When is "enogh is enough"

jmoomaw · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2015 5:05 am

I bought the CRD 7 years ago with 40,000 miles on her. Unfortunately the fellow who sold it to me through ebay (who didn't honor the warranty) sent it with the check engine light on. Could have paid 3,000 more for a NYS vehicle that requires dealers to sell an inspectable vehicle. I have average $2,500 to $4,000 in maintenance every year but one or two. I run 35,000 miles per year and am now up to 210,000 miles. I pull a trailer and plow my two small to medium size parking lots (and my driveway of course). I expect to put more money into service because of the high use.

Over the years I have:
Rebuilt and valves
rebuilt transmission
new turbo
two timing belts
new driving shaft for front
new bearing in one of the front wheels

Most of these I would consider wear and tear on the vehicle given the use????

She has not run well for a year...poor turbo response if any even with a new turbo and that will be the next issue to address. I know I will need another drive shaft in the front due to turning during plowing (even though I became much more gentle and careful in my steering).

Here is the question:

Is this normal for a heavily used vehicle or is my CRD way above normal for the use I am giving it? I had hoped to keep it for three more years until I sell the business which looks like another $12,000 in maintenance.

What say you all?

thermorex · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:41 am

I personally think you got a crd and treat it like a heavy duty Cummins. Side my thoughts, the quality of the vehicle is not stellar. You need lots of mods to make it work properly and maintenance is probably more important to be done on time than other vehicles. This is just my opinion. If I would buy a vehicle for plowing snow and tow trailers, I'd probably get some year 2000-ish Cummins, or an older version without any computers. Also, I think you can't even buy the crd from NY, so it must be out of state and also some other conditions, don't they have "a war on diesels"? At least passenger vehicles.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:47 am

Lets see...

30,000 miles a year
Lots of towing
and pushing a snow plow

I'd say that puts your CRD into the extreme severe duty category.

Are your maintenance costs normal?
Probably.
I dont know of anyone else who is operating their CRD in the same way.
But yours seems to be holding up pretty well.

I would be more concerned about your suspension components being worn out.
Front upper and lower ball joints.
Rear lower control arms are known to get rusty and break.
If you are not running OME springs in the front I suspect that your stock springs are worn out and sagging.

Pablo · **Joined:** Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:06 pm **Posts:** 1201

I put mine down the road many moons ago. I used it for commuting and off-roading. My maintenance cost was not that different than yours, and I had lots of work done under warranty. I consider the level of maintenance needed with a CRD ridiculously excessive and was glad to see it go. It was great when it worked, but that was not enough to make it worth what I had to put into it. I would never consider another VM powered vehicle, and would not consider anything made by Diamler Fiatsler outside of a JK or a RAM truck with a Cummin's in it.

The breaking point was when I realized there was never an end to the weak engineering points in the vehicle. You fix up the transmission with aftermarket parts, the turbo hose blows, you fix that, the air in the fuel starts, you fix that, the turbo goes, or the head, or the water pump, or the power steering unit that costs 3x the gas one, or the glow plug takes the motor out. It just never ends. I don't mind putting money into something to make it right, but there is no way to ever make this thing reliable short of replacing the powertrain. That is what most of the people on this site are doing. They are replacing the power train with redesigned aftermarket parts-- part by part. We could have bought a 4x4 Cummin's or a JK Rubicon new for the same money we pumped into these things to get maybe 8 mpg more than a gasser. Saving $4000 a year on maintenance and not having to jump through hoops for parts gives me piece of mind and buys alot of gas / diesel.

I would look for a Gen 1 or older Gen 2 Dodge Cummins, if I wanted a heavy duty snowplow at a decent price. For light duty, even a gas 1/2 ton 4x4 would do better expense and maintenance wise.

rankom · **Posted:** Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:53 pm

Pablo is right 100% this jeep is only good as spare vehicle , you can not trust it, thats why i drive jetta tdi 5 speed all the time , because it is problem free car , and yes cummins5.9 a specially older one with mechanical fuel pump , no ecm . will take you anywhere and you know back home. with jeep crd you never know if you need to stay over night.

dirtmover · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:08 am

Looking at your list I'd suggest your maintenance experience is par for the course for such extreme service.

...but you seem to suggest you've spent at least $2500/year for 5 of the 7 years for a total of at least $12,500 which sounds high.

They make for a fun and unique hobby vehicle but I don't trust mine to get me to work and back every day never mind trying to rely on it as a business vehicle.

Mountainman · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2015 11:14 am

hmm, I bought mine with 164k miles for $8k, and put about $3k into it immediately. It has never left me stranded, and I take it on the longest, most remote dirt roads in the lower 48 (Elk City, Idaho to Darby, Montana). Maybe I'll have a brisk 50 mile walk one of these days :ROTFL:

Now, If I had paid $25k for it new, I'm sure I would be very unhappy, but I never buy new vehicles. I prefer to let someone else soak up the $17k of depreciation...

:POPCORN:

flash7210 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2015 12:51 pm

Not every CRD owner has had problems.
Mine went 160,000 trouble free miles until I had to replace the cylinder head.
And before that, the three times I had to have a tow truck bring me home were not because of the engine or transmission. The engine and transmission are the only parts that make the CRD different from every other Jeep Liberty.

Look at it this way.
There are a whole lot of CRD owners that dont post their problems here on this forum.
So, they either:
a. Have never had any serious problems
or
b. Have a very good mechanic to take it to

thermorex · **Posted:** Wed Sep 09, 2015 12:40 pm

I agree with flash, most people that drive the crd as a regular kj don't have all those issues. Plus these crds are getting old, every car starts screaming for parts after 10 years. This is not to say the vehicle is flawless, but most issues are due to Chrysler being the cheap company we all know.

When is "enogh is enough"

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