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Hey everyone, I had an unbelievably crazy experience trying to get a minor repair done at the local Jeep dealership. I got a CEL couple of weeks back and after checking it with a scan tool, it was one of the Glow Plugs that was flagged as faulty. My 2014 JGC ED is still under 100K / 7yr Powertrain warranty with only 18500 miles so I took it to the dealership and they scanned the code and told me that it will take a day to fix. Keep in mind that all the Jeep dealerships in my area (northern VA) get nervous whenever dealing with EcoDiesel jeeps. Nevertheless they called next day to let me know that they did not have a Glow plug for EcoDiesel in stock and would need to order it and they will get the Jeep back to me during the Memorial day weekend. Through the weekend when I called them, I was told that mechanics were still working on it and I will be getting my Jeep back after Memorial day. I got a call from the Service Advisor a day after the Memorial day and he mentioned that not only the Glow Plug was faulty, but apparently the Glow Plug control module was also fried and it would need to be replaced as it is not covered by the Powertrain warranty and costs $165 + labor. I questioned the fact that the module was not covered by the warranty and reluctantly agreed to the charges. A day later the SA called me again and told me that wiring harness for the Glow Plug is also showing fault and would need to be replaced with the parts costing $1100 + $900 labor.
At this point I went DEFCON 5 on these guys and seriously questioned on what the hell were they doing to my vehicle. I have dealt with this dealership before and they have candidly admitted (previous SA) that they do not have much Diesel expertise in house and rely on help from outside mechanics and Chrystler Star support to get things accomplished. I told the SA that I will be getting my car towed to a competent mechanic, who will do an investigation on how the hell we went from getting a Glow Plug replaced to getting the module fried, to getting the wiring harness replaced, with total cost of nearly $2500 with the vehicle having about 18K miles. I think that got their attention and that I was not kidding around with them anymore. The SA offered me 10% discount and agreed that he will talk to his Service Director about my concerns and my intention of taking the car elsewhere for repairs and investigation. In the meantime I called Chrysler Jeep, about this issue and I would say I was treated with indifference and borderline rudeness, so that was that.
I got a call later that day from the SA and he apologized to me about this issue and informed me that magically a very senior Diesel mechanic from Jeep was visiting the dealership for an unrelated issue and was able to miraculously rule out the wire harness issues and faults and was also able to confirm that Glow Plug module was also working fine so no repairs were needed except for Glow Plug replacement that would be done under PT warranty.
So I got my Jeep back after 8 days, and I resolve to never buy a damn car from FCA ever again. I love the Jeep and the EcoDiesel package but this thing has had one issue after another ever since I bought it. With bad dealership support, this car is a looser and I do not know what the hell went on with this repair in the background at the dealership but I have no faith in FCA to support this vehicle in the field.
I have had cars from Lexus, Toyota, Acura, VW etc but the way FCA dealerships work ... it feels like I am dealing with the mob.
Cautionary tale :/
At this point I went DEFCON 5 on these guys and seriously questioned on what the hell were they doing to my vehicle. I have dealt with this dealership before and they have candidly admitted (previous SA) that they do not have much Diesel expertise in house and rely on help from outside mechanics and Chrystler Star support to get things accomplished. I told the SA that I will be getting my car towed to a competent mechanic, who will do an investigation on how the hell we went from getting a Glow Plug replaced to getting the module fried, to getting the wiring harness replaced, with total cost of nearly $2500 with the vehicle having about 18K miles. I think that got their attention and that I was not kidding around with them anymore. The SA offered me 10% discount and agreed that he will talk to his Service Director about my concerns and my intention of taking the car elsewhere for repairs and investigation. In the meantime I called Chrysler Jeep, about this issue and I would say I was treated with indifference and borderline rudeness, so that was that.
I got a call later that day from the SA and he apologized to me about this issue and informed me that magically a very senior Diesel mechanic from Jeep was visiting the dealership for an unrelated issue and was able to miraculously rule out the wire harness issues and faults and was also able to confirm that Glow Plug module was also working fine so no repairs were needed except for Glow Plug replacement that would be done under PT warranty.
So I got my Jeep back after 8 days, and I resolve to never buy a damn car from FCA ever again. I love the Jeep and the EcoDiesel package but this thing has had one issue after another ever since I bought it. With bad dealership support, this car is a looser and I do not know what the hell went on with this repair in the background at the dealership but I have no faith in FCA to support this vehicle in the field.
I have had cars from Lexus, Toyota, Acura, VW etc but the way FCA dealerships work ... it feels like I am dealing with the mob.
Cautionary tale :/
