Land Rover Defender TD4 w/ snorkel
Posted on 01/05/2021 7:54:36 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
In theory, a Jeep is something you buy so you can drive anywhere your heart desires. Over the river and through the woods, across muddy bogs you find. But don't get too excited with your newfound freedom, lest you end up like one Jeep Gladiator owner who voided their truck's warranty by getting too exuberant in the mud—and is now considering legal action against Fiat Chrysler.
As outlined in a late December post on JeepGladiatorForum.com, user Gladiatrix bought a 2020 Gladiator Rubicon in July, and within days took it out for a test in the great outdoors. During said test, they "plowed through mud a bunch of times," splashing mud up onto the alternator, allegedly causing its failure. Gladiatrix took the truck to the nearest dealer, Russell Westbrook Jeep in Van Nuys, California, where a technician quoted at least $3,000 in repairs, encompassing the alternator, battery, radiator, and possibly more. Rather than pay up, Gladiatrix sought a second opinion from the (unspecified) dealer where they purchased the truck, which charged a deductible on the alternator but deemed other maintenance unnecessary.
Serious problems, however, began three months down the road, when the Gladiator's electronics started going haywire. First to fail was the center brake light, and thereafter came issues with the engine's stop-start system. Worst of all, though, was an issue with the rear axle locking on its own, which it sometimes did on onramps or the highway itself.
"I can't unlock them if I try," Gladiatrix wrote. "I ended up fishtailing on two separate occasions while getting onto the freeway on dry California pavement."
Gladiatrix returned to the dealer in November and was informed they needed an entirely new rear axle, plus two new batteries. They could not be replaced under warranty, however, due to a restriction placed on the warranty, suspected to have come from the dealer that quoted $3,000 in July. When called, said dealer denied having the power to enact such a restriction, though FCA allegedly later told Gladiatrix this dealer did in fact apply the restriction, and that the restriction won't be lifted because they were accused of having "submerged" their Jeep in the mud. Gladiatrix recalls their mud bath occurring in "less than a foot" of the stuff. As it can be seen below, they hit puddles hard enough to send mud higher than the Gladiator's roof, and surely into places mud was never meant to go.
Whether or not one foot was the limit of their mud play as claimed, their Jeep's failing electronics clearly show mud went places it wasn't meant to go. Rugged as they may be, Jeep Gladiators aren't invincible, and according to one lawsuit, the model may have sway bar disconnect modules prone to early failure from exposure to water, or hypothetically mud too. Sway bar disconnects aren't among Gladiatrix's problems, but it's no stretch to imagine what can kill an alternator can short-circuit other parts of a Gladiator too.
Whatever the case, this debacle shaping up to be an ugly battle between consumer, corporation, and dealer, none of whom want to swallow the cost of servicing a troublesome Gladiator, and none of whose whole stories we have heard. We've reached out to Fiat Chrysler for clarification on the Gladiator's factory warranty, as well as Gladiatrix for additional details on their side of the story, and we will update when we receive either.
Should Jeep honor the warranty on this Gladiator? Or did the owner abuse the vehicle over and beyond normal use?
Pictures at the link.
Isn’t Jeep owned by the Chinese?
Italians make nice shoes, but I wouldn't wear them hunting.
Fiat-Chrysler
Depends.
What do Jeep ads advertise it as?
I’ve seen ads showing them driving vehicles through mud and other rough terrain as if they are built to handle an6thing.
If they are going to advertise it as such, then people will do such.
IMO, then, the company is liable or should be charged with false advertising.
I think that if the owner is a man, then Gladiatrix is the wrong handle.
I have an 85 CJ8 Scrambler w/ MT’s.
Let’s rock.
I would dig a bit deeper into that. Seems to me that Fiat has Chinese ties.
Land Rover Defender TD4 w/ snorkel
Check out Steve Lehtos video on Fiat “Lifetime” warranties.
I am not an expert, but I tend to agree with AAC.
When you think of a Jeep, you think of a vehicle that can handle extreme conditions. And it sounds like there’s a huge litany of problems that came from some mud?
Seems off to me. But then again, I’m no expert.
Maybe Jeep should see about putting some protective shielding under its important parts; I realize it will make it heavier.
But as another person said, you don’t buy a sleek sports car and then go four-wheeling in the dirt, grass and mud.
Exactly! Meant to ping you to #13 but I couldn’t remember your “handle.” :)
‘No no, we said you get the IMAGE of a car that can go through mud, not the reality. What do you think you get for 60 grand? “
Actually I think Chrysler just sold an interest to Peugeot. As well as Fiat.
Honor the warranty.
In all of these commercials they show trucks doing these crazy stunts - and there’s fine print on the screen saying “Do not attempt”. Mixed messages if you ask me.
Modern jeeps are living off a long-dead reputation for toughness in my opinion
There is one Jeep advertisement that just blows me away. It’s a picture of a gladiator towing an RV. Jeep claims that they can tow 7000 pounds. But the rear end of that little truck is sagging of a good 6 to 12 inches as the trailer is hitched to the back of it. It does not appear to have a weight distribution hitch on it. If someone were to actually drive that Jerp towing that trailer, it would be extremely extremely dangerous.
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