Commuting Every Day With My Jeep

[jhnnymac]

… There are too many problems with my stock 2018 JLU with only 61k miles. Mechanically, this is the most unreliable vehicle I have ever owned. Problem after problem. Months worth of time at the dealer. Tons of money lost.
This vehicle is NOT (in my very personal opinion) a reliable every-day commuter vehicle for the working class.

It’s like a boat, etc…. A hobby you dump money in. I understand that you dig it. I respect that.

The problem is I need a reliable vehicle -to get to work every day. This isn’t it.

Good luck, hope you all have better experiences with your Jeep than I did.

-J

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[Malachi]

… There are too many problems with my stock 2018 JLU with only 61k miles. Mechanically, this is the most unreliable vehicle I have ever owned. Problem after problem. Months worth of time at the dealer. Tons of money lost.
This vehicle is NOT (in my very personal opinion) a reliable every-day commuter vehicle for the working class.

It’s like a boat, etc…. A hobby you dump money in. I understand that you dig it. I respect that.

The problem is I need a reliable vehicle -to get to work every day. This isn’t it.

Good luck, hope you all have better experiences with your Jeep than I did.

-J

Sorry to hear it man! What happened?

 

[Countryswiss]

… There are too many problems with my stock 2018 JLU with only 61k miles. Mechanically, this is the most unreliable vehicle I have ever owned. Problem after problem. Months worth of time at the dealer. Tons of money lost.
This vehicle is NOT (in my very personal opinion) a reliable every-day commuter vehicle for the working class.

It’s like a boat, etc…. A hobby you dump money in. I understand that you dig it. I respect that.

The problem is I need a reliable vehicle -to get to work every day. This isn’t it.

Good luck, hope you all have better experiences with your Jeep than I did.

-J

im in the same boat, my jeep has been in for a rear main seal leak, bad slave cylinder and bad throwout bearing just this month.

 

[Megawatt]

Vehicle problems are the worst. All we ask for is dependable builds to allow going to work and to have fun on the weekends. At least you got 61k miles.

Just today, I returned my 2021 Ford Ranger lariat FX4 for a buy back (lemon law). At 7,200 miles in 4 months of ownership it went to the dealership and stayed there for the next 72 days for one repair. New truck purchase in April and bought back in December.


The kicker is when I went to the dealer, the manager had to rifle thru many buy back paperwork packages to get to my envelope and check. The receptionist was accustomed to customers there turning in their lemons. I was surprised to see there were many cases. My truck didn’t even get to 9,300 miles.

I hope you and I have better luck with our replacements.

 

[lowmpg]

… There are too many problems with my stock 2018 JLU with only 61k miles. Mechanically, this is the most unreliable vehicle I have ever owned. Problem after problem. Months worth of time at the dealer. Tons of money lost.
This vehicle is NOT (in my very personal opinion) a reliable every-day commuter vehicle for the working class.

It’s like a boat, etc…. A hobby you dump money in. I understand that you dig it. I respect that.

The problem is I need a reliable vehicle -to get to work every day. This isn’t it.

Good luck, hope you all have better experiences with your Jeep than I did.

-J

From the other side of the bench, I use mine as a daily driver and have around 15,000+ miles on it in about 8 months. To date I've had no issues at all with a 60 mile commute and speeds of 80mph. Not sure what issues you're having or if they are unique to 2018.

Personally the only vehicle I've ever had that was trash from the show room floor was a 2021 Atlas. That thing had multiple recalls on it from the word go including complete aspects of the suspension needing to be replaced. -- replaced it with a 21 Grand Cherokee L just 4 months after ownership. The Atlas was by far a worse build than my 21 JL.

 

[mwilk012]

What a very specific and detailed thread. I even read through your history of posts and all I can see is once complaining of steering drift.

so, what were your failure points?

 

[JABCAT]

I definitely feel for those who experience problems with their vehicles. What were/are the issues? Are they actual vehicle issues or incompetent dealership service department issues (unable to properly diagnose/repair), or a combination of both? Is your Jeep stock or modified? Have you performed all required scheduled maintenance?

I currently have 61k mi on our ‘16 JKU and it’s been problem free. I’ve also owned another ‘16 JKU that had an issue with the manual shifter that was quickly fixed under warranty. A ‘98 Wrangler Sport that was problem-free for over 50k mi, and a ‘94 Sahara that was problem-free for over 100k mi.

I don’t disagree that there are Wranglers that have issues, like any vehicle, but my experience is that that are very reliable. I hope our ‘22 continues that streak.

 

[RubiSc0tt]

Sorry to hear that. '19JLUR with next to no issues outside of the Clutch Recall mid-pandemic and the steering box TSB.

I keep seeing stories like this from people with 2018 MY and (usually) Sport. That's not a knock on that model/year, but I wonder if there's something to that, or if it's just my confirmation bias taking note of that every time it comes up.

 

[Maverick909]

Sorry to here about your problematic wrangler. ITs never fun getting a lemon but it does happen wish people would look in at the unit numbers before going to wild on hating a brand with millions of units sold and a thousand or two bad isn't a deal breaker. it happens when you have a production line and it doesn't matter what brand. I hope your next endeavor will be better for you weather its another brand or a jeep product.

I have a 18 sport myself and had my jeep in for the clutch inspection and had to have a rear main seal changed out. all of which has been under warranty. only thing that sucked was waiting for the rear main seal from mopar to get here. I believe it was like almost 3 weeks to get the part. other then that my wrangler has been rather reliable. Best of Luck!

 

[Terpsmandan]

And my 2009 JK recently rolled past 222K. That's right, a 3.8L. Runs better now than when I got it over 6 years ago with 53k.

 

[mwilk012]

Is this post sponsored by Ford or what?

I have had some problems with my Jeep, but I wouldn’t consider it problematic. 3 weeks at the dealer for steering gearbox (the dealers fault it took 3 attempts) and at 50k the radiator went out. Replaced it myself in an hour, 120 bucks.

My JK had an undiagnosed brake system malfunction for years, never once saw the dealer.

I still see the JL as vastly superior.

 

[mwilk012]

This forum has made me afraid of modifying my Jeep at all.
Mine drives straight after v41 and Rubicon suspension. I've had a couple issues fixed at the dealer, and they were a massive pain, but overall, not bad. The last new vehicle I bought was in 2006 and it was on its third engine when I traded it away a year later with 30k miles on it.

Realistically, unless you have endless funds, if you can’t do a large percentage of the work yourself, most people have no business driving A modded Jeep. On the JL, wheels, tires up to 35”, modest lifts up to about 2.5” are not enough to worry about. It will drive and wear like stock or better. The hard part is knowing when to stop.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

The hard part for many is researching their mods. So many are disappointed after one mod that they try to fix it with another and the problems just get worse. The underlying cause is never addressed. And some people just like modding, even when some don’t function well with others. Not saying that’s the OP’s issue.

 

[vegasblue]

I DD mine with a 2.5" lift, 35" tires, and all plastic bits (bumpers, fenders) swapped out. I can't speak to longevity as I only have just shy of 11K miles but not one issue here. Someone else already said you need to know when to stop, you need to research your aftermarket parts, and make smart choices. I would have loved a 3.5" lift with more flexy joints and 37" tires but I already knew what my "majority" use was going to be. Only vehicles I've had issues with are Ford and BMW. I'll never purchase from them again. Not only were the vehicles lackluster, but the build quality and little quirks of the vehice just annoyed me and left me wanting more. I have not had an issue with Jeep....yet.

 

[Stetson]

I hate these threads where people trash jeeps about reliability. I have had my JLUR since new in 2018 and it’s got 37k miles. No issues.

Just oil changes and an air filter. I did have the dealership do the 30k service, but I thought that was a good practice.

I hate to hear about people who have lemons and bad experiences and all that. I think that Jeep as a brand has come a long way in quality and I think their current crop of models are just as good as any other manufacturer


and yes…I love my Jeep!

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