Spare parts price reductions & servicing

[crdv6]

I guess you have seen the current ad campaign which claims that there are big price reductions on spare parts, and more investment in training Jeep technicians.
What details?
Does this mean parts will now be reasonably priced, or just slightly less of a complete rip-off?
And they certainly do need to train up the technicians as most of them don't know one end of a Jeep from the other.
Crossing my fingers that it's not totally bs.

[Nanook]

My local Newcastle Jeep dealer who I had no end of trouble with trying to get recalls done with them have sacked all but one of their mechanics and there is no Jeep servicing being done there for the foreseeable future. The one mechanic they kept one was moved to their Jag workshop.

The regional Jeep dealer that I bought my GC from (which is owned by the same motor group mentioned above, now do all their servicing through the Toyota dealer next door.

And I have to admit, the Toyota service department are fantastic people to deal with.

[crdv6]

There seem to few dedicated Jeep dealers/service providers outside major centres.
My local (Ballarat) dealer was really the Nissan dealer, now passed over to 'Carworks' which sells Renault!
Last service I had was at Isuzu in Warrnambool, before that the Ford dealer in Albany WA. Both these centres were Jeep dealers, but have stopped selling Jeep yet still retain the servicing rights and use a "Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge" invoice.
I don't think any of them really specialize in Jeep technology, so are useless when it comes to anything unusual.

[humdingerslammer]

Best bet is to buy your parts from the USA. I use Quadratec or Morris 4x4 and never had a problem. Do your math re dollar conversions and freight etc but your goods will still be heaps cheaper than what u will pay via Jeep in Australia.

About the ads, if you tell someone bullshit often enough, they will eventually believe it as truth. Jeep in Australia has shot itself in both feet over the years... greed, indifference, incompetence have all weighed against developing a loyal customer base. With the new JL Rubicon selling at $75000+ are u kidding me!!!

Many parts for Jeep can be purchased thru usual channels (eg Repco, Autospares ec) so look around in Oz before buying from USA. But prices r still a bit dearer than USA but still better than Jeep.

I love my JK Rubicon but there are better deals and better vehicles so my next 4x4 will not be a Jeep.

[layback40]

If you believe the adds, you can probably tell me how much the tooth fairy is paying these days!
The only time I go near a dealer is for a recall & then I feel very nervous.
If I need a laugh & to feel good, after purchasing parts else where, often ex the EU, I go in and inquire so I can find out how much I have saved in time & money. Their delivery time is normally at best 6 weeks.

[alexbrown64]

I don't want to pick on Jeep. Manufacturers, Dealers, Mechs, Salesman of all makes have to make a living.

But the prices for the average working Joe are insane regardless of what make of vehicle you have. I have mates that never get out of service for under a thousand bucks. Its always the "major service", or some excuse to extract a full weeks wages out of you.

I'll stick to my 325,000k OBD1 XJ. I found a good plugin reader for it, so i know exactly what the Jeep is doing. I change all my own fluids, replace all my own sensors and parts and buy everything from RockAuto who somehow manages to sell parts including shipping and GST for between 50-80% less than dealers.

I carry spares and tools. I can diagnose and in most cases fix my Jeep in situ in any location. Thats what its all about owning a 4WD Jeep.

All the modern Jeeps have OBD2. You can get a reader and Torque App for less than $30. With this, you can reset codes, get out of limp mode, find out whats wrong with your Jeep, diagnose faults, check the general condition of your Jeep and rectify problems. Download a manual and spend a Saturday morning doing you own service/tune. Its cheap, easy and actually rewarding mentally and financially.

I know the guys with Jeeps under warranty are in a trap.. but once your out of warranty, its actually rewarding working on your own vehicle.

Cheers,

[humdingerslammer]

I also do as much as I can but, as I get older the old arthuritis is moving in and he is making it harder to do what I would normally do. Change fluids, filters, etc that i can do but bigger things I take to mechanics I trust will do a good honest job without ripping me off.

I buy as many of the parts myself to avoid workshop 100-200% mark up. Different mechanics have told me that nowadays as much as 60% of their work involves fitting customer supplied parts - if they did not do this they would be put out of work, or at least have a lot less.

Yes well the warranty trap.... people think that these long warranties are in their interests.... they r not!! They serve the dealer as a mechanism for keeping u coming back so they can slowly bleed u. Capped service? Sure!! Funny how they add this and that and before u know it there's another $300 added to the bill.

I have not taken my JKU Rubi to a Jeep dealer for at least 90% of its life and then only in the early days until I realised the rip off merchants that they are. I stopped taking my other car to the Mitsubishi dealer when they started charging me $18.00 for a copper washer for the oil sump that I have never ever found fitted. Also $30 per service for "garage extras" - like the cost of disposing of my old oil, parts etc. Say 10 services a day 5 days a week that's tidy $1500 a week for getting rid of a dump bin once a month! Don't go to them either.