2018+ Wrangler JL

[PWMDMD]

Any JL owners out there? I was looking at JL Wranglers last year and stayed away due to what I assumed were "first year issues" and ended up with an RX 350. My business partner who is a long time Wrangler guy traded in his trusty JK for a 2018 JL Sport and has had tons of issues. I went back to the JL forums and the 2019 Wrangler's seem to have more problems than the 2018's had. The number of major issues (steering, electrical issues, start/stop, engine, transmission fit and finish) is astronomical. The repeated stories about dealerships being unable to diagnose and fix problems is astronomical. The number of vehicles out of service for >30 days invoking Lemon Laws is astronomical. Is FCA/Jeep that incompetent? Does anyone here have a JL that is problem-free? Partner is seriously considering getting rid of his Wrangle but is hesitating because "Maybe I'm past all the problems now". My take is clearly Jeep has no idea what it's doing and most of the problems are serious design/engineering flaws and that these are all ticking time bombs. I know the joke's on me since Wranglers are selling like hotcakes which makes it even worse that Jeep couldn't manufacture a halfway decently reliable vehicle.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by PWMDMD

Any JL owners out there. I was looking at JL Wranglers last year and stayed away due to what I assumed were "first year issues" and ended up with an RX 350. My business partner who is a long time Wrangler guy traded in his trusty JK for a 2018 JL Sport and has had tons of issues. I went back to the JL forums and the 2019 Wrangler's seem to have more problems than the 2018's had. The number of major issues (steering, electrical issues, start/stop, engine, transmission fit and finish) is astronomical. The repeated stories about dealerships being unable to diagnose and fix problems is astronomical. The number of vehicles out of service for >30 days invoking Lemon Laws is astronomical. Is FCA/Jeep that incompetent? Does anyone here have a JL that is problem-free? Partner is seriously considering getting rid of his Wrangle but is hesitating because "Maybe I'm past all the problems now". My take is clearly Jeep has no idea what it's doing and most of the problems are serious design/engineering flaws and that these are all ticking time bombs. I know the joke's on me since Wranglers are selling like hotcakes which makes it even worse that Jeep couldn't manufacture a halfway decently reliable vehicle.

While I agree about staying away from anything first year, I wouldn't consider the JL problems "astronomical." I'm a moderator on a Jeep forum. There are some reported issues, nothing out of the ordinary, the board isn't overloaded with JL problems. Aside from true enthusiasts looking to learn or share, people often join message boards to sound off about problems, not many join to praise products.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted by PWMDMD

Is FCA/Jeep that incompetent? Does anyone here have a JL that is problem-free? Partner is seriously considering getting rid of his Wrangle but is hesitating because "Maybe I'm past all the problems now". My take is clearly Jeep has no idea what it's doing and most of the problems are serious design/engineering flaws and that these are all ticking time bombs. I know the joke's on me since Wranglers are selling like hotcakes which makes it even worse that Jeep couldn't manufacture a halfway decently reliable vehicle.

Yes, Jeep/FCA is that incompetent. There is a reason why they are at the bottom of most (if not all) quality and dependability ratings. Has been that way since, well, forever. People may be catching on as Jeep sales are down 2 months in a row: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-jeep-suv-sales-fall-fca-20190301-story.html Wrangler was off 5.9% last month and so was the Grand Cherokee.

 

[PWMDMD]

Originally Posted by demarpaint

Originally Posted by PWMDMD

Any JL owners out there. I was looking at JL Wranglers last year and stayed away due to what I assumed were "first year issues" and ended up with an RX 350. My business partner who is a long time Wrangler guy traded in his trusty JK for a 2018 JL Sport and has had tons of issues. I went back to the JL forums and the 2019 Wrangler's seem to have more problems than the 2018's had. The number of major issues (steering, electrical issues, start/stop, engine, transmission fit and finish) is astronomical. The repeated stories about dealerships being unable to diagnose and fix problems is astronomical. The number of vehicles out of service for >30 days invoking Lemon Laws is astronomical. Is FCA/Jeep that incompetent? Does anyone here have a JL that is problem-free? Partner is seriously considering getting rid of his Wrangle but is hesitating because "Maybe I'm past all the problems now". My take is clearly Jeep has no idea what it's doing and most of the problems are serious design/engineering flaws and that these are all ticking time bombs. I know the joke's on me since Wranglers are selling like hotcakes which makes it even worse that Jeep couldn't manufacture a halfway decently reliable vehicle.

While I agree about staying away from anything first year, I wouldn't consider the JL problems "astronomical." I'm a moderator on a Jeep forum. There are some reported issues, nothing out of the ordinary, the board isn't overloaded with JL problems. Aside from true enthusiasts looking to learn or share, people often join message boards to sound off about problems, not many join to praise products.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com Not sure which forum you moderate but the one above is [censored] show. I've spent a lot of time on many many forums over the last 20 years and the number of consistently the same major complaints on that forum is astronomical. These are not oh sorry you got drew the short straw and someone didn't torque the bolt to specification problems....these are that wasn't designed/manufactured properly problems. It makes for an entertaining if not scary read. Yes, people join forums to complain but there is still a ratio of complaint to non-complaint posts that tells you something about the vehicles. There's also how consistently the same issues are being brought up by different people. Ex. My Honda Pilot just had to have a seal in the rear differential replaced because it was leaking at 15K miles. I have not found a single complaint on any board with this issue = drew the short straw but not a wide-spread problem. Now if 15 people posted about it in the last month...there are bigger issues there.

 

[VNTS]

Have a loaded Sahara, 18 Sept build. not a single issue. Only have 3700 miles on it. Steering is fine, but have a Falcon stabilzer and steer smarts trackbar to put on, along with a dynomax delete pipe. Have a Volant with Powercore filter on it. Have the dual tops, need to swap the hard top for the soft top once it warms up and get the tube doors put on. Avg about 23 mpg so far, no electrical issues and build quality is good, I ripped a lot of stuff apart rust proofing it. It is as good as my Hemi Overland and SRT, wouldnt blink an eye buying one, wife loves it!

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by PWMDMD

Originally Posted by demarpaint

Originally Posted by PWMDMD

Any JL owners out there. I was looking at JL Wranglers last year and stayed away due to what I assumed were "first year issues" and ended up with an RX 350. My business partner who is a long time Wrangler guy traded in his trusty JK for a 2018 JL Sport and has had tons of issues. I went back to the JL forums and the 2019 Wrangler's seem to have more problems than the 2018's had. The number of major issues (steering, electrical issues, start/stop, engine, transmission fit and finish) is astronomical. The repeated stories about dealerships being unable to diagnose and fix problems is astronomical. The number of vehicles out of service for >30 days invoking Lemon Laws is astronomical. Is FCA/Jeep that incompetent? Does anyone here have a JL that is problem-free? Partner is seriously considering getting rid of his Wrangle but is hesitating because "Maybe I'm past all the problems now". My take is clearly Jeep has no idea what it's doing and most of the problems are serious design/engineering flaws and that these are all ticking time bombs. I know the joke's on me since Wranglers are selling like hotcakes which makes it even worse that Jeep couldn't manufacture a halfway decently reliable vehicle.

While I agree about staying away from anything first year, I wouldn't consider the JL problems "astronomical." I'm a moderator on a Jeep forum. There are some reported issues, nothing out of the ordinary, the board isn't overloaded with JL problems. Aside from true enthusiasts looking to learn or share, people often join message boards to sound off about problems, not many join to praise products.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com Not sure which forum you moderate but the one above is [censored] show. I've spent a lot of time on many many forums over the last 20 years and the number of consistently the same major complaints on that forum is astronomical. These are not oh sorry you got drew the short straw and someone didn't torque the bolt to specification problems....these are that wasn't designed/manufactured properly problems. It makes for an entertaining if not scary read.

Never heard of it. I'm at www.wranglerforum.com. I take a lot of what I read at forums with a grain of salt. Having said that I would give the JL until 2020 before considering one.

 

[PWMDMD]

Originally Posted by demarpaint

Originally Posted by PWMDMD

Originally Posted by demarpaint

Originally Posted by PWMDMD

Any JL owners out there. I was looking at JL Wranglers last year and stayed away due to what I assumed were "first year issues" and ended up with an RX 350. My business partner who is a long time Wrangler guy traded in his trusty JK for a 2018 JL Sport and has had tons of issues. I went back to the JL forums and the 2019 Wrangler's seem to have more problems than the 2018's had. The number of major issues (steering, electrical issues, start/stop, engine, transmission fit and finish) is astronomical. The repeated stories about dealerships being unable to diagnose and fix problems is astronomical. The number of vehicles out of service for >30 days invoking Lemon Laws is astronomical. Is FCA/Jeep that incompetent? Does anyone here have a JL that is problem-free? Partner is seriously considering getting rid of his Wrangle but is hesitating because "Maybe I'm past all the problems now". My take is clearly Jeep has no idea what it's doing and most of the problems are serious design/engineering flaws and that these are all ticking time bombs. I know the joke's on me since Wranglers are selling like hotcakes which makes it even worse that Jeep couldn't manufacture a halfway decently reliable vehicle.

While I agree about staying away from anything first year, I wouldn't consider the JL problems "astronomical." I'm a moderator on a Jeep forum. There are some reported issues, nothing out of the ordinary, the board isn't overloaded with JL problems. Aside from true enthusiasts looking to learn or share, people often join message boards to sound off about problems, not many join to praise products.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com Not sure which forum you moderate but the one above is [censored] show. I've spent a lot of time on many many forums over the last 20 years and the number of consistently the same major complaints on that forum is astronomical. These are not oh sorry you got drew the short straw and someone didn't torque the bolt to specification problems....these are that wasn't designed/manufactured properly problems. It makes for an entertaining if not scary read.

Never heard of it. I'm at www.wranglerforum.com. I take a lot of what I read at forums with a grain of salt. Having said that I would give the JL until 2020 before considering one.

It's a large active JL forum....FWIW the number of posts just in their problem section is equal to the sum of all posts on your forum.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by PWMDMD

It's a large active JL forum....FWIW the number of posts just in their problem section is equal to the sum of all posts on your forum.

I think you are referring to their problem forum and our JL forum. Either way I still maintain people often join forums to sound off. They have problems, all mfgs. have problems. In some recent reading here about the hemi you'd think every single hemi equipped vehicle was destined to have a cam failure. It just isn't so.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted by VNTS

Have a loaded Sahara, 18 Sept build. not a single issue. Only have 3700 miles on it. Steering is fine, but have a Falcon stabilzer and steer smarts trackbar to put on, along with a dynomax delete pipe. Have a Volant with Powercore filter on it. Have the dual tops, need to swap the hard top for the soft top once it warms up and get the tube doors put on. Avg about 23 mpg so far, no electrical issues and build quality is good, I ripped a lot of stuff apart rust proofing it. It is as good as my Hemi Overland and SRT, wouldnt blink an eye buying one, wife loves it!

Sorry, but you actually own one- so your experience really isn't relevant. In contrast, If you'd never even sat in an FCA product and were quoting fifth-hand hearsay your comments would be treated as immutable truth.

 

[VNTS]

"Any JL owners out there?" The OP asked if anyone on here owned one, and I replied but in typical BITOG assery, people come out of the woodwork to comment on something they have no first had experience!

 

[AZjeff]

A friend has had a 4 door Rubicon for 13 months/ 19k miles, only thing was a recall for a module something early. Had a 3" lift and larger tires probably before the 2nd tank of gas because that's what Jeep guys do. Completely happy with it. He sold a Toureg TDI back to VW that had 150k trouble free miles to buy the new Rubicon.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted by VNTS

"Any JL owners out there?" The OP asked if anyone on here owned one, and I replied but in typical BITOG assery, people come out of the woodwork to comment on something they have no first had experience!

But wait- there's more! The next tactic of the BITOG Read Tester Brigade will be to label you as a "fanboy."

 

[PWMDMD]

It's good to know there are some problem-free Wranglers out there. I didn't know what tell my partner as far would I keep it or get rid of it. I suppose as long as it's in warranty it's minimal risk and if he doesn't have anymore problems it could be a keeper. As I said I've owned so many cars from so many brands and never had any major issues....most of those vehicles driven at least 60K miles. Granted they've mostly been from manufactures known for good if not excellent reliability so when you start reading about frame welds separating, death wobbles in the steering and constant U-Connect issues AND Jeep doesn't seem to have any idea how to fix some of it....well it's concerning.

 

[double vanos]

If every person reading what they see in any forum applied that knowledge to buying a car, there'd be no car sales! Lots of times the complaints on a thread are limited to 15- 20 contributors going back and forth over a certain issue on a vehicle with 2 million of them on the road. It's scary at times. Yet if you mention a problem to someone who doesn't frequent forums about the car they're driving you'll get "really? Hadn't heard that. Mines doing fine. Wonder what that's all about...." That's not to say forums are like that all the time, many times they alert you to something you might want to check out via other sources just to confirm the true depth of the problem.

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by VNTS

"Any JL owners out there?" The OP asked if anyone on here owned one, and I replied but in typical BITOG assery, people come out of the woodwork to comment on something they have no first had experience!

Well of course, it's not a Toyota or a Lexus, therefore it is absolute trash.

 

[Srt20]

I own a 18 JLUR with 2.0T. No problems so far. Low miles yet. Its a toy for us, actually its my wife's toy. I also own a 18 f150 Ecoboost that has no problems so far. Though online its junk... And a 14 Durango that has been problem free as well. Though online FCA only makes junk... I am on the JL forum, and alot of the "problems" are people coming from a mid-range sedan, or a higher end german suv, and they buy a Jeep Wrangler. They drive it over the first set of rough train tracks and think the steering is falling apart. They are used to nice tight rack steering, and then they get into vehicle with 2 solid axles, trackbar, and steering box and it scares them to death. If I believed half of the horror stories I read online, I'd only be able to walk anywhere.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by Srt20

If I believed half of the horror stories I read online, I'd only be able to walk anywhere.

Ain't that the truth.

 

[Andrew1972]

First year vehicles typically have teething issues.

 

[E365]

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by E365

Vehicles with high centers of gravity are more prone to rollovers. I'm surprised it did as well as it did, considering you can remove half the body as well as lay down the windshield with a nothing more than a ratchet and a torx 40 and 50 bit.