We just cannot provide ourselves to element means with our 2018 Jeep Wrangler. It has come to be a handy aid motor vehicle on our video shoots, significantly when points get dusty, dirty, grimy … you get the strategy. That’s why it is a single of the exceptional vehicles in our long-term fleet to get a entire heap of miles put on it. We normally operate our long-termers for about 20,000 miles, but we just strike a whopping 80,000 in the Jeep, additional than 30,000 of which have occur due to the fact we formally wrapped up its extensive-term examination.
But the Wrangler suddenly went from mogwai to gremlin a very little much more than a year in the past and has been plagued with issues given that. Most of its challenges have been electrical, together with the alternator and the automatic begin-halt technique. The continual ferrying of the Wrangler to and from dealerships and service facilities has remaining us a small exhausted, but possibly which is just component of proudly owning an unique animal. Nonetheless, this modern expertise with mounting expenditures and ownership complications appeared to warrant a recap.
Auto end-get started program are unable to continue to be healthy
This adore-it-or-hate-it aspect cannot look to stay off the hurt checklist. We initially picked up an error code for it final October. The attribute was disabled but the truck drove great, suitable up right up until it didn’t. The Wrangler’s battery died, demanding a tow to a dealership in Alhambra, California. It appears a undesirable sensor led to the Jeep draining the two the battery that powers the end-start out procedure and the major battery.
We replaced each batteries and the defective sensor, which expense us a cool $1,314.14. Unfortunately, that was not the finish of this concern. A practically similar dilemma transpired just 7 months afterwards, requiring us to swap both batteries but once again. This fix came with further labor simply because of contaminated gasoline found in our gas pump. We were not ready to get a straight remedy on how the gasoline turned contaminated, what it was contaminated with, or why an electrical problem triggered them to look into the fuel tank. We compensated what was thanks, $1,741.95, and did not return to this spot.
So, we spent much more than $3,000 in 12 months in no little part many thanks to a aspect numerous of us want we could throw into the Pacific Ocean anyway. We encountered a person much more dilemma with this element, but luckily without the wallet-busting value. In July, the Wrangler would not restart soon after engaging auto halt-begin so we took it into a Santa Monica supplier. The folks there discovered a fully disconnected energy cable, potentially due to the fact a preceding dealer had unsuccessful to reconnect a floor cable. That repair was dealt with for no cost.