2020 Tread Lightly Issues

[Carlton]

I'll just come out and say it, FCA is a scummy company.

1. FCA failed to meet quality and safety standards on the JL in multiple ways while refusing to admit there are issues.

2. FCA doesn't stand behind their product.

3. If there is an issue with a dealer FCA never backs the customer. It escalates through an imaginary chain of "Jeep Cares Hierarchy" to result in ending up back where you started with no solution.

4. FCA released a vehicle without informing the customers or dealerships that they are discontinuing Affiliates Pricing. This leaves customers and dealerships holding the bag which is bound to cause issues. This is information that should have been made available PRIOR to the release of the vehicle.

I really hope the Bronco is great and Mahindra brings the Thar to America. I'd like non Jeep brand options.

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[misanthrope]

4. FCA released a vehicle without informing the customers or dealerships that they are discontinuing Affiliates Pricing.

Hey, Carlton (what happened to your Punk'n avatar?)
Just to address point #4: FCA is not discontinuing Affiliate Rewards. The problem is that the AR rules that were set out for the JL were carried over from MY17 (actually dating back to April of '16). The current program includes MY19 through January '20. It is just taking them a bit of time to issue new rules (which will include the all-important dealer codes: 28HLM will probably be the member code) for MY20 and on, which they certainly will do, probably by mid-week next week.

As far as the other issues, I won't comment as I don't yet own an FCA product. Hopefully, I'll be one of the many owners who never find out how "scummy" they are.

 

[Carlton]

Hey, Carlton (what happened to your Punk'n avatar?)
Just to address point #4: FCA is not discontinuing Affiliate Rewards. The problem is that the AR rules that were set out for the JL were carried over from MY17 (actually dating back to April of '16). The current program includes MY19 through January '20. It is just taking them a bit of time to issue new rules (which will include the all-important dealer codes: 28HLM will probably be the member code) for MY20 and on, which they certainly will do, probably by mid-week next week.

As far as the other issues, I won't comment as I don't yet own an FCA product. Hopefully, I'll be one of the many owners who never find out how "scummy" they are.

I sold the jeep so it was no longer a relevant avatar. I'll update eventually.

Hopefully they straighten it out soon and make good on it for the people that already ordered or purchased and are now dealing with this issue.

As for the other issues, I have owned jeeps for 15 years and have experienced all of them. I like the wrangler but not the company behind it.

 

[misanthrope]

I sold the jeep so it was no longer a relevant avatar. I'll update eventually.

Hopefully they straighten it out soon and make good on it for the people that already ordered or purchased and are now dealing with this issue.

As for the other issues, I have owned jeeps for 15 years and have experienced all of them. I like the wrangler but not the company behind it.

Yeah, they're slow to act and confusing when they do, but it will all work out.

 

[07R02A]

Curious to see if anyone has picked up a 2020 JL from Criswell yet? When I ordered mine, I signed the price list showing the out the door price with the 8% discount. Wondering if they will honor it or not?

 

[Carlton]

Curious to see if anyone has picked up a 2020 JL from Criswell yet? When I ordered mine, I signed the price list showing the out the door price with the 8% discount. Wondering if they will honor it or not?

Call and ask about it.

 

[Kyanche]

IIRC Criswell is 7% if you don't have tread lightly, so it's a small sting but not a deal killer by any means.

 

[Thill444]

I'll just come out and say it, FCA is a scummy company.

1. FCA failed to meet quality and safety standards on the JL in multiple ways while refusing to admit there are issues.

2. FCA doesn't stand behind their product.

3. If there is an issue with a dealer FCA never backs the customer. It escalates through an imaginary chain of "Jeep Cares Hierarchy" to result in ending up back where you started with no solution.

4. FCA released a vehicle without informing the customers or dealerships that they are discontinuing Affiliates Pricing. This leaves customers and dealerships holding the bag which is bound to cause issues. This is information that should have been made available PRIOR to the release of the vehicle.

I really hope the Bronco is great and Mahindra brings the Thar to America. I'd like non Jeep brand options.

Jeep did not discontinue affiliate programs. Read the thread. For points 1-3 while this may be your experience I am coming out of a terrible situation with Ford on a Focus RS. I could write a novel about how bad Ford dealerships, customer service, warranty, etc is. Don’t even try to lemon law because case workers refuse to call you or email you and make you jump through 50 forms etc., Ford is terrible. I will not buy another vehicle from them, which sucks because I was about to pull the trigger on a Mustang GT350R.

I’ve also had bad experiences with GM and Hyundai. Honda and Mazda have been great but they don’t make anything close to a Jeep. I’m not trying to defend Jeep, but if you think Ford or GM are any better that has not been my experience at all.

 

[unconfirmed]

4. FCA released a vehicle without informing the customers or dealerships that they are discontinuing Affiliates Pricing. This leaves customers and dealerships holding the bag which is bound to cause issues.

Sorry, man, but the way I see it, Affiliate Pricing isn't something anyone is entitled to, and is essentially a gift that FCA gives people at their whim and pleasure. They'll give it out if and when they get ready.

While it may be customary for them to do it from year to year, that can change at any time. Calling them scummy for not giving you a free gift is a bit strong. Everyone knows that pricing and incentives change from week to week, month to month, model year to model year. Anyone assuming it was going to be there before it came out in print from official sources did so at their own risk. It sucks, but...

This is just a guess, but the majority of the FCA Jeep operation seems to be still in 2019 mode. They haven't put out any 2020 info in mainstream advertising or on their website, no official launch, no emails saying "introducing the 2020 Wranglers", nothing. I'm sure this is on someone's checklist to do before the official launch of 2020. Yes, you can order a 2020 if you know to ask, and yes, they are starting to appear on dealer lots, but as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, 2020 doesn't officially start until at least 9/1.

Hope you get your discount (and that I do too, later in the year).

Just my $0.02. YMMV. Remember to get your pets spayed and neutered. Only you can prevent forest fires.

 

[InvictusManeo]

No, no one is entitled to the discount. But, the best that can be said is that this has been handled poorly by Jeep. If a program that has been around for several years is planned to be discontinued then an advanced notification should have been sent to all dealers letting them know that it will not be renewed. That obviously didn’t happen. The JeepCares people obviously weren’t informed of the change either.

Now where does that leave me? I ordered a Jeep for an agreed amount, and now get to wait to see if that’s going to be honored when the Jeep arrives. This is a regrettable and avoidable situation to put both the consumer and dealer into. I hope that the dealer will honor the number we agreed on; however, I have no confidence that FCA will support the dealer at this point. I’ll soon see if the buck gets passed on to me.

The other possibility is that Jeep has just not yet renewed the program in the computer yet. Either way it’s a bad look for Jeep/FCA.

 

[misanthrope]

No, no one is entitled to the discount. But, the best that can be said is that this has been handled poorly by Jeep. If a program that has been around for several years is planned to be discontinued then an advanced notification should have been sent to all dealers letting them know that it will not be renewed. That obviously didn’t happen. The JeepCares people obviously weren’t informed of the change either.

Now where does that leave me? I ordered a Jeep for an agreed amount, and now get to wait to see if that’s going to be honored when the Jeep arrives. This is a regrettable and avoidable situation to put both the consumer and dealer into. I hope that the dealer will honor the number we agreed on; however, I have no confidence that FCA will support the dealer at this point. I’ll soon see if the buck gets passed on to me.

The other possibility is that Jeep has just not yet renewed the program in the computer yet. Either way it’s a bad look for Jeep/FCA.

O...M...G. The program, hopefully for the last time, is not discontinued. The paperwork extending it to the '20MY and beyond simply hasn't been finalized yet, therefore the codes are unavailable to the dealers. The easiest way to have avoided this would be to not let anyone custom order a JL until the official September launch, then no one would be bitching about it...no, wait: everyone would be bitching that '19s were done mid-July and, oh no, we can't order a '20 yet? Why not? etc, etc.

I'm sure Jeep is truly sorry that they delivered so many '20 JLs ahead of schedule (many within three weeks of order), but they know we'll all get over it, because we'll still have our Jeeps a month before we should have. Or, we won't get over it. But they'll still continue to get our $40-50-60 thousand per order...

 

[Twistedfab]

No, no one is entitled to the discount. But, the best that can be said is that this has been handled poorly by Jeep. If a program that has been around for several years is planned to be discontinued then an advanced notification should have been sent to all dealers letting them know that it will not be renewed. That obviously didn’t happen. The JeepCares people obviously weren’t informed of the change either.

Now where does that leave me? I ordered a Jeep for an agreed amount, and now get to wait to see if that’s going to be honored when the Jeep arrives. This is a regrettable and avoidable situation to put both the consumer and dealer into. I hope that the dealer will honor the number we agreed on; however, I have no confidence that FCA will support the dealer at this point. I’ll soon see if the buck gets passed on to me.

The other possibility is that Jeep has just not yet renewed the program in the computer yet. Either way it’s a bad look for Jeep/FCA.

Your agreed upon amount means nothing. The price can go up when it gets there. Specially if options prices go up. Dealer isn’t even obligated to sell it to you. Someone could see the Jeep offer more and buy it before you get there. Even if you ordered it. Deposits mean nothing.

 

[Bucaro]

I’m just hoping that when my JLUR arrives at the dealership this will have been sorted out. Otherwise, I will not only have lost the discount, but an additional $100 spent on Tread lightly membership...

 

[89TransAmWS6]

Program isnt discontinued and if you read the program details on the FCA affiliate page you can see what MYs it currently covers. I think I even ready somewhere on here that the 2020 MY hasnt officially started for FCA yet..even though some vehicles already have 20s hitting the lots.

I emailed the affiliate people earlier this week about a time frame on when it will be available for the 20s. I got a reply saying that the date isnt known yet but to email back mid-week for an update. My guess is it will be available shortly. Hopefully before my 20 is delivered!

 

[InvictusManeo]

O...M...G. The program, hopefully for the last time, is not discontinued. The paperwork extending it to the '20MY and beyond simply hasn't been finalized yet, therefore the codes are unavailable to the dealers. The easiest way to have avoided this would be to not let anyone custom order a JL until the official September launch, then no one would be bitching about it...no, wait: everyone would be bitching that '19s were done mid-July and, oh no, we can't order a '20 yet? Why not? etc, etc.

I'm sure Jeep is truly sorry that they delivered so many '20 JLs ahead of schedule (many within three weeks of order), but they know we'll all get over it, because we'll still have our Jeeps a month before we should have. Or, we won't get over it. But they'll still continue to get our $40-50-60 thousand per order...

If it’s a forgone conclusion that it will be renewed, then why no reply from Jeep saying we will fix it. Why not an apology for the confusion and a statement saying we will honor the discount regardless of the fact that we have yet to catch up clerically? Wait, that is what they did at first and now they have backtracked.

I guess this is all my fault for showing my qualifying affiliate program to the dealer, being told it is valid, and then agreeing to order. I guess it makes me an entitled bitch to assume that someone should stick to their word.

Your agreed upon amount means nothing. The price can go up when it gets there. Specially if options prices go up. Dealer isn’t even obligated to sell it to you. Someone could see the Jeep offer more and buy it before you get there. Even if you ordered it. Deposits mean nothing.

I am fully aware of this fact. I’m aware that people lie, cheat and steal. “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves”

I guess I’m old fashioned. I made a good faith transaction with Jeep, using the dealer as a middle man. When the order is placed the dealer agrees their price with Jeep based on the current prices of the base model and options. Once this amount is know to the dealer they say they can sell it to me for X price. Deviation from this price when the vehicle arrives would be dishonest. I hope I’m dealing with a honest dealer. I hope you get to work with an honest dealer too.

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