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My EcoDiesel is a Lemon!

8K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  Grandhaze 
#1 ·
April 2014 - Purchased brand new 2014 Grand Cherokee Overland Diesel 3.0 for $55,000 (incl. tax, title and destination). Loved the car, the way it drives, the handling, fit and finish, everything was really top notch and I was very happy until…


July 2014 - Transmission failure at 5,500 miles while driving home on a hot Summer afternoon from vacation with my pregnant wife. *As stop and go traffic dissipates, I attempted to accelerate and the car lurches, the check engine illuminates and the transmission rests permanently in forth gear (aka “Limp Mode”.) Limp mode is a ‘feature’ used to make sure a car will keep running even in the event of certain failure. We 'limped' the $55,000 vehicle off the expressway and into a parking lot in a community clearly scourged by methamphetamine and prescription painkiller addiction.

First, we called Chrysler Roadside assistance. *They advised me that a tow truck would tow us to the nearest Chrysler dealer and that they would call us back in 20 minutes with an expected time of arrival. *As I waited, junkies scurried about in the parking lot while I attempted to get the car out of limp mode and into gear. *Eventually, only reverse and neutral were working. *After an hour, Chrysler roadside assistance finally called and provided me an ETA of 2 hours. *This was unacceptable and despite my pleas for assistance (e.g. pregnant wife, junkies, getting dark soon, etc), they couldn’t promise a better response time. My next call was AAA and they arrived within an hour. **The AAA driver pointed out, while loading the car onto the flatbed, that my transmission was oozing transmission fluid. *By now, it was getting late and the technicians at the local dealership as well as the rental car companies were getting ready to close. **I began to wonder if I should try and find a prescription painkiller dealer... **

My wife and I load into the cab of the tow truck and drive to the dealership. **The very competent tow truck driver made some calls and found us a rental car location that would be open for another 90 minutes. **We arrive at the dealership about 30 minutes later and the dealer technician had gone home for the day. The tow truck driver attempted to unload the car but he couldn't get it into neutral or reverse. We couldn't find the override switch anywhere in the console. *I tried at least five times and the transmission wouldn't budge out of park. *The tow truck driver had to employ a two ton jack to lift rear tires, a bottle of Joy dish detergent to allow the front wheels to slide and essentially shake the new jeep grand cherokee off the bed of truck. *The person at the dealership was extremely reassuring that they would look at it first thing in the morning but that they were extremely busy and probably wouldn't get it fixed for a few days. After an hour of rigorous shaking, the Jeep was off the flatbed and completely useless. **

The tow truck driver raced us over to the rental car place. *We rented an ash try on wheels and found a place to stay for the night. **The next morning, I called Chrysler customer support and explained the situation. *Chrysler explained that a) loaner cars and rental reimbursement is NOT covered by warranty and b) nothing can be done until the dealer makes a diagnosis. *By noon, I called and checked with the dealer to see if they looked at the vehicle. *They had it on the lift and had just begun.

My wife and I agreed that it was very unlikely that the dealer would get the car fixed the same day and we had to go to work the next day so we started to drive home. *After 2 and 1/2 hours we stopped at a diner, ate and decided to call the dealer. **As it turns out the dealership explained that the vehicle was being washed and I can come pick it up. We couldn't believe our ears. We raced back to the dealership (another 2 1/2 hours) in our rented Marlboromobile and found our jeep shiny and ready to go. **I wanted to hug the tech as he explained that there was a cooling line going into the transmission that wasn't properly installed by the factory and popped out, allowing all the transmission fluid to drain. *

Thanks to Hiller Dodge, we drove home from vacation, albeit a day later, trouble free. The vehicle remained trouble free for another 5000 miles until....

September 2014 - Me and my (still) pregnant wife (full-term and can go into labor any day) were on the highway on our way to get breakfast at the local diner and suddenly..limp mode. *On the bright side, we happen to be within 2 miles from my local dealership. We drove on the shoulder at the maximum speed, 5 MPH and arrived at the dealership about 25 minutes later. *They're closed (Saturday) but I left them the keys and we took a taxi home.

At this point, we had 10,660 miles on the vehicle. *As we waited for a car service, I called Chrysler customer service to complain but they were totally useless. **Also, my local dealership's salesmen were rude and didn’t offer any help what so ever.

I went home and purchased the Mopar Maximum Care 100,000 mile Extended Warranty for about $2,400.

The following Monday, the dealer called us and advised that the Vehicle is ready. “What was the issue,” I asked. “The pressure actuator was not seated causing turbo under boost.” I don’t know what that means but I was glad to get my car back.

November 2014 - Me, my wife and our newborn daughter were taking our first family Thanksgiving vacation to Cape Code. We’re about 20 miles from our destination, we hit a puddle (yeah, a puddle in our Jeep) and suddenly “SERVICE DEF - See Dealer” pops onto the screen. My wife flipped open the owners manual and explained that if we don’t get to a dealer in 150 miles, the car will not restart. We were 300 miles from home. 

I called my dealer and Chrysler customer service. Both advised that the car would go into Limp Mode within 150 miles if we attempted to drive back home. We searched around and found a dealer 40 minutes from where we were staying. We drop the car off on the mooring (Friday) after Thanksgiving. They called me at 4PM that afternoon and told me that we need a new DEF line and it wouldn’t be available for another week. I called Chrysler and after talking with three different unhelpful representatives, they put me thorough to the “Chrysler Customer Satisfaction Department.” Unfortunately, they don’t work weekends so there was nothing that could be done until the following Monday morning.

Since I had to go to work that Monday, I rented a car and we drove home. Today it's been 11 days and I still don’t have my Jeep back. I'm not even sure if I want it back...
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Welcome. Sorry to hear of your travails. If you decide to lemon it, remember that the costs of extended service plans and vehicle taxes are typically not included in the buyout unless you negotiate that. I suggest retaining a lemon law attorney to navigate that course with you.

I also hear that you get more prompt attention from Chrysler if you indicate you are planning to lemon.

We’re about 20 miles from our destination, we hit a puddle (yeah, a puddle in our Jeep) and suddenly “SERVICE DEF - See Dealer” pops onto the screen.
BTW, this is a known issue around here regarding the DEF injector on your "Trail Rated" EcoDiesel. Actually, it affects all EcoDiesels but it's just more ironic on the "Trail Rated" ones.

Basically, the DEF injector is this flimsy plastic assembly that sticks out below the vehicle underbody and it is prone to shearing off if it encounters anything more violent than your grandmother's blown kisses. If you were to look under an EcoDiesel, you could see that you could wiggle this exposed plastic injector around with a single finger.

In order to protect against this, owners need to install an aftermarket skid plate made by one of our forum members here. There is no fix from Chrysler and without adding this protection even if the dealer installs a new DEF injector it might just shear off again on your next "Trail Rated" puddle encounter on the highway.

You can read about the skid plate in our EcoDiesel subforum, or on dom's site: jeepecodieselfix.com

I have no affiliation with dom; I'm just a happy owner of his DEF skid plate that I installed on my 2014 EcoDiesel.
 
#3 ·
I feel for you.:eek:

The DEF-issue is well known and IMO, the way they integrated it on this vehicle is nothing but a joke and the reason why I stayed away from the diesel.
 
#4 ·
Is there any improvement on this on the 2015 Eco diesel?


Sent from my iPad using JeepGarage
 
#5 · (Edited)
Is there any improvement on this on the 2015 Eco diesel?
The design is unchanged. Fortunately, one can "simply" install the DEF skid plate and not worry about it after that.

Please note that the Chrysler skid plates included in "Off Road Adventure" type packages do NOT protect this injector. EcoDiesel owners need this additional small plate that specifically protects the DEF injector. There's currently no other option available on the market to protect this injector besides "prayer".

Most people who have sheared off their DEF injectors have done so on the highway. Driving over a puddle is the classic story.
 
#6 ·
I had the transmission on my first one do a similar thing when a cooler line that was contacting the front driveline wore through and dumped all the fluid everywhere at 369 miles on the clock.

Long story short I got Chrysler to fund most of the difference in a trade transaction for an identical Jeep. My out of pocket difference was less than $800 including TTL. It had about 2400 miles when it was traded; $800 for three months and 2400 miles was fair. New one has been trouble free for 8100 miles now.

If you can't lemon it, see if you can get in contact with the resolution team at Chrysler and negotiate some sort of settlement.
 
#7 ·
I went through the lemon law process with a 350Z years ago.. what a pain. Just make sure you keep very detailed records (similar to what you described above), keep copies of all your paperwork, names, dates, and times. When you get a response you don't understand make them explain it. If you do follow through with the lemon law you will be arguing against engineers and/or technicians in front of an arbitrator and you need to be prepared for the conversation.
 
#9 ·
All, thank you! The jeep is being sent back to me via flatbed. I was told that they rerouted the DEF line as per a 'rapid response' to resolve the DEF vulnerability issue. Not sure if that makes sense. I'll let you know how it's working when I get it back.
If you read the rrt it tells the tech to attach( zip tie) the line higher so it does not hang down so low.
 
#15 ·
My Sept 14 GC diesel is in the dealers for fourth time before 10000ks. Same fault of exhaust sensor saying exhaust is blocked, when its not....
Went in two weeks ago and part due to arrive from USA mid jan....
They have arranged a warranty hire car for me. Same time driving as in dealers now. At this rate Ill have to change the plates again to "Repair"....
 

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