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Did the tow truck driver screw up?

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316 views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  moparado  
#1 ·
My wife is just coming off lease on her 2022 GC Laredo. 36 months and 16,000 miles later and the Jeep is in mint condition. However... When the leasing company came to pick it up at our house, I question their method of towing it. I'm an old school Jeep guy from the days of Wrangler YJ's and TJ's where we had a manual transfer case you can put into neutral with the pull of a lever. On this Jeep, it had the basic transmission, no special modes, no neutral disconnect in the center console like on the upgraded models. From what I've read, this Jeep is NEVER to be towed with just the front wheels up, it should always be on a flat bed. I didn't see the driver do anything special upon lifting it up other than putting the Jeep in neutral. I would think the lease company that owns the car would know better as they are the ones who own the vehicle. Or do they just not care and will sell it as is to the next unlucky person that is buying a Jeep with a damaged, or soon to be damaged drivetrain? Or am I missing something here and is it perfectly fine to tow like this? If not, I wonder how many other companies are picking up their lease returns that are AWD like this!!!
 

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#5 ·
A while back when i got water contaminated gas in my GC and had to be towed to the dealership.
I questioned this whole thing when the dealership tow guys didn't seem to know what they were doing.
I made them call the dealership tech to see how to properly get it on the flat bed.

They ended up doing something at the rear of the center console.
Took only a couple seconds whatever they did.
Gonna check the owner's manual when i get time.
 
#6 ·
The Quadra Trac II transfer cases like in my '21 Limited have a tiny little button on the center console you can press and hold to put the transfer case into neutral, it's just behind the mode knob and there is a "N" label next to it. You need a pen, bobbie pin, paperclip, or similar small tool to depress the button - it's not something you can do by accident. Because it's all computerized, there a process you have to follow (it's in the owners manual), and when it works you get a message on the dash warning you it's in neutral and could roll even if its in park, because we need to have warning labels for everything.

We do this as part of flat towing ours behind our motorhome; I had to write up a "pre-flight checklist"so I don't accidentally skip a step. :)
 
owns 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
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