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Is getting Jeep warranty service a local or national problem?

AndrewFerg

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I have a 2021 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited Extreme Terrain edition with less than 5k miles on it. It clearly has an alternator problem which of course is a warranty repair.

I called Northwest Jeep near Portland, Oregon for service because I have purchased multiple Jeeps from them over the years. That used to mean something.

The service department said they were very busy and I'd have to wait two weeks for an appointment. That was inconvenient for me as I wanted to be able to use my Jeep and I'm worried about driving it with the alternator going bad, but I made the appointment and didn't drive my car for that period.

I drove out to Northwest Jeep August 4th, 2022 for my scheduled appointment and they informed me that they wouldn't get to my Jeep until late the next week. The service advisor asked, "It's O.K. to leave your Jeep through next week, right?" I replied, "No. I need it looked at today. I have an appointment I've waited two weeks for." Darian (I think was his name) literally replied, “You don’t have an appointment for service, you have an appointment for us to evaluate the car and we won’t be able to get to that until next week.” I kid you not. No apology, no offer to "make this right." It was like being at the DMV.

I asked to speak to the manager and he effectively told me I was lucky to get it in that fast as they are backed-up a month. I looked around and asked if they had phones. He didn't reply. I said, "I can clearly see you have phones, why didn't you call me to tell me you weren't going to honor my appointment?" He had no response. I kid you not. He just stared at me. Horrible customer service.

Obviously, I won't do business with Northwest Jeep again and am trying a different Jeep dealer, and now now my delay in getting the warranty service is approaching five weeks.

My question to all of you is what has been your warranty service experience these days? Is this a local issue or a national problem? Is this a problem with Jeep or are you experiencing it with other brands? With my many other cars, I've never had a problem getting important warranty service in a timely manner.

Northwest Jeep is certainly giving the Jeep brand a bad reputation in the Portland area.
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AFD

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Most every dealership I've been to during the past decade for various brands has been booked up 2 weeks in advance. Once in a blue moon I'll get squeaked in early or same-day at a small mom-and-pop shop, but the real headache is when you wait the 2 weeks, and then potentially an additional few days to diagnose the problem only to find the replacement part is on backorder for the next 6 months. Best of luck to you!
 

AcesandEights

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Local, or national, depending on the issue.

What you described is what's going on nationally, not at dealerships, but all industries. There aren't enough workers for the jobs, then not enough qualified workers that still want to work. Heard of the "Great Resignation"? Every fast food restaurant is hiring at above minimum wage, every restaurant is short workers, every store is looking for staff, every office is looking for admin staff, every garage mechanics, every cell phone store sales staff, etc. What you're seeing is there are too few service advisors, too few technicians, and more customers. It's not the dealership, it's the nation.
 

slowcrawlerZJ

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I’m waiting on warranty service as well, engine change. I have been tracking service department delays and unfortunately it seems to be going across the board. Lack of technicians in general, lack of effectively/efficiency trained technicians, lack of parts, lack of folks who actually give a **** anymore, lack of leadership, and so on.
 

aldo98229

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Jeep customer service sucks. No ifs or buts about it.

I’ve owned Jeeps for 25 years: service was never stellar but it was okay. Jeep service deteriorated significantly under FCA ownership; by 2014-2015 it had become pathetic.

Having relocated from California to the Pacific Northwest five years ago only made it worse. My local Jeep dealer here in northern Washington State is by far the worst I’ve ever encountered. It is the only Jeep dealer in a 30-mile radius. The stuff that comes out of their mouths and their unprofessional behavior is beyond human comprehension.
Jeep Wrangler JL Is getting Jeep warranty service a local or national problem? 8B181AC3-14EB-4B2D-B2B5-44451C81490D
 

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AcesandEights

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I've been treated far worse by Toyota and Ford dealers than by Jeep dealers, but they've all sucked, especially those associated with Lithia Motors.
 

DHW

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Last time I needed service it was to replace my battery under warranty. Even the "good" Jeep service department I found told me my Jeep would have to sit at the dealership for a week before they could look at it. Lack of effectively trained technicians appears to be a nationwide problem.

I had the same problem with my Corvette and a Chevy dealership. Wound up buying a Quickjack so I can do my own service to the Vette as well.
 
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DurangoWino

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We bought a Hyundai at a dealership in Houston area and called for oil change and they were booked up for a week out. Called another one in a nearby suburb and got right in. Needless to say we are not going back to where we bought the car to get it serviced. Hard to imagine that there could be enough people in-line to get oil changes that it would take a week to get you in.
 

Jtaugner

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Called about dropping the Cobro off for some work at our local Ford dealer, told me 6-8 weeks was the earliest I could get in..
 

rickinAZ

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It's a labor shortage. Can't imagine that it's limited to the Jeep brand. I just had back surgery and the time required to reserve the OR took three months.

It's turning out that nudging people back to work is more challenging than we would have expected.
 

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Reinen

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Heard of the "Great Resignation"?
This. Covid was a huge kick in the pants in many ways.

@AndrewFerg

What you're seeing is the result of a massive amount of people in not so great lower paying jobs using the Covid lockdown as an opportunity to train for a better job, often in a completely different field. So now, (particularly in lower paying service fields) many left the ship as it was sinking in one big sudden surge and the usual supply of young people entering that level isn't enough to replenish them.

So expect to see inadequate service staff just about everywhere that lower pay grade service staff exists. The staff that remained are completely overloaded and finding additional staff is extremely difficult.
 

rickinAZ

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This. Covid was a huge kick in the pants in many ways.

@AndrewFerg

What you're seeing is the result of a massive amount of people in not so great lower paying jobs using the Covid lockdown as an opportunity to train for a better job, often in a completely different field. So now, (particularly in lower paying service fields) many left the ship as it was sinking in one big sudden surge and the usual supply of young people entering that level isn't enough to replenish them.

So expect to see inadequate service staff just about everywhere that lower pay grade service staff exists. The staff that remained are completely overloaded and finding additional staff is extremely difficult.
Agreed. Mayo is paying its traveling nurses up to $2,000/day.
 

Kryten

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I have a broken seat in my 2 door Rubicon. I've had it for 4 months. The seat has been broken for 2 months. They're telling me it will take another month to get the part. I had problems with this seat since the day I bought it. Turns out it's a pretty common problem. I assumed it would be a quick fix since it's just a seat. Because of all of the frustration with the seat and realizing I needed a little more room, I ordered a 2023 four door.

I assumed it would be fixed before the 4 door arrives. I mean how complicated can a seat be? Apparently very complicated. They've ordered parts three times. Now they're telling me that they're waiting for a part that wont be here until the 28th. My new Jeep is supposed to ship on the 18th. I was hoping to have time to sell it but now it looks like I might end up with two Jeeps. I really can't afford to buy the second one without selling or at least having the first one repaired to trade in. Now as a favor to me the dealership has offered to buy the 2 door but they're offering me over $7000 less than what I paid for it when I only got to drive it for 2 months.

I like Jeep Wranglers but I have to say I hate the company that sells and services them. If Ford gets their act together I'll be trying a Bronco next time because every interaction I've had from ordering to servicing has been a nightmare with Jeep.
 
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AndrewFerg

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Jeep customer service sucks. No ifs or buts about it.

I’ve owned Jeeps for 25 years: service was never stellar but it was okay. Jeep service deteriorated significantly under FCA ownership; by 2014-2015 it had become pathetic.

Having relocated from California to the Pacific Northwest five years ago only made it worse. My local Jeep dealer here in northern Washington State is by far the worst I’ve ever encountered. It is the only Jeep dealer in a 30-mile radius. The stuff that comes out of their mouths and their unprofessional behavior is beyond human comprehension.
Jeep Wrangler JL Is getting Jeep warranty service a local or national problem? 8B181AC3-14EB-4B2D-B2B5-44451C81490D
I guess I've got a new parameter now when buying a car. I haven't had this experience with any of my other cars. Porsche, MB, BMW, Ford, etc. I wonder if the Ford Bronco crowd is experiencing this type of thing. If the dealer had been honest and said it would be a month at least I could have tried another dealer - which is what I'm doing now.
 

west tex

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Jeez Louise!

Sorry to hear about all the snafus you guys have been having with service.

Maybe I've just been fortunate. The dealer I bought both my Wrangler and Renegade from has always scheduled me within a couple of days and gotten me in and out within the same day. But then, it's been almost a year since I've had anything other than a routine oil change. Could be a different situation today.
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