ladysera
Member
- First Name
- Liz
- Joined
- May 23, 2019
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 13
- Reaction score
- 11
- Location
- Albuquerque, NM
- Vehicle(s)
- 2022 Jeep Wrangler JLU Rubicon
- Occupation
- Solutions Architect
- Thread starter
- #1
I bought my 2018 JL Wrangler Unlimited Sahara (2.0 turbo engine) with 9 miles on it August 31, 2018. I live pretty close to work, so I don't drive it as much as I'd like, so I'm having issues that most people would have encountered in the first year, probably.
At 8488 miles, it started leaking fluid. I had to take it in to the dealer twice before that was fixed, totaling a stay of 9 days. The first time for that, they tightened the water pump inlet tube fastener and added more coolant. The second time (8525 miles) they replaced the water pump, the inlet gasket, and added more coolant. Everything was good for a while.
At 12061 miles, it started overheating. It was odd - it would be fine, then the fan would spin up, sounding like an airliner waiting to take off, the temperature gauge would start to creep up, and then it would be in the red and dinging at me like crazy. This would last for about a minute and then it would go back to normal as if nothing happened at all. Also, if you opened the hood during the overheating "episodes" though, there was absolutely no indication that it was actually overheating. Took it to the dealer (visit 1 for this issue) and was told they found an issue with the quick connect valve and t valve and that they were replacing those. They also replaced the heater hose inlet from the thermostat, the coolant bottle inlet hose, and the actual thermostat. Everything worked just fine for three months, but at 12928 miles, it started to overheat again. This time (visit 2) the dealer said it was primarily due to air in the system (and they basically implied that the previous fix was the problem but didn't put that into writing) and they "burped the system" and returned it to us. At 13750 miles, it happened again. The notation this time was “coolant bottle leaking and inlet hose leaking at quick connect warping on cap's O ring - replaced all parts” and they replaced the coolant recovery bottle, coolant recovery bottle cap, and coolant bottle outlet hose. They also insisted that I get an oil change (which was NOT covered under warranty) and returned it to us. Driving it home (less than 5 miles) it smelled like burning oil, so I popped open the hood and checked the dipstick to find they'd overfilled it (it was a good inch above the max line). I turned around and drove back so the service manager could make me wait another 45 minutes while they fixed that issue. It was in with the dealer for a total of 10-11 days for all of that.
I drove to work and back a few times with no issues. Then I drove to a friend's house (about 30 miles away). When I went to leave that evening, the Jeep would not idle. It was sputtering and had no acceleration (tried to drive about 20 feet) and the check engine light was on and dinging at me. I parked it back in their driveway and had them drive me home. This was at 13981 miles. Since it was a Saturday and the dealer's Service Department was not open on Sunday, my husband and I both left voicemails for them to call us and waited. On Monday, we were told to use the Jeep app to have it towed since it is still under warranty. Since the dealership was more than 20 miles away, we ended up paying $120 out of pocket to get it towed there. This time we were told it was due to an “arced spark plug” and the notes say “internal short on spark plug #2.” They replaced ONE SPARK PLUG and said it was ready. My husband and I were both pretty fed up and actually got them to agree to replace all the spark plugs. They test drove it for a while (they put about 12 miles on it themselves and returned it at 13930 miles) and we thought it would be all set.
Fast forward to last night. I'm idling in a drive-thru and it overheated again. At 14425 miles.
I have no idea what I'm supposed to do at this point. I have zero confidence in the vehicle's reliability and don't want to drive it anywhere out of town, much less into the mountains. I feel like I have a super-expensive lawn ornament and the dealer does not seem to want to find the actual problem. I also think that we may have a lemon situation, but since it's been three years since we purchased it (even though it's under 15k miles) I don't know that we have much recourse.
We are taking it in first thing this morning after they open up, but I feel like they're going to just tell us it's another hose or leaking seal. It seems like they keep treating the symptoms and not actually trying to find the problem. I'm so frustrated that I am ready to trade it in for something else.
Sorry for the long post - I just really need some advice.
At 8488 miles, it started leaking fluid. I had to take it in to the dealer twice before that was fixed, totaling a stay of 9 days. The first time for that, they tightened the water pump inlet tube fastener and added more coolant. The second time (8525 miles) they replaced the water pump, the inlet gasket, and added more coolant. Everything was good for a while.
At 12061 miles, it started overheating. It was odd - it would be fine, then the fan would spin up, sounding like an airliner waiting to take off, the temperature gauge would start to creep up, and then it would be in the red and dinging at me like crazy. This would last for about a minute and then it would go back to normal as if nothing happened at all. Also, if you opened the hood during the overheating "episodes" though, there was absolutely no indication that it was actually overheating. Took it to the dealer (visit 1 for this issue) and was told they found an issue with the quick connect valve and t valve and that they were replacing those. They also replaced the heater hose inlet from the thermostat, the coolant bottle inlet hose, and the actual thermostat. Everything worked just fine for three months, but at 12928 miles, it started to overheat again. This time (visit 2) the dealer said it was primarily due to air in the system (and they basically implied that the previous fix was the problem but didn't put that into writing) and they "burped the system" and returned it to us. At 13750 miles, it happened again. The notation this time was “coolant bottle leaking and inlet hose leaking at quick connect warping on cap's O ring - replaced all parts” and they replaced the coolant recovery bottle, coolant recovery bottle cap, and coolant bottle outlet hose. They also insisted that I get an oil change (which was NOT covered under warranty) and returned it to us. Driving it home (less than 5 miles) it smelled like burning oil, so I popped open the hood and checked the dipstick to find they'd overfilled it (it was a good inch above the max line). I turned around and drove back so the service manager could make me wait another 45 minutes while they fixed that issue. It was in with the dealer for a total of 10-11 days for all of that.
I drove to work and back a few times with no issues. Then I drove to a friend's house (about 30 miles away). When I went to leave that evening, the Jeep would not idle. It was sputtering and had no acceleration (tried to drive about 20 feet) and the check engine light was on and dinging at me. I parked it back in their driveway and had them drive me home. This was at 13981 miles. Since it was a Saturday and the dealer's Service Department was not open on Sunday, my husband and I both left voicemails for them to call us and waited. On Monday, we were told to use the Jeep app to have it towed since it is still under warranty. Since the dealership was more than 20 miles away, we ended up paying $120 out of pocket to get it towed there. This time we were told it was due to an “arced spark plug” and the notes say “internal short on spark plug #2.” They replaced ONE SPARK PLUG and said it was ready. My husband and I were both pretty fed up and actually got them to agree to replace all the spark plugs. They test drove it for a while (they put about 12 miles on it themselves and returned it at 13930 miles) and we thought it would be all set.
Fast forward to last night. I'm idling in a drive-thru and it overheated again. At 14425 miles.
I have no idea what I'm supposed to do at this point. I have zero confidence in the vehicle's reliability and don't want to drive it anywhere out of town, much less into the mountains. I feel like I have a super-expensive lawn ornament and the dealer does not seem to want to find the actual problem. I also think that we may have a lemon situation, but since it's been three years since we purchased it (even though it's under 15k miles) I don't know that we have much recourse.
We are taking it in first thing this morning after they open up, but I feel like they're going to just tell us it's another hose or leaking seal. It seems like they keep treating the symptoms and not actually trying to find the problem. I'm so frustrated that I am ready to trade it in for something else.
Sorry for the long post - I just really need some advice.
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Thank you very much for the number! I will escalate and keep you all posted!
