Maintaining a car is expensive. AAAThe average car owner can expect to pay about $66 a month just for maintenance, and that figure doesn’t take into account other expenses like insurance, tires, taxes, or depreciation on the car itself.
Plus, it’s getting harder to keep a car in good condition: Many materials in cars are now made from relatively fragile plastics, and as cars become more technologically complex, there are more things that can go wrong.
As a result, many drivers are complaining about their new cars, and some are debating whether it would be wiser to keep their old cars in good condition rather than spending a fortune on newer, more expensive models that are prone to breakdowns.
Now, some internet users have unknowingly joined the debate after sharing issues they recently had with their new Jeep Grand Cherokee.
payment $4,000 in repairs over 6 weeks
In a video that has more than 2.1 million views, TikTok users Chris and Hilary (@fuelyourwander) say they bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee, only for it to experience major mechanical failure six weeks after purchasing it.
Hilary says the rear air suspension on her car broke and it took three weeks to fix. The repair was covered by the warranty, but other costs associated with the repair, like shipping the car to her new home or renting a car while the repair was being done, were not covered.
As Hillary soon found out, the restoration didn’t completely solve their problems.
“Just two days after this accident, I was driving my car when all of a sudden there was a loud noise and the right rear airbag failed again,” Hilary explains. “Whatever caused this accident initially was clearly not resolved at the previous dealership.”
“We paid over $4,000 out of pocket for a new car that was still under warranty,” she concluded, adding in the caption, “We learned an important lesson the hard way: JEEPS WILL emptie your pockets, no matter what.”
Modern Jeeps aren’t known for being reliable, the publication said. thingThree of the top 10 least reliable cars for 2023 were made by Jeep, according to the study, which cited data from Consumer Reports.
Some users in the comments section suggested the couple look into lemon laws, which they insist they intend to comply with, while others suggested they trade in their Jeep for a more reliable vehicle, preferably from a different automaker.
“Buy a Toyota and you won’t have these issues,” one user said.
“Take your car back, sell it and buy a Toyota, Honda or Subaru 4×4,” another person agreed.
Some of them shared their own Jeep problems.
“I had to replace the rear axle within four weeks of buying it,” one user claims.
“My neighbor’s Grand Cherokee L has been at the dealership for six months,” a second person said.
Did the couple get their $4,000 payment refunded?
In an email to The Daily Dot, the couple shared an update about the Jeep.
“After a long 2 month ordeal, we finally got our Jeep Grand Cherokee back from the second Jeep dealer. It’s been about 2 1/2 months since we got it back and this time the air suspension issue seems to have been resolved,” Hilary wrote. “We have researched lemon law and contacted several lemon law attorneys in Arizona where we purchased the car.”
She said she was eventually able to get reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses from Jeep’s parent company.
“We were eventually able to get in touch with an executive at Stellantis (the parent company that owns Jeep) who was very cooperative in resolving the issue with the dealership and completely resolved the issue, as well as refunding all of our out-of-pocket expenses of over $4,000,” she continued. “We also received a written commitment from Stellantis to provide us with a new vehicle (same make/model) if there were any other issues, or to pay us cash for the value of the vehicle.”
However, this solution was not easy.
“However, this only happened after we sent numerous emails to Jeep executives we found online and thousands of people tagged Jeep and Stellantis in their social media posts and threatened to file lemon law lawsuits,” Hillary detailed. “We’ve also heard from many other new Jeep owners who, unfortunately, have not been able to get in touch with anyone or receive any support.”
Follow We learned an important lesson from bitter experience: JEEP = Empty your pockets #Jeep #JeepLife #rvlife #New car ♬ Original Sound – Chris & Hillary | Full Time RV
As for why the couple decided to keep the Jeep after all they’d been through, Hilary had a quick explanation.
“The only reason I decided to keep the Jeep is because it can be easily towed flat behind the camper,” she said. “There aren’t many new cars that have this feature, and if there were, I’d switch to a more reliable brand of car.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Jeep via email.
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