rear axle?
I wonder why the radiator was mentioned? Hmmmm, mud won't damage the radiator will it?
3 grand was mentioned, the alternator isn't a thousand dollar part and replacement won't take hours.
Why or how was the radiator damaged to the point it needed to be replaced?

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 wasn’t happy with this so I called the dealership I bought it from and they told me to have it towed to them.

So hit the mud and two days later they want to replace both batteries AND the radiator? Something is off on this timeline.

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[Bad Luck Bill]

yes I 100% learned my lesson...I will never go through mud again. Trust.

If you do the lawyer up thing, remember anything you post on the internet can be used against you in arbitration. I went through a lemon recently with FCA and trust me they look on the forums to see what people are saying.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If you do the lawyer up thing, remember anything you post on the internet can be used against you in arbitration. I went through a lemon recently with FCA and trust me they look on the forums to see what people are saying.

There are firms that specialize in scouring the web for information like that. eBay, MOPAR and others use such firms. They look for people selling, commenting, whatever. They have bots out there searching. FCA absolutely uses those firms. A friend in Florida found out when he got letters from their lawyers telling him to stop selling things with the AMC logo on them!!! (Chrysler corp bought AMC in 1987, the last AMC car came off the line December, 1987 as an 88 model year)
He never advertised, he just sold through our AMC forum and a couple of other places - and they found him.

 

[Gladiatrix]

That's been one of my points. I can see the alternator thing - but the rest of the truck? So if courtesy lights stops working due to the switch being bad - no warranty because of mud outside?
And the rear axle?
I wonder why the radiator was mentioned? Hmmmm, mud won't damage the radiator will it?
3 grand was mentioned, the alternator isn't a thousand dollar part and replacement won't take hours.
Why or how was the radiator damaged to the point it needed to be replaced?




So hit the mud and two days later they want to replace both batteries AND the radiator? Something is off on this timeline.

The first dealership wanted to replace the radiator, both batteries and the alternator. The 2nd dealership only replaced the alternator. At the time I was so happy to get my truck back and it be working and they didn't think I needed to replace the radiator and batteries.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

But what was the reasoning for replacing or wanting to replace a radiator? Was it leaking? Was it damaged in some way?
They shouldn't just say "you need a radiator" and not say why - Especially if they were going to charge for it.

 

[Gladiatrix]

But what was the reasoning for replacing or wanting to replace a radiator? Was it leaking? Was it damaged in some way?
They shouldn't just say "you need a radiator" and not say why - Especially if they were going to charge for it.

Because this dealership sucks. The 2nd dealership found nothing wrong with the radiator. There constant and only explanation was "because of mud"

 

[Renegade]

That's NOT what I was saying, so no need to be a smart ass. The California Lemon Law (Civ. Code, § 1793.22) protects you when your vehicle is defective and cannot be repaired after a “reasonable” number of attempts. In such instances, the manufacturer must either replace or repurchase the vehicle—whichever you prefer. It would seem to any reasonable person (Juror's included) that any vehicle designed, manufactured, advertised, and sold to be driven under off road conditions would by design be able to operate under those conditions for a period exceeding 4,500 miles (as stated). It would seem to me that one of the many law firms in California who specifically handle vehicle defect claims would be ready and able to represent a plaintiff in such a manner.

The key word there in the Kalifornia law is “defective”. Was the Jeep defective, or was it damaged by what might be considered abuse?

 

[Solidaxle]

Spend the money on a really good detail, trade it in. Start fresh. Some greedy dealer will overlook anything to get you in a new vehicle. Hey it’s got a clean Carfax. Sold

 

[Jeeperjamie]

That's NOT what I was saying, so no need to be a smart ass. The California Lemon Law (Civ. Code, § 1793.22) protects you when your vehicle is defective and cannot be repaired after a “reasonable” number of attempts. In such instances, the manufacturer must either replace or repurchase the vehicle—whichever you prefer. It would seem to any reasonable person (Juror's included) that any vehicle designed, manufactured, advertised, and sold to be driven under off road conditions would by design be able to operate under those conditions for a period exceeding 4,500 miles (as stated). It would seem to me that one of the many law firms in California who specifically handle vehicle defect claims would be ready and able to represent a plaintiff in such a manner.

Yeah, it would also seem to me that a reasonable person would not take a vehicle into mud like that and then when something goes wrong because of it, said person would not think that it would be a warranty claim. Just saying a warranty or lemon law would only apply to a vehicle that hasn't been abused and to me and obviously other rational people on this forum and reading this thread that this would qualify as abuse.

 

[WaterDR]

Warranties don’t cover abuse or stupid. Insurance will though. Exactly what defines abuse and stupid is FCA.

 

[PyrPatriot]

Looks like the video was the beginning of the runs when you compare the tow truck. Just because it *can* go through 30" of water, doesn't mean you can take it at 20mph....

at 5mph for the max fording depth

 

[WaterDR]

Mine has a tow package. But if I am launching a boat and it goes into the water too far, that’s misuse. It would be an insurance claim not a warranty issue.

 

[MrFahrenheit]

I think whether or not the OP did something that isn't covered over warranty or not isn't really the issue. I think the question really is at what point should an entire vehicle warranty be nullified?

Does the installation of aftermarket parts nullify the entire vehicle warranty? If I changed out some part and it caused an issue with my engine, then months later I have an issue with my headlights no longer working, should my headlights not be covered because of that prior incident?

Unfortunately, I feel like incidents like this are where it proves that honesty doesn't really pay off in some scenarios. The OP could have towed it home, cleaned the ever living piss out of it, then had it towed to the dealer and I bet we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Did anything in regards to the vehicle situation change with that? No, but the OP would have been deceiving the dealer about the nature of the issue.

I'm a bit surprised an entire vehicle warranty can be taken away by a single tech at a single dealership with no input from FCA? The dealer sells and services these vehicles, the warranty is not through them, it is through FCA. Giving that level of power to a service technicians discretion seems extreme. They should be able to deny or approve specific repairs based on what they see and find but FCA should be the ones with the power to effectively cancel a warranty. Maybe that's what happened here, I don't know.

Merely based on the pictures, I hardly think enough abuse was done to warrant the OP's warranty from being canceled. In then end, even with all the repairs the original dealer wanted to do, we are not really talking about that much money. It's not like the engine was destroyed (to the tune of about 12K to replace) or some other major components.

Anyway, seems excessive to me unless there is something being left out of the story here.

 

[Riccochet]

Hate to break it to you, but this falls under abuse. Long time Wrangler owner. You'll learn the in's and out's of what they'll cover. And some dealers are more lenient than others.

Yes, it's a Jeep. Yes, it's built for off-road use. But, there are limitations to what they'll cover. Mud is a known no-no. If you want to go mudding then you need to take responsibility for what mud can and will do. You want to go rock crawling, same deal.

Factory warranties are intended to cover factory defects. Not owner abuse. You covered the entire vehicle in mud. You filled the alternator with mud. Driving through watery mud at speed can and will dislodge things, get in to places it was never intended to be and cause all kinds of problems. You want to play you need to pay. Consider it a lesson learned.

 

[redrider]

When I worked at motorcycle dealerships, the absolute worst type of work was on the ATVs. Trash the vehicle on Saturday, leave it on the trailer until Tuesday(shops here are closed on Monday) and expect every thing to be fixed in less than an hour, under warranty while waiting in the lobby munching free donuts and drinking coffee. Not all will be in this scenario. Some of the enlightened ones will park the the mud puppy and wait until Spring or hunting season and expect or demand warranty coverage. Most of the personal watercraft owners are worse, attitude wise both on the water and in the shop. Sorry to hear of your troubles but was any of the damage caused by defects in materials and workmanship? Also check the owner's manual starting on page 366.

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