Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Upside it jeeps are easy to work on and parts seem unlimited.

 

Sorry for your bad experience.

I'm not familiar with FCAs "Certified Used" program or if they even have one but I am familiar with Toyota's since I work for a supplier of Toyota. With Toyota's certified used program, the vehicle goes through a 160 point inspection and along with that comes a 12month/12K mile warranty. Seeing as though the Jeep you bought was purchased "As-Is", meaning there was no warranty, then any inspection that you seemed to assume happened or what the sales guy may have told you is meaningless. You were likely also provided the option to purchase additional warranty, and like most of us turned it down. It seems you made some assumptions and some mistakes and that doesn't dismiss the dealership from any responsibility but the majority of the responsibility seems to fall on your shoulders. You purchased a used vehicle which didn't come with a warranty, you hoped for the best but things didn't work out so well instead. If you're posting this story to warn us to not make your same mistakes, then thanks. What I learned from your story is to not make assumptions about a dealership inspection if there is no associated warranty that comes with that inspection and that you now have buyer's remorse and are kicking yourself for not doing your due diligence of inspecting and fully test driving the vehicle before you purchased it but instead started doing these things after making the purchase.

The good news is that most of these things you mentioned are simple fixes on a Jeep and we have a lot of knowledgeable folks on this forum who are always willing to assist with any trouble shooting and repairs. The gas tank skid plate is a pretty common rust problem area and with 73K miles you may be over-reacting but if you can post some pics of what you're seeing, then we can provide some advise.

 

The dirty little secret of dealerships is that they generally do not make huge profits off of selling new or even used vehicles. Most depend on their so-called "service departments," which are really the predominant 'sales' departments, to make ends meet. It is why every time you sit in their lounge waiting for a simple oil change do they suddenly approach you with $1800 worth of "urgent recommendations" for garbage you don't need, all the while keeping your Jeep hostage inside their bay. Hence, selling used vehicles with no warranty is their investment into YOU to have them provide all potential repairs, especially if they (and, Yes, even you) "missed" something during an inspection.

Case in point, my 13JKUS which I chose to have serviced for oil changes as a matter of convenience AND the free multipoint inspection. One day my brakes were marked Green ("Checked and OK"), and six weeks later after 2000 miles during a recall or something they presented me with another marked Red ("Requires Immediate Attention") as the brake pads had worn down to near-Zero and destroyed a couple of rotors. Having kept EVERY single inspection sheet and related paperwork, and thereby exposed their fraudulent inspections, I became briefly possessed by Satan and took the matter to both general management AND corporate headquarters in another state. Needless to say I promptly received a bunch of apologies and a complete 360 brake job and repair on their dime.

Moral of the Story is to never trust a dealership, and especially their service departments. I had purchased mine used from a Ford dealership and received a so-called inspection sheet from them as well but questioned issues with the front-end. I chose to have the vehicle inspected by the local Jeep dealership *at my own expense*, received a satisfactory assessment, and decided to complete the purchase from Ford with no regrets. Your situation is unfortunate, but a lesson learned especially when dealing with other people's toys and Lord Knows What they did with them.

Incidentally, the fiasco with the brake inspection mentioned earlier was made by the JEEP dealership, not Ford. Noticing you were once a biker, I can tell you that with my Harley it has been no different with the Harley Davidson dealerships and their "service" departments.

Nowadays it's just the Nature of the Beast. You have to do your own homework.

 

Most of the crap that happens is the result of poor quality management and employees with bad attitudes whose greatest efforts are spent covering up their mistakes. A conspiracy of incompetence and ethical lapses.

Doesn't matter whether we're talking mechanics, engineers, plumbers, doctors, lawyers, accountants... Do as much as possible yourself, lots of due diligence on the rest.

 

Seriously? You didn't bother to inspect a vehicle you bought and now you're butthurt? You must be a lot of fun to go to a restaurant with.

 

Well, no reason to bash the OP any more. To me is a typical case of trusting the dealer on doing the right and ethical thing. If I had a dealer, I would not sale an unsafe vahicle, unless the buyer know what is getting into. That is the reason I do not sell cars I am way too honest.

 

We have all been at some kind of mercy when dealing with folks who hold the keys to something we want, and I doubt there is anyone here who has not made a mistake somewhere in life. Unfortunately, we are no longer living amongst the same caliber of folks who had the unquestionable mindset to go to Normandy while fellow countrymen sacfiriced without question here at the homefront...let alone rebuild a nation afterward on character and word alone. It's a shame those ways have been lost to the instant ridicule of a social media culture, as it is equally disgusting one can no longer trust any commercial enterprise anymore when a name used to matter for the survival of its business.

And I just broke my brand new Day-One refridgerator today, and it was my fault (to my wife's distress). So, shit happens to all of us, and it's called Life, and maybe I'll be ridiculed here because of it. Well, who cares, because I'm too busy being in LIfe.

Moral of the story: To RevJonG, Just keep Jeepin forward. And on this 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, remember Reagan's wisdom when dealing with people in the future: Trust but verify.