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Jeep dealer will not put clutch or transmission under warranty (<50k miles)

3Pedalsand4Wheeldrive

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About a week ago I was driving on the highway and my clutch immediately started slipping which shoot the rpms up to the high end of the rev range in 6th gear. Moments later there was a major bang and the clutch pedal was stuck all the way to the floor and obviously none of the gears would engage.
The next day after a night of waiting for AAA and sitting on the side of the highway I was informed by my dealer that the clutch and transmission were fried and they would both need to be replaced and it would not be covered under warranty. They claim from abuse and neglect offroad I let the clutch heat up beyond its limits causing the ”protection plate” to overheat and give out which severely damaged the transmission.
Now I very well may be misguided but I can tell you that any sort of offroading that had happened was not the cause for this to occur. The last time the clutch was under any sort of relative stress would have been at least 6 months and 10k miles ago and I have not had any issues until this. The only reason I suppose they thought this was the issue is because they found some mud on the undercarriage.
I don’t really know where to go from here because they want around 7 thousand dollars for the repair and obviously that’s a lot to pay out of pocket.

Jeep Wrangler JL Jeep dealer will not put clutch or transmission under warranty (<50k miles) 71B7C230-4623-47FA-9171-C593544EB8E6
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aldo98229

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Ugh. Sounds like you have a douchebag dealer, like the rest of us.

There are several things you can try:
  1. You can open up a case with @JeepCares - probability of success 50%
  2. You can try another dealership; hopefully one with a better reputation - probability of success 60%
  3. You can send an email to some executive at Stellantis explaining your situation in a matter-of-fact manner. They might forward your complaint to their Executive team. This gets you the silk glove treatment and bypasses the peasant service you’d get if you were to go through JeepCares. The catch is finding that executive’s direct email, and crafting an effective letter - probability of success 80%, provided you get to the right person
  4. Lawyer up - always the very last resort
Hope you get things resolved.

Good luck.
 
OP
OP
3Pedalsand4Wheeldrive

3Pedalsand4Wheeldrive

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Ugh. Sounds like you have a douchebag dealer, like the rest of us.

There are several things you can try:
  1. You can open up a case with @JeepCares - probability of success 50%
  2. You can try another dealership; hopefully one with a better reputation - probability of success 60%
  3. You can send an email to some executive at Stellantis explaining your situation in a matter-of-fact manner. They might forward your complaint to their Executive team. This gets you the silk glove treatment and bypasses the peasant service you’d get if you were to go through JeepCares. The catch is finding that executive’s direct email, and crafting an effective letter - probability of success 80%, provided you get to the right person
  4. Lawyer up - always the very last resort
Hope you get things resolved.

Good luck.
Thanks, I’ll definitely make use of some of those
 

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JEEPIDON

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Can't think of anything that would condemn the transmission because the clutch collapsed. Makes no sense. In over 55 years of driving I've smoked plenty of clutches in my younger days and never did it effect the transmission.

As usual, there is more here to learn from the OP. There is another side to this that we'll never see or hear about.

Can't wait to see the first "Lemon Law" suggestion.

Good luck OP!
 

AcesandEights

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I don't think the clutch is considered powertrain. It's a wear item and may only be covered by 3yr/36k
 

ColoradoMike

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There are other posts about this issue; I would search them -- but from what I remember reading, there is a common issue where something terrible happens in the JL clutch, something to do with the pressure plate, something can and for many people has exploded in the clutch and caused major damage to the tranny (and other things). So the catastrophic damage you suffered is not unique in the JL. How you resolve it is beyond me, but search for others who have had the same disaster as you. When your dealer tries to blame it on you/offroading, they are ignoring that this is a known issue in JLs. It's b.s.
 
OP
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3Pedalsand4Wheeldrive

3Pedalsand4Wheeldrive

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There are other posts about this issue; I would search them -- but from what I remember reading, there is a common issue where something terrible happens in the JL clutch, something to do with the pressure plate, something can and for many people has exploded in the clutch and caused major damage to the tranny (and other things). So the catastrophic damage you suffered is not unique in the JL. How you resolve it is beyond me, but search for others who have had the same disaster as you. When your dealer tries to blame it on you/offroading, they are ignoring that this is a known issue in JLs. It's b.s.
I wasn’t aware that it was “somewhat“ common. I’ll have to do some more research about that thanks.
 

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John VonJeep

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I know someone will chime in with “I’ve driven my clutch for a million miles and it’s been perfect!”

But, Jeep needs to acknowledge that there’s something seriously wrong with the the design of the JL’s manual transmission.

I’ve driven manuals my whole life, but reported problems the design of the JL’s manual are what drove me into an automatic (which has been amazing).

Jeep needs to redesign the thing.

OP, I’m sorry for your problems. Any chance your insurance will help?
 

FinnCustomKnives

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Not sure if you have seen this, or if this is relevant to your particular failure, but here you go.
 

ColoradoMike

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I know someone will chime in with “I’ve driven my clutch for a million miles and it’s been perfect!”

But, Jeep needs to acknowledge that there’s something seriously wrong with the the design of the JL’s manual transmission.

I’ve driven manuals my whole life, but reported problems the design of the JL’s manual are what drove me into an automatic (which has been amazing).

Jeep needs to redesign the thing.

OP, I’m sorry for your problems. Any chance your insurance will help?
Yeah... I didn't research this before I bought my manual-tranny JLUR. I mean, it's a manual tranny; why should that be problematic? And I have enjoyed having the manual, but now that I know how many disasters there have been with it, I am scared for mine and kind of regretful I made the choice I did.
 

AcesandEights

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Right, it’s the transmission I’m more worried about
Ok, not what you're going to want to hear, but if the clutch damaged the transmission, it's likely not covered. If a non-covered item damaged another item (covered or not) it wouldn't be a warranty issue (not a "failure" of the transmission).

ETA: you have to ask the "but for" question. But for the clutch, the transmission would still work. If the clutch is not covered, those things damaged by the clutch are not failures of that part. The transmission didn't fail, it was damaged by the clutch.
 
OP
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3Pedalsand4Wheeldrive

3Pedalsand4Wheeldrive

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Ok, not what you're going to want to hear, but if the clutch damaged the transmission, it's likely not covered. If a non-covered item damaged another item (covered or not) it wouldn't be a warranty issue (not a "failure" of the transmission).

ETA: you have to ask the "but for" question. But for the clutch, the transmission would still work. If the clutch is not covered, those things damaged by the clutch are not failures of that part. The transmission didn't fail, it was damaged by the clutch.
I see
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