Hi,

I hope I'm posting this in the right area. We have a 2013 Jeep Wrangler with 61,600 km (about 38,000 miles). The dealership has strongly recommended we get the Driveline service and Power Steering Service. Not sure what driveline service entails, but I've read through the forums here and many say it's a rip off.

The dealership is saying if we don't get it done and have problems in the future, the warranty won't cover the problems. We get regular oil/filter and brake stuff done. Driveline service is $680 (Canadian) . The posts I've read here are from 2012 and earlier, so I want to be sure it's still thought of as a rip off and will still not void the warranty. We've never owned a vehicle where the dealership has recommended so many EXPENSIVE (and maybe unecessary) things to be done. I don't know if it's this particular dealership or if it's Chrysler in general. Nissan wasn't this bad when we had our Xterra!

Our concern of course is safety, keeping the vehicle running well, and having the warranty honoured if we have problems. I'm assuming we do need the Power Steering service, but how often?

Also, how does the Jeep warranty work if we decide to use a regular mechanic? Oil/filter change isn't overpriced at the dealership, but everything else seems to be.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Hi Fiona,

Sorry for the late reply, just joined...

I work at FCA and but have also been a tech in the past. This is a very debated topic. FCA basically states that no additional maintenance outside of what is in the owners manual is necessary. Our service development group has tried to get dealers to stop selling these "aftermarket" fluid changes because they are not recommended by FCA and can give dealers a bad name.

Having said that, my personal feeling is that all fluids are going to get dirty at some point and break down. They should be changed, just not as often as some of the dealers and shops will recommend. I don't change out power steering and brake fluids until close to 100k miles on any vehicle unless I have had a leak in the system and there could be fluid contamination (especially brake fluid!). Any others, I would say follow your owners manual and you will be good to go.

 

All KL Cherokee have electric power steering, no power steering pump no power steering fluid. This is a Cherokee KL Technical form thread.

 

My response was for vehicles in general, but she stated she has a 13 JK.