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Love/hate relationship has ended in divorce.

lohr500

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So after 30 months of 2.2D JLU Rubicon ownership, I filed for divorce.
Sadly, I have to say that I have never owned a less reliable vehicle in over 40 years of driving.
My Wrangler spent many weeks stuck in various UK dealerships waiting for ineffective repairs with poor support from Jeep UK.
  • Too many hours spent driving to and from dealers only to find the same failures kept returning even though they were supposed to have been fixed.
  • Weeks of driving around in various courtesy cars and a couple of ruined planned trips away as we couldn't tow our dinghy.
  • Waving goodbye to my Jeep on a recovery truck twice in the space of one month due to the same failure (which took three attempts to fix).
  • Alarm still going off randomly, despite two changes to the internal sensors and reassurances that it had been sorted.
  • Three month wait for a replacement heated rear screen.
  • Wasted trip for it's 1st service because Jeep couldn't supply an oil filter even though it was booked in for the service three weeks in advance.
  • Incorrect parking sensor module fitted at the factory which meant the front parking sensors never worked until the 5th dealer visit where the fault was finally diagnosed.
  • Three replacement exhaust system sensors and resulting limp home mode during my brief ownership.
  • ESS system that only works if the batteries are charged manually despite the batteries being replaced.
I wasted too much time (and money) on the vehicle and was worried about what would go wrong next. Especially as the warranty was due to run out in a few months time, at which point it could have proven very costly as well as time consuming.

It is such a shame as it was a great vehicle when it was working and ticked so many boxes for me. I bought it as a keeper to see me well into my retirement but it wasn't to be.

I parted company with it today and I will never buy another modern Jeep/FCA/Stellantis product again. It made Land Rovers look reliable and that is saying something.

Perhaps I was just unlucky but I was simply not prepared to put up with the ongoing worry and risk over what would fail next.

I hope others have better luck than me and that your ownership experience is proving less stressful.
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WranglerMan

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@lohr500 one should not have to worry and wait on a daily basis to see what bad thing happens next on a vehicle, you surly have more patience than most if not all of us here as I would have parted with it long before you did.

Its a real shame that even after it’s release in 2018 the JL is still plagued with some of the same issues they had back in 2018, I know you had a diesel and that model is new but one would think that they would have issues that plagued earlier releases worked out but apparently not in your case.

Makers always go thru growing pains with new models but it’s not like the Wrangler is a new concept and especially after being out for a few years with the JL.

I have been very fortunate with my 2018 JLUS and aside from some basic recalls and one bad battery I have not had any problems and coming up on 50k miles.

I wish you the best in your next vehicle and hope it’s a more reliable one.

On a side note my son has a 2010 JK Rubi and it has 80k on the odometer and aside from basic upkeep it’s been perfect so maybe look at a pre JL Wrangler.
 
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lohr500

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Interestingly they have dropped the 2.2 diesel in the UK and now only offer the 2 litre turbo petrol. I don't know if thy have done this to help with their overall EU emissions requirements or because they have had too many issues with the diesel. I also read that they plan to drop the 2 door versions and that the hybrid version won't be available in right hand drive.

We've had a couple of older 4 litre TJ's in the past and they were no problem at all. And my dad ran a 4 litre Cherokee XJ for years. It needed a new a/c condenser after only 3 years (covered under warranty), but other than that it gave over 100k miles of trouble free service.

I just think modern vehicles now have so many complex electronics on board to meet emissions standards and to provide all the creature comforts we demand. If they aren't developed well and properly tested prior to roll out then that's when problems occur. Perhaps they rushed through the 2.2 diesel installation and didn't do enough soak testing prior to launching it. But the fiasco with the front parking sensors, the numerous alarm faults and the ESS failure are not unique to the diesel so maybe they rushed through the whole JL development programme.

Anyway, its history for me now. I've switched to a Mitsubishi Outlander phev. Not a proper 4x4 by any stretch of the imagination and arguably more complex than the JLU. But Mitsi have been building them for years and they have a good reputation for reliability, at least in the Uk. They are quitting the UK later this year though as they are struggling to keep pace with the ever tougher EU emissions rules. However the service and support backup will remain in place. As a result there are some cracking deals to be had on remaining new stock and low mileage demonstrators.

I know two Outlander phev owners very well and both have had many tens of thousands of trouble free miles out of them. Hoping I do too and haven't got another lemon 🍋
 
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WranglerMan

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@lohr500 i sincerely wish you the very best and many happy trouble free miles with your new vehicle and even if your not a Jeep owner anymore please continue to read and contribute and maybe in a few years FCA will have the JL as solid as the JK and you can come back to the Jeep family and if not no worries as it’s all about being happy and having vehicle problems is never fun regardless of what your driving.
 

Howi

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Must admit our relationship has been on the rocks for a while now ! :(
 

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plisken

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Been a Jeep owner for the past 6 years, through WJ, WK2 and since last Tuesday a JL, but I just know we're not going to make sweet music together, certainly cant see us walking down the aisle...

To OP, I had a Mitsubishi Pajero several years ago and it was truly bullet proof, it simply refused to die and if I remember correctly, it had lockers (at least on the rear) and some other proper 4x4 stuff.
 
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lohr500

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We've run a few old V6 petrol Mitsubishi Shoguns/Pajeros at our sailing club to use as tow vehicles for the dinghies and rescue boats. Picked up for little money as MOT failures. Mostly they have been very reliable although the rear calipers have a habit of seizing up from repeated reversing into the freshwater lake. They have all had a locking rear diff and a super select 4x4 system which is similar to the UK JL set up. They tend to last a couple of years with us before they reach the point where it isn't worth spending money to keep them going. The last one that we scrapped suffered a major front diff failure, probably from being run in permanent 4wd with the centre diff locked on solid ground.
 

pablo_max3045

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We've run a few old V6 petrol Mitsubishi Shoguns/Pajeros at our sailing club to use as tow vehicles for the dinghies and rescue boats. Picked up for little money as MOT failures. Mostly they have been very reliable although the rear calipers have a habit of seizing up from repeated reversing into the freshwater lake. They have all had a locking rear diff and a super select 4x4 system which is similar to the UK JL set up. They tend to last a couple of years with us before they reach the point where it isn't worth spending money to keep them going. The last one that we scrapped suffered a major front diff failure, probably from being run in permanent 4wd with the centre diff locked on solid ground.
Funny enough, an old Pajero was my favorite vehicle. An old 86 2 door.
It was also the most unreliable of any I have ever owned. I even snapped the front passenger side torsion bar twice. That was damn scary.. and loud.
Replaced the head twice. Full engine rebuild once. New carb, new radiator, steering pump, alternator (3 times).
Not a spec of rust and inside was perfect though.
I spent at least 4 times what I paid for it on fixes and "upgrades".

So far I have had good luck with my many Jeeps. My last Jeep (JKU) had a lot of initial issues, but this was only because Jeep simply cannot screw together a vehicle and has no quality control.
There were so many loose screws in the front suspension and steering that the dealer told me that I was lucky not to have a serious crash.
The dealer here in DE checks all the bolts based on their past experience with Jeeps lack of quality control.
 

UKJeep2018

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Sorry to hear you gave up. My Jeep experience hasn’t been problem free but I have never had any issues requiring an immediate visit to the dealer or even a recovery. (20k miles & 2.0 Petrol)
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