FCA Jeep Quality Control left much to be desired. Dilemma of owning a Jeep.

[KenPewPew]

im really looking forward to my Jeep but to expect a vehicle to be without issues is fixating yourself on the path to disappointment. Humans to some degree still build vehicles and all of them make mistakes. Ultimately your experience will be defined by three factors; customer service, enjoyment of the vehicle and whether or not it suits your needs

Wiz, I guess this really call for some adjustment of expectation on my part. I used to own Nissan Rogue, and my main ride is Honda CRV - and both of them has never give me any problem like this - well at least not new cars. I know that my Nissan service center messed up my car but it was due to the incompetence of their mechanics. Honda on the other hand has been very consistent and its still running well at 40K miles. I did service the cars when expected though. I did not have much experience with Jeep though. I agree with you about the three factors that you put up above - which I guess I can say yes to all of them. Maybe that is the reason why I am so leery (in addition to the previous experience with my first Jeep) about anything that goes on my new ride. And it is a souped up Rubicon! Lot of money were invested.

Count your blessings that the only issue you have experienced so far was a faulty wiring harness.

These JLs are certainly not known for their build quality, anyone who cares to refute that should take a look over at the issues section of the forum . . . 100 pages long in only 2 years.

Chris, with all respect I don't understand how this is even a norm. What you posted shows that there are serious issues with JLs - do FCA just don't care or do they know that people like me love my Jeep based on some intrinsic values (such as culture associated with it, or full open top, lifestyle?) If that is the case, maybe Jeep know that we dont have that many options? I believe that, Jeep is going to have some serious competition with Ford on the upcoming Broncos because people that does not have such strong sentiments like me would not be buying Jeep if there are high fault rates. In this case, it is great that Broncos are coming into the picture because now FCA will have to increase their quality control (unless Broncos have the same quality issues as Jeep)

It is true that most automakers have quality issues these days; even Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs. But at least one has a good chance of getting a decent dealer treatment with those brands. These Jeeps are fast approaching luxury prices but FCA's customer treatment is still as if we bought a used K-Car.

In the OP's case, he is happy with his dealer. That's half the battle right there.

Aldo, name is Ken and yes I am very happy with my dealer. and what is K-Car?

Lots of new vehicles have issues. It's fortunate that you found yours quickly in its life and it was fixed by the dealer without any hassle. It does suck that you had a noisy diff on your last Jeep and the new one is having issues but I wouldn't necessarily worry about your new Jeep.

For instance, my Mazda3 had a rattling passenger door speaker since new and around 15k miles the passenger door switch that turns the interior lights became inoperative. Both fixed without issue at my local dealer (which has been outstanding).
.....

I strongly recommend you get a bluetooth OBD-II reader to pull codes yourself - it will allow you to Google your code and get an idea of what's wrong. They're cheap, like $20 or less.

Mark, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your experience (regret that you have a lot of negative experiences - I applaud you for the way you are handling it because I would have gone bananas!) I cannot imagine you going through all the things that you mentioned - and yes I understand your point about seeing the big picture. That even though my Jeep is new, and it might be faulty, the problem is small and not serious. Just like another person that recommended a bluetooth OBD - I am going to purchase one (any recommendations? I saw some that was made like 5 years ago - is it relevant to my new Jeep) Having that gadget will indeed make me less nervous because I will get an idea of whats wrong with my Jeep even before bringing it in. Expectation is everything I guess.

A pinched harness is not too bad... If this is the worst problem you have you're lucky. I believe they are engineering parts at 85% integrity, they can't have your car last forever can they? The issue is even at 85%, they will all fail eventually 100% of the time. I blame CHINA!!

Ricky, I don't know whether all Jeep parts are from China, but yes, I cannot have my car to last forever but it being a new vehicle, I guess I am just a bit nervous especially after spending so much money on this toy

I would like to thank all of you that shared your experiences and telling me to count my blessings that the problem that I am experiencing are not that serious. I am not very hands on with cars, and being in the dark sorta make me feel nervous. I guess moving forward, knowing that this is a sort of a norm (which I think it should not be) I am adjusting my expectation and will try to be more relaxed if my Jeep is having any problem in the future. And yes, the bluetooth OBD is definitely a good supplemental tool to have in dealing with such inconsistencies.

I really appreciate all of you for sharing! It really helped.

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[aldo98229]

Aldo, name is Ken and yes I am very happy with my dealer. and what is K-Car?

It’s the humble FWD car that Lee Iacocca introduced in the 1980s that turned Chrysler around. There was nothing glamorous about it, but it made Chrysler the envy of the industry for the simplicity and efficiency of the design, the fat profits it generated, and its versatility for spinning off other vehicles —including the minivan.

 

[summer4x]

Price does not equal value. All of today's vehicles, no matter the brand or model, are grotesquely overpriced given the quality.

 

[aldo98229]

Price does not equal value. All of today's vehicles, no matter the brand or model, are grotesquely overpriced given the quality.

That is true, indeed.

However, price creates an expectation for customer service at the very least.

 

[JEEPIDON]

Thanks for your TLDR and sarcasm! I guess you miss out the main part about my Jeep being ONLY 2 weeks old. This is not just "a problem and the dealership fixed it", I was sharing about my experience and anxiety with my new Jeep which was problematic. And that is normal. A little bit of empathy would be nice!



Sean, I totally can see your logic! I would think that the FCA would not only use the CEL as a benchmark for quality control. The mechanic at my dealership ran a through diagnostic check after fixing the wires and found out that the heater was not routed properly. Coming from a production background -I am sure that FCA have their own method of quality control. If there are a lot of errors or problem post production or post purchase, they will have problem with consumer confidence (as Randy posted) in the long run. Especially with the new Broncos that is coming out.



Heimkehr - thank you for the info. I did not know that such tool exist. Appreciate the link - I think I might just purchase one for the ease of mind. And I wholeheartedly agree about getting answers from the Internet!

Company confidence with a new Bronco by Ford? Ford just recalled over 620,000 2019 and 2020 vehicles 5 days ago! How about the seat belt fire recall a couple of years back? All car manufacturers have QA issues. Very simple: if you don’t have confidence in what you buy, don’t buy another and look for empathy. Get it fixed, move on.

 

[JEEPIDON]

It’s the humble FWD car that Lee Iacocca introduced in the 1980s that turned Chrysler around. There was nothing glamorous about it, but it made Chrysler the envy of the industry for the simplicity and efficiency of the design, the fat profits it generated, and its versatility for spinning off other vehicles —including the minivan.

You can buy 10 of them for one JL!

 

[emptyminded42]

Mark, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your experience (regret that you have a lot of negative experiences - I applaud you for the way you are handling it because I would have gone bananas!) I cannot imagine you going through all the things that you mentioned - and yes I understand your point about seeing the big picture. That even though my Jeep is new, and it might be faulty, the problem is small and not serious. Just like another person that recommended a bluetooth OBD - I am going to purchase one (any recommendations? I saw some that was made like 5 years ago - is it relevant to my new Jeep) Having that gadget will indeed make me less nervous because I will get an idea of whats wrong with my Jeep even before bringing it in. Expectation is everything I guess.

Honestly, none of the issues I had with any of our cars were anything beyond a slight annoyance that we had fixed during a normal oil change appointment. The Mazda and Subaru dealers always have free service loaners available so it really wasn't a big deal to get the issues fixed. I don't know how Jeep service is - I have around 5,500 miles on mine and it's just about a year old so I'll be taking it in for its first oil change/tire rotation soon and I'll try to have them fix the steering and clutch recall while it's there.

I think the expectation that new vehicles will have zero issues over the warranty period is unrealistic - most every vehicle will have at least one minor thing to correct. I wouldn't expect to have a serious issue that requires a special trip to the dealer like you had but if they fixed it the first visit and relatively quickly it wouldn't sour me too much on the vehicle.

I don't have a recommendation for an OBD-II reader. I'm sure Amazon has many to choose from. My only advice there is to avoid cheap brands that are in all caps - they're knockoffs set up under a new, temporary company that will disappear in a few months so they can't really be held accountable for poor quality.

 

[aldo98229]

Decades ago, Fiat had to pack its bags and leave the North American market due to poor quality. Part of the problem was the quality of the product itself; part was that it took 2 to 3 weeks to get the necessary parts to fix a problem.

FIAT became synonym with “Fix It Again, Tony,” and it stuck.

Thirty years later, Fiat returns to North America as if nothing ever happened. First it replaces Chrysler’s quality assurance processes with its own, as if they were in fact better; then it replaces Wrangler’s electronics with its own, again, as if they were better.

We are now in the exact same situation Fiat was 30 years ago: these Jeeps come from the factory with fragile quality, and it then takes dealers 2 to 3 weeks to get anything fixed.

I have owned Chryslers and Jeeps for many years; I’ve never seen it be like this.

 

[KenPewPew]

I think the expectation that new vehicles will have zero issues over the warranty period is unrealistic - most every vehicle will have at least one minor thing to correct. I wouldn't expect to have a serious issue that requires a special trip to the dealer like you had but if they fixed it the first visit and relatively quickly it wouldn't sour me too much on the vehicle.

I don't have a recommendation for an OBD-II reader. I'm sure Amazon has many to choose from. My only advice there is to avoid cheap brands that are in all caps - they're knockoffs set up under a new, temporary company that will disappear in a few months so they can't really be held accountable for poor quality.

Mark, I totally hear ya! No more sours - although I am notorious for loving ultra sour candy treats such as Skittles Sours (which I learned the hard way that eating too much of these candies will cause soreness or even bleeding to the inside of the cheek. Oh well lesson learned! Now I ALTERNATE between the two cheeks! )

As for Amazon - I don't even trust the reviews anymore which many with some weird brand that came from China are fabricated reviews. I just cannot imagine how Amazon allows these people to sell subpar products from China - where I think they circumvents the import taxes nor quality control in selling those bootlegs to us. My life is intertwined with Amazon but really I wish that Amazon are more ethical in screening the items that they are selling.

Decades ago, Fiat had to pack its bags and leave the North American market due to poor quality. Part of the problem was the quality of the product itself; part was that it took 2 to 3 weeks to get the necessary parts to fix a problem.

FIAT became synonym with “Fix It Again, Tony,” and it stuck.

Thirty years later, Fiat returns to North America as if nothing ever happened. First it replaces Chrysler’s quality assurance processes with its own, as if they were in fact better; then it replaces Wrangler’s electronics with its own, again, as if they were better.

We are now in the exact same situation Fiat was 30 years ago: these Jeeps come from the factory with fragile quality, and it then takes dealers 2 to 3 weeks to get anything fixed.

I have owned Chryslers and Jeeps for many years; I’ve never seen it be like this.

Aldo, you know your stuff! Just out of curiousity, moving forward would you keep on buying from Chryslers and Jeeps? I know that this might sound stupid - but while there are "substitutes" for off road vehicles or SUV - I do think that Jeep has a history and that FCA (and whatever name they were before) knows how to maintain the uniqueness of the Jeep brand.

On additional note about price vs. value - I think that price equals to the perception that dictates the value of the product. And it can be very subjective at best.

 

[aldo98229]

Aldo, you know your stuff! Just out of curiousity, moving forward would you keep on buying from Chryslers and Jeeps? I know that this might sound stupid - but while there are "substitutes" for off road vehicles or SUV - I do think that Jeep has a history and that FCA (and whatever name they were before) knows how to maintain the uniqueness of the Jeep brand.

On additional note about price vs. value - I think that price equals to the perception that dictates the value of the product. And it can be very subjective at best.

I tried owning a Toyota Tacoma for six months and I came running back to Jeep. Thankfully, my JL has turned out pretty trouble free, so far.

But FCA keeps making it harder and harder for me to stay. Questionable quality is part of it; so are poor customer service and a price/value that keeps getting harder and harder to justify.

I doubt I would ever go to Ford. I haven't been all that impressed with most of its recent product launches. But if Toyota brings out a compelling FJ Cruiser/Land Cruiser/4Runner replacement, as it is supposedly planning to do, that would make things interesting.

 

[Notorious]

@KenPewPew good that the dealer was able to resolve the issues and get them fixed. That’s what warranties are for.

 

[aldo98229]

@KenPewPew good that the dealer was able to resolve the issues and get them fixed. That’s what warranties are for.

Indeed. That is how it is always supposed to work.

But we have grown accustomed to FCA and its dealers playing so many games, and showing such disregard and incompetence, that we are now in awe when a dealer actually follows through.

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