Hi Guys
I haven't been on this forum for a while, but this post is a continuation of the saga I have now been having for more than 2 years. My beautiful yellow JK Diesel, manual Sport has been busted for two years and I dont know wether to pour in more good money after bad, or convert it to a nice garden ornament.
Two years ago at 73,000 klms the turbo stopped working and the car went into limp mode. Since then it has been to 2 dealerships and one very good intependent mechanic. They have tried everything to fix it but failed.
The Darwin Jeep dealerships have been very good to me. The head mechanics at each place took my car on as a challenge and did a lot of work on it at no cost to me. But still, having fitted a brand new Garrett OEM turbo and a replacement ECU as well as everything else that can be replaced or tested, nothing has worked. So far I have spent more than $6,000.
Fiat Chrysler have been useless of course. I was hoping that they would buy it back under the revised ACCC laws. But they are telling me that I can have it repaired by fitting a new turbo. This is nonsense of course as that would make 3 turbos in two years! (Also, the dealership mechanics are not saying this, only FCA Melbourne.) But by saying this they are claiming that it is not necessary to buy it back as it can be fixed. But the dealership quote for a new turbo is $8,000!!! So they are bluffing me. They know that a new turbo won't fix, it but who am I to say that they are wrong.
Anyway, that is not why I am writing to you. I decided to auction it off as a salvage car. But when I approached the main auctioneer in Darwin they told me that they have so many cars to clear that they are not taking any for a month or two. AND, because they have so much stock - they wont allow me to put a reserve price on the car. This means that a car potentially worth $20,000 could sell for $500!!
All the individual components in the car are in good working order. I am a 60 year old retiree and I bought the car new just to drive around the bush outside Darwin. This is what I have done, so the car has had a very gentle life, always garaged and never even left out in the rain. It is stock standard with no mods.
Now is where it get complicated - as if that is not complicated enough.
From day one we all had a suspicion that the problem could be that a rat had climbed into the car and snipped a wire or two under the dash. I had left the car parked in my shed for 5 months while I was interstate. It was fine when it went in the shed but U/S when it came out. There were rat tracks in the dust on the top of the engine cover. In the glove box an iPod wire had been cut and there were rat chewings on a Leatherman case. But there was no chewing debris under the car.
So at this stage of the game (since every other lead has failed) everything points to a rodent rampage in the wiring.
Now I can feel you cringing and hear you making excuses to leave the room - but wait - there's more.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Put it up for auction and get $1,000 on a good day? Or spend a thousand dollars at a respected wiring loom specialist auto electrician? This is the way I am leaning. e.g. tell the sparky to do $1,000 worth of investigation and then we review.
If that does not work, I will buy another diesel Sport and keep the old one for spares.
I would love to hear what you think and what you would do in this situation. And dont forget - this is Darwin. It costs hundreds of dollars to truck a car down south and there is a limited market for spare parts or whatever up here.
PS anyone want to by a near new complete OEM Garrett turbo or a perfectly good ECU???
What would you do with my JK if you were me???
