u/reluctantdonkey

Bittersweet, because I did love the effing b**ard, but my 4xe is officially back in the hands of FCA, and a juicy check in mine.

Since people are tracking these things:

State: California

I worked with a Lemon Lawyer who was a waste of space--in Cali, and, unless unique, I am not sure that you need one. Even the lemon lawyer had me do everything myself.

Process:

Ask for a buyback. Cite things that qualify it for Lemon Law (I believe it's like 30+ day in the shop total and/or 3x times back for the same issue, but you'd need to double check)-- mine well exceeded any parameters, having had the hybrid battery replaced twice and 5+ trips due to this coolant thing that nobody seems to have a solve for. 83+ overnights + countless day-long dealer service visits.

They will ask for your dealer invoice and payment history/payout amount from your financer (if applicable.) They will make you an offer and you accept or don't the offer.

My offer was in line with Lemon Law, so I accepted the offer. (Total payments made- including interest and extended warranty-- plus anything like tows, rentals, etc., less mileage to the first reported issue.)

One last-minute hiccup was that the first buyback appt failed-- It had damage from when I rolled into a guardrail when all the traction systems failed in the middle of a snowstorm- the straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back system failure that finally had me seek Lemon Law help.

That damage (when padded with a shady dealer thing reporting damage that was confirmed to be not there by a third party body shop, which I will be reporting to BBB) was in excess of what it's allowed to be for a LEASE RETURN (ie: agent was following Lease return protocol- lemon law doesn't care if you vinyl wrapped, repainted, drilled holes in the thing, so long as that cosmetic "damage" didn't CAUSE the lemon issues), so he rejected it.

While trying to get a human on the phone to sort that out, I got a ping that they had paid off my car loan on the day of the first buyback. Then, I got a check in the mail for a car rental I had also claimed reimbursement for. That had a phone number and case number on it, and, once I got that human on the phone, it was smooth sailing.

Anyhow, I will miss that cute little motherhumper. 😞

I have damage on my 4xE in large part resulting from the incident that caused me to seek Lemon Law in the first place (all traction systems going out suddenly, had a slow-mo ice slide into a snow covered guardrail causing front-end damage.)

I took it to the dealer the day after that incident, they dx as needing another new hybrid battery (second time they've replaced it).

That was the incident that had me say "no more." I'm well within the LL of my state (CA) due to 84ish days in shop, 2x getting the hybrid battery replaced, 4x in for these incessant coolant issues (still having), etc., so I signed with a lemon lawyer while it was in the shop.

When it came out, I noticed that it did have more damage than I originally thought (a broken running light and cracked plastic on the driver's side was evident right when the incident happened, but, on the passenger side, I assume something is bent under the plastic bumper, because, the bumper is buldging out over time. I'd originally thought it was melting or something unrelated, but the body shop guys say it's impact-related, so the only thing it COULD be is that incident, unless it got ran into while in the shop.)

Anyhow, since we were underway with the LL process, I was never thinking I need to fix an utter lemon that's headed to the crusher (hopefully! I mean, they can't ethically sell it, right?)

Lemon Lawyer had me ask for a buyback. Jeep agreed. We agreed on the amount. I had fully disclosed the incident and damage to the lemon lawyer. In my original request for buyback, I spelled out the incident/accident as a reason I was requesting buyback...

Prior to my appt, Jeep asked me to disclose damage using what looked like the same paperwork they use for an end-of-lease disclosure/"buyback" process.

I asked lemon lawyer how to address the damage-- Lemon lawyer told me no need to tell them, because my state's Lemon Law doesn't care about condition of the vehicle.

Took it in for the buyback appt, and, yes, the front end damage obviously they noticed but, they took it to the body shop and did a FULL once-over, as if I was returning it from a lease or something--

They identified a mildly bent running board (the plastic Mopar ones) a ding in the roof from a road rock on the freeway, I'm guessing (I thought both of those were truly just wear and tear and never would have thought to disclose) and a burn hole in the back armrest.

That burnhole stood out-- for one thing, the only thing flammable that's ever been in or around my Jeep is the Jeep itself (highhat!) -- But, I have searched high and low, and I can't find it. Friends can't find it. I have taken it to another body shop here in town and they cannot find it...

The burnhole is conveniently about $190 - The agent at the buyback said if damage was above $5,000, he could not accept the car... the total quote from the dealer body shop for damage was $5,007.01.

Lemon lawyer told me I need to sort it out myself with Jeep and to get them to agree to a negotiated buyback-- no further guidance than that. I have been in touch with Jeep 2x-- once providing the quote, a video of the back armrest, a restating of the incident that led to the front-end damage, and an offer to come to compromise on the damages total. (Will utterly KILL me to pay for a burnhole that's literally not there, tho!)

Nothing.

I also sent a reminder. Nothing.

Lemon lawyer keeps calling on some kind of schedule every 3 days or so, asking if I have a new buyback date set up yet-- I kinda blew up at them yesterday, because it is getting SUPER annoying that the best they can say is, "figure it out yourself and let us know when you get your check."

Anyone been through a failed buyback (I'm in CA) or had your car flagged for damage at buyback?

What do I do here?- I already purchased a replacement vehicle, since the LL made it sound like the buyback was pretty turnkey and would just be easy-peasy, and I CANNOT carry 2 car payments, 2 insurance policies, etc.

Help!

I am still trying to get these cosmetic fixes done so Jeep will buy my lemon back-- they unexpectedly went over it with a fine-toothed comb at the buyback appt, as if I was doing a voluntary return-from-lease, and racked up $5K in "damages" and said, thus, they can't buy it back.

Incidentally, my state's lemon law has no requirement for vehicle cosmetic condition, and my lemon lawyer is himself being... well... a lemon.

One of the things that seemed easy enough to fix was a road-rock chip in the black hardtop. Just need to paint-match the epoxy putty.

The Mopar paint match pen will take weeks to get here- any thoughts on brands that might be on Amazon that do match?

I thought today was the day!

Took it in to meet the buyback guy-- I was sad because I loved that car when it worked, but knowing it was for the best.

They had asked beforehand about damage. I checked with my LL attorney about what all needed disclosed, since there was cosmetic front-end damage resulting from the system failure that finally had me say "no more."

(Car was fine, then I went to yoga and came out and turned it on, and all of my traction control, ABS, 4WD, Traction Control lights came on- in the middle of a snowstorm. While limping the 3 miles home, I picked my foot off the gas, and regen braking didn't kick in, tapped the brake and did a slow-mo spin into the snow-covered guardrail creating damage that I didn't even notice until a few weeks later.)

My LL attorney said my state LL says nothing about condition of the vehicle at buy-back, and just to take it back, so I went today.

He did a CRAZY deep inspection (for a car headed to the junkyard?!) and I disclosed the damage when asked. (It is not readily apparent, but with the level he was looking--and, also, I'm not the type to lie.)

He took it to the dealer body shop.

He came back and told me they couldn't take it back because they can't buyback with more than $5,000 in damages on it... the quote the dealer body shop gave was $5,007.01.

I was not going to pay out of pocket and jack my insurance rate for years into the future to fix cosmetic damage on a car I wasn't going to keep and that resulted from a lemon-related system failure (it also wasn't even with me for a month and a half of that time while waiting on the new hybrid battery at the dealer).

Also, the day I got it back with the new battery the check engine light came back on, so then we did the ol' coolant song and dance for the next couple months....

I wouldn't have even had time to get it to the body shop for a cosmetic fix if I wanted to.

Anyhow.... now we're back to waiting for the lawyer to give me next steps.

I love it... but SO ready to be done!