stimp774

Hi Guys,

I cant thank this community enough because what ( The straight truth) you get here is so VALUABLE these days.

Long story short. Jiffy lube did not put oil back in my jeep. not a drop. I made it 8 minutes before it seized. They admitted fault and opened an insurance claim for a replacement motor.

The Jeep dealer after a month gave the jeep back. It ran fine but started funny from the first try. it was a slow long drawn out start. But it started every time so i drove it. Finally after a month I realized this sounds like the starter is going. I take it back. yup starter is bad. cost is $480 to fix. I said it was fine before and this was bad from the day I picked it up. Did this starter come with the replacement engine? nope it was transferred from your old engine.

Now I know starters do not last forever but it didn't just die at the same exact time all this happened. I do not believe in coincidence,but rather cause and effect.

I could not convince them they somehow gave me the jeep back with a bad starter. they held to their position is must have been bad before.

How did the tech who test drove it before giving back to me not notice how poorly it started?

Granted I should have said something on that first start. my fault. but im sure they would say the same.

I think maybe they took my motor out and pitched it. got the replacement with a bad starter.

your opinion? Am I wrong or did I get screwed.

Keep in mind they made a ton of money on the engine swap, insurance paid $7500. then they ding me for $480 again. seems to have worked out great for them. And all because some dude at jiffy probably smokes too much pot.

dave1123

As far as the dealer is concerned, it started, out the door. It probably WAS your old starter but the extended crank times got it hot enough to fail, or it was fighting against higher compression. I was told by the parts counter guy that they don't stock too many parts FOR A CAR AS OLD AS MINE! Say What? I had to wait 2 weeks for them to get a steering wheel clockspring. That cost me $649 to have replaced.

Jiffylube is not a reliable shop. Maybe I'm prejudiced because I worked at Valvoline for so long, but we have procedures to keep things like that from happening. The customer sits in his car and listens. We have call-outs when things are being done and second-party-checks after each step. Before closing the hood, the engine is started and oil pressure is verified by the top-side technician. then the customer is shown the dip-stick with the new oil level on it.

In the Syracuse area, Jiffy lube was in deep doo-doo financially and Ashland Oil bought all their stores and converted them to VIOC. I've heard so many Jiffylube horror stories, I can tell they haven't changed.

Oh, and thanks for the testimonial. It's nice to know we help. Check out wjjeeps.com for all the info you'd ever want to know about your jeep.

stimp774

Thanks Dave. My brother worked for years at a Penzoil shop and they had the same procedures to make sure that does not happen. He was floored when I told him.

Its a 2007 fully loaded with hemi. I babied that motor. Always put 89 octane in even when i was broke and it was $4.00/ gallon in Chicago for years. I sure hope who ever had this motor took good care of it because I wanted to keep this past being paid off for years. One year left and I own it free and clear.

dave1123

Okay, one thing you might have to watch out for on the hemi is cracked exhaust manifolds. My brother had a Ram pickup with the hemi and after replacing 3 in 2 years, he went back to his Chevys. He and I were both dyed-in-the-wool Chevy guys until I bought a jeep. Then he decided to try a RAM. And so it goes.