The ongoing (albeit very static) complaint with Northampton Westaway Jeep

[Chris85]

So, ever since owning our 2018/19 JL(now 3 years in) we have had constant problems. Although these problems have not been to the same level as some other members on here (looking at you Manny) they have been problems none the less, to the point where I was considering pitching our tent at the dealer to save on fuel...

 

Over the past couple of years, and whilst still in warranty, we have had constant issues with leaking doors, leaking roof, leaking oil, broken rear window heating element. The most recent fiasco with them was a result of a routine oil/filter change, where it would seem that the mechanic has just let oil drain all over the underside of the vehicle, soaking into the foal insulation and thus staining my drive (just adding the existing stain from the original leak....). When this was raised with them, the service manager simply just shrugged it off and moved onto a different topic. 

 

Another recent interaction has been regarding the still leaking doors/roof which, apparently as the jeep is now out of warranty, is no longer the problem of the dealership, even though it had been in 3 TIMES during warranty to apparently fix the problem. 

 

They had also tried to charge me a £70 admin fee for a Dart Charge PCN which had been issued whilst using one of their courtesy cars. Although the PCN had been resolved immediately with Dart Charge they still tried to charge me as it was "process". Strangely it happened to just dissapear after I just ignored their emails...

 

..the list goes on.

 

Anyway, after making a formal written complaint some 4 weeks ago, with a chase sent last week I have still yet to hear from anyone at the dealership. I have asked for the branch manager to contact me as I now refuse to speak with the Service Manager but as I sit here writing this, I am yet to hear a peep from the dealership.

 

It would seem that, regardless of the fact that the Wrangler seems to be primarily an enthusiasts car, that we are but an invoice to these dealerships, not wanting to give a monkeys about any form of after sales customer service, let alone hold their hands up when they have made a mistake.

 

Take me back 3/4 years and, with the knowledge I have now, I would have bought a Wrangler from the likes of a Storm or Buzz. Hindsight I suppose.

 

Anyway, this is my rant, in consolidated form. Have a good day all,

 

Signing off,

Chris 

[jerryg]

What is a 'Dart Charge PCN'?

I would find out the CEO of the company and email him/her and raise merry hell. Forget branch managers, they are too low down the food chain!

Have the underside of your Jeep steam cleaned of all the oil and replace the 'foal'. Is that horse hair? LOL, and send them the bill. Tell them that is what you are going to do.

Get your drive re-surfaced and send them the bill, again tell them first.

If all this fails have a field day on social media and shame shame shame them!

[Chris85]

34 minutes ago, jerryg said:

What is a 'Dart Charge PCN'?

I would find out the CEO of the company and email him/her and raise merry hell. Forget branch managers, they are too low down the food chain!

Have the underside of your Jeep steam cleaned of all the oil and replace the 'foal'. Is that horse hair? LOL, and send them the bill. Tell them that is what you are going to do.

Get your drive re-surfaced and send them the bill, again tell them first.

If all this fails have a field day on social media and shame shame shame them!

PCN being a Penalty charge notice (forgot to pay the charge as normally it just gets debited from me when I cross in my own car)

 

And I meant foam

 

I’ve asked the web chat people to email me the transcript. I’ve already had the engineering reports sent to me.

 

and yes, I will be making some very harsh comments on any review pages I can (once issue sorted)

 

Writing to the CEO isn’t a bad idea, will see what I can find. 

[jerryg]

I got the PCN bit but not the Dart Charge bit? Sorry, I'm old!

[BLUE STAR]

Its usually all about time & money

I would suspect the only way you'll get any action is if the dealer can approach JEEP UK and obtain  funding from them for further time & parts to resolve the ongoing  issues, if its out of warranty ?

Would Storm or Buzz fix water leaks etc 'while still under warranty',  or just take it back the dealers where they obtained the vehicle from for such work ?

Leaks were a constant problem on my JK since purchase 2009, but over the years have managed them with keeping the seals lubed and clean around the doors & roof, making sure they contact in the right places.

Green mould & dirt gets in every where. Going to take the roof panels off this week while the weather is dry. (overdue)

There is a certain order to replace the roof panels also. (see manual)

Tailgate leak has never been resolved even after replacing the seals under warranty. ( I think the new guy did that job at the time)

Got water proof tape & rubber sheeting now where the rain leaks through, on to,  backed up with  an absorbent cloth, resting on a weathertech boot liner, plus silicone grease on those seals.

'Leaked searched' by  placing bits of kitchen roll in areas where I suspected ingress may be. All trial & error over time.

However, this is not something you should have to do when spending so much money on what JL's now cost.

My local dealer just 5 miles away has ditched JEEP and is now going to sell & service Lexus only.

Pity as I've built up a good relationship with them over the years (mainly for discounted parts as I do my own stuff) but still handy if I ever needed them.

Nearest dealer now a good hours + away.

[digger]

11 hours ago, jerryg said:

I got the PCN bit but not the Dart Charge bit? Sorry, I'm old!

Hi Jerry, maybe that's why we prefer older cars, less issues and easy to fix. 

We 've been thinking of changing car the problem is ,''what?''  Having looked at many, modern cars are a joke eg having to pay for things I neither want or need, ridiculous complexity which neither dealers nor I can fix, often hard uncomfortable rides and seats plus sales departments who are downright rude and unhelpful! Bah, I'm on the edge of giving up!!

[stewart]

7 hours ago, digger said:

Dart Charge

What happened with that thought it was to pay for the crossing and was meant to be removed once paid for years ago? 

[stewart]

21 hours ago, Chris85 said:

 

Writing to the CEO isn’t a bad idea, will see what I can find

Also have you been in touch with Jeep HQ UK? 

[fen01]

16 hours ago, stewart said:

What happened with that thought it was to pay for the crossing and was meant to be removed once paid for years ago? 

They’re still charging for crossings, unlike the Severn Bridge

[stewart]

On 01/06/2023 at 16:27, fen01 said:

They’re still charging for crossings, unlike the Severn Bridge

Is it still owned by the French ?

[V]

It's claimed to be owned by the UK government but they clearly broke their promise to the nation by continuing charges to at least 2044 despite the crossing debt being paid off in 2003. That must have been a very fat brown envelope for that deal.

Edited June 4 by V

[fen01]

On 04/06/2023 at 15:49, V said:

It's claimed to be owned by the UK government but they clearly broke their promise to the nation by continuing charges to at least 2044 despite the crossing debt being paid off in 2003. That must have been a very fat brown envelope for that deal.

It’s an appalling crossing.  I’ve just had the misfortune of using over the last two weeks.  Drove to Vienna and back.  Did 2500 miles.  The dartford crossing was the only place I hit traffic for what seems to be no real issue.