😡 2020 JLUR Hardtop Defect (CRACKED @ 1,250 MILES) Jeep Dealer & Jeep Cares Refuses to Warranty it!

[Ecarver2]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I wanted to share a very frustrating and disappointing experience with Jeep not warranting a defective hardtop on my new 2020 JLUR.

I purchased it on 06/23/20 from Mayse Automotive Group located in Missouri. I took my Jeep on an off-road drive (Ophir Pass), and after I got her home, I noticed the hardtop had cracked (see pics). I want to point out that I didn't even take it out of 2WD, which shows that the Rubicon is a BEAST off-road and that the trail was very mild. This happened at only 1,250 miles.

The only modification to the car was the installation of a Rhino-Rack Pioneer Platform with the backbone support system. The backbone was installed with the hardtop bolts torqued to the OEM specified 88 in/lb. The most weight put on the rack was 2 paddleboards and 2 20lb propane cylinders. Nothing struck the top, and the top has never been off the vehicle — no signs of damage other than the crack on the outside and inside.

I live in Colorado, so I can't really drive the 24 hours (round trip) to go to the original dealer. I went to AutoNation Jeep West in Golden, Colorado, to warranty this and a defective park sense wiring harness. They looked at it for less than 5 minutes and said, "We've never seen anything like this before, and there's no way it could be a defect. It is because of an outside influence." Then the dealer said, "because it's not a defect, it's not covered under your warranty."

I've heard great feedback from forum members that Jeep Cares helps customers solve problems like this, problems that Jeep dealers through up their hands and do nothing to help. So I called Jeep Cares. Well, it's with great frustration and disappointment to report that Jeep Cares just told me that the crack was due to an "outside influence" and that "it is not warrantable." This is despite my representative saying, "Well, it's definitely not a defect because there isn't a crack on the inside." To which I said, THERE IS A CRACK ON THE INSIDE, EXACTLY BEHIND THE CRACK ON THE OUTSIDE." She then said, "Oh, I see that in the picture now. "Still, we've deemed it to be an outside influence." Really?! [Dumbfounded Now ]. They offered to repair it at a discount, but it would still cost me $1,600 out of pocket. WTF!

I'm sure you can all imagine my frustration and disappointment that this happened with my new $58K Jeep.

I'm posting this for two reasons:

1. Ask if you've ever seen any defects like this and, if so, if it was remedied/warrantied by Jeep?
2. I want other members to know what the bad side of working with Jeep Cares looks like.

Thanks in advance for any help

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[MARSHMELLA]

Did you drill holes in your hard top to mount the backbone system? My understanding is that would void any warranty for any type of structural integrity.


Edit: My guess would be the rack was the cause due to drilling holes which weakened the material and/or a combination with the paddle boards catching too much wind and pulling on the top so much that it cracked in the back. Most rack manufacturers give special warnings for Jeep’s to not mount items such as paddle boards, canoes, etc to the top and drive too fast.

 

[TheRaven]

If that rack attaches to the top, and not the frame or body of the Jeep, there is no way you are going to get them to warranty that top. There is a lot of flex that happens as the Wrangler traverses off-road terrain, and the top is designed for how the Wrangler flexes...when you attach something to the top, it modifies how the top can flex. That's a slam-dunk excuse for FCA...even though I agree it would be hard to say conclusively that the rack is at fault. It would also be hard for you to prove that the rack is NOT at fault.

 

[MarkY3130]

I live in Arvada as well. Bought my Jeep from the same dealer you took yours too for the warranty work. They’ve been great to work with on the couple of warranty items I’ve had.

Drilling holes in the top and installing the rack muddies this up big time. I wouldn’t think they’d warranty it considering those modifications have been done. No rack and no drilling into it would have been an entirely different outcome I am sure.

 

[RubenZ]

Clearly the reason why they didn’t warranty it is because of the RoofRack. And if it weren’t installed that great it could easily cause cracks.

 

[PyrPatriot]

Pic of roof rack install

As opposed to something like this

 

[EDH_JL]

This is what you installed? I'm with Jeep on this one. Vehicle modification is not without risks, especially once you start making permanent modifications like drilling holes in the roof.

 

[Gorilla57]

Why does everyone who complains about a warranty problem HAVE to bring up what they paid for the vehicle. We don’t care what you paid. We all know what these rigs cost. Every time someone brings up “I paid $X for this and this shouldn’t happen” instantly makes me say “here we go again” and I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this.

If there were no cracks prior to you installing the rack, then the rack caused it. No one is going to warranty the top after the modifications. Take their offer of a discounted top and move on.

 

[overcrawler]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I wanted to share a very frustrating and disappointing experience with Jeep not warranting a defective hardtop on my new 2020 JLUR.

I purchased it on 06/23/20 from Mayse Automotive Group located in Missouri. I took my Jeep on an off-road drive (Ophir Pass), and after I got her home, I noticed the hardtop had cracked (see pics). I want to point out that I didn't even take it out of 2WD, which shows that the Rubicon is a BEAST off-road and that the trail was very mild. This happened at only 1,250 miles.

The only modification to the car was the installation of a Rhino-Rack Pioneer Platform with the backbone support system. The backbone was installed with the hardtop bolts torqued to the OEM specified 88 in/lb. The most weight put on the rack was 2 paddleboards and 2 20lb propane cylinders. Nothing struck the top, and the top has never been off the vehicle — no signs of damage other than the crack on the outside and inside.

I live in Colorado, so I can't really drive the 24 hours (round trip) to go to the original dealer. I went to AutoNation Jeep West in Golden, Colorado, to warranty this and a defective park sense wiring harness. They looked at it for less than 5 minutes and said, "We've never seen anything like this before, and there's no way it could be a defect. It is because of an outside influence." Then the dealer said, "because it's not a defect, it's not covered under your warranty."

I've heard great feedback from forum members that Jeep Cares helps customers solve problems like this, problems that Jeep dealers through up their hands and do nothing to help. So I called Jeep Cares. Well, it's with great frustration and disappointment to report that Jeep Cares just told me that the crack was due to an "outside influence" and that "it is not warrantable." This is despite my representative saying, "Well, it's definitely not a defect because there isn't a crack on the inside." To which I said, THERE IS A CRACK ON THE INSIDE, EXACTLY BEHIND THE CRACK ON THE OUTSIDE." She then said, "Oh, I see that in the picture now. "Still, we've deemed it to be an outside influence." Really?! [Dumbfounded Now ]. They offered to repair it at a discount, but it would still cost me $1,600 out of pocket. WTF!

I'm sure you can all imagine my frustration and disappointment that this happened with my new $58K Jeep.

I'm posting this for two reasons:

1. Ask if you've ever seen any defects like this and, if so, if it was remedied/warrantied by Jeep?
2. I want other members to know what the bad side of working with Jeep Cares looks like.

Thanks in advance for any help

I have the same issue with the Maximus 3 Rack. These racks are not well designed for offroad driving with weight on the top.

 

[Roky]

Yeah......I think right or wrong, either way , that rack is a big red flag. It’s like going in with lifted Jeep. No matter if problem is directly affected or not by the lift, they aren’t going to see past it for any other possible scenarios, unfortunately.

 

[emilboya]

Could you please post photos showing the rack?

 

[631_Islander]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I wanted to share a very frustrating and disappointing experience with Jeep not warranting a defective hardtop on my new 2020 JLUR.

I purchased it on 06/23/20 from Mayse Automotive Group located in Missouri. I took my Jeep on an off-road drive (Ophir Pass), and after I got her home, I noticed the hardtop had cracked (see pics). I want to point out that I didn't even take it out of 2WD, which shows that the Rubicon is a BEAST off-road and that the trail was very mild. This happened at only 1,250 miles.

The only modification to the car was the installation of a Rhino-Rack Pioneer Platform with the backbone support system. The backbone was installed with the hardtop bolts torqued to the OEM specified 88 in/lb. The most weight put on the rack was 2 paddleboards and 2 20lb propane cylinders. Nothing struck the top, and the top has never been off the vehicle — no signs of damage other than the crack on the outside and inside.

I live in Colorado, so I can't really drive the 24 hours (round trip) to go to the original dealer. I went to AutoNation Jeep West in Golden, Colorado, to warranty this and a defective park sense wiring harness. They looked at it for less than 5 minutes and said, "We've never seen anything like this before, and there's no way it could be a defect. It is because of an outside influence." Then the dealer said, "because it's not a defect, it's not covered under your warranty."

I've heard great feedback from forum members that Jeep Cares helps customers solve problems like this, problems that Jeep dealers through up their hands and do nothing to help. So I called Jeep Cares. Well, it's with great frustration and disappointment to report that Jeep Cares just told me that the crack was due to an "outside influence" and that "it is not warrantable." This is despite my representative saying, "Well, it's definitely not a defect because there isn't a crack on the inside." To which I said, THERE IS A CRACK ON THE INSIDE, EXACTLY BEHIND THE CRACK ON THE OUTSIDE." She then said, "Oh, I see that in the picture now. "Still, we've deemed it to be an outside influence." Really?! [Dumbfounded Now ]. They offered to repair it at a discount, but it would still cost me $1,600 out of pocket. WTF!

I'm sure you can all imagine my frustration and disappointment that this happened with my new $58K Jeep.

I'm posting this for two reasons:

1. Ask if you've ever seen any defects like this and, if so, if it was remedied/warrantied by Jeep?
2. I want other members to know what the bad side of working with Jeep Cares looks like.

Thanks in advance for any help

It seems like you or someone else may have drilled holes on the Hard Top. Unfortunately that is enough for FCA to legally void the warranty as it is considered a "modification". I know it is not exactly something you may want to hear. Basically there are three choices you can do IMHO:

1. Although cracked, is the roof structurally still intact and able to prevent the cold air from seeping into the cabin? If yes, you can always just leave this alone. This should be the least favored option as it causes the Roof to look like an eyesore on a brand new Jeep. Down the road, the structural integrity may slowly get compromised. However this should be the most favored option if $$ is a concern right now but not later.

2. You or your insurance can pay the $1600 to get the roof fixed. Insurance may slightly up the premium to you going forward or you can pay. This should be second choice for both the $$ and structural integrity. After all, your roof may now be considered "refurbished" and may appear that way in your car fax should you ever want to sell this Jeep down the road.

3. This is the most expensive option but also the one that may give you the most peace of mind long term: buy yourself a brand new hard top. At $3100 before taxes and shipping this is not a cheap solution. https://www.quadratec.com/p/mopar/hardtop-jeep-wrangler-jl-unlimited

 

[Kurt0]

Yeah. Drilling through your fiberglass top is going to make a crack difficult to get warrantied, especially if that crack starts near or at one of the holes, or the rack somehow didnt allow the top to flex with the chassis.

id say your best bet if you are handy is to do a resin fiberglass repair job; or if you arent take it to marine repair shop. Shouldnt be too hard in Missouri. Boats get run i to shit in the river all the time and fiberglass repair shops have plenty of experience from those jobs.

 

[Morris4x4]

I'd call around or ask Chris at the Edge Automotive 4x4 what his thoughts are. He might be able to fix something like that up but not 100%. He and his team are wizards so they can give you some insight or places to go for such a thing.

-Julia

 

[Oldbear]

You also may want to look in the “for sale” section. There are often hard tops advertised there from folks moving to a soft top. Sorry about your issue, but the tops are made to be light and removable, not to carry a load. I’d replace it and move on, older and wiser. Might also be a good time just to switch to that soft top you’ve “always wanted”?

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