I purchased a brand new, 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 2 weeks ago. I put gas in it for the 2nd time yesterday. After I filled it up, the gas needle stayed on “E”! I contacted the dealership immediately and they had me bring it in today to observe. The entire service staff was even more shocked than me that something like this had happened. They did not see any recalls from Chrysler and physically checked the tank to verify that it was full. They concluded that it is probably related to a computer sensor in the fuel tank itself and instructed me to monitor the trip meter; driving the car for a couple hundred miles more until the tank is closer to empty. I agreed to this and planned to bring it by later in the week. The service agents said they would need to empty the tank completely and disassemble it to get good look at the source of the problem. Unfortunately, this plan did not work - 30 miles later my car stopped on the side of the road! My guess is the gas indicators in the car think the car is out of gas, even though the tangible evidence shows us the tank is full! Chrysler sent out a tow truck that dropped the car off at the dealership. First thing Monday morning, when they re-open, I will be calling them. My question to you is, how do recommend handling the situation and how should I go about confronting the dealership? Has anyone seen anything like this happen before? Should I demand that they replace the car, could it be a lemon? It’s only 2 weeks old with only 600 miles on it and I haven’t even made a car payment yet. Please respond if you have any advise or feedback on this matter. Thanks!
Don’t accept anything but a real answer. There is a problem and they need to diagnose it and fix it. That takes time, and time is money. The car failing 30 miles after leaving the dealer is pretty scary, and no the car didn’t just decide that is was out of gas, you have a real problem. Did the check engine light come on at anytime before the jeep decided not to work? I hope for your sake that your dealer service department will try a little harder not to be so incompetent.
Well you did your part. You brought the car in and explained what you observed. It is there problem to take what you say and then find what is causing the problem. If they can’t fix it, which is going to be very very unlikely, you get a new car.
I suspect it will be fixed, hopefully this time, but it may take another stop or two.
Your job is to keep reporting any problems and keep a record of each time you call or they see the car. You also may want to check out your state’s lemon law.
http://www.jdpower.com/cc/auto/bbb/lemon_law.jsp
http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/
Good Luck
If they fail this time, I would consider calling the district office. It should be listed in your owner’s manual.
This is why they offer warranties. Not every car out of the factory is perfect. You need to give them a chance to make this right. Lemon laws only kick in when the problem is chronic and persistent, and the dealer and manufacturer cannot fix the problem.
I am miffed they convinced you to drive off with the problem still there. To me, that was unacceptable. The fuel tank level sender is part of a unit that also has the fuel pump, and they share the same electrical connector. A typical problem with the fuel tank level sender is a bad electrical connection. I suspect now the problem has extended to the fuel pump.
I’ve had to replace the fuel pump in a few cars and trucks with full or near full tanks of gas. It is a real pain, but do-able. Especially a dealership should be able to deal with this. Letting you drive off with the problem so you can make their lives easier, and burn off the gas was like them gambling with your money.
The vehicle is under warranty, and the dealer will fix it at no charge to you. You don’t have to “confront” anyone.
The fuel pump and the sending unit for the gauge are both inside the fuel tank. Most likely the dealer will replace both and you will be on your way.
Relax.
I purchased a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander in 2006 that was a “program” vehicle. It had 15,000 miles when I bought it. A year later at 30,000 I had a similar problem to the one you are having, although my Uplander didn’t stop. The warranty was good to 36,000 miles and the dealer dropped the tank and put it a new sending unit. It took the mechanic an afternoon to do the job, but I wasn’t out any money. I have 45,000 on the vehicle now and have not any any more problems. Think about this–have you ever purchased a light bulb and have it burn out right away? The manufacturing process does not always produce a perfect product.
ITS A FREE FIX,and its a HEEP,so make sure you by the SUPER extended waranty,YOU WILL NEED IT ! every other week.you got a GOOD one if thats all that is wrong.
good luck.
toodles!
Take a breath. No reason to start talking lemon law yet. There’s something specific causing this problem, and the dealer has to find it. No reason to ‘confront’ them over this, just calmly request that this be fixed correctly.
Yep, take it easy. The car does not know or care what the gas gauge says. So either you have two completely unrelated problems or it is one electrical problem causing both. In either case, that’s what warrenties are for. They will now find the problem and fix it and most likely give you a car to use in the meantime.