Troubles in Jeepville?

[flatlander40]

Jeeps have been getting shit on the decades now for reliablity and comfort.

Buyers don't give a shit what CR has to say about them. They sell like hotcakes anyways.

Most jeeps and let's be honest eventually broncos sell because people want to but a life style brand more than they want to to actually live one and they'll pay and upcharge for an inferior vehicle to have that experience.

Similar to Tesla. Terrible build quality, apparently they’re fun to drive and it’s a lifestyle.

Sponsored

 

[cardinalsfan]

There's no trouble in Jeepville, those who like them will continue to buy them despite their low ratings, poor reliability, and expensive price. It's a cult and nothing will sway them.

My BIL and Sister have 2 Jeeps - their Renegade is on transmission #2 and transfer case #2 and one or the other needs replaced again. Their Rubicon Wrangler has a pretty constant CEL that my BIL and the dealer can't seem to get solved. I rode in it a few times while visiting them in Colorado and it confirmed that I'll never own a Jeep, which is why I want the new Bronco so badly.

 

[ZackDanger]

Maybe you should have changed the oil? Seriously though...ouch! I’m glad our new Broncos will never have any problems.

[rant]

Basically all of my woes can be traced back to a casting problem Jeep had with their engine blocks cir. 2012/2013... where they may have left a bunch of sand in the block.. whoopsie.

Good news is Jeep "fixed" these issues for the 2014 model year, but the bad news is that my 2014 was built in Mid 2013 (so basically, very first run) so it's technically "not effected by the known problem" but very much totally is.

Jeep straight up refuses to show any consideration for my vehicle when determining whether it will fall under the extended warranties they issued for the 2013 units.

Right now it's getting a new left cylinder head because this one is cracked.... no compression.

...oh, and did I mention that for 2014 jeep changed coolants to an incompatible one... but it was early/mid 2014 for the rolling change?

Want to guess how many times I've had to argue with service departments about who is going to be responsible for the $900 clogged heater core replacement? How about the replacement radiator?

Was it because the coolant turned to gell because the tech didn't run the VIN to see what kind to put in? Just grabbed the stuff for the 2014 onward?

Wet sandy mixture became dislodged and traveled to my heater core like some blot clot traveling to my Jeep's lungs?

Who's to say!

And don't even get me started with the leaky roofs....

[/rant]

 

[brocotect]

Similar to Tesla. Terrible build quality, apparently they’re fun to drive and it’s a lifestyle.

That's actually a pretty good comparison.

Tesla and Jeep are religion. You can tell those that love them everything that's wrong and they won't care.

They want what they want and will compromise what ever they have to to have it all the while to justify the short comings.

 

[JaxGtc]

Everyone in suburbia goes through their Wrangler phase. I would say for most it lasts about 2 years. The good news is you have fun and then flip it for a respectable loss or break even. At one point there were 5 on my street - now there are none. My time was about 20 years ago. Fond memories but I was fixing something every time I turned around. They are still pretty fashionable, but I don't think they have every had much of a reputation for quality.

 

[wjfawb0 [hacked account]]

I still have my jeep wrangler. Living in TN, there's no annual property tax and registration for plates is only around $20/year unless you opt for a specialty plate. It's great for serious offroad and deep snow. I don't daily drive mine anymore. It's more for fun and when weather gets real bad with downed tress and such.

Consumer reports is garbage to me. What they value in cars is no where near what I want.

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

It's a bit of a shame, because it was a ton of fun to drive, and I really liked having the top off over the summer! Over the course of 18-months: Gas tank, head gasket, and water pump were the ones I actually paid for. I decided to call it quits with a couple $1200 estimate for brakes, ball joints, and battery. While some of this is normal wear and tear, it was not without other issues. There was a super pleasant transmission quirk where it would pop out of 2nd gear and then grind when popped back in. The dealership called this a known issue of the transmission that was not worth the time and money to investigate further. There were also rust issues on the underbody that would have presented yet another money pit. I traded for a Mini Hardtop JCW, which will ultimately replace our Focus ST when the Bronco comes.

Yes - interesting. I haven't had the gas tank issue, but I did replace the head gasket at around 125K miles. Ball joints and brakes normal as you say.

The manual shifter does have a known popping issue. Everyone lusting for mechanically vs cable connected shifters are overlooking the vibrations between a frame and body vehicle when off road. I had a popping out of 1st and 3rd gear issue, and it turned out to be two things: the rubber isolators on the shift lever caused it to wobble a lot (replaced with a B&M shift lever), and the rubber shift boot pushing on the shift lever (replaced with a leather shift boot). I would have replaced the shifter itself with the B&M box, but the other two seemed to fix my problem and I don't want to spend the money at this stage of ownership. In your case, it sounds like the previous owner ignored it and the syrchro was going too.

The 3.8 itself is a motor that requires you pay attention. It is a minivan engine design to be run at 180 degrees, running at 195 so it burns oil - particularly oils with flash points closer to 195.

The early JKs have a fair share of worry points, but when I research 2.3s or 2.7s or Ford transmissions I don't see a perceptible difference. It comes down to luck, and a commitment to monitoring and maintaining your vehicle.

 

[Mattwings]

I used to work in electronics. CR would rate something high, people would come in and say, I want "model X". Sometimes model X was good, sometimes it wasn't. CR has very limited exposure and test procedures, but people would insist, based solely on CR. I think it's a fine resource, but it's not the only thing to use to evaluate quality or value. The Bronco won't likely test well for CR either, who knows. My issue with Jeep and whatever the parent company name is today, revolves around my experience. The emissions systems and sensors are seem to be very finicky and "closed loop". When they work, they seem to work fine and when there is a problem, it seems more severe and more prone to make the vehicle un-driveable. My 06 LJ was very reliable and overall, they seem to be similar to most other vehicles.

 

[GoldenKnight]

Business as usual. Wranglers have been getting roasted for decades. The people who want them want them.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

Anyone who is surprised by poor fuel economy from a Chrysler product isn't paying attention.

 

[MannyG20]

I read an article several years back. And I'd never be able to find it today.

But what they said is that there is definite psychology behind people giving biased answers. For brands that have a history of less reliability, people are far more critical of every little thing. And for brands that have a reputation for more reliability, people are reluctant to give a negative review because they don't want their one experience to tarnish the brand image. So the answers people give on the survey are inherently skewed.

As a result, most of those surveys are suspect at best. At worst, they are entirely worthless.

The only thing that would have any value at all is data we can't get access to. Actual hard repair data from the dealer service departments. How many people have to bring their cars in for repair and how often? How many warranty claims are made?

But even that can be misleading. How many people "just live with" problems in their "high quality" car? How many people take their "low quality" car in for every little problem?


But even if you throw all of that away, every single model of car that is mass produced has good and bad cars roll off the same assembly line. The best quality car can have bad parts that made it through quality checks and you have major problems. The worst brand out there does produce at least a few trouble free cars.

No matter what, it's a crap shoot.

So, what your telling me is that Land Rovers aren’t crap after all?? Maybe I’ll look at that Defender again.

 

[Raz4back]

Anyone who is surprised by poor fuel economy from a Chrysler product isn't paying attention.

My JLU Rubicon with the 3.6 consistently gets 20mpg in mixed driving. Driving to my hunting lease on a flat 2 lane at 60-65mph I get 22. If people are expecting much more than that from the Bronco they will probably be disappointed

 

[GoldenKnight]

So, what your telling me is that Land Rovers aren’t crap after all?? Maybe I’ll look at that Defender again.

Not according to their CEO

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...dged-by-ceo-in-front-of-investors-157159.html

 

[Greens05]

I had a TJ for many years (up until last fall when it was totaled). Currently looking to replace it with another TJ. I get asked by family and friends why I dont just get a newer Wrangler and reliability is one of those reasons. 4.0L is just perfect in those old TJs and if anything else goes wrong they are easy to fix in your garage. I just dont want the headaches of more recently built Jeep products. Hoping the Bronco will be better in reliability but who knows. Taking a leap of faith because I love the design and capability so much.

 

[Bronco_or_bust]

We're buying a Ford here folks.. any of these ring a bell from the last few years..
Fiesta Powershift class action.. Mustang MT-82 gearbox class action, Focus ST cylinder head gasket. 2016+ Transit engine compartment rainwater ingress (leading to the legendary Transit T.U.R.D. improvised fix of an upside down plastic washing up bowl fitted to protect the air filter being soaked by rain).

I've owned a 2015 Mustang GT and two Transits that were affected by the above. Had mysterious issues with my brand-new 2020 Expedition Platinum's electronic rear diff resulting in reduced power operation in the middle of a snowstorm.

Also had minor to moderate issues with a couple BMW"s over the years and my Wrangler JLU has an inoperative stop/start system that needs fixing.

Modern cars are complex. Just be careful with the schadenfreude towards Jeep!

Sponsored