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New 2021 Horrible Experience. Does FCA Even Care?

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grokshot

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Was your son's lifted as well?? It's my understanding that just installing the Mopar lift, may leave a lot of things "undone" with the original geometry.

Still sucks. Hope you get it all figured out.

G.
Yes, his was lifted as well. Same everything except the color. It is like I am driving a different type of vehicle completely whenever I drive his.
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grokshot

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This is a terrible experience for you I'm sure. I had a similar experience when I bought my 2016 Tacoma a few years back brand new, and the headliner kept falling out, transmission had issues, recall work, and other headaches. Even to this day I am hesitant to buy a Toyota, even know everyone claims how "reliable" they are.

At this point, it sounds like it's the dealer that sucks/doesn't care.

Typically manufacturers will try to work things out the best they can - but unfortunately they have to use the dealer as a middleman. If you have a crappy dealer, who won't document and submit the appropriate paperwork, the manufacturer has a hard time figuring out what is wrong. There are a ton of customers, and if the dealer is not making a big enough fuss/bringing the issues up the chain, the manufacturer does not know.

Hope things turn out ok for you! Keep pushing them and complaining. It's the only way for them to do anything. Eventually it should be resolved, one way or another, but it's obviously a PIA.
This is definitely the issue. The dealer does not seem to care about getting me up and running. As a matter of fact the manager that was on duty one of the times the main manager was out made a statement about replacing as many parts as it takes because they make money from the corporation off of every one. He had that slick look when he said it too.
 
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grokshot

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I get the wish to not do harm and invoke the lemon law or name them. It’s a good thing. But, the instant they said “it’s fine” with the scratch and door, or “don’t take your hand off the wheel”, or “are you happy?” Or “it’ll be 5 weeks for an appt” should tell you that they DO NOT share that sentiment. At some point, you need to play hardball.
Of course I am not happy. I just don't know what to do at this point. If I name names and they find out then accuse me of defamation or something. I don't want to completely cut everything off. I really just don't know what to do at this point to make waves. I really hoped tagging @JeepCares on here would have helped a little or caused them to at least msg me. I had a lot of family and friends interested in getting Jeeps but at this point they stopped a lot of money coming their way for new vehicles. I would love at some point to be able to say that they reached out, did the right thing, and they are a good company to buy from. I just don't see that happening.
 
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grokshot

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I feel the OPs, pain, but a few comments...

1 - It seems like your vehicle has ONE manufacturing defect. The weld bump at the bottom of the door. The dealer offered to have that subed to a body shop to fix it - that is the right thing. OP should have gone with that plane.

2 - All other defects seems to me are a result of a poorly installed AFTERMARKET (MOPAR Performance) lift kit.

Trust me, I installed my own MOPAR lift with a few additional components to make it perform correctly. Most dealers do *NOT* take the time to loosen all 8 control arms and both track bars, during the install and then torque them on the ground. They deliver these lift kits with all arms/links bound up.

Many dealers also fail to align the spring isolators correctly causing axles to partially rotate, springs to be crooked etc.

And the MOPAR lift works best with after market track bars and sping percrches.




So OPs pulling and sagging is likely the result of the incomplete/improperly installed lift. The traction control warnings were due to the steering wheel not being centered (again bad instllation)



You would be wasting time replacing steering box, etc. Take it to an off road shop, put track bars on it, tell them to loosen all links then align. Have the dealer sub to the paint shop to fix the door. Done.
I wish it were that easy. The same tech/mechanic at the dealer installed the lift on my son's identical Wrangler using the same process. My son's is perfect, no issues. Unless a few weeks later when he installed mine he performed the process in a different way it would be the same. This was at the dealer where we bought them from. It has only been one dealer. We chose the Mopar lift kits to keep the warranty. They were installed when the Jeeps were dropped off from being built. We never drove them without the kits installed.

As far as the paint and weld, I thought I explained that fully but let me try again. They kept trying to talk me out of fixing it because it would break the manufacturing paint. They kept trying to get me to live with it. It wasn't until today that the area manager said they would fix it. This was after fighting with him and dealing with smirk looks back and forth from him to the service manager.
 

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EugeneTheJeep

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I feel the OPs, pain, but a few comments...

1 - It seems like your vehicle has ONE manufacturing defect. The weld bump at the bottom of the door. The dealer offered to have that subed to a body shop to fix it - that is the right thing. OP should have gone with that plane.

2 - All other defects seems to me are a result of a poorly installed AFTERMARKET (MOPAR Performance) lift kit.

Trust me, I installed my own MOPAR lift with a few additional components to make it perform correctly. Most dealers do *NOT* take the time to loosen all 8 control arms and both track bars, during the install and then torque them on the ground. They deliver these lift kits with all arms/links bound up.

Many dealers also fail to align the spring isolators correctly causing axles to partially rotate, springs to be crooked etc.

And the MOPAR lift works best with after market track bars and sping percrches.




So OPs pulling and sagging is likely the result of the incomplete/improperly installed lift. The traction control warnings were due to the steering wheel not being centered (again bad instllation)



You would be wasting time replacing steering box, etc. Take it to an off road shop, put track bars on it, tell them to loosen all links then align. Have the dealer sub to the paint shop to fix the door. Done.
Exactly!! Having been through many similar issues in the past with an incompetent dealers, I can say this post is spot on.

A body shop is needed to fix the weld bump. The dealer won’t have a clue.

The lift is not very difficult to install as long as the tech knows how to do it and takes the time needed. A sloppy install will produce random results. Hence the deference between yours and your son’s.

You may be at the lemon law requirements and can just get a new one. If not, go to another dealer and ask to wait until their best suspension tech is available to fix the lift/steering, and have them send it to the body shop to fix the rest.
 

King Nothing

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Sounds like they need to return it to stock and see how it handles. That will tell you if the problem is inherent in the vehicle or if it’s a problem with the lift kit or the installation. The door issue sucks. My wife’s 18 JKU had a door alignment issue when it was new. Every response I got when I complained about it was basically “It’s a Jeep, deal with it”. Eventually got it fixed but it wasn’t nearly as bad as yours
 

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Ask the FCA case manager to arrange an appointment at another dealership (they should have a good idea about who's service department is good and who's isn't). I don't see how a shock would make it droop and a steering stabilizer would make it pull to one side (they're dampers), so I wouldn't trust this dealership.

I would ask for similarly equipped loaner for the duration and ask what happens if it can't be resolved. (Do that before you mention the lemon law, to see what they offer... Don't give them any ammunition to use against you if it goes to court or arbitration)

Good luck and sorry you have to go through this!

It's easy to be all calm and rational, when it somebody else going through this... I'd be tempted to stand there and start yelling, but that can come back to bite you.
 

PacNWJLGecko

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Ask the FCA case manager to arrange an appointment at another dealership (they should have a good idea about who's service department is good and who's isn't). I don't see how a shock would make it droop and a steering stabilizer would make it pull to one side (they're dampers), so I wouldn't trust this dealership.

I would ask for similarly equipped loaner for the duration and ask what happens if it can't be resolved. (Do that before you mention the lemon law, to see what they offer... Don't give them any ammunition to use against you if it goes to court or arbitration)

Good luck and sorry you have to go through this!

It's easy to be all calm and rational, when it somebody else going through this... I'd be tempted to stand there and start yelling, but that can come back to bite you.
Agreed, I would be fairly irate if I had purchased an essentially brand new vehicle and received this poor of service.
 

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There is a lawyer named Steve Lehto who has a YouTube channel. He is from Michigan and specializes in Lemon Law and Consumer Protection. Might be worth your time to look up his phone number and see if he could suggest how you should proceed.
 

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Man that sounds like a terrible dealership!
IMO that’s not a jeep problem but a dealership problem.
My 2021 JLUR has a serious issue the day I got it home literally lol I bought it from a dealership about an hour away in PA (Dotta Jeep) ... they drove out a brand new 4dr JLUR as a loaner, picked mine up and had it back to me fixed with a lift installed in a week and half.
The fact that they haven’t given you a proper loaner is insane in itself
 

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I would agree with everyone that the best way forward regarding the steering is to remove the lift. Tell them to refund you the cost, return to stock and try again with a different dealer.

The paint issue sucks. I agree at this point having a body shop deal with it is best, but having to do that to a new vehicle does suck. I’m assuming that sort of thing may show up on car fax, so maybe look into some sort of diminished value compensation from Jeep or the dealer.

I had an issue with my 2018 that I bought certified pre owned that caused it to be in the shop for over 90 days. Jeepcares was pretty useless. All they seemed able to do was help expedite the delivery of the endless list of parts that didn’t solve my problem. I eventually got out because the dealer accepted it on a trade because it was still under warranty. So I got a new one.

Good luck. It sucks they have such terrible QC. Jeeps are great until you get one that’s not.
 

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Be sure to document each dealer visit extremely carefully. How this is done is probably best left to the Lemon Law attorney if you choose to go that route.

We bought one of the first KL Cherokees (new fangled transmission) and we took the KL Cherokee to a dealer for work at least six times if not a dozen. When Jeep agreed to a settlement to reimburse Jeep Cherokee owners for the ridiculous transmission issues, owners had to prove how many times the vehicle was brought to the dealer for that specific transmission issue.

Isn't it interesting that that the dealers had a new record keeping system installed around the time the settlement was published. A number of our visits to the dealership magically disappeared. Interesting that the KL Cherokee completing shutting down and requiring a tow on a major city highway at rush hour doesn't carry any more weight in the settlement than a leisurely service drop-off by another customer.

I've bought Chrysler products from a Michigan dealership. I am not sure that scenario is likely given my current location, but it still is a possibility. Is Walled Lake LaFontaine (formerly Shuman) in Southeast Michigan? Not saying they are your dealer, but I've bought at least one vehicle from Shuman a long time ago.
 

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Can you post some pictures of the issue with the door as well as pictures of each shock and coil (top and bottom) to see how it was installed.

A picture says a 1000 words -Pictures would assist assessing and providing advice.

Note: Do not name the dealer at this stage, they will most probably react and you do not want to end up with a separate case with them. Solve the vehicle issues first.
 

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You've already been more patient than I would have been. If I was in your shoes, I would have dropped the term lemon law in ever sentence out of my mouth by the time an area case manager was involved.

I know lemon laws are different from state to state, but if it's any help Texas offers three tests to see if you qualify for a lemon. Your vehicle has already failed all 3 tests. Given that your son had a good experience, I'd talk to the area manager about setting up a replacement order, including lift, through another dealership.

Here's the Texas info for reference: https://www.txdmv.gov/motorists/consumer-protection/lemon-law
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