I was told that a steering gear assembly on my 04 jeep grand cherokee with 45000 is a wear and tear thing from the dealership. $600+ to fix. Is this true
Depends where you’ve been with it! In normal highway and city driving the assembly should be good for at least 150,000 miles without excessive wear. If you had a fluid leak in the sttering box that was not attended to, you could have a worn out assembly at that mileage.
GM steering racks in the 80s when they went to front wheel drive failed regularly; it took a while to redesign them.
Short answer, NO. The steering gear assembly is NOT like hoses, brakes, tires, belts, etc. which are normal wear items. Your warranty paperwork will give examples of the normal wear items. I don’t think you will find the steering gear assembly listed there. But, you still might not be covered under warranty after 45K miles (BTW even if the drivetrain warranty is longer than this, the steering is not considered part of the drivetrain).
Normal driving is all we do with it. I could only geuss what would happen if I took it off road.
I didn’t think so. I never seen any leakage of any sort. I would think that the dealership would work with me a little it being a deffect.
Are you working with a extended warranty and their “wear and tear” denial? If yes I can put you in touch with a answer man in regards to extended warranty.
So what exactly is the steering gear assembly doing or not doing?
All they are saying is that its not covered with the basic drivetrain bull#@$%! If it is a deffect than what the @#%$
Or wear and tear from the previous owner. You bought it used, you’ve had it a year and put on 14,000 miles on it . If it’s out of used vehicle warranty, fix it already. ( see 04jeepupset previous post )
I can barely turn to the left and it makes a hissing noise when I do this. All steering to the right is fine
You must be bored with yourself Ken. Choose not to post. Let me get some different opinions.
The previous owner may have been less than kind to the vehicle. It could have incurred accelerated wear, but not enough to cause a breakdown 14,000 miles ago. If not covered by warranty, I would fix it; $600 is not the end of the world. Make sure you get a warranty on the work done.
I guess your right. live and learn
ok ya got me, 4:50 p mdt here, shop is in afternoon snooze mode, and I apologize for arguing. Now seriousness. I wonder if Jeep has a nation wide complaint number to call ? You may be the second owner, but go over the dealer’s head, it does’t hurt to ask and if anyone could authorize a “pre existing condion” warranty repair it will be Jeep themselves. My honest opinion is that it really is too soon for such a malfunction, way too soon. Next, compare independent shop diagnoses and compare parts prices from the likes of AutoZone, Checker, CarQuest etc.
Great, thanks for the info