Last Update.....
First I want to thank the members of this forum for being so generous with information, tips, strategies for dealing with Chrysler, etc. I subscribe to many forums but this one stands out as a wonderfully civil, respectful place. I learned so much in the last three months.
I parted ways with the 2015 KL Limited last Thursday, and am now driving a 2015 Honda CRV. It’s not nearly as nice, the seats are like park benches compared with the Jeep, and the “upgraded” sound system is nowhere near as thrilling as the Jeep one. It has the CVT and very much an “appliance” feel to it, but my hope is that it’s a reliable appliance.
That was the tipping point for me with Jeep: Consistency. I maintained a list of issues starting from day 2 of ownership, when a door handle fell off. That problem was fixed the second time, but many others – including one I believe is a safety issue, the way the Jeep sometimes “hangs” in reverse without responding to input – seemed to baffle the three service departments I visited. Finally I built a case w/ Chrysler and they sent a tech to a dealer to evaluate the car for five issues: three with transmission, two with the heater (no heat in footwell, and erratic behavior of thermostat), one with the sunroof rattle. I know from talking with the service dept that other KLs had those same issues, and they are often more severe. My misfortune was that these issues didn’t happen every time. So they kept the Jeep for a week, and on every problem, they reported “Working as Designed.” “No Codes in the System,” etc.
I encountered a few of those issues immediately after picking up the Jeep, and since this was my third visit on the same issues, I sought lemon law redress. Alas, what I learned is that it’s almost impossible to prevail if the vehicle is not throwing out error codes or not functioning correctly in a way that they can diagnose and repair. Intermittent issues are tricky in court. If I were to seek arbitration, Chrysler could claim that my issues were simply differences of opinion about matters of design and engineering – and that, after testing, the car was operating as intended, or at the very least the car didn’t exhibit my stated problems when Chrysler evaluated it. The lawyer I talked with liked the challenge of my case, and said that there was a chance of success, but it was slim.
I decided that it was foolish to devote any more energy to a vehicle that was, for me, not entirely trustworthy. I’m one of those idealists who believe that a new car should be a purely pleasurable experience, not one involving time spent at dealers and arguing over error codes. It was really hard to walk away from the Jeep, and not just because of the financial hit – it’s a tremendous cabin and a mighty V6. If it were really “operating as designed” I would have been happy to keep it.
Thanks again for the help, and best of luck on the journey....
First I want to thank the members of this forum for being so generous with information, tips, strategies for dealing with Chrysler, etc. I subscribe to many forums but this one stands out as a wonderfully civil, respectful place. I learned so much in the last three months.
I parted ways with the 2015 KL Limited last Thursday, and am now driving a 2015 Honda CRV. It’s not nearly as nice, the seats are like park benches compared with the Jeep, and the “upgraded” sound system is nowhere near as thrilling as the Jeep one. It has the CVT and very much an “appliance” feel to it, but my hope is that it’s a reliable appliance.
That was the tipping point for me with Jeep: Consistency. I maintained a list of issues starting from day 2 of ownership, when a door handle fell off. That problem was fixed the second time, but many others – including one I believe is a safety issue, the way the Jeep sometimes “hangs” in reverse without responding to input – seemed to baffle the three service departments I visited. Finally I built a case w/ Chrysler and they sent a tech to a dealer to evaluate the car for five issues: three with transmission, two with the heater (no heat in footwell, and erratic behavior of thermostat), one with the sunroof rattle. I know from talking with the service dept that other KLs had those same issues, and they are often more severe. My misfortune was that these issues didn’t happen every time. So they kept the Jeep for a week, and on every problem, they reported “Working as Designed.” “No Codes in the System,” etc.
I encountered a few of those issues immediately after picking up the Jeep, and since this was my third visit on the same issues, I sought lemon law redress. Alas, what I learned is that it’s almost impossible to prevail if the vehicle is not throwing out error codes or not functioning correctly in a way that they can diagnose and repair. Intermittent issues are tricky in court. If I were to seek arbitration, Chrysler could claim that my issues were simply differences of opinion about matters of design and engineering – and that, after testing, the car was operating as intended, or at the very least the car didn’t exhibit my stated problems when Chrysler evaluated it. The lawyer I talked with liked the challenge of my case, and said that there was a chance of success, but it was slim.
I decided that it was foolish to devote any more energy to a vehicle that was, for me, not entirely trustworthy. I’m one of those idealists who believe that a new car should be a purely pleasurable experience, not one involving time spent at dealers and arguing over error codes. It was really hard to walk away from the Jeep, and not just because of the financial hit – it’s a tremendous cabin and a mighty V6. If it were really “operating as designed” I would have been happy to keep it.
Thanks again for the help, and best of luck on the journey....