when good days turn bad

[yetipolice]

Need some advice from the collective.

So ended up buying this cherokee a month back after some asshole totalled my Saturn (please, not the time for what I should have/shouldn't have bought). Seemed like a good deal. Well Friday driving down to Aspen, waterpump blows, engine overheats.... long story short... just found out the motor is done... I've only owned this ONE GODDAMN MONTH! I bought it used from a dealership in my town... no warranty since it was used (97 Cherokee).

Question is, what the fuck do I do now?? Do you think I have a chance bitching out the dealership and seeing if I can get anything out if it? Fixing the engine is going to cost me $2-3K. I haven't even registered it yet, the title came in the mail just this week. Jeep is in Glenwood right now, I live in Steamboat (that's another part of the "what the fuck am I going to do") I am so flipping poor that I can't afford to buy a new car right now, I bought this one outright for $4000 and now one month later it is worth about $900. I have too much debt as it is, I barely have enough money right now to pay bills because I'm still recovering from the purchase of this car. I need a car to get to and from work (luckily my friends have one I can use for awhile right now, but that's not a permanent solution).

Just hoping someone has some encouraging words because I'm having a really bad day right now.

[BLOOD SWEAT STEEL]

Damn. Sorry to hear this. You could try talking to the dealer, but I think you already know what's gonna come of that. Hopefully one of the local mags might have a line on a junkyard motor and some tools to get you back on the road.

Otherwise, them's the breaks with those buy-here-pay-here chop shops.

[Vicious]

Sorry to hear it homie.

If you decide to go the route of trying to get rid of the Jeep and get a new ride, hit me up. A good family friend is a car dealer up in the 'boat and I could hook you up with him and see what he can do for you...

[yetipolice]

Yeah, it just sucks when all of a sudden everything starts going wrong... today was so good until about 5 minutes ago... skied East Vail today and everything was awesome, hucked this 35-40 footer, never have gone that big before and we were just having an awesome day. Then after skiing a few groomers came home and I realized I lost my wallet (good thing is I know it's not in East Vail, would never have a chance of finding it again if that was the case). Then I called to see if my car was done and got the bad news. Just one of those weeks... I may actually have to ask my parents for help for the first time in years, I hate doing that.

[TJ.Brk]

It's been under 60 days. Approach the dealership about the problem. See if they will help you out with a rebuilt motor first. If they won't do anything go to the BBB and they will get you a new engine.

That's what I did on a ford taurus once.

[DerJaeger]

You were very unlucky. Cherokees of that vintage are normally very reliable vehicles. Fortunately the motors and other parts tend to be fairly cheap in the general scheme of things. I would be surprised if a rebuilt I6 cost as much as $2K (well, I guess including labour, it might).

Good luck with getting your Jeep fixed at the dealer's expense.

[jrtoes]

Step 1: buy gasoline
Step 2: Accidentally place gasoline all over used car lot.
Step 3: Set fire
Step 4: Cackle in satisfaction
Step 5: Steal super sweet subaru wrx, booker t to canada.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Go to the dealership and if they won't play ball, park the truck outside the dealership with a big lemon sign on it explaining what the dealership sold you. Maybe that will change its mind.

[gamma]

GO TO THE DEALERSHIP. be nice at first. if they make trouble and try to avoid giving u a NEW car or NEW engine, then threaten them with BBB, a news story(this works well) and other bad press..

[BobMc]

Umm, how long did you drive the vehicle before the engine "melted" down? Unfortunately I think this will be a lesson in watching your gauges and pulling over when a problem occurs.

I love the typical TGR reactions. Hey TJ, since when did the BBB start installing engines? How was the car a "lemon" Dex?

BobMc

[wstdeep]

Probably your least expensive option is a decent used motor at about 1000-1300 installed, sucks but thats what it is.

[FNG]

If the dealership won't help you out, find a reputable mechanic in the area (ASE Certified!). The deal will fuck you over on the price of repairs every single time. Try to find a place that's a little slow. Shops don't make much money on engine jobs, especially compared to what they make on brakes and tuneups. If you can find a good guy whose business is a little slow, you might be able to get a better deal than you thought.

[mavrick]

dealer isnt responsible for a god damn thing... unless you can prove they knew the engine was bad... shit happens sometimes.. u cant expect a dealer to know EVERYTHING about the car.. sometimes things just break...

as for parking the car with the "LEMON" sign on it.. might be some legal ramifications with parking it on private land and libel defamation of the dealership..(someone correct me if i am wrong)

Overall best advice is ask the dealer if they can give u a break on the prices (ie labor and parts cost)... if it were my dealership we would most likely give u a price break to create and hopefully make you a loyal customer... if they wont help do what FNG said

[runethechamp]

Sorry to hear about the situation, it sounds like it sucks pretty bad. But really, only one small part failed on the car, and that was the waterpump. Depending on mileage, it doesn't have to be that uncommon. The engine wasn't bad when you bought the car, that was taken care of by driving with the overheated engine. Hope you can get it fixed without paying too much.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Umm, how long did you drive the vehicle before the engine "melted" down? Unfortunately I think this will be a lesson in watching your gauges and pulling over when a problem occurs.

I love the typical TGR reactions. Hey TJ, since when did the BBB start installing engines? How was the car a "lemon" Dex?

BobMc

Yeah, you're right, when you buy a car you really should only expect it to work for a month. If it works for more than 24 hours after it's off the lot then it's passed the lemon test.
I have no idea what TJ is talking about though, just another one of his strange thoughts, I suppose.

[yetipolice]

Umm, how long did you drive the vehicle before the engine "melted" down? Unfortunately I think this will be a lesson in watching your gauges and pulling over when a problem occurs.

I love the typical TGR reactions. Hey TJ, since when did the BBB start installing engines? How was the car a "lemon" Dex?

BobMc

Didn't drive it far at all... 5-10 miles max, which was obviously enough to cause damage, but small enough that I couldn't tell what was going on with the car. I thought the power steering belt snapped because the only sign something went wrong was that my power steering went. The biggest factor was that I was driving through Glenwood Canyon, which is basically a very difficult place to pull over... deep canyon with small/zero shoulder, tunnels, zero cell reception, and to make matters worse it was 5am. Literally as soon as I got into one of the tunnels, that's when the car started overheating. Big ups to CDOT for getting to me right away and getting me towed out of the tunnel.

I'm not expecting the dealer to do anything for me, but if they could even help me locate a decent priced engine, that would be a good move in my mind. The salesman who sold me the car was polite, but his boss was a dick. They initially priced the Jeep at least $700 over blue book, yet when I brought it to a mechanic to inspect before purchase, I found out a few things needed to be done that would definitely bring the value below blue book... the rear brakes weren't working (which the dealership had no idea about, yet they were using this car as a "loaner" for one of their customers the day before it was inspected) and the surpentine belt needed to be replaced (which they replaced as part of the deal as well as the brakes). Once I got to the know the car over the first week, I found lots of little nuiances that were wrong with the car... small stuff that didn't affect the way the car ran, but nonetheless small things that slowly brought down the value and stuff that was easy to overlook when inspecting the car... power windows could only be opened via drivers controls, radio stuck on Christian Rock channel (no joke), passenger door doesn't close cleanly, little annoying stuff like that. The dealership is one of the more reputed ones in town, so surprised it turned into a lemon.

[yetipolice]

Umm, how long did you drive the vehicle before the engine "melted" down? Unfortunately I think this will be a lesson in watching your gauges and pulling over when a problem occurs.

I love the typical TGR reactions. Hey TJ, since when did the BBB start installing engines? How was the car a "lemon" Dex?

BobMc

Didn't drive it far at all... 5-10 miles max, which was obviously enough to cause damage, but small enough that I couldn't tell what was going on with the car. I thought the power steering belt snapped because the only sign something went wrong was that my power steering went. The biggest factor was that I was driving through Glenwood Canyon, which is basically a very difficult place to pull over... deep canyon with small/zero shoulder, tunnels, zero cell reception, and to make matters worse it was 5am. Literally as soon as I got into one of the tunnels, that's when the car started overheating. Big ups to CDOT for getting to me right away and getting me towed out of the tunnel.

I'm not expecting the dealer to do anything for me, but if they could even help me locate a decent priced engine, that would be a good move in my mind. The salesman who sold me the car was polite, but his boss was a dick. They initially priced the Jeep at least $700 over blue book, yet when I brought it to a mechanic to inspect before purchase, I found out a few things needed to be done that would definitely bring the value below blue book... the rear brakes weren't working (which the dealership had no idea about, yet they were using this car as a "loaner" for one of their customers the day before it was inspected) and the surpentine belt needed to be replaced (which they replaced as part of the deal as well as the brakes). Once I got to the know the car over the first week, I found lots of little nuiances that were wrong with the car... small stuff that didn't affect the way the car ran, but nonetheless small things that slowly brought down the value and stuff that was easy to overlook when inspecting the car... power windows could only be opened via drivers controls, radio stuck on Christian Rock channel (no joke), passenger door doesn't close cleanly, little annoying stuff like that. The dealership is one of the more reputed ones in town, so surprised it turned into a lemon.

[mrw]

if you get stuck with the bill, replace the motor with a used one. The total repair should come in around $1100

[MTT]

Yetipolice:

After reading your last post, you should see the dealer about taking responcibility.

A few things.

The fact that you lost power steering as well as overheated?
Says the Serpentine belt came off or loose, maybe also had an alternator light?

If you have the 4.0 6 jeep. I do not believe 10 miles driving overheated will cause you to need the engine replaced. (I would be questioning the shop it was towed too)

If the car was still running when you shut it down in the tunnel? I cannot see how you would now need a new motor or rebuild.

So there are a few things going on here. It sounds like you had an issue with a recently replaced serpentine belt! That should go back on the shop that did that work.

It does not sound like you drove the car into seizure. The shop in Glenwood telling you that the motor is wrecked might be taking advantage.

Given the short and poor history I think you should get the dealership involved.

Given that you don't have any spare $$ best of luck

[Aldo]

10 miles overheating OK? I wouldn't drive an overheating car one block but that's just me.

You should look into what Colorado lemon laws say about limited warranties, but I'm assuming if you look through your paperwork you probably signed that right away when you bought the truck.

[BLOOD SWEAT STEEL]

I think some folks in this thread need some SERIOUS education on what a lemon is/isn't. You guys apply the term so liberally it's ridiculous. Yeti's situation doesn't even come close to meeting the definition as set forth by any state law I've ever seen.

[yetipolice]

10 miles overheating OK? I wouldn't drive an overheating car one block but that's just me.

You should look into what Colorado lemon laws say about limited warranties, but I'm assuming if you look through your paperwork you probably signed that right away when you bought the truck.

No, not driving 10 miles with it overheating... it overheated after about 10 miles... basically the temp gauge spiked... like I said before, the only indication anything was happening was the power steering, then it spiked into obvious overheat when I hit the tunnel. Yeah, if it was in the red I obviously would pull over immediately.

Edit: And yeah, I've read the laws... no doesn't fall under any "lemon law" by any means... I bought it as is, my tough luck. But as was posted by MTT, if the serpentine belt was installed improperly causing the whole situation, then dealer is definitely liable as part of the terms of my sale were that they replace the serpentine belt, which they did.

[mr_gyptian]

Go to the dealership and if they won't play ball, park the truck outside the dealership with a big lemon sign on it explaining what the dealership sold you. Maybe that will change its mind.

then dress up like a chicken. gets them every time.

[yetipolice]

And few more details realized I hadn't posted but are important... serpentine belt was definitely off when we popped the hood. I'm not sure if it was snapped or just off it's track, but definitely was no longer attached. Mechanic initially said the serp belt and water pump needed replacing, then when he looked into it further, found that something with the engine blew (gaskets, pistons, I can't remember). I still have to get back in touch with him for details, I only got to talk with a different mechanic that wasn't as involved yesterday. So question is, would a blown water pump cause power steering to fail or cause the serp belt to snap/come off? Or more likely vise versa?

[sirbumpsalot]

re:They initially priced the Jeep at least $700 over blue book, yet when I brought it to a mechanic to inspect before purchase,
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There is your problem....don't blame the dealer...you need a new mechanic. Sorry!