RFCRD wrote:
It's good to have a contact at VM Motori that appears to be listening. What is the e-mail address? They may be helpful if contacted by numerous owners showing concern over the long-term maintainability of their engine.
I have no concerns with the engine... the rest of the stuff around it I do have considerable concerns with. I know you could consider the EGR valve part of the engine-- but is really designed for European fuel and I blame the EGR fiasco on DC corporate for not respecing it for the American market-- that is not VM's fault. It is the EGR, broke CCV valve (another cheap half arsed emissions item), ball joints, transmission, and exploding front differentials that I have reliability/maintainability concerns with. The motor is only thing that seems to work perfectly in this thing. Other than the EGR, and the resulting glow plug failure that hamfisted DC service techs cause when they try to fix the EGR on the cheap, I have not heard anyone complain about these motors. I also tend to think that the EGR will get better with the improved fuel and the new redesign.
In short I blame all our problems on DC cheap arsed accountants, not VM. But give DC enough time, and they will ruin VM too. DC operates on the Wal-Mart methodology: "How cheap and how bad of service can we have before we loose our customers?" My family has always had DC products while i was growing up, and many relatives worked for Chrysler, but they are just substandard when it comes to service and doing it right the first time. My sister is annoyed at her Dodge mini-van which blew the tranny at 35,000 miles. My mother now has a Buick, after tiring of problems with her last Dodge. My dad is in a Toyota, and my other vehicle is a Toyota (Which I have had 0 problems with and no recalls in the 5 years I have owned it). I know that I love my CRD, but I will probably not buy another Jeep because of my service experience with this vehicle-- and I for sure will not buy any of their other DC product (Chrysler, Mercedes, Dodge). Heaven help Jeep if Toyota makes a diesel FJ, I will be seriously tempted. If my tranny issue is not resolved to my satisfaction, I will be getting a lawyer anyway. Shame on u DC.