OMG, Not again...

Danno · **Posted:** Mon Dec 26, 2005 12:42 am

On my way home from the inlaws on Christmas Eve, decide to get my christmas stash of beer. Go in to the store come out and the door look for the driver side is not working any more.. Will lock via inside switch or remote but not unlock. Just great, another trip to the dealer.. I am really starting to get fed up with my CRD now. To much stupid stuff going wrong. Is there any phone number for DC that I can call and complain?

So far,
1 Bad EGR
2 Bad Glow Plugs
Now a bad door lock on christmas eve...

Whats next...

Sorry for the ranting, just gets to me, never had these kind of problems before, not even with a used car.

longarm · **Posted:** Mon Dec 26, 2005 2:29 am

He, He, He, He, Just wait until you have to replace your starter and have your egr valve replaced. My CRD sounds like your in a wind tunnel when going anything above 25 mph due to an unsolvable problem with the rr door. Overall I love the thing though, if I could do it over again, I wouldn't have bought it. I would have saved my $$ and bought an XJ for the family instead. A good solid XJ would be a 1/3 the price.

oldnavy · **Posted:** Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:20 am

longarm wrote:

He, He, He, He, Just wait until you have to replace your starter and have your egr valve replaced. My CRD sounds like your in a wind tunnel when going anything above 25 mph due to an unsolvable problem with the rr door. Overall I love the thing though, if I could do it over again, I wouldn't have bought it. I would have saved my $$ and bought an XJ for the family instead. A good solid XJ would be a 1/3 the price.

We had the RR noise problem and was fixed by the dealer. Other then that nothing but 4000 miles of no problems other then the price of fuel. Looking forward to the Biodiesel plants starting production next summer.

Ranger1 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:40 pm **Posts:** 1137

And balancing out the lopsided RR rear door nosie problem, I had LR rear door wind noise. Dealer replaced the small glass and its been quiet and trouble free ever since. EGR seems to be known and almost expected issue on most of the 05's. A few have not had the EGR issue, but most do. Bad glow plugs can be traced to overuse stress when the EGR malfunctions.

My neighbor has one of the "reliable" XJ's. Had it since it was new. Squirts oil down the engine like there's no tommorow. Endless valve cover gaskets don't fix it. Engine blown at 100,000 miles, while returning from a road trip, leaving them stranded on the side of the road - replaced and it still leaks oil. Ball joints - can't keep them on long enough to justify the cost of replacing them. Electrical problems on nearly every component. Heater cores leak until replaced with another, now at 3rd heater core in 10 years. Exhaust manifold cracked at the joint at 60,000 - another well known XJ "reliable" component. Oil pump worn on first engine and had to be replaced at 50,000. Mileage - 14 mpg on average, due to lots of stoplights. The beast is durable, but far from reliable. Ride comfort - forget it - in comparison to a KJ, it feels like a tank on pavement. In contrast, I have my other KJ, a 4 year old Limited model, which has had one ball joint recall, and one door lock replaced under warranty. Still 6years to go to catch up with the XJ record, but not even close in comparison.

She finally gave up on it this winter - she went and bought a Prius...

My point is any vehicle can have problems. If you really hate your CRD that much, sell it and buy a used "reliable" XJ. Better yet, advertise the CRD in California or New York and sell it there for close to what you paid for it. There are plenty of used XJ's sitting on carlots and going for peanuts. Not worth fuming about a door lock and EGR valve when you could have a used 14 mpg XJ!

Danno · **Posted:** Mon Dec 26, 2005 2:34 pm

Yea I hear ya, we have a Wrangler that gets about 12 mpg if we are lucky. Nothing has ever warrantied a trip to the dealer in that thing, and its got 90.000 miles on it. Im just sick of going to the dealer every other week and being with out a car.

Well, at least they know who I am when I pull the libby in, and now they have the paper work finished before I even get out of the car. Even the porter knows where I work now and doesnt need me to give him directions.

RedJeepCRD · **Posted:** Mon Dec 26, 2005 3:44 pm

This is something all vehicle owners deal with. You might as well count on going to the dealership eventually while your jeep or any other vehicle is under warranty. Some people have good luck and seemingly never have to go, then some of us get stuck with the vehicle that was built on Monday morning by a worker with a weekend hangover. Just remember that your not alone and that everyone deals with this. When you get no joy out of driving your vehicle it's time to trade or deal with the depression.

Wes

longarm · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2005 7:52 am

..........

Ranger1 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:40 pm **Posts:** 1137

Hey now... this is a KJ forum... If I want to hear all the XJ blather that goes on, I can go to the other boards. I never bought the argument that the I6 was the best engine ever built. It was durable, but it leaked oil like a sieve, had problems just like any other engine. Once you hit 70 on the Interstate, it sounds like what it is - an old design dating from the early 60's, not really designed for highway travel. Period. Just like a lot of Chevy, Fords, and IHC straight sixes of that era.

If you really believe what you posted - " Overall I love the thing though, if I could do it over again, I wouldn't have bought it. I would have saved my $$ and bought an XJ for the family instead. A good solid XJ would be a 1/3 the price." - then you really should sell your CRD and buy your XJ at one third the price. There are plenty available for very little money. I would say you would have little trouble selling your CRD until you lifted it. Private parties and dealers don't seem to like lifted vehicles - it suits off-roaders far better, but that reduces your population of sales targets.

The"reliable" quotes are mine. I'm amused when I read posts that infer that long lasting and durable are a substitute for reliable. In your case, the comparison was the XJ to the CRD with "unsolvable" problems. What does that infer? The cost arugment is true - you could have bought a used XJ for a lot less. But that's a decision issue, not a CRD problem.

The two people I know personally who own (or did until recently) XJs had lots of miles, lots of $$$ repair bills, and lots of breakdowns with their XJ models. Both liked the Jeep brand, but both have abandoned Jeep for Ford and Toyota respectively due to the excessive repair bills and constant breakdowns. The repair bills alone didn't even drive them away, it was the unreliability factor that finally sent them packing. Others whom I don't know, post that they like the XJ because they were easy to work on, dirt cheap to buy and maintain, cheap to lift and it was their baby -and they ignored their baby when it cried. I used to own a military M38A1 which I bought at auction and rebuilt completely. I did lots of offroading in that jeep, and it's the only vehicle I really counted as a true offroad Jeep. But I didn't fool myself into thinking that it was better than the new CJ's of the time because it was cheaper to buy and run.

What usually happens when the XJ vs KJ topic comes up is a lot of XJ trolls jump in and dust off their favorite arguments - mostly I suspect because their wives won't listen to it anymore. So lets not get that started here. So please don't drag all those silly "XJ is better" (quotes are mine) arguments that plague all the other Jeep boards on a KJ forum. I like this board for the fact that its purpose is for KJ's....

Enjoy your CRD.

jinstall · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2005 5:46 am

I am a noob here but IU have to say this I hear all the time bad and good about cars. I have a 2000 Neon auto and a 2001 Focus 5spd race car. Both of these cars have been "known" to have problems. Well I have had them both in Germany and run the ever living piss out of them on th autobahns. Here is the tally:

Neon since new:
Battery
Camshaft Sensor
Tires
front brakes complete
Starter
tailight( hit in parking lot and cheaper to fix on my own)

Focus and mind you that it is a race car and I have beat on this car daily since delivery in April 2001
8 sets of tires
5 sets of front brakes complete
DPFE sensor (warranty $15 part)
replaced suspension with race coilovers custom made by H&R
replaced exaust to race exaust stock is still like new
Silicon brake fluid flushes
$90 to change the oil every 3000 miles and I do it myself

Neon 52,000 miles Focus 43,000 miles both car see/saw 100mph+ daily. I am a true believer in fixing what needs to be fixed or replace it while you are in there. I am also getting a 92 Geo Tracker 4x4 as a winter beater (nice actually) that I have been working on for a soldier and she crashed it . It has minor damage but I will fix it as time allows. I was taught this by my grandfather and had to teach my dad this. Cheap is the wrong way and do it right the first time. he know knows this and all his trucks run great. So people say I am anal about upkeep of the cars but I think it is worth it. The CRD is a great motor and that is why I chose it over a 2002 MB ML400CDi.

grywlfbg · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:26 pm

I have to agree w/ jinstall. Not that the CRD isn't having some teething problems, we all should have expected that - I did. I think Jeep did a smart thing by offering the longer warranty for the first year. That along w/ the employee pricing made me go for the '05 instead of an '06.

But it really comes down to maintenance. My Dad was anal about his cars and has passed that on to me. He currently has 278k miles on his 1980 BMW 733i and 194k miles on his '91 Chevy pickup. You just have to do things a lot of people don't do - also I think doing your own iol changes and such allows you to spot potential problems before they leave you on the side of the road like worn belts, oil, diff, or xmission leaks, etc.

Now all of this to say that as cars become increasingly computerized, you can do everything right and sometimes some sensor somwhere just goes South and leaves you stranded. Sure it sucks but cars today are WAY more reliable than they were 50 years ago. Same for motorcycles - my Dad used to tell me stories of fixing chains and replacing points by the side of the road. That just doesn't interest me in the slightest.

The fact that we're on this board means that we're more interested in the KJ than most people - I'm looking forward to the day when we of the mechanically inclined will be able to have a nice computerized interface into the car where it could tell us of approaching problems, not after they happen and also allow us to clear codes and potentially override bad sensors, etc. I'm young enough to be glad that I can tune my motorcycle w/ a laptop instead of swapping carb needles and changing jets.

Got off on a bit of a tangent there but my point is that it's almost impossible to buy a bad car these days but if you want a car that you take to Jiffy Lube and otherwise don't touch it for 100k - go buy a Civic. I bought the CRD because it's new and complicated. I've never owned a diesel before so it's been fun installing a provent and such and I'm looking forward to a new muffler and other things. Yes, my KJ hasn't ever left me stranded so that could change my opinion. Since finding this board I installed a provent at 2k miles and so far (6k miles) no EGR. My only problem is the tranny shudder and I need to crawl under the Jeep to make sure my tranny # fits the TSB but it's been raining a lot lately and don't want to get wet

So have fun w/ it.

grywlfbg · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:27 pm

dupe post - Sorry.

grywlfbg · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:28 pm

dupe post - Sorry.

grywlfbg · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:38 pm

dupe post - Sorry.

Ricky5 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2005 4:32 pm

I have both the KJ and an XJ. I've been thinking about getting rid of the KJ. I like my KJ, but I like my XJ a whole lot more. I'm not the type of person that sells a vehicle or trades it in. I buy something to keep it for the life of the vehicle. So the problems that are arising with the KJ bother me quite a bit. I've got 80k on my XJ and never have had one problem with it. It's almost sad what DC is doing with their "Jeeps".

warblade666 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2005 9:46 pm

1996 XJ with over 105,000 miles and have had no problems. Had to get new water pump & fan clutch just last year, new front & rear brakes this year. I think a new 3core radiator next year (2cores suck).

We have had more problems with our 2004 KJ at 15,000 miles Than we ever have with our XJ.

I think the XJ drives better too (the wife would disagree) because a Jeep should drive like a Jeep - not like a Honda.

jinstall · **Posted:** Fri Dec 30, 2005 6:40 am

The KJ is the only thing offered in a AWD/4X4 and not as big as a house (Dodge/Ford/GM) that my wife can drive. I have a very narrow drive and a full size truck will not fit without tearing the door handles off. I wanted a ML400CDi but there is no word on if DC is going to bring the 400CDi to the US or not. That is a 75,000 euro car($92,000). Teh E320CDi does not come in a 4matic. VW does not offer the TDi in Syncro. The BMW 330XiTD is not avalible either or that would have been my choice. You can even get the Grand Cherokee in CRD here. Alas EPA has banned me from bringing in cars that I like to use in the US.

BTH the 2004 ML 400CDi with 3 adults, 2 kids and baggage gets 23.4mpg at 102mph on the autobahn. For a pig it will pretty much pull away from most sporty cars from a light.

grywlfbg · **Posted:** Mon Jan 02, 2006 1:22 pm

I think it's a little unfair to compare tha XJ w/ KJ CRD's since XJ's have been in production since what '83? They better have figured the darn thing out after 13 years.

The problems we're having by and large are with new (or new to the US) components. There are always teething problems w/ new models - I don't care if it's a Porsche or a Honda. First model year Honda S2000's had several problems. It happens.

So you can either buy a first model year vehicle and be prepared to deal with these problems or wait and get the next year after they've worked out the kinks. As I said before, I think DC made a nice gesture to offer the extended warranty for the '05's - they didn't have to do that.

OMG, Not again...

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