TiredPete

I pusrchased my '07 Unlimited X on 03/24/07. My first Jeep purchased. The dealer, Massey-Yardley of Plantation, FL had one on the showroom floor that had they had modified with a 2.5" Skyjacker suspinsion lift, 35" Mickey Thompson tires on 20" ION rims, front and rear offroad bumpers, WARN XD9000i, etc. I hadn't gone in thinking of modifications but the more I thought about it the more it made sense for what I was looking for, camping, kayaking, etc. We reached a deal and I bought it that day. They also sold me 10year/100,000 mile Chrysler extended warranty. Note that this is not a third party warrany but a Chrysler warranty. This was financed on ChslerFinancial paper. So far so good.

On 06/24/2007 my right front U-joint broke and shreaded the yoke on the axle shaft. Monday I took into the dealer to for repair. Later that day they called and said it would be $370, did I want them to fix it? I said it is under warranty. They said no, it has been off-road and modified. I said you modified it. You put those big heavy tires on a DANA 30, not me. They said I could wait for the Chrysler rep to come by in 3 weeks and make a decision. I said I am not going to wait 3 weeks.
I called Chrysler customer care and explained everything and they said they would look into. It sounded promising. They called me back and told me the dealership had talked to the regional guy and emailed him the pictures of the damage and he agreed it was not covered, for the same reasons modified and off-road use. The next day I opened another ticket with customer care on line where I could write and explain my issue in detail, thinking there must be some miscommuncation. The next day the results, denied for the same reasons previously stated.

I have now had to open a case with the FTC, Florida States Attorney General and the BBB. I have all of my documentation, the supplemetal windows sticker showing the itemized modifications made and it list the package as the "OFF-ROAD EDITION", pictures, etc.
I try to fax these to customer care and they refuse to take any of my supporting documentation. Are these guys really that stupid? It looks like they are going to force me to litigate. I have even left messages with the owners and they don't even bother to call back to see if I have a legitimate complaint.

If I have to take them to court I will go after enforcement of the contracts and agreements from the time of the sale. Meaning they sold me an modified OFF-ROAD covered for 10yr/100k miles including the modifications. I have already ordered the Mopar Performance Rubicon DANA 44 front and rear axles to prevent this malfunction from happening again and enable it to preform the function and purpose for which it was sold, "OFF-ROAD". If I have to litigate, I will sue for this cost as well and want these covered under the warranty.

I am not an jerk but I will stand my ground and never go away. I will open up cases every day and will be taking my Jeep in for every minor thing from now on and waste as much of their time as possible. To me, and I am not a lawyer and have not retained one yet, but this looks like a conspiracy between DC and MAssey-Yardley to perpetuate a fraud on the customer.

Below are pictures showing the Jeep on the day I took it into the dealer for the reapair and pictures I took with my cell phone on the showroom floor the day I bought it showing the modifications. Notice the supplemental invoice of the "OFF-ROAD" package in the windshield next the regular invoice sticker.

only_in_my_jeep

Dealer sold it modified and they should cover it as long as it was not damage caused by offroad use. If you think about it driving on road even with the mods nothing should break. Offroading nothing should break but by it's very nature offroading is a sport where things get broken all the time. Taking one that has been modded by the dealer or yourself offroading and breaking something is expected and in my opinion should not be covered under any warrentee. Now I know this is not what you want to hear but no where in your post did I see where or how the damage occured. Even under the best warentee some things that happen are just not covered because of what you did that caused it.
Take it to court fight it all you want the fact of the matter is unless you can prove it did not happen somewhere stuck in the mud or climbing rocks all you will end up with is a lot of costs and frustrations as well as a still broken jeep.

tgrt

I disagree with that wholeheartedly. Jeeps are clearly designed for off-road use. Off-road use documentation is peppered through the user's manual and is in your face in marketing materials. If you use your Jeep within the guidelines of the user manual than you should be covered.

In this case the modifications were done and sold by the dealer and they should bear reasonable responsibility. Chrysler on the other hand is off the hook on this one in my opinion.

TiredPete

I live in South Florida, the last I had been off-road prior to the break was on 5/13/07. Since then all the wheeling spots have been shut down because of the drought causing excessive fire risk. We also have no rocks down here, only mud. I had put 4k miles on the vehicle since then including a trip to NC and back. When the failure occured I was on a state maintained gravel road in 4 HI beginning to move, it broke at 6MPH. I hope this makes the situation clearer. I also have 12 witnesses that will testify to this fact. Still hasn't been wheeling since May 13th. BTW, when I did take it wheeling I was very cautious as this is my first jeep and it too new to screw up. The day after it broke I made my 3rd payment. I did go ahead and let them fix it but refused to sign anything other then the credit card slip. I don't want to a refund of the warranty, I want it enforced. If it takes a court order to make that happen then so be it.

Pete

JackMac4

I agree with you tgrt...this is totally being mishandled. The jeep is clearly designed for offroad, and if they sell you a new jeep modified, then they cover a new jeep modified. If they didn't want to cover it, they shouldn't have installed it.

Heck the new jeep commercial on TV i've been hearing lately starts off saying something about "the best off road vehicle in america, the jeep wrangler ...." something to that effect.

I think he has a real good case and hope you win. Doesn't matter if you were off road or not. Unless it was clear abuse, which it doesn't sound like it was.

only_in_my_jeep

A lot clearer. I would go after the dealer they added the parts DC will be no help and it is not DCs problem they warentee what they do which is stock (or as ordered). (this includes a factory extended warentee) BTW I have seen people break U joints and more in mud as it is all we have here too. My nephew used to break them in the driveway after his lift and tires untill he beefed stuff up but of course that was on an older model he did all the work on. I wish you luck and as I said the dealership should take the heat on this one given what you have said.
Of course the fact that at any time they can pull the it's your fault card with warentee work is one reason I just have the basic warentee and take mine to the dealer for oil changes much less anything else till it runs out.

clubber

If thats the way the sold it to you...then they should cover it !!Wondering why everything breaks so easly on these jeeps ?

Bodo

Just wanted to add my thoughts here. I am a first time Wrangler owner, got an 07 Rubi. The comments made about off roading and something breaking not being covered by warranty concern me. First of all the Wrangler marketing actually suggests that the Jeep is "King of Off Roading" (From the first page of the sales brochure) Also the same brochure says "engineers tirelessly torture tested countless "mules" [prototype vehicles] on some of the toughest trails and most wicked environments known to mankind."...."It's just our way of making a 4x4 that lives up the the reputation of Jeep Wrangler; to be invincible against all assaults." The brochure has pics of Jeeps in mud and Jeeps on rocks. Further on in the brochure there is a large caption titled "RADICAL ROCK CRAWLER". "MOST POTENT-Rubicon is a hard-core, turn-key 4x4 that has all the guts you need to go off-road." All of this not only suggests but I beleive states that the Wranglers are meant to be Off Road vehicles! If this is not the case then it is misleading the consumers and wrong. If anyone else has the sales brochure check it out. Go get one from the dealer. It might be helpfull to have them read it. (Or even your lawyer)

tgrt

I don't think that's it's anything to worry about. Things do break. You get bad parts from time to time in any manufacturing process. It's just like the news, you tend to hear the worst of things. People don't check in and tell you everything's working great.

Emoto

TiredPete, I wholeheartedly agree with your approach. These cretins at the dealership need to be held accountable. Who knows what they said to Chrysler, so I would play nice with Chrysler, but I would hold the dealer's feet to the fire. Like you, I am incredibly persistent and so often that does the trick. Best of luck.