I was driving my 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee to work on Friday. First, got a message that my park assist needed service. As I kept driving, my driver's side seat belt light came on indicating I didn't have it on (I did). Then many other lights came on. I pulled off to the side of the road to then have my power steering go out and my windshield wipers to slowly start moving. Then, the car died.

Got it towed and both the alternator and battery were replaced.

I picked it up the next day only to have the battery light come on... followed by all of the above problems AGAIN. This time, my alternator got so hot, it melted the casing and almost caused by car to catch on fire.

Now the garage is thinking it needs to go to the dealership for repairs, which is far from trustworthy!

HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLP!

Update from Mar 10, 2020: Car was taken to a Jeep dealership. Dealership claims that the timing cover leaked oil onto the alternator, causing it to burn up. Wanted to charge me $3150 to fix timing cover and other things. I had it towed back to a local garage for the repairs. They found that was NOT the problem. They found my computer was fried as a result of the alternator burning up. Chrysler will not take responsibility for the alternator needing to be replaced in the recall, so will not take responsibility for the computer being fried by the alternator. I am now ONE MONTH without a vehicle! Reported the issues to the NHTSA ID Number: 11310368. Something needs to be done about this! It's extremely dangerous and Chrysler isn't being held responsible for their faulty parts!

I bought a 2012 Grand Cherokee at 39,274 miles from Szott M-59 Chrysler Jeep INC in November of 2014. I must say, the experience at this dealership was annoying at best. I already knew that the Jeep I was interested in had a recall for the alternator (which they pretended not to know and did not list on the online ad), they also neglected to mention the noticeable dent and rust on the online ad. However, knowing on my own the recall fix was coming and pending, I had faith in the Jeep brand name that the problem would be fixed and was still willing to purchase the vehicle and I did so.

Due to a vacation, I was unable to take delivery of the vehicle until a week after my purchase date. I called the dealership prior to my arrival to be informed that there was a problem with the Jeep, it had defaulted into "safe mode" and among other things the check engine light was on and front wiper blades would not stop. The service rep I spoke to on the phone stated he did not think it would be "safe" for me to pick up the vehicle at that time. Also, that they would fix the issue and contact me when it was ready. Needless to say, being a resident of Ohio and making travel arrangements to the dealership in Michigan was more than just out of my way. And the fact that there was a problem, an apparently UNSAFE, problem prior to my taking delivery was extremely upsetting.

A week of waiting later, I had to call to get a status update. I was told that they were unsure of the cause but they believed the issue had been addressed. I'll go ahead and spoil the end of this story now, it has not been fixed in the slightest.

I took delivery of the vehicle and later obtained a copy of the work order for the repairs done prior to me taking delivery. The work order stated that a fuse was replaced and the wiring was repaired.

Since taking delivery of this vehicle I have had to take it to my local dealership in Ohio THREE TIMES within the past FOUR MONTHS for the same issue. On start up, my jeep will randomly default into "safe mode" the wipers will not stop, the cruise control buttons are not working, the check engine light is on, and the stability control is off. These are the same problems the vehicle had prior to delivery and supposedly "fixed" by the Szott dealership.

My local Jeep dealership has replaced the steering module twice, the recalled alternator, and the totally integrated power module (TIMP). Some of which is covered under the warranty, the rest has resulted in about $1,300 of costs to me, mainly for the TIMP. Brief research online has shown me that there is a brand new recall for the TIMP. However, even with replacing the recalled parts, the problems continue. I am truly unhappy having paid to replace a part that has now been recalled, and still has not addressed the problem. Currently, my Jeep is at the dealership, for the past week, for its third repair trip since I took delivery. I have been assured by Jeeps reps during every step that the recalled alternator I was aware of, was not related to any of these issues.

Clearly, reading online it is very apparent that these electric issues are well known with a new recent (02/2015) recall for the TIPM and the past recall for the alternator. Even if the Szott dealership did not know about the problem(s) at the time of sale, they FOR SURE knew about it prior to delivery, failed to correct it, failed to inform me of the true cause, and since then I have to pay for ineffective fixes and feel that I have been at risk during my time driving this unreliable vehicle. My hope is that this is not the end of my Jeep experience, words that come to mind are disappointment and failure in the least and FRAUD on the part of Szott in the worst.

Update from Nov 3, 2015: Since the time of my original posting, my Jeep still has its TIMP recalling pending. However, the above listed electrical issued have been resolved which was not TIMP related. But, I was still not entirely happy with the answer.

My local Ohio dealership finally found the actual cause of the problems. The Ohio mechanic found that as we suspected the Michigan dealership, the dealership I purchased the Jeep from, had in fact done some recall repairs prior to my purchase. During this repair, when closing up one of the panels, the Michigan dealer, Szott, had put the screws through the wiring causing the electrical shorts I had been experiencing. Unfortunately, I had to pay for the cost of the repairs at the time, amounting to around $1600. The Ohio mechanic, being the sincerely stand up guy he is, insisted I contact Jeep Corporate direct regrading my complaint and keep him informed of my progress. I did not think it would go anywhere, but I fired off some emails anyways. My emails explained the situation pretty much word for word in my above complaint.

I was eventually contacted by Jeep direct via phone, assigned a "case manger" who would be my personal contact, and was told my case was being reviewed. I was asked to provide documentation of my repairs and payments. Thankfully I kept all the paperwork including the work order for the recall work that was done before I purchased it. These contacts took place over the course of a couple months. I was then contacted by another Jeep rep, who stated upon reviewing my case, they were offering to refund $1000 of the cost of my repairs. I explained to him this did not cover the credit card interest (I carried the cost on my card for a time), lost sleep (worked nights at the time, made trips to the dealership tough), and not nearly close enough to the original cost of repairs. They then returned with an offer that would cover all but the $100 detectable for repairs, which they refused to refund. Seeing as this was a better response than I had imagined, I accepted.

In short, I recommend to KEEP ALL DOCUMENTATION for repairs never know when it comes in handy. While I am still not happy this experience occurred to begin with, I am extremely happy with the costumer service from my Ohio dealership. I am fairly satisfied with the response from Jeep direct, but I wish they had some means to address poor dealerships like Szott, who give their brand a bad name. In the meantime, I still await my TIMP recall.