2008 JEEP WRANGLER Complaints

MY 2008 JEEP WRANGLER RHD CAUGHT FIRE WHILE I WAS DRIVING. I WAS TURNING ONTO THE HWY AND DROVE A FEW FEET AND NOTICED SMOKE. I IMMEDIATELY PULLED OFF OF THE ROAD,SHUT THE CAR OFF AND POPPED THE HOOD. AS SOON AS I LIFTED THE HOOD I SAW FLAMES!! I CONTACTED JEEP AND THEY'RE "SUPPOSED TO BE DOING AN INVESTIGATION". THERE WASN'T ANY KIND OF WARNING THE CAR WASN'T EVEN RUNNING ANY DIFFERENTLY. SCARY STUFF ESPECIALLY FROM A VEHICLE THAT WASN'T GIVING ME ANY PROBLEMS. DISAPPOINTED TO SAY THE LEAST,BUT FOLKS NEED TO KNOW FOR SAFETY REASONS. VEHICLE IS A TOTAL LOSS!! *TR

DRIVER DOOR MIRROR FELL COMPLETELY OFF VEHICLE WHILE DRIVING ON A MAIN HIGHWAY. ACTUAL ARM BAR OXIDIZED AND DROPPED OFF THE VEHICLE, CREATING A DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR OTHERS AROUND THE VEHICLE AS WELL AS TO ME AS THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE. I WAS UNABLE TO MANEUVER BETWEEN LANES WHICH CREATED A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE. ARM BAR MUST BE DEFECTIVE SINCE IT FELL OFF THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY. *TR

I WAS ON A 1500 MILE ROAD TRIP WITH MY SON, HALF WAY TO MY DESTINATION WHEN THE HORN, WIPERS, SPRAYERS, DOOR LOCKS, ETC STARTED GOING BERSERK. IT WAS DISTURBING AND HAZARDOUS WITH THE WINDSHIELD SPRAYER CONSTANTLY ON MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SEE THE ROAD. THE DEALERSHIP (WHERE I STOPPED) FOUND THAT THE TIPM WAS GOING OUT AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THEY COULD NOT REPLACE IT THOUGH BECAUSE IT WAS ON BACKORDER FOR SEVERAL WEEKS. I HAD TO CONTINUE MY TRIP THROUGH THE CA DESERT, DURING AUGUST KNOWING THAT AT ANY TIME THE TIPM COULD FAIL AND LEAVE ME STRANDED. THE MECHANIC INFORMED ME OF THE POSSIBILITY OF A BREAK DOWN OR FIRE. AND NOW I AM LOOKING AT ABOUT $1200, WHICH I CAN'T AFFORD, FOR A PART THAT WAS KNOWN (BY CHRYSLER) TO BE DEFECTIVE. *TR

MY JEEP HAS THE "JEEP DEATH WOBBLE", WHICH IS WIDELY DISCUSSED ON THE INTERNET. BY GOOGLING THAT TERM, YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S A VERY VIOLENT SHAKING OF THE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE, CAUSING THE CAR TO ULTIMATELY SHAKE OUT OF CONTROL IF THE VEHICLE CANNOT BE SLOWED DOWN VERY QUICKLY. UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S CAUSE IS UNCLEAR, THOUGH THERE IS A LIST OF A DOZEN OR SO "FIXES" THAT SOMETIMES FIX THE PROBLEM FOR 20,000 MILES OR SO AT A TIME. I HAD THE DEATH WOBBLE AT ABOUT 15K MILES, 35K MILES AND NOW AGAIN AT 65K MILES. THE DEALER ACKNOWLEDGED THE PROBLEM AND WAS SCARED WHEN HE DROVE MY CAR TO SEE THE PROBLEM FOR HIMSELF. IT'S UNSAFE FOR ME AND MY 2-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER IN THE BACK. MY CAR NEEDS THIS REPAIRED AGAIN RIGHT NOW, AND I ASSUME WILL NEED IT EVERY 20K MILES OR SO. ON THE LAST OCCASION THIS HAPPENED (YESTERDAY), I HIT A SMALL GAP IN THE PAVEMENT (FOR EXAMPLE, THE NORMAL SEAM WHERE TWO PIECES OF CONCRETE COME TOGETHER) AT ABOUT 45MPH. THE FRONT END STARTED VIBRATING AND THEN THE VIBRATION INCREASES (ALMOST LIKE THE CAR IS RESONATING), UNTIL YOU CAN'T HOLD THE STEERING WHEEL AND THE CAR IS ABOUT TO VIBRATE OFF THE ROAD UNCONTROLLABLY. THIS IS HOW THE ISSUE ALWAYS OCCURS AND IT OCCURS BETWEEN 45-70MPH. IT'S BEGINS WITH A SMALL BUMP OR IMPERFECTION ON THE PAVEMENT. IT'S EASILY REPRODUCED. *TR

ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS MY JEEP FAILS TO START. WHEN I INSERT THE KEY IN THE IGNITION AND TURN TO START, THE LIGHTS ON THE DASH LIGHTS UP WITH A SINGLE CLICK SOUND COMING FROM SOMEWHERE IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. AFTER CONTINUOUSLY TRYING OVER AND OVER TO START THE JEEP IT WOULD FINALLY START. SOME DAYS IT WOULD TAKE HOURS TO START UP. THE PROBLEM OCCURS IN ANY WEATHER, DAY OR NIGHT. SOME DAYS THE JEEP STARTS UP FINE ON THE FIRST TRY, OTHER TIMES IT IS A NIGHTMARE AND TAKES ALL DAY TO START UP. I HAVE TAKEN THE JEEP TO THE JEEP DEALERSHIP BEFORE FOR A DIAGNOSTIC, BUT IT WAS USELESS AND A WASTE OF MONEY FOR ME SINCE THE PROBLEM IS STILL OCCURRING! AFTER RESEARCHING ONLINE, I HAVE NOTICED MANY PEOPLE HAVING SIMILAR PROBLEMS. DUE TO EXPIRED WARRANTY, I CAN'T AFFORD TO CONTINUE TO PAY FOR PARTS THAT COULD PROBABLY FIX THE PROBLEM. AN INDIVIDUAL ON-LINE POSTED A CHRYSLER STAR CASE # 6505315 TWO YEARS AGO THAT COULD POSSIBLY HELP, BUT IN THE MEAN TIME THERE IS NO RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM. IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION, CHECK OUT JEEPFORUM.COM UNDER 2008 JK STARTING PROBLEMS. AS FOR NOW, MY JEEP IS PARKED AT WORK ONCE AGAIN UNTIL IT DECIDES IT WANTS TO START UP AGAIN. *TR

AIRBAG LIGHT ON, AIRBAG HAS NEVER DEPLOYED. UNDERSTAND THIS IS IN ONGOING PROBLEM RESULTING IN RECALL ON SOME JEEP MODELS. WAS TOLD THAT AIRBAG IS FUNCTIONAL BUT SWITCH GOES OFF SAYING IT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. *TR

MADE A LEFT TURN HORN STARTED GOING OFF AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON AND THE CRUISE CONTROL QUIT WORKING ALL AT THE SAME TIME. *TR

I HAD A LIFETIME WARRANTY PACKAGE ON MY 2008 JEEP WRANGLER. I ALSO KEEP GREAT RECORDS OF MY MAINTAINED AND DID MOST OF IT AT THE DEALERSHIP. I WAS DRIVING 65MPH ON THE HIGHWAY AND THE TRANSMISSION / ENGINE AREA STARTED SMOKING. WHEN I PULLED OVER GROUP LLC AND LAMES WERE DRIPPING FROM THE TRANSMISSION / ENGINE AREA. SMOKE QUICKLY FILLED THE VEHICLE AND WITH-IN 2 MINUTES THE JEEP WRANGLER WAS UP IN FLAMES. I CONTACT CHRYSLER GROUP LLC AND THEY SENT AN INSPECTOR OUT. THEY WERE VERY HARD TO WORK WITH AND MAILED ME LETTER SAYING, "THE INSPECTOR FOUND NO INDICATION OF A MANUFACTURING DEFECT THAT CAUSED OR CONTRIBUTED TO THE INCIDENT ON 1 JUL 14. NO HELP AT ALL! I WANT TO LOOK INTO THIS MORE. IT SEEMS THE TRANSMISSION / ENGINE DEFECT COST ME A ONE JEEP WRANGLER AND THEY ACCEPTED NO RESPONSIBILITY. *TR

THE CLOCKSPRING ASSEMBLY ON MY 2008 LEFT HAND DRIVE JEEP IS DEFECTIVE. I EXPERIENCE AN INTERMITTENT CHECK AIRBAG INDICATOR LIGHT. THE DEFECTIVE CLOCKSPRING ASSEMBLY COULD RESULT IN BROKEN AIRBAG CIRCUITS. IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH NECESSITATING AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT, A BROKEN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT IN THE AIRBAG CLOCKSPRING WIRING ASSEMBLY CAN LEAD TO NON-DEPLOYMENT OF THE DRIVER-SIDE FRONTAL AIRBAG AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PROPERLY PROTECT THE DRIVER. CHRYSLER RECALLED 2008 RIGHT HAND DRIVE JEEPS FOR THE SAME REASON. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW A RECALL WAS DONE FOR RIGHT-HAND DRIVE VEHICLES AND NOT LEFT HAND DRIVE VEHICLES. IT IS THE SAME SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

DRIVING ON HIGHWAY AND EXPERIENCED SEVER "DEATH WOBBLE" RELATIVE TO THE STEERING. THE JEEP WAS UNCONTROLLABLE AND DANGEROUS TO PULL OVER. IT HAS HAPPENED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. *TR