What would you do? *Unfixable JKU issue*

AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
So, a little background first. I own a 2014 JKU with factory half doors, which I ordered from Jeep and was delivered in February of 2014. I never had an issue with the Jeep, shy of an axle shaft failure from off-roading. A little while ago, I developed a small drip from the drivers side front corner of the door. It was not terrible, but leaked nonetheless. While having the oil changed, the tech at the dealership noticed the leak at said if we could leave it for a few days, they could get it fixed under warranty. A few days later I receive a call stating it was fixed, so I picked it up. The next time it rained I noticed right away all of the door were leaking, so I took it back. Since then, it has been back about 7 or 8 times, and each time I get it back it leaks worse. It is to the point that the occupants get pretty wet on the side that faces the door, no matter where you sit in the rig. This last time, a leak specialist from the Jeep corporation was flown in to fix it.
I received a call a few days ago from the dealership, and was told the leaks could not be repaired. They said they even got Jeep Corporate involved and no one could fix it. They gave me 3 options. I could walk away with my Jeep and try to repair it myself. I could give up my half doors and they will replace them with full steel doors. I would prefer not to do this, as I absolutely love the half doors and they were the main reason I ordered my Jeep rather than get on off the lot. The last option is, Chrysler is on board to do an MSRP to MSRP swap. I am awaiting a call from Jeeps 3rd party agency for more info on what kind of deal we could get on this.
My thoughts are, if I could pay the MSRP difference and could start over with a Rubicon Unlimited, then it may be worth it to swap. I could build it up again pretty quickly (I could have it completely built by this summer), and have a more capable rig then what I have now. If that is not possible, then I am tempted to just try to repair the leaks myself and continue with my build, which will include axles, larger tires, new suspension, etc. I actually already started ordering a few parts for the up coming build, but can use them on either my current rig, or a new one, so I will keep the parts I have already ordered.
I am just curious, what option would you take and why? Has anyone here ever done an MSRP to MSRP swap? If so, how did it go and what should I be looking out for? It has been very frustrating these last few days, and the fact that I keep going back and forth in my head tells me I am not thinking too clearly, so I would like for my WAYALIFE family to interject some rationalism into the situation. Either way, I should know what the deal is by the end of this week, so I will update what is going on. Thanks in advance!
 

BamBamDeer

New member
I have never done the MSRP swap but I can say I bought a JKU Sport with no intention of doing a lot of things I have planned now. The Rubicon would be very tempting to me. It really depends on what your plans for your ride were but if I were in your situation I wouldn't have to think about it.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune with the leak. ...but you never know...may be a blessing in disguise.

Good luck on your decision!
 

JAGS

Hooked
What frank said. I'm a little unclear as to the issue that would result in the total replacement of the jeep. I'm only going to guess some sort of lemon law in effect.

Was the defect the doors or was the defect in the door framing?
 

catahoula

Caught the Bug
I have never done a swap either Joe. It is too bad you are dealing with this after all the work and time you have put into your rig. The Rubi option is very tempting. I was actually playing around on jeep site building a Rubi considering upgrading myself. I guess you have to look at how far you want to go with it. I mean I have seen Rubi owners change out their axles for beefer ones. To me you would be money ahead staying on your path with current rig. Sure you would gain lockers, transfer case. Mopar offers 44's with choice of gears at a very reasonable price and swap out your front. You know what I have and I would add lockers and maybe front axle if it were to go. I do not rock crawl and that would be sufficient for me. i say keep your sweet rig and figure out where the leak is coming from. Have someone outside with a hose and you on inside looking for where it is entering. Maybe replace the seals. Maybe Frank has a point about the uppers. Hope I made sense Joe and good luck!
 

Kickrocks

New member
That is a tough situation to be in.

If you did option 2, will that guarantee the fix?
Have they tried replacing it with another set of half doors?
If the full doors fixes it I would try to negotiate on keeping the half doors or getting them for dirt cheap since they are defective.

If you did option 3 would they allow you to swap your aftermarket parts to a new rubicon?
Depending on the diff in price you could make some of it back when you sell the rear axle from the rubicon. And you would also get lockers front and back. You wouldn't immediate need to get beefier axles in the rear since the rubi is slightly better then the regular one, just get a pr40 in the front

Option 1 if you are deeply in love with your Jeep you could go this route, but there is no guarantee that you will be able to fix it. Also if it cause any other issues down the road because of it, you might SOL.
 
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AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
To be clear your half door uppers are the source of the leaks?

What frank said. I'm a little unclear as to the issue that would result in the total replacement of the jeep. I'm only going to guess some sort of lemon law in effect.

Was the defect the doors or was the defect in the door framing?

Correct, they are considering the upper door halves as the defective part. They have replaced the uppers several times, as well as the full seal kit 4 or 5 times now. I was told that the full steel doors 'should' fix the leaks, but that there is no guarantee of that either. I also asked if anyone has checked the top, which I was told they did not feel was the issue, but to expect some leaks with the full steel doors as well, as they have had some soft top/steel door combos leaking too.
 

AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
I have never done the MSRP swap but I can say I bought a JKU Sport with no intention of doing a lot of things I have planned now. The Rubicon would be very tempting to me. It really depends on what your plans for your ride were but if I were in your situation I wouldn't have to think about it.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune with the leak. ...but you never know...may be a blessing in disguise.

Good luck on your decision!

I am kind of thinking the same thing. I do have a lot of positive equity in my current rig, plus a lot of money invested into it. I guess that is what I need to find out when ISG calls me. What happens to my 16K of positive equity, and how much, if any, will they reimburse me for aftermarket parts. I was told they have done aftermarket part reimbursements before, but it is on a case by case basis. I was literally getting ready to do axles, 37s, etc to my current rig in the next few months too, so now my parts ordering is on hold until I figure out what I am going to do.
 

BamBamDeer

New member
Good luck....I am sure you will have a Nice Rig either way. Let me know how it goes....I am interested to see how they take care of their customers.
 

AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
I have never done a swap either Joe. It is too bad you are dealing with this after all the work and time you have put into your rig. The Rubi option is very tempting. I was actually playing around on jeep site building a Rubi considering upgrading myself. I guess you have to look at how far you want to go with it. I mean I have seen Rubi owners change out their axles for beefer ones. To me you would be money ahead staying on your path with current rig. Sure you would gain lockers, transfer case. Mopar offers 44's with choice of gears at a very reasonable price and swap out your front. You know what I have and I would add lockers and maybe front axle if it were to go. I do not rock crawl and that would be sufficient for me. i say keep your sweet rig and figure out where the leak is coming from. Have someone outside with a hose and you on inside looking for where it is entering. Maybe replace the seals. Maybe Frank has a point about the uppers. Hope I made sense Joe and good luck!

I have also thought about this Pete. If I finish the rig up the way I want it, and go forth with axles, 37's, etc, I will have into it, total, what its worth stock. I got into it at an outstanding deal. I don't do too many rocks, so I am not sure how much of a benefit a Rubi transfer case will be to me. The wife and I have trips planned for the Rubicon and Moab when we get back west, as well as a few other longer trips. Funny thing, but as we picked it up, with the service guy, the horn randomly started going off as well and they had to disconnect that, so I am running with no horn module until they can get that replaced as well. My wife about lost it when we walked up to it and the damn horn started blasting for about 5 minutes straight.
 

AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
That is a tough situation to be in.

If you did option 2, will that guarantee the fix?
Have they tried replacing it with another set of half doors?
If the full doors fixes it I would try to negotiate on keeping the half doors or getting them for dirt cheap since they are defective.

If you did option 3 would they allow you to swap your aftermarket parts to a new rubicon?
Depending on the diff in price you could make some of it back when you sell the rear axle from the rubicon. And you would also get lockers front and back. You wouldn't immediate need to get beefier axles in the rear since the rubi is slightly better then the regular one, just get a pr40 in the front

Option 1 if you are deeply in love with your Jeep you could go this route, but there is no guarantee that you will be able to fix it. Also if it cause any other issues down the road because of it, you might SOL.

I was already informed that the full steel doors is not guaranteed to fix the issue, and that some leaks could be expected going that route as well. The rep that spoke with Chrysler already tried to get me full steel doors and be able to keep the half doors, since they are the reason I ordered the Jeep to begin with. Chrysler is considering them a defective part, and thus must receive the doors back for an exchange, so no go on that.
For option 1, either way they will not work on the leak under warranty anymore, as Chrysler has laid out the options to resolve the issue. And that is where I'm worried about trying to fix it myself. If I can't, I'm just stuck with a leaky Jeep. I am expecting a call from ISG, Jeeps 3rd party group who deals with the swaps, to give me the details of the offer, so hopefully I'll know more this week.
 

AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
What frank said. I'm a little unclear as to the issue that would result in the total replacement of the jeep. I'm only going to guess some sort of lemon law in effect.

Was the defect the doors or was the defect in the door framing?

Oh, just to throw it out there, I'm not sure how the MSRP swap got thrown out here. I'm assuming the GM had something to do with it, as he called Chrysler several times in addition to the service manager. We have purchased several new vehicles from them, and they have always treated us right. Again, this is just a guess. I was told that the swap was approved as an option from corporate.
 

Ddays

Hooked
What's you mileage as it sits now? The unfortunate part is having to start with modifications all over again. The nice part is getting to start with modifications all over again. That could go either way depending on your outlook. Might be nice to get a new Jeep if that's how they do the swap. If they do a pro-rated swap, maybe not. Be interested to hear how this plays out as we had a vehicle that Chrysler bought back under Lemon Law, which sounds like that's what this is. Pa vs. SC laws could differ though...
 

AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
What's you mileage as it sits now? The unfortunate part is having to start with modifications all over again. The nice part is getting to start with modifications all over again. That could go either way depending on your outlook. Might be nice to get a new Jeep if that's how they do the swap. If they do a pro-rated swap, maybe not. Be interested to hear how this plays out as we had a vehicle that Chrysler bought back under Lemon Law, which sounds like that's what this is. Pa vs. SC laws could differ though...

Its a 2014 and Iv'e got just under 19,000 miles on it. Good point about getting to start over, there are a few things I would change this time around that I was planning on doing to my current rig. From my understanding, it would not be a pro-rated swap. The way it was explained to me was that they take the MSRP value of what my Jeep was when I ordered it new, I choose a Jeep with the same MSRP and its done. If there is a difference in value (i.e. the MSRP of a new Rubicon) then I would have to pat the difference. I am just unsure if the positive equity rolls over into a new Jeep, and what value they will give me, if any, on the aftermarket parts. Once I speak with Jeep's 3rd party contractor, I will know more details about the deal.
 

ScoobyCarolanNC

Active Member
They don't seem sure as to the issue & if they're willing to swap the vehicle I'd guess it's worse than they're letting on. Get out. Get full doors & just buy tube doors for the summer.
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
Why not just keep your half doors and have them buy you full doors? If the issue is worse than they fucked something up. And if they have had it that many times and had people flown in and still no issue, take it to another place. Clearly they don't know what they are doing.

It's a leak, it's not rocket science.
 

Ddays

Hooked
I don't think they'll let him keep the half doors as they probably have classified them as "defective". They will more than likely make him give them back under these terms.
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
I don't think they'll let him keep the half doors as they probably have classified them as "defective". They will more than likely make him give them back under these terms.

I understand what they want but they fucked things up. Ball is in his court now and he can tell them what he wants.
 

mudmobeeler

Caught the Bug
If they are gonna give you MSRP for your jeep and transfer it to a new jeep then the aftermarket parts should come off as they were not on the jeep when you purchased it. If you leave them on the jeep, I wouldnt expect anymore money for them especially if they give you MSRP for it. That being said, you may be able to talk them into swapping parts or allow you to swap parts from the new jeep to your jeep your trading in. I done this with the EVO front bumper as I no longer had the old bumper off of the jeep I traded in. I simply put the factory bumper off the new jeep onto the one I trade in.

It would be a hard decision on which way to go. I think if it were me and I could afford the extra difference, I would swap and pay the extra for the Rubicon. You said you really dont play in the rocks much, You could do 37s on the factory rubi axles and swap over to a PR44 front when needed. If you are gonna go 37s pretty quick though and cant afford the regear to 4.88s or 5.13s I would make sure you get the 4.10s at least in the new Rubi.
 

pop2tu

Active Member
I did a MSRP swap on another brand(not jeep). I got a new car 2 years newer and with 30,000 miles less. All payments I had made went to new car. I kept the same payoff date. I was upside down in my old car now I'm now in the positive!
 
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