Hi,

I hope I'm posting this in the right area. We have a 2013 Jeep Wrangler with 61,600 km (about 38,000 miles). The dealership has strongly recommended we get the Driveline service and Power Steering Service. Not sure what driveline service entails, but I've read through the forums here and many say it's a rip off.

The dealership is saying if we don't get it done and have problems in the future, the warranty won't cover the problems. We get regular oil/filter and brake stuff done. Driveline service is $680 (Canadian) . The posts I've read here are from 2012 and earlier, so I want to be sure it's still thought of as a rip off and will still not void the warranty. We've never owned a vehicle where the dealership has recommended so many EXPENSIVE (and maybe unecessary) things to be done. I don't know if it's this particular dealership or if it's Chrysler in general. Nissan wasn't this bad when we had our Xterra!

Our concern of course is safety, keeping the vehicle running well, and having the warranty honoured if we have problems. I'm assuming we do need the Power Steering service, but how often?

Also, how does the Jeep warranty work if we decide to use a regular mechanic? Oil/filter change isn't overpriced at the dealership, but everything else seems to be.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

You'll have better results if you post here:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f87/

Welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks Roninofako! I wonder if a mod can delete this thread. I'll post it there.

 

Fiona, rip-ff or not, if it's required to maintain the warranty, I suggest you do it. Once the warranty expires, you can decide to forego manufacturer maintenance schedules, but they do have the right to negate your warranty if you do not get the required service.

Under federal law, you do NOT have to get it done at the dealer, so shop around for better prices from a reputable shop.

 

Probably have even better results here: http://www.wranglerforum.com

 

Thanks for your reply. If we knew for a fact that it has to be done to keep the warranty valid, we'd do it, but when the service person says "you better do it or it may void the warranty" it's so vague that we really don't know if they are just trying to make more money on something not really that necessary. I was hoping that someone understands the warranty better when it pertains to the driveline service. Do I trust the what the service techs at the dealership say? Not really.

 

Thanks for the wrangler forum link jay_sco!

 

Check the maintenance schedule in the manual. What is listed in it is all that's required to keep the warranty valid. If the dealer claims anything else it is BS.


38K mi and 2-3 years seems a bit early for a driveline and power steering service (I would imagine this means flushing the power steering fluid, and changing the oil in the transfer-case/diffs, if this is the case an independent shop should be able to do it for a lot less), 50k-60k mi would seem more reasonable for this service on a newer vehicle (assuming you haven't spent a lot of time in water and contaminated the fluid), but do whatever the manual says if it is under warranty.

 

What's a driveline service?

 

Not up to date on Canadian warranty laws. In the US we have the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act which in short allows for service and repairs at the owners choice, as well, any warranty claim with modifications cannot be denied unless the modification directly affects the part or component in question.... e.g. if I change my cat-back with a C.A.R.B. approved setup and then have a IAT sensor, or coil defective, they warranty the warranty stands because the cat-back does not directly impact those items.

 

Keep in mind that there are Recommended and Required services, and Normal and Severe duty intervals.

You are only required to do the Required services per the Owner's Manual........

I'll move this to Chat since it's a Wrangler and the OP asks some good questions.

 

Thanks again everyone. We will probably take the Jeep in to a local reputable mechanic we saw once before and show him the maintenance schedule. We went to him last year with something Chrysler wanted us to do (can't remember what it was!) and it was going to cost around $1,000. We thought he could perhaps do it cheaper.. he said it didn't even need to be done, ever. Anyway, I don't know the details of what "driveline service" is but it was recommended around the time we hit 64k KM (we're at 70k km now). Here's the page from the maintenance schedule for that time. It doesn't state if these things are mandatory or recommended. I have also found out that we also don't have to use the dealership for maintenance etc. to keep the warranty valid. The dealership uses mopar oil for the oil changes... is that recommended and if so, couldn't we just buy it and take it to our own mechanic? Thanks!

 

Mopar oil is just Pennzoil with a Mopar sticker and a bunch of extra markup, definitely good oil, but nothing "special". Mopar filters are made by Purolator or Champion Labs, again, decent filters, but nothing "special" (Purolator Classic with black paint and a Mopar logo for about double the price).



As long as the oil and filter meets FCAs (Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles) specs (which just about any major name brand will) you should be fine. I'd avoid Fram filters, and other cheap/off-brand filters though.

 

LOL! Why am I not surprised! I guess they just keep saying "Mopar" all the time and you somehow get brainwashed into thinking it's gold. Thanks dmill

 

It's no different than what AC Delco and Motorcraft do. Every auto manufacturer pushes their own brand of replacement and service parts.