Well, we got my wife a new KL 3 weeks ago and she really liked it! At 850 miles on the ticker she started having problems with the start/stop feature. It was decided by the dealership that the vehicle needed a new tranny.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

There have been many (more than the standard it seems) Technical Service Bulletins (TSB) and even a few recalls issued for the KL. A lot dealing with the transmission and software that controls it, and software problems in general.

I love my old Cherokee, you couldn't pay me to buy a new one though. Welcome to the forum, I expect to be seeing you here quite a bit.

So far that 9-speed has been a disaster. For some reason, Chrysler struggles to build a good transmission.

Just because I'm tired of people saying that the transmission is a Chrysler product. It was contracted out just like the diesel engines in the XJs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_9HP_transmission

^This


^ and this

The 9-speed auto has proven to be a real piece of crap (as I and many others suspected it would be), but ZF is the one responsible for this piece of junk (though some of the software issues are specific to Fiat-Chrysler).


Though I honestly don't think any of the new 8+ speed car/light-truck autos are likely to be reliable long term, it is a lot of hardware to stick into a limited space which means smaller/weaker/more-failure prone components. I realize many commercial trucks have 18 speed trans, but they also have a lot more room to work with, versus a car/pickup/SUV (especially FWD/FWD-based AWD vehicles like the KL) with very limited space necessitating smaller/weaker components.


They'd have been better off just sticking the 6-speed Hyundai auto used in the Compass/Patriot into the KL and Renegade, but they had to try and squeeze out a couple more MPG (in EPA testing, that will never be seen under real-world conditions) and now it is biting them in the rear with a ton of warranty claims.

yep, mines been acting up big time, it was supposed to have been fixed last month, however, its actually worse than ever, not to mention the loud popping noise now occurs while driving in a straight line now, dont even have to turn the wheel... after having the struts replaced , i guess? they was bad, or they made a wild guess at it

fellow jeepers, id rather be talking smack about who could out jeep who and sharing trail blazing tales instead of posting complaints..
right now, with this stack of recalls, i truly can not and have not trusted my ride.

i have a new agent assigned to my case, who seems to be on point, hes sending it up the chain so he says..
even if mine gets fixed.. i dont want the thing anymore.. its left a bad impression on me..
i did like it when i first got it.. but geeze , anyone having this many issues would feel the same way..

We now have a new tranny, the dealer replaced with no problem. The issue we have is they didn't check that it had the latest flash for it. So my was de had to take off another 1/2 day to do that. Poor follow through on the dealers part.

mines been flashed and updated several times, still no resolve, it did last longer after the last one, but after this time, it acted up fast.... keep us updated on your new one please...

My 15 had a new transmission at 7K miles. Followed by flashes of the TCM, BCM, PCM and the uConnect. Followed by a new TCM. Followed by 2 new brake switches. Lastly a new key fob (waiting for that to come it. and that has all been since 10/2/15. Up until last Friday, the car has been in my driveway 4 days. I was about to ask for visitation rights. I love the car. I just don't love the amount of time it has spent in the shop.

I have to ask...what exactly do you love about it?

There is a lot to love about the car. Comfortable, functional, and it tows well behind our coach. Were it not for the service issues, I would be very satisfied. I think a lot of the problem exists because the cars are so complex, you about need a masters degree in technology to work on them, and that's not just jeep. One of the errors that mine through was 'Implausible Data'. What the heck is that. When all else fails, throw that catch all. I think if I had to do it again, I would bite the bullet and get the grand Cherokee. They don't have near the issues of the cherokee

Ill give this a minute to sink in.

Could trade it in for the manual version..

bahaha

Functional....... lol