That's what I used to think. My dealer does not input any record of me buying a filter from them. There is no link in any computer that a filter was purchased for any particular vehicle. I buy mine from wherever and just keep the receipts in a log book in the glove compartment. I log all of my maintenance in the book as proof that it was done. I do this because I have the lifetime Chrysler warranty.

 

x2. I'd rather replace a part than take it in for warranty.

 

Chrysler has the absolute worst dealer network of any automotive company out there. I dealt with 6 dealerships to buy my Jeep and each one was worse than the next. I walked out on delivery day after the finance clown told me that the extended warranty 'gets more expensive to add later with every mile I put on the truck' and lied to me about a few other things. It took three trips to the dealer(who didn't provide a loaner car because I didn't buy the Jeep from them) to get my heated seat fixed. They're just the absolute worst. Like I say all the time, if I was buying anything but a Jeep it wouldn't be from Chrysler, but unfortunately no one makes a Wrangler competitor.

 

I don't understand what you're saying. Are you saying that the engineers have worked out some complex wear prediction models that will allow the engine to last the period of the warranty, but die shortly after that due to their prescribed maintenance guidelines? If so, that's a little paranoid and you should take off the foil hat for a while.

If you're saying that the engineers have worked out that you can go xxxx miles between oil changes and still keep the engine purring in excess of 100k miles with modern oils, I'm absolutely certain you're right.

 

foil hat? The car makers are in this business to make money. They want you to eventually replace or repair the vehicle. I suppose it could be just a coincidence that things often start to break more frequently once the warranty is up, but I think it has more to do with these extended service intervals not really being what's best for the vehicle

 

If the sole concern for these engineers is to make money (which I wholly agree with), how are they best served by intentionally producing cars that have reputations for failing as soon as the warranty runs out?

Of the 10 best selling cars in 2013, half of them are produced by Toyota and Honda, both of which have reputations of consistently running their cars reliably into the hundreds of thousands of miles (my son recently sold a Civic that had 220,000 on it and I'm pretty sure that it'll still be running like a top next year). It's largely this reputation for reliability that causes people to become brand-loyal to them and return to them when it's time to trade in their old car.

 

much of what these guys have said is correct. If you are that concerned, change your oil yourself at 3-4k and let the dealer do it at the discretion of the indicator. They have little way of knowing you did it. I highly doubt the mechanic will take measures to check this as well. Most service plans honor the factory recommendations which vary by manufacturer.

 

Exactly, the companies that have a reputation for being reliable can count on making more money on the sales side. These other companies who either can't, or won't, improve reliability need to make money other ways, so they offer shorter warranties. To be fair though, Chrysler has gotten a little better doing 100k powertrain, but they still try to upsell you the 100k bumper to bumper which is a huge money maker for them because very little in these vehicles is expensive to fix other than the powertrain which a lot of people don't realize already has 100k coverage.

There are different ways to promote vehicles and build brand identities. Years ago your Detroit makers were big power for little money, that's changed and they've had a hard time finding a new identity. Japanese cars are dependable and reliable, Germans do luxury well, American is mostly just American. German cars have that reputation for failing out of warranty and that's why their resale values are so low. Fortunately for them they're mostly luxury products and rationality goes sort of out the window for a lot of those buyers. Mercedes has recently started to address the reliability/resale problem by offering 125k warranties on their certified pre-owned cars which I believe are upgradable to 3 years unlimited miles. I just don' American cars don't really have a reputation for anything as far as I'm concerned. Many(not all) of them are neither this nor that, but people still like buying American. They aren't particularly reliable or unreliable, but I'd still err on the side of caution when it comes to service intervals. It's going to cost pennies compared to a drivetrain issue and over-servicing never hurt anything.

So yes, I agree reliability and longevity are extremely important to building a brand and building loyalty, but I don't have faith that Chrysler and some other automakers have accepted that yet.

 

Please tell me the title of this thread is not "I think my dealer is Fisting me"

 

I'm certainly not arguing that Chrysler (or other American brands) has the reliability of many of the Japanese imports - I'm just saying that it makes no sense to intentionally design a vehicle to fail after the warranty runs out.

That being said, if you feel more comfortable changing your oil at a shorter interval, have at it. It's your Jeep and your money, and I've always maintained that a person should be able to spend it as they see fit.