Cars are expensive to maintain. According to AAA, the average car owner can expect to pay around $66 per month in maintenance alone—and this number doesn’t even factor in other costs like insurance, tires, taxes, and the depreciation of the car itself.
Additionally, cars are getting more difficult to keep in good condition. Many materials in cars are now made with plastic that is relatively easy to break, and as cars become more technologically complex, there are an increasing number of things that can go wrong with them.
As a result, many drivers report dissatisfaction with new cars, with some arguing about whether it’s smarter to simply keep an older vehicle in good condition rather than shell out for a newer, more expensive model that could be more prone to breaking.
Now, some internet users are unknowingly entering that debate after sharing a recent issue they had with their new Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Paying $4,000 in repairs over 6 weeks
In a clip with over 2.1 million views, TikTok users Kris and Hillary (@fuelyourwander) say that they bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee, only to have a major mechanical breakdown in the first 6 weeks of ownership.
According to Hillary, the rear air suspension on the car failed, leading to a repair that took 3 weeks. While the repair was covered by their warranty, other costs associated with the repair, such as shipping the car to their new location and a rental car to use while their vehicle was being fixed, were not.
As Hillary soon learned, this repair would not fully resolve their problems.
“Just two days after this, we went to drive the car, and all of a sudden we heard a loud pop, and the rear right airbag failed again,” Hillary details. “It’s obvious that whatever caused this the first time was not resolved by the last dealership.”
“We’ve now paid over $4,000 out-of-pocket for expenses on a brand new car that’s still under warranty,” she concludes. In the caption, she adds, “We learned an important lesson the hard way. JEEP = Just Empty Every Pocket.”
Modern Jeeps are not known for their reliability. According to the publication Stuff, which cites data from Consumer Reports, 3 of the top 10 least reliable cars of 2023 were made by Jeep.
Commenters advise against Jeep
In the comments section, some users suggested that the couple look into lemon laws, to which the couple claimed they would be doing. Others simply suggested that the couple replace their Jeep with a more reliable car—preferably from another auto manufacturer.
“Buy a Toyota and you’ll never have these problems,” said a user.
“Get it back, sell it and get yourself a Toyota or a Honda or a Subaru all wheel drive,” echoed another.
Some shared their own Jeep issues.
“We had to have the rear axle replaced our 4th week of owning it,” alleged a user.
“My neighbor Grand Cherokee L is been at the dealership for 6 months,” stated a second.
Did the couple get reimbursed for their $4,000 payment?
In an email to the Daily Dot, the couple shared an update on their Jeep.
“After a long 2 month ordeal, we did finally get our Jeep Grand Cherokee back from the second Jeep dealership. We’ve had it back for about 2 and a half months now and the issue with the air suspension appears to be fixed this time.” Hillary wrote. “We did investigate lemon laws and had reached out to a few lemon law attorneys in Arizona as that’s the state we purchased the vehicle from.”
She said they were ultimately able to get reimbursement for their out-of-pocket expenses from Jeep’s parent company.
“Ultimately, we were able to get a hold of an executive at Stellantis (parent company that owns Jeep). He was very helpful in getting our issue resolved with the dealership to fix the problem for good and also reimbursed us for all of our out of pocket expenses, which were over $4,000,” she continued. “We also were able to get a commitment in writing from Stellantis that if we have any other problems, they will give us a new vehicle (same make/model) or give us the cash we value for the vehicle.”
This resolution did not come easily, however.
“This only happened though after we sent numerous emails to Jeep executives that we found online, had thousands of people tag Jeep and Stellantis in our social media posts, and threatened them with filing a lemon law claim,” Hillary detailed. “We’ve heard from many other new Jeep owners that they unfortunately haven’t been able to get in touch with anyone and are getting no support.”
@fuelyourwander We learned an important lesson the hard way. JEEP = Just Empty Every Pocket #jeep #jeeplife #rvlife #newcar ♬ original sound – Kris & Hillary | Full-time RV
As for why the couple decided to keep the Jeep after all this trouble, Hillary had a simply explanation.
“The only reason we decided to keep the Jeep is because of its ability to be easily flat towed behind our motorhome,” she stated. “There’s not many new vehicles with this capability. If there were, we’d trade it in for a much more reliable vehicle brand.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Jeep via email.
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