NHTSA Complaint #10410794 — 2005 JEEP WRANGLER

I PURCHASED MY JEEP WRANGLER RUBICON SAHARA IN JULY 2005. OVER THE YEARS, THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS I HAD WERE THE INFAMOUS SHAKING OF THE CAR AT SPEEDS OVER ABOUT 55MPH AND THE CONSTANT NEED TO JUMP THE CAR AND BUY NEW BATTERIES. THE LATTER PROBLEM SEEMED LIKE SOMETHING I COULD LIVE WITH BUT OVER TIME IT BECAME WORSE AND YOU COULD NO LONGER RELY ON THE CAR TO START. JEEP HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY CAVALIER ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS, BUT THEY ARE REAL. MY CAR NOW HAS ONLY ABOUT 17,000 MILES ON IT BECAUSE OF THE RELIABILITY PROBLEM. IN JANUARY 2011 THERE WAS AN ELECTRICAL EXPLOSION AND SMOKE IN THE CAR. IT WAS TOWED TO LITHIA JEEP IN SANTA FE NM (WHERE I ORIGINALLY BOUGHT IT). THEY COULDN'T REALLY FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM, BUT CHARGED ME FOR SOME REWIRING AND SENT IT BACK TO ME. WITHIN DAYS, THE BATTERY WAS DEAD AGAIN, SO I BOUGHT A NEW BATTERY. WITHIN DAYS, THAT BATTERY WAS DEAD AND THE CAR WAS AGAIN TOWED TO JEEP. THIS TIME, I FILED A FORMAL COMPLAINT WITH CHRYSLER, WHO ACCEPTED THE CASE.THE DEALER FIDDLED AROUND WITH THE CAR WITHOUT SUCCESS FOR A MONTH, BEFORE CHRYSLER AGREED TO ACCEPT MOST OF THE CHARGES FOR A COMPREHENSIVE REWIRING OF THE CAR. THE DEALER ALSO INFORMED ME AT THE TIME THAT IT WAS UNABLE TO DO THE RECALL WORK ON THE CAR'S TRANSMISSION, BECAUSE THE BOLTS SECURING THE TRANSMISSION HAD BEEN STRIPPED AT THE FACTORY. THIS SEEMED ODD TO ME, THAT A DEALER WAS TELLING ME IT COULDN'T DO THE RECALL WORK ON A DANGEROUS CONDITION, SO I JUST HAD TO LIVE WITH IT. IN MARCH THE DEALER COMMENCED THE INTENSIVE REWIRING WORK, AND BY APRIL, THE DEALER SAID THAT THE PROBLEM HAD NOT YET BEEN RESOLVED, SO IT WOULD NEED ADDITIONAL FUNDS FROM CHRYSLER. THIS CARRIED ON INTO MAY, AND I STILL DID NOT HAVE THE CAR. FINALLY, IN LATE MAY, THE DEALER CALLED AND SAID THEY "THOUGHT THE CAR MIGHT BE FIXED" BUT WEREN'T SURE, BECAUSE THE COMPUTER WAS STILL IDENTIFYING AN UNKNOWN DRAIN ON THE BATTERY WITH POTENTIAL ELECTRICAL SHORT IMPLICATIONS. NO MORE PROGRESS. ABOUT $3500 EXPENDED. *TR