Huge announcement! Jeep head office want to help you!
 

Hello members, it’s been quite a while since I came to this page to tell you I was about to Destroy My Jeep, due to the appalling response I got from the dealer and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Australia when I experienced ongoing problems with my Jeep and demanded a refund or replacement.

I put together a campaign to destroy my Jeep to raise awareness, while ensuring that no one would ever become the owner of a vehicle that had caused me and my family so much stress with its unreliability.

I received both negative and positive responses and took on all feedback from you.

Since I came to you, I have been joined by many others in similar situations (some from this page) and together we have lobbied the government for a change to the Australian Consumer Law and pushed the ACCC to take action on behalf of the consumers.

In July 2016, the ACCC told me they would not be providing me with any updates on the FCA Redress Program, and in August 2016, FCA Australia appointed their 3rd CEO in as many years.

With no support from the ACCC, I wrote to this new CEO, as I had done with his predecessors, and asked for a meeting.

Long story short, I personally met with him in Melbourne in October and December 2016 and he has approved nearly $800,000 in refunds or replacements in the past 4 months.

He has also put in a number of improvements to ensure that owners get a much better experience if things do go wrong.

I put up a live video last night to announce this, and am telling you as I know a lot of people on this page have been frustrated with the previous Jeep customer care experience, as I was.

If you have any issues with your Jeep, ensure you call their customer care number on 1300 133 079 FIRST (before you call the dealer), so that FCA corporate can get visibility of the issues and monitor the way the dealer is handling your complaint.

Obviously, if you don’t get any joy, come and tell me via my Facebook page and I will escalate for you, as my Destroy My Jeep page will remain active for consumers to vent.

For those who want to see it, the link to my live video announcement last night is here www.facebook.com/destroymyjeep

Alternately, you can read about the news release here:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sub...type=anonymous

Lastly, I can assure you I have not been paid (or threatened) to say anything nice about FCA and their Jeep brand, I have always said I would tell everyone they’re starting to do the right thing once I have proof that this is happening… and I think you’ll agree that $800,000 in refunds and replacements is a good start.

Lets hope you all get a much better after-sales experience going forward.

Ashton Wood.

I can speak from personal experience... I spent more than 18 months trying to get one particular fault sorted with Jeep service departments who proved to be not only disinterested but flat out incompetent. It wasn't until I made contact with Ashton via Destroy My Jeep that I actually managed to get FCA's attention (up to that point they kept deferring to the dealers erroneous opinion). Very thankful to Ashton for his assistance in escalating the matter.

From that point, FCA sent out their own technician who diagnosed the fault about 2 mins after putting the thing on a hoist, and resulted in a new rear diff being fitted. The FCA tech was easy to deal with and didn't try to spin any bullshit (unlike the service manager at City Jeep). Problem fixed! FCA were very apologetic, and have given me an extra 12 months warranty and will cover the cost of the next service as 'compensation' for the hassle.

Further, FCA took ownership of the problem (and the resolution), and seem genuinely interested in my complaint about my experience with 3 separate Jeep dealerships (all part of Hopper Motor Group, for the record). It's early days, and ultimately it's the dealerships who need to up their game substantially, but it's encouraging to see FCA seem to be taking an active interest in rebuilding trust in the brand. Hopefully the dealer network is on board too.

This isn't a Jeep specific issue, myself and a mate bought the same motorcycles(Japanese), they both burnt 1litre of oil every 1000k's.
When we approached the company, they said that was within guidelines, therefore acceptable.

Thread Stuck!

I was wrong!
 

Well I must give credit where it is due.

Well done Ashton! I was one of the naysayers that thought you had lost the plot but you have gotten results. Not everyone can get to meet the man at the top and have their opinion heard (and listened to).

Somehow I don't think you're individual Jeep issue will be resolved due to its demise but you have proven me wrong before.

I applaud FCA's recent efforts in addressing individuals issues with their vehicles but if they (FCA) want to become a top 10 vehicle retailer in Australia the need to stay on top of there dealerships, not only their technicians/mechanics but the customer service side.
I will give you an example. There is currently a "safety recall" on my WH ignition, I was intending to get it done but the attitude of the local Jeep dealers service department in Bathurst NSW quickly turned me off.

Now the ignition recall technical services bulletin states the work should take less than an hour (it's on the internet) but they want my Jeep all day. I ask why and their reply stunned me. The woman on the phone said "well it is a Jeep!".

Now I'm not one to just hand over my keys and say call me when it's done, I research these things and want to know what they intend to do. I spend a lot of time, effort and money in modifying my Jeep and I'll be dammed if I will be letting someone half educated tech plug in their laptop and destroy $$$ of programming (some of which took 6 months to get right).

Fix up the MA rating of the Grand Cherokee and ALL Trail Hawk designation Jeeps, they should be be MC, you can't claim off road capability if it's not rated as such under ADR's. It's DISHONEST!

Let's face it Jeeps here in Australia and the USA are largely an enthusiasts car, FC American built special one-offs for the Jeep safari every year at MOAB. This forum exists because we love to modify our Jeeps. FC Australia could learn a few things from their American counterparts.
They take their project cars to Jeep events (they even sponsor said events), they have a Badge of Honour program that issues badges to fit to your Jeep for iconic tracks you have completed (tracked by an app using GPS) FREE OF CHARGE!
Show some love FCA, support those who support you.

FCA want to enter the "ute" market here in Australia (please don't call them trucks, they aren't trucks). Seriously if they want to complete then they have to have the reliability right! Trade's can't afford for their livelihood to be off the road, service costs need to be on par with other manufacturers, a capped price servicing schedule would be adventurous (this was one of the deciding factors that lead me to spend $55k on a Mazda over a Jeep).

Bring in the Ram Eco-diesel 1500, the Tradesman in single and quad cab configuration priced around the BT50 and Colorado level in both 4wd and 2wd. If you sell the bread and butter base model then the the up spec models will sell themselves. Keep the axle ratio options as well, no other manufacture offers this here (factory locker options would be nice).
And while I'm dreaming get AEV onboard and sell as a factory option through the dealer. Look what HSV did for Holden.

Well there you go, I have had my 2 cents worth. Went a lot off topic but hey you have the bosses ear so to speak.

Thank you for your campaign, I might not have agreed with it but I can't argue with the results, keep up the good fight.

Clarky

The MC rating is important for those that use our jeeps for what the were designed for and the reason we bought them.

I wanted to wait until I had actually gotten a result, but I can confirm I've personally finally gotten some action on issues that have plagued my WK2 since new and also some that occurred when under warranty but weren't fixed. These were brushed, ignored or said to be "normal" by the Albion dealership at the time.

On the back of the ACCC consumer redress program that I believe "destroymyjeep" was instrumental in initiating, I wrote a letter to FCA outlining every issue, noting my jeep is one year out of warranty now. They responded quickly and urged me to take my jeep to the new Brisbane City dealer (Albion has now closed). I was extremely reluctant given the poor service I'd had at Albion, however Brisbane City did a good service and looked into each issue. Most are now waiting on Chrysler to come to the party out of warranty. I was assured on my initial contact through the customer service call that I would be looked after now, so I'm really hoping my faith in the Jeep brand is going to be somewhat restored. It is looking promising at this stage...