What is it with the "throw away attitude"!?

[detailbarn]

So it was brought to my attention that vehicles are now a throw item. My wifes 2000 Cherokee which I just purchased 3 months ago for $5000 has a few TSB issues that need to be addressed all minor but could get worse if left unattended. So today she takes it to the dealer and they refuse to give her a price on these TSB, they want to inspect the vehicle first then they will fix the items. Tell them no just want these TSB repaired , nope won't do.He tells her the trucks not worth fixing in his opinion. So onto a non TSB item the drivers door hinge is loose , I checked it found it to be a worn hinge pin , dealer says the hinge is one piece assembly no pins available. Ok so the old unit has to be removed and a new unit welded on, more work then i wanted but the door is rubbing on the back door so it needs to be fixed. I go to the body shop the dealer refered me to , tell them what the deal is and tell them i got the hinge just need it installed , tell them I will bring the truck with the fender removed for easy access to the hinge area , so all the need to do is remove old one and weld new one on. Body shop owner says that this is alot of work for such and old vehicle , ok thanks for your opinion how much to fix . He then proceeds to say how much of a waste it will be to fix it just get a new vehicle , so after a brief explainination that we just bought the truck he says that it would be $2000 to weld this $60 hinge on. So now after all this I still haven't fixed anything and I have to find a dealer & body shop that doesn't think a 7 year old vehicle with less then 100,000 miles on it is trash.

Dealers in general kill me but this has got to be the worst I've had to deal with , most of the time it's a new vehicle with a warranty issue that they don't want to be bothered with. This time I was a paying customer with easy items to fix but I guess dealers are not in the repair business anymore.


Well thanks for listening to my rant and if anyone if the NJ-Philly area can recommend a good jeep dealer that would be great.

 

[xcmountain80]

Wow! Is all I can think of. In my school of thought, listen to the customer and understand their needs then go ahead with the work after advising of the cost. Sounds to me like these guys are a bunch of tools, find someone else, hell for that matter buy a welder and do it yourself.


Aaron

 

[detailbarn]

hell for that matter buy a welder and do it yourself.Aaron

yeah that sounds about right , if I can't get it on for somewhere around $250 then thats what I'll be doing.

 

[SeaRubi]

yeah that sounds about right , if I can't get it on for somewhere around $250 then thats what I'll be doing.

if you're anywhere near seattle i'd do it for a sixer of SNPA :bigbossHL:

 

[paulj]

I suspect the body shop price is for more work than just the welding. They probably would repaint the whole side, or at least enough to ensure the repair was not detectable.

I am reminded of my first car, a Dodge Dart with a 100,000 miles. I don't recall the year, though 7 yrs old sounds about right. After a few years, after the rusted left fender disintegrated in a fender bender, I sold it to a junk yard to $20.

In contrast I just gave my son the title to my 1988 S10 pickup. It has been in the body shop 3 times for minor items - punched locks and crease on the quarter panel.

Come to think of it, my RAV4 is 9 yrs old. About the only thing wrong with it is that the door latching mechanism tends to freeze in cold weather.

paulj

 

[detailbarn]

no the body shop price was just to remove old and weld new one on. he just didn;t want to do it. oh well his loss because i want to get the whole truck repainted as well as my unlimited and comanche

 

[Z O O R O P A]

I hear ya!

I bring my prestine sports coupe in that I bought new from this dealer who I am friends with many who work there. I keep the thing tip top and drive it hard when I can and I have loaded the thing with miles drving up and down teh eastern board past 7 years.

It is in great shape and I only recently experienced my first issue with it which was ENTIRELY the dealers fault. They blew a hole in the radiator while trying to flush it clean at my request. cost me 7 bills. k thx. Then they proceed to tell me, "hey you should just buy a new car" and I was like "why? I own this one and it is a peach" and they shrug their shoulders.

Any business is better than no business but bad business is worse

 

[OverlandZJ]

Hinges tearing away is a common problem on the Cherokee's, just find a competent welder and have him weld it up.

I'm outside NE Philly, if you need someone i can recommend a local guy.

For a cool dealership parts connection contact the parts mgr Brian Moyer at Outten County Chrysler, tell him i refered you. They are located just down the road from Cabela's in Hamburg on RT61. www.outtencars.com

 

[detailbarn]

Hinges tearing away is a common problem on the Cherokee's, just find a competent welder and have him weld it up.

I'm outside NE Philly, if you need someone i can recommend a local guy.

For a cool dealership parts connection contact the parts mgr Brian Moyer at Outten County Chrysler, tell him i refered you. They are located just down the road from Cabela's in Hamburg on RT61. www.outtencars.com

yeah I heard about the hinge weld break but mine is just a worn hinge pin , but Jeep doesn't sell just the pin for 97 up models. Thanks for the dealer info , I will certainly keep them in mind , I don't mind traveling for good service.

Thanks for all your reply's glad to hear it's not just me , I mean really the American attitude is bad when it comes to just throwing stuff away. My last truck was a 2001 Tacoma and I took it to 180,000 miles and the only reason I traded it was because I wanted to change all my vehicles to Jeeps with the 4.0 before they where all gone. What's next house's live in it for 10 years then tear it down. Man let's preserve our things and take alittle pride in taking care of them to insure they last!

 

[Z O O R O P A]

First taxi I ever got into in Paris France was a Merceddes with over 1,000,000 miles on it so claimed the driver. I asked how he kept it running - he said he just replaced anything that needed it, and it looked sharp too!

 

[detailbarn]

First taxi I ever got into in Paris France was a Merceddes with over 1,000,000 miles on it so claimed the driver. I asked how he kept it running - he said he just replaced anything that needed it, and it looked sharp too!

now i like that attitude! Thats what I would like to do with my Jeeps.

 

[LUISJG]

they are just jelous of you ..
you have a cherokee!!!

they tell you to get another vehicle so they can buy that one.:bike_rider:

 

[njtaco]

yeah that sounds about right , if I can't get it on for somewhere around $250 then thats what I'll be doing.

I was able to replace bushings and pins on my GMC a while back. I used an aftermarket "kit" made by the people who have the "Help" display at the auto parts store. Perhaps they have one for your truck too? Or the GM kit can be made to work?

 

[4Rescue]

I hear that... I experienced the exact same thing all over europe. I would say Old Merc Diesel's followed by Volvo 242's lead the pack of the world longest lasting passenger cars. Even better our "beater" on the farm in OZ was an 86 toyota hilux with 300+k on the clock wich wasn't working anymore and I'd say it still ran better and held together better than alot of the "new" cars that my friends and family seem to own. My 22RE 4Runner seems to be the same way, 217k and still everything seems to be rattle free and in great shape. Seems like alot of American car companies and IMO GM in particular can't make little things stay together for long (although they've all had this problem for quite some time eh) really too bad but I guess it's why Toyota is hiring 30,000 employees and claiming massive profits and GM and Ford are laying off as many and losing as much... :safari-rig:

 

[paulj]

What has probably happened with these hinges is that assembly convenience has taken priority over repairability. For example the hinges might be assembled in one factory, welded to the door somewhere else, and the assembly added to car on final line. In earlier designs the respective halves of the hinges would have been welded, or bolted, to the body and door, and the assembly completed by adding the pin. The earlier approach may have a greater likelihood of misalignment, and hence take longer on the assembly line.

In a manufacturing driven design, items that are not considered wear items are often hard to replace. They may be welded or glued in place, or held on with single-use clips. Designs like this can be faster, cheaper, and less prone to assembly defects. But they are a problem when things start to wear out.

paulj