JEEP

JEEP Grand Cherokee Laredo continual reliability issues and expensive repairs  prompted my letter, below, sent to the CEO of Stellantis, Mr. Alfonso Filosa and his associates.

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Dear Stellantis CEO, Mr. Antonio Filosa,

RE: Customer experience owning a 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo CRD

Please refer to the photo, (above). It is an Australia delivered Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo CRD, with 3.0L V-6 turbo-charged V6 diesel VM Motori engine and a Mercedes-Benz W5A580 5 speed automatic transmission, model year February 11, 2013, vehicle identification number 1C4RJFEM4DC624777, and [redacted information, here]

Sir, I have been a fully licensed driver, since 1970. I have probably owned 20 to 30 cars, including sedans, coupes, pickup trucks, SUVs, and four-wheel drives. This is my third Jeep. My first was a J-200 pickup truck and second was a new 1984 AMC CJ-7, both with a straight six cylinder engine.

I earned my living as a military and commercial pilot, for 36 years, from 1978 to 2014. During that time, I became an Aviation Maintenance Officer and Military Maintenance Test Pilot. I earned an Aircraft Mechanic License, in 1993. I have even designed aircraft parts that were approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration, installed by myself, and then I did the test flight. I became a Captain flying Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets, in 1999. After immigrating to Australia and gaining right-to-work, I could not gain employment as a pilot or aircraft mechanic, so I worked as a car and truck mechanic and later worked at a luxury car dealership. So, you should assume, I am not your average car owner or driver. I am very technically and mechanically minded. I have always worked on and maintained every vehicle I have owned. It is something I enjoy doing.

Of all the vehicles I have owned and driven, this 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo is the worst and most expensive to maintain and repair.

What idiot for a automotive designer would design headlights that the owner cannot change the bulb himself and must take it to the dealership? I have big hands, but I figured out a way to change the bulbs, though getting a few scratches on the backs of my hands, but only after having to remove parts that were in the way. What idiot would design it without GPS Navigation to be operated in a country as broad and diverse as Australia?

This Jeep sits so low to the ground, it would be better suited to an F1 Grand Prix track. I must drive it up onto 44mm concrete blocks just to barely fit my chest beneath it to drain the oil from the sump. And, to change the oil filter, I must remove the Air Cleaner assembly and tubing, the MAF Sensor connector, and a long rubber hose, to remove the oil filter assembly cap, at the back of the engine. Again, what idiot for a automotive designer would design a vehicle that cannot be easily serviced?

But, that is not the worst of it.

It cost me nearly $3,000 to replace the original Oil Filter/Oil Cooler Assembly that developed an internal crack, causing oil to leak into the Coolant System, which needed to be flushed seven of eight times. And, it takes too long to get the required replacement parts, which are egregiously expensive -though Made-in-China.

Then, I had to have the Speed Sensor or Speed Control located inside the W5A580 transmission sump, that failed crossing a bridge, without any warning whatsoever. My Jeep sat at the repair shop 68 days waiting for parts. 68 days!!! I was forced to drive my (perfect condition) Mercedes-Benz E500, which I choose not to drive at night or in the bad weather, in Australia, when a large animal jumped in front of my car and then hit the side of it, one night, causing over $3,000 damage that has not been repair, yet. Thanks to JEEP. But, it already cost $3,033 to replace the Transmission Speed Sensor.

That was followed a few months later by the need to replace the Upper and Lower Control Arms, both Left Side and Right Side Front Suspension. That cost $3,087.

Recently, though I do an oil and filter change every 10,000 kms and reset the EVIC “Oil Change Due” Alert-Message, and ( i ) message appeared one week before it was due for an oil and filter change that I could not extinguish, though complying with page 177 of my Owners Manual. I contacted Jeep Australia and was told by “Mia” from Customer Care(less),

“After further discussion with our internal technical team, we can confirm that this specific “Oil Change Due” EVIC alert can only be reset using manufacturer-specific diagnostic equipment at an authorised Jeep dealership. Unfortunately, this reset cannot be completed or resolved outside of an authorised repairer, and we are unable to assist with this remotely through Customer Care.

We understand this may not be the outcome you were hoping for; however, access to the required Jeep diagnostic systems is restricted to authorised dealerships, and this process is necessary to ensure the vehicle systems are correctly updated and verified.”
What complete bullshit! Please pass on to her that using a Launch Tech 431 V+ V4.0 OBD2 Diagnostic Tool it can be reset -and, it does not have to be done at an authorized Jeep dealership. I have no time or patience for empty-headed, lazy-minded, scripted responses.

On February 3 and 4, 2026, my Jeep is booked into Launceston, Tasmania (Australia) Jeep dealership, two hours from my home, to have the Transmission Cooler/Air Conditioning Condenser and Power Steering Cooler replaced. That will cost me at least another $3,000 to replace those parts.

I absolutely believe Stellantis-Jeep bear responsibility for these egregious costs to my wife and me to keep my vehicle on the road. Tough nice-looking and drives as well as my Mercedes-Benz E500, when everything is working, but this 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo is the worst car I have ever owned. It has been the most expensive to maintain and repair. I suspect it was a lemon delivered straight from the factory. It only has 258,000 kilometers on the odometer. By comparison, I put 250,000 miles (402,336 kms) on my 1984 Jeep CJ-7 and all I ever did was regularly change oil and filters and I put 455,000 kms on my 2003 Subaru Forester, but it never cost me as much to keep it on the road.

Let’s consider why the Jeep was initially invented? Willys-Overland delivered the prototype “Quad” (named for the 4×4 system it featured), to the U.S. Army on Armistice Day (Veteran’s Day), November of 1940, design to go anywhere, under and conditions. World War 2 reporter, Ernie Pyle, said of the MB, “It did everything. It went everywhere. Was faithful as a dog, strong as a mule, and as agile as a goat. It constantly carried twice what it was designed for and still kept going.” On the Stellantis website, your company promotes itself retelling the history of Jeep. It definitely is not referring to my Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo.

I feel that Stellantis-Jeep should offer to pay for the repairs to my Jeep, to have the Transmission Cooler/Air Conditioning Condenser and Power Steering Cooler replaced, in February. Stellantis should be embarrassed to sell such an unreliable and expensive-to-repair vehicle that is hard to get parts for. Looking pretty isn’t everything. A vehicle must be fit for purpose. Mine is not, since I have owned it. I have driven off a paved road and used four-wheel once, since I have owned it, because it is too unreliable.

I guy like me, with my technical, mechanical, and engineering background could be your best salesman of the Jeep brand in Australia, but my customer experience with Jeep has been an utter disappointment. Why are Jeep sales suffering and Jeep dealerships closing, in Australia? Look in the mirror.

Customer experience, dealership service, Jeep-Australia, and the Stellantis-CEO must be a cooperative partnership. Not merely take our money and look the other way.

Most sincerely,
Robert L. Cassidy

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The reply I had received, below, was polite, respectful and encouraging.

I asked if there is a less expensive alternative. The Service Manager told me that only the Oil Cooler could be replaced, just search online. He told me they would install it, if I bought it.  But, MOPAR Jeep does not sell them separately. What would any reasonable, cost-conscious vehicle owner do?  The Jeep dealership installed it for $564.10. That was an huge savings of $2135.98 and I drove home relieved and never suspecting it would fail 6 months later. Why? The Oil Filter/Oil Cooler assembly is an aluminum part bolted against a cast iron block.  Different metals expand and contract at different rates, as it heats and cools. The six Torx-head bolts should have been torque-wrench tightened to 30 Newton-meters or 22 ft-lbs. The Service Manager told me there is no torque specification for those bolts. If he was unaware, then surely the Mechanic on the shop floor was unaware. Thus, it warped and the new seal/gasket was contaminated on installation.

The gentleman who sold the new Oil Cooler  to me charged me $120 for it. I complained to him that he sold me a defective unit, but he defended that he has sold thousands of the Oil Coolers around the world, fitted to a wide variety of vehicles and has not had one complaint or warranty return. He asked me if the Torx-head bolts were properly torqued.  I told him what the Service Manager said. When he sold the Oil Cooler to me, he also told me that the Coolant System would need to be thoroughly flushed, using a special Oil Stripper. He said it may take six or seven attempts. The dealership flushed it once.

I did not discover that, until I arrived home and checked under the hood the next morning and checked the Coolant.  It was still muddy and contaminated with Oil. I called the dealership to complain. Excuses are what I was given.Getting the Coolant properly flushed would require another 2 hours drive to the north of the state and four days without my Jeep.

Still I had no idea that in six months it would fail and leak oil onto the ground, after every drive. I was replacing a liter of oil every few days. I was desperate to get it repaired. The Jeep dealership accepted no responsibility. They blamed it on a defective Oil Cooler, though acknowledging the ignorance of torque settings and would not acknowledge or accept the contaminated seal. I was told by a different Jeep dealership that it was caused by the Oil Cooler warping or contamination of the seal. The entire assembly was replaced February 2025 and I was charged $2337.74 . . . I discovered I was overcharged $324 and it took quite some effort and time to get a refund. I asked for the Oil Cooler to be returned to me, so I could return it to the seller.

To remove the Oil Filter/Oil Cooler Assembly the Air Conditioning Compressor needs to be removed to make space. Is it any coincidence the Air Conditioning system developed a problem after I got home, making a high pitched whistle and groan, and began leaking green dye.  Of course, the dealership denied any sloppy work.

Two Oil Cooler failures within 10 months would suggest it is either a poor design, material defect, or improperly installed. That would hardly fall within “fair wear and tear”, as Ross Fanning Senior Manager, Customer Resolutions, Stellantis Australia & New Zealand had implied, in an email.

What is “fair wear and tear” would be when a headlight stops working or tires need replacing, oil and filters need changing, brake pads or brake discs need replacing, all of which occurred amidst all the drama with the Oil Cooler, coincidentally.

With the failure of a headlight, a Jeep owner would not know if it is merely a blown headlamp or if it is a ballast that has failed.  Any vehicle owner should be able to change a blown headlamp in their vehicle, except by design, in a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, which has this bad news on page 324-

The way this vehicle is designed, the only practical way to perform such common maintenance would be to have either very small hands to access the bulb from behind the headlight assembly or remove the entire front of the vehicle. WHO would design a vehicle this way?!  I have done the bulb replacement myself, with great difficulty.  It hurt my hands and resulted in cuts and scratches, but no electrocution. I had to remove quite a bit of components blocking access to the back of the headlight assemblies.

I washed the Jeep and discovered a copper coil exposed and the rubber material peeling away from the Jeep’s radio antenna.  Is everything on the Jeep cheap shit Made-in-China?

Apparently so.  Read packaging.

A less expensive solution than spending $50 would be to put electronics shop grade black Heat Shrink Tubing over the old antenna for a few dollars.  The additional covering will not degrade the radio reception, at all.  This is what it looks like when done properly and what I did as an interim repair.

Then, I had to replace a leaking Windshield Washer Reservoir Bottle, Right Side Headlight Washer Jet Nozzle For 11-13 Jeep Grand Cherokee Part Number 68078292AA and the fluid supply tubing, which arrived in a kit from the Jeep dealership.

All four wheels disc brakes and pads had been replaced.

Then, another expensive job that cost about $3,000 was replacement of the Front Left and Front Right Upper and Lower Control Arms, because the bushings were perished, which I detected by an occasional crunching noise, when backing out of my garage and verified during the normal 10,000 kms tire rotation.

I will have the Transmission Cooler and Air Conditioner Condenser Assembly replaced, due to fluid seeping. It will be another $3,000 job!

Consider I have owned two Jeeps, previously. I had none of these problems. I drove my 1984 CJ-7, for 250,000 miles (402336 kilometers) and it never missed a beat. It wore me out.

I drove a 2003 Subaru Forester for 455,000 kilometers (282,724 miles) and never had these expensive problems with it, except for replacing the head gasket and wheel bearings.

I have probably owned 27 other vehicles and never had these problems. Is it this Jeep?

Consider I hold an Aircraft Mechanic Licence. I had been an Army-trained Aviation Maintenance Manager and Maintenance Test Pilot. I had designed and installed aircraft parts. I had worked as an automotive mechanic. I had designed and installed automotive parts. And, I have a genuine interest in all sorts of cars and trucks. Visit here to get some idea. Do you think I would know what “fair wear and tear” is?

I challenge Stellantis, to define “fair wear and tear”. How many years would you expect to drive a Four Wheel Drive vehicle? How many miles or kilometers would you expect to drive it before you experience these problems, every few months?

What else can go wrong? And, a better question is “How much will it cost me?”

My very best advice is to avoid buying a Jeep or any Stellantis-Australia represented vehicle. Keep your money in your pocket.