Rear differential is a limited slip item. The slip part failed, making a horrible grinding noise. This was very expensive to repair, and is a very well documented problem. The rear differential is not man enough for the job. The rear differential cover was replaced with instant gasket which looks horrible, but jeep don't make a gasket for this part. That's just shoddy and terrible cost cutting.
The exhaust manifold cracked. Again a very common problem, and this cost £750 to replace. Ouch.
The front axle to swing arm top bushes were replaced at 40,000 odd miles, at great expense on the advice of the dealer. Since this was done this jeep now pulls to the left. It will not steer straight anymore. It has now covered 51,000 miles and its still pulls to the left. If you brake sharply it pulls to the left violently. The dealer hasn't got a clue. He has suggested replacing various items at much expense, but won't guarantee that this will fix the problem. Last week he suggested replacing the front tyres as in his opinion this was the problem. Wrong again. I have sent the dealer an article regarding jeeps pulling (not running straight) that was on another site, regarding misaligned eccentric bush mounting bolts that were subject of a jeep recall in 1993. My dealer still refuses to accept there is a problem.I am convinced that he has fitted the new bushes incorrectly. I have written in the strongest terms to Jeep (Daimler Chrysler uk) and bottom line is they don't care and keep reverting me to the dealer who is to be honest utterly useless. Unfortunately for me I cannot go to another dealership as for a radius of about 100 miles, all the dealerships availiable are from the same franchise and they are all as useless. (I did try another one and they were worse)
The exhaust system fell off after having a new one fitted at the last service. It wasnt properly fitted when they returned the car, and when I complained they told me they were to busy to help and to go to another branch. This we did, and a week later the exhaust fell off. So two attempts at a simple task, by two different dealerships with no success. Third time lucky then. This is a simple task on a grand cherokee. If the dealers can't manage this then they surely cannot manage anything a little more taxing.
Air conditioning stopped working, so we had it re-gassed as this was apparently the problem. Not so... the problems is with another component as it froze up just after re-gassing and now makes a horrible grinding noise.
Transfer case oil seals have failed and replaced even though the car is low mileage.
The car failed to start 2 months after its last service. It turned out to be the distribuitor cap / rotor arm which had badly burnt out contacts. Apparently this is not a service item until 60,000 miles. This is just shoddy cost cutting and the component failed at 42,000 miles so I beg to differ. Further more I'm disgusted that the dealer didn't even check the item at the service.
At the last service, but one, we had the front brake pads changed. The dealer didn't remove brake fluid from the reservoir before pushing back the caliper pistons to accomodate the new pads, resulting in brake fluid being spilled all over the inner wing. The dealer returned the car like this and its stripped the paint off various parts. The dealer just about managed an apology.
Last service but one, the front disks (rotors) were replaced at my expense. Two weeks later I got a letter regarding a re-call on rotors. Guess what... not applicable to my car as they had just been changed.( yes two weeks ago at my expense . I bet the dealership billed jeep for that one as well as me.
The dealer replaced a cv boot at the last service as aparently it was split. This they did, however instead of using the correct cv boot clip, they used two cable ties joined together and three weeks later the whole lot came off and sprayed grease everywhere, including the front brakes. They said they were not prepared to do anything about it and I ended up having to take the car (with a greased front off side rotor) to a local non franchised garage who did the remedial work with the correct parts there and then. So I paid twice for the same job.
The front of the headlining, where it meets the front windscreen is begining to sag. This is not surprising as it has no clips or anything else to hold it in place. Just shoddy and again cost cutting.
Rust has appeared on the front slam panel, on both sides where the vehicle vin and id plates are. This area doesn't appear to have any rustproofing at all underneath the plates, and the rust makes it look dreadfull.
At the bottom of the windscreen (outside) there is a plastic panel that holds the washer nozzles and just generally tidies the whole area up. This is held in place by plastic star headed screws that are just not up to the job, and they keep falling off. This results in the pannel lifting off at the edges. I've had four so far and this one has just fallen off again. Any chance of a metal screw please jeep?
It's a real shame about this car. It looks good and when it works it does deliver what youd expect from a 4X4. However cost cutting by jeep has totally ruined what could have been such a good car. Rear differentials and exhaust manifolds are basics which even lada and skoda can get right. There are no excuses I'm affraid.
This is all marred by an apaling dealer network, which in the south of the Uk is just shocking. Having written to jeep to complain, they are really not interested and they don't provide a technical support dept should dealers encounter a problem they cannot solve.
In the beginning I thought it was a good product marred by incompetent dealerships (as they caused some of the problems), however now I know its not just the dealers that are at fault. It's a poor product because its made to a price.
I must add that to date, although I've had lots of problems and its been exorbitantly expensive to maintain, it has never failed to get me home.
What happened to this guy's Jeep? I've got three of them ('88 XJ, '95 YJ, '97 ZJ) and I don't have any problems with any of them. He must have the 4.0L engine because of the manifold issue... Other than that I'd say you got a lemon or you don't know how or don't bother to take care of your Jeep. They do make the gasket you're complaining about, every autoparts store has them. Maybe you've got those English mechanics working on it too much and they're destroying all the American engineering... :-) Just kidding!
I was wondering what exactly it took to fix your rear diff.
We have been working on the problem for almost two months. We have replaced the bearings, we have added sure grip to the oil, suggested by a jeep enthusiast. We are about to replace the pinion bearing. (I think that is what it is called). Any help would be grateful...Thanks!
Except for the manifold, all these problems are dealer or maintenance related.
Chances are someone was in the differential before this person (bought the Jeep as it was bought used) and they used the improper gasket and the wrong fluid, which lead to the failure.
The other items are clearly dealer-related. The recall on the rotors should have provided a cost reimbursement if requested.
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