Hey John-
The best you can do is just keep trying new dealers. I have had much of the same luck with three dealerships now, so I certainly feel your pain and aggravation. I have brought my Jeep in for a an AC problem since it started to quit on my at 25000 miles. for 25000 more miles they continually tried to fix the problem by charging me either a 100 deductible for the warranty claim or what they deemed was an AC recharge. First they replaced the condenser, the jeep still blew warm air, then 3 recharges and still nothing was fixed. This was almost 2 years, 2 different dealers, 5 trips of bringing it to the dealer for the same AC problem and nothing was fixed though they said they had fixed the problem every single time. All it needed was a recharge! I finally got fed up and took it to my mechanic to let him have a crack at it. He jumped in the Jeep and took a spin with me to feel the problems I was experiencing (Jeep would never have done that since you need an appointment, then after you bring it in it sits on the lot till they can get to it). He then immediately traced the problem to a hose that he thought was clogged that had an inline filter. For the cost of the part, recharge and an hour of labor he would replace the tube with the inline filter and the low pressure switch. I said go ahead and a week later I had extremely cold air conditioning like I had never before. Amazing that he found the problem on day one and the dealer just kept pushing me aside, making me spend more and more money and time on a simple $70 part! So frustrating! What did I pay for when I got this warranty? is the question I have been asking myself! I almost wished I had saved the $500 I had spent on recharges and deductibles and just paid my mech once to get it done right. And BTW it is amazing to be cool and comfortable when the humidity gets high, I will never take AC for granted again!
Now my second problem has been a leaking front pinion seal on my diff. Thats a whole other problem that I won't bore you with the details. Lets just say I have brought the Jeep in 4 times now for the same leak. They have charged me a deductible every time, and have even held the jeep for over week waiting on parts. Plus the annoyance of making appts, and wasting time driving back and forth from the dealer, renting a replacement while they are "fixing" the problem. I could have probably purchased the steel diff by now!
So, in the end I think dealerships are the luck of the draw of which we have been losing at repeatedly. I have a 100000mile warranty and wished I didn't sometimes. I'm asking myself constantly what I am paying for and a call to DC does nothing! They have reimbursed me for car rentals as per my warranty plan, but everything else is on my own. It's also hard to get a dealer to warranty stuff once the Jeep is modified depending on the part, so I have been lucky in that they have been warranting my diff so far. But if it is part of a TSB, as in your case, I would think they can fix it and have you on your way...
The way a dealer sees a warranty repair is they are making no money on the repair. So they do as little as possible to keep the Jeep running, and you annoyed at the lack of service and competency. AND then keep you coming back to hopefully try and get you into something new. They have offered me a few times of getting me into something more "offroad worthy", I kinda laughed since my KJ is somewhat offroad worthy so far with the mods I have done. But the repairs and warranty claims have been nothing but a headache.
Lets just say if you are going to a stealership, stay away from Browns, and Westbury in my past experience. I've been trying out Smithtown the dealer I had originally purchased my Jeep at, and so far they have treated me good. I have to bring the Jeep back for another leaky pinion seal!
this month when I have some down time, so I will keep you updated on how they deal with me! I have another40000 miles on my warranty and I hope I can get some good use out of it before then. Good luck John, and I am also sorry to hear of your negative dealings with the stealer!~END OF RANT!
