[amc2002]

I really wish I could say in a public forum just how freaking livid I am right now. $41,500 sticker on this damn thing, I go to fill up the tank tonight just to take it out in the dark, because I haven't seen the blue lighted interior yet. I picked it up on Wednesday and it's got 300 miles on it.

I notice the lights are flickering. Weird. Don't think much of it. Pull out of the driveway, it jumps out of gear, engine revs. Damn it, I must have hit the gearshift or something. I still haven't gotten used to how it works. I keep putting it in neutral by accident. So I put it back in drive. Go down the street, come to a stop at the corner. Lights are flickering more. I figure, "let me shut it off and then turn it back on again." I shut it off. The damn thing is totally dead. No lights anywhere. I open the door. No lights. I get out. Walk around it. What the hell am I going to do now? I open the door. Lights are on. I figure, let me drive it back home, just down the street.

It starts up, lights are flickering again. Pops out of gear again. Eff it. I pull it to the side of the road. It dies. I'm not moving this thing an inch more. Chrysler can come pick it up and tow it back to the dealership.

Only, they won't.

Seems Chrysler Roadside Assistance will only tow it to the nearest dealer. Which in my case, just happens to be the dealer I decided not to purchase from because their dealer rating is terrible, and their BBB record is awful. We had gone in there on a whim, and later canceled an appointment for a test drive when we found this out. I told the salesperson it was nothing against him, we enjoyed speaking with him and thanked him for his time, but we just couldn't purchase a car from the dealership he worked for.

So this is where they want to tow my car. Not to the dealer 15 miles further. I'll have to pay out of pocket for that.

I said no thanks, and started to call AAA (which I have because of my 2002 Wrangler). Then I decided, no, I want Chrysler to handle this 100%.

Called Roadside again and they tell me I didn't purchase Roadside Assistance. I ask them doesn't it come with every Jeep? Not necessarily they say. I say I'm pretty sure the F&I woman would've tried to sell me on that if it wasn't. She asks when I bought the car. I said Wednesday. Ah, might not be in the system. How did the other guy get my record up? She wasn't sure.

So I give her a credit card. I'm paying the whole tab this time, not just the extra 15 miles. They will email me a receipt that I can bring to the dealer.

Tow truck driver says can't tow it tonight. They'll hold it and then it will go to the dealer on Monday morning. Lovely. I wonder where they're bringing it? Gave him a $20 and I hope that helps it find a safe spot wherever it is. I should ask the dealer for the $20 back as well.

So my wife had to cancel her trip tomorrow. Didn't even make it to 400 miles and it crapped the bed. Right now? I hate the damn thing. Will I ever be able to trust this thing? Probably just a ground somewhere, but this is NOT a good sign.

I'm fracking livid right now. This is my wife's DD. What if it had decided to jump out of gear and die on the highway with my 5-year-old on board?

I am so not OK right now.

UPDATE: Chrysler Roadside automated call -- Service is expected to arrive within 20 minues. Um, I've been back at the house for 20 minutes already. Classic.

"Based on your roadside assistance today, would you recommend Chrysler products to your friends and family."

Guess what I answered to that question.

 

[Scottina06]

check the ground location down below the pcm on the frame....

 

[amc2002]

Ugh. Just read that. If my dealership didn't check it before sending ANY and EVERY damn GC out the door, I won't have any faith in them going forward. Is this the exact same issue?

 

[Tempest]

Someone could have done a crappy job tightening the battery terminal under the passenger seat and a bump jostled it. Dont give up on your GC just yet.

 

[amc2002]

I hope it's something they can FIND like that, and not some mysterious gremlin. Sucks that it's Sunday tomorrow and I'm on hiatus until Monday morning and the car isn't here. Otherwise I'd check. But I figured let the dealer go through the damn thing. I work on my 2002 Wrangler, I don't expect to have to touch my 2014.

Do these cars "reboot" if something happens? Everything went totally dead for a minute or two after the car shut down -- no internal lights, nothing. It was like the battery wasn't even connected. Then a minute or two later, the lights were back if I opened the door. It was weird.

 

[Tempest]

I hope it's something they can FIND like that, and not some mysterious gremlin. Sucks that it's Sunday tomorrow and I'm on hiatus until Monday morning and the car isn't here. Otherwise I'd check. But I figured let the dealer go through the damn thing. I work on my 2002 Wrangler, I don't expect to have to touch my 2014.

Do these cars "reboot" if something happens? Everything went totally dead for a minute or two after the car shut down -- no internal lights, nothing. It was like the battery wasn't even connected. Then a minute or two later, the lights were back if I opened the door. It was weird.

I dont think it should reboot for any appreciable time, certainly not minutes. If that happened then maybe the TIPM module is confused. A friend of mine had a dead vehicle with low voltage symptoms and it ended up being a corrupt module controlling the power, not the power source itself

 

[amc2002]

Well, it was definitely over a minute each time where the entire car was totally and completely dead. No lights inside, open door still no lights. Nothing.

Oh well, hoping that the dealer finds whatever it is. We are coming from an Acura TSX Sportwagon that got totaled when a guy ran a red light and we hit him. Almost 30K miles on it and zero issues from day one. It was a big leap of faith going to Jeep this time for a new vehicle (my 2002 was a one-owner for 100K miles, so I figured it was a safe bet) and as you can imagine, I'm quite upset and kicking myself now, thinking I just did something REALLY stupid and now I'm going to pay for it.

Reading through all the issues on brand new vehicles that cost $40K is freaking me out. Maybe I should just go to bed.

 

[PB617]

check the ground location down below the pcm on the frame....

Sounds like a ground issue to me also.

 

[DirtyDuc83]

Had a similar issue on my 2012. It was a loose alternator cable.

 

[Milous]

There is a recent bulletin that describes some of your symptoms (StarCase S1308000099). Bad ground connection at G903 (under hood, right side frame rail).

 

[GCLimited]

Wow...I'd be pissed too. Hope everything gets fixed soon, no one should have a new car experience like this.

Looks like Chrysler Roadside Assistance isn't worth spit in a bucket.

:worried:

 

[bill_de]

Looks like Chrysler Roadside Assistance isn't worth spit in a bucket.

:worried:

I wouldn't blame road side assistance. They were ready and willing to do their job. They can't be held responsible if the local dealer is not up to snuff. The documentation clearly states that the owner is responsible for additional mileage.

I understand that the OP was rightfully upset at the time. But had he agreed to have it towed to his dealer of choice from the beginning he would have a smaller charge on his credit card this morning. Under the circumstances I'm not sure what decision I would have made. I might have just stood there kicking the car until it cried.

 

[JohnS]

I feel your pain. My '11 died, as well (link to my post). Luckily, it looks like my dealer fixed my problem.

Chrysler/Jeep really does have to do something about their finicky electrical/electronic systems. IMHO, there is absolutely no excuse for a new modern vehicle becoming totally dead. Modern vehicles are very complex and problems are to be expected, but dieing is totally unacceptable.

 

[GCLimited]

I wouldn't blame road side assistance. They were ready and willing to do their job. They can't be held responsible if the local dealer is not up to snuff. The documentation clearly states that the owner is responsible for additional mileage.

I beg to differ...

I'd still blame Chrysler and their road side assistance, they SHOULD cover the vehicle's tow to the original dealership where it was bought...within reason of course...especially with only a couple hundred miles on it. The extra 15 minutes of drive time should not matter.

 

[bill_de]

I beg to differ...

I'd still blame Chrysler and their road side assistance, they SHOULD cover the vehicle's tow to the original dealership where it was bought...within reason of course...especially with only a couple hundred miles on it. The extra 15 minutes of drive time should not matter.

OK ... we can have differing opinions.



.

 

[amc2002]

Had a similar issue on my 2012. It was a loose alternator cable.

Has the car been totally solid since then? Just curious. If something like that can cause the thing to go so totally batcrap crazy, well, what's next? Over time, anything can get loose.

 

[amc2002]

I beg to differ...

I'd still blame Chrysler and their road side assistance, they SHOULD cover the vehicle's tow to the original dealership where it was bought...within reason of course...especially with only a couple hundred miles on it. The extra 15 minutes of drive time should not matter.

Absolutely. The dealer is 32 miles away, 90% highway. In some areas of the country (say, NH, where I'm originally from), would they not tow a vehicle 32 miles to the nearest dealership?

I can almost understand if the car has 10K miles on it, but the car has just over THREE HUNDRED MILES on it and it stickered for $41,500. The CORRECT answer on the phone should have been, "you just picked it up on Wednesday and it's dead on the side of the road? Let me talk with a supervisor -- of course we will tow it to your dealer 32 miles away. I'm very sorry this happened."

THAT is the service that a vehicle manufacturer that plays against luxury brands should provide. I mean, if you really want to play with the big boys.

Instead, it's like VW and the Phaeton, where you buy a true luxury automobile and you're still stuck with VW service.

And bill_de - "But had he agreed to have it towed to his dealer of choice from the beginning he would have a smaller charge on his credit card this morning."

Oh, they will absolutely be paying for this. Not even a question. I will not be out of pocket for this. Either the dealer is paying, or Chrysler will. But I will not be on the hook for this.

Thanks for letting me vent, guys. After the accident with the Acura, the guy who ran the light turning out not to be insured, me being on the hook for $$$ for a rental, another Jeep dealer taking a deposit and then telling me they couldn't get the car, and me having to fight to get the deposit back, and now this, I'm just fricking exhausted by the whole damn thing. I just want a car that is solid in my driveway that my wife and 5-year-old can use, and that I don't have to worry about at all.

First world problems, I know.

 

[amc2002]

I feel your pain. My '11 died, as well (link to my post). Luckily, it looks like my dealer fixed my problem.

Chrysler/Jeep really does have to do something about their finicky electrical/electronic systems. IMHO, there is absolutely no excuse for a new modern vehicle becoming totally dead. Modern vehicles are very complex and problems are to be expected, but dieing is totally unacceptable.

Just read your post. Wow. Yeah, I gotta say I love my 2002 Wrangler. I bought it solely because it was a one-owner, and the guy had it 100K miles. I knew it was probably one of the "good ones," but the big thing is that there is so little to go wrong on them. One year later, and at 116K miles, the starter is the only thing that I've had to replace.

With any new vehicles, with sensors and computers everywhere, I think leasing will be my "new norm." I just don't see when these things start wearing, how these vehicles will stay on the road, and even if they do, how much will it cost? There is just too much to go wrong that they don't even know about. I also thought Chrysler was starting to address a lot of these issues since the days when they were dead last in all the quality ratings. We'll see. But for now, I am very glad I leased this thing and bought the extra 3 months of warranty. I'm covered for the full 39 months / 39000 miles bumper to bumper. So far, that seems to be the only good decision I made last Wednesday.

Yeah, I know I'm overreacting. I'm just pissed right now.

 

[padgett]

Being odd, I would have just felt for a hot terminal (most likely on the battery. Bet it turns out to be a bad connection. With that low milage it might even be a badly crimped cable but suspect it is a nut that has backed off or was cross threaded initially.

Am surprised the tow truck driver did not check the basic connections., I have AAA+ (100 miles towing) and is something they always ask. Also they tow to my house if I ask them, no charge.

ps from the description (most flickering when at idle or stopped) my money is on the battery circuit. Could even be a bad battery and I would not blame CJF for that, I just had a big 2009 marine Optima fail.

 

[Milous]

Symptom/Vehicle Issue:
Mil Lamp On Warning Lamp Flicker, DTC’s U0125-00 Lost Communication With Dynamic Sensor,
P0501 Vehicle Speed Sensor 1 Performance, U1412 Implausible Vehicle Speed Signal

Diagnosis:
Instrument cluster warning lamps on at times, ABS and Mil Lamp flicker. DTC’s U0125-00 Lost
Communication With Dynamic Sensor, P0501 Vehicle Speed Sensor 1 Performance, U1412
Implausible Vehicle Speed Signal Received may be stored or active.

Repair Procedure:
A recent report indicates a loose ground at the G903A location. Inspect, clean and tighten as needed


--Milous