[RenGade]

My Jeep Renegade was only 20 days old when while at an interstate, we suddenly noticed a burning smell inside the car. As I try to figure out the source, I looked down to the steering wheel and the steering column was smoking really bad. We had to pullover to the shoulder lane and call 911. Fire department came after 15 minutes. When they opened the car door, it was still smoking inside and they took off the battery then the smoking stopped.

Long story short, got a rental right now and the car is still in the service center.
The service center run a diagnostic and could not really say what's wrong with it but they said they ordered a new steering column and an airbag for it. (I do not want that same car anymore!)

We called the 800 number of Chrysler to report the incident since the dealership said they could not do anything about it. The manager of the dealership suggested we try to get Chrysler to do a buy back deal. So far it has been 3 days, but we are really hoping to get a new car. We do not feel safe driving a Renegade anymore. Just glad our baby was not with us when it happened.

We just wanted to share this incident and hope none of you will go through the same ordeal we did.

 

[tony]

That's horrible.
Wouldn't have imagined this happening to a new vehicle coming from Chrysler.
At least with this experience being shared it will make others aware of what could happen, maybe something that will lead into mass recalls.

 

[RenGade]

The steering column was sparking, popping and smoking. Glad that the airbag did not deploy and the steering wheel did not lock up. We are really just thankful that the baby was not with us.

For now, I'm carless with burn marks from the sparks.

 

[Foobar]

Dude, I feel for you and I'm very sorry you went through this. I would suggest talking to FCA to see what they can do for you and if they don't cooperate, contact the automotive media.

That all said, do you really need to post this in multiple different threads on the same forum?

 

[RenGade]

Dude, I feel for you and I'm very sorry you went through this. I would suggest talking to FCA to see what they can do for you and if they don't cooperate, contact the automotive media.

That all said, do you really need to post this in multiple different threads on the same forum?

Thanks Foobar for the advice. Sorry for the unintended spamming.

 

[Indiana Jones]

A couple of things I'm having trouble understanding.... If it was sparking, popping, and smoking, why can't the dealer find out where is was coming from? There would be scorch and burn marks and melted wire insulation if it as bad as you described and how long it was before the battery was disconnected. Another question is why did the dealer say, "They couldn't do anything." and for you to contact FCA.... That's their job.

 

[Lackadazikal]

That's horrible. I'm also wondering why the dealer isn't helping.

 

[bwbike]

It could be something like a pinched wire that was shorting out. Once fixed with new parts that were damaged or melted, there isn't any reason not to trust the car.

 

[CalTom]

It could be something like a pinched wire that was shorting out. Once fixed with new parts that were damaged or melted, there isn't any reason not to trust the car.

Except it is possible the burned fire smell has forever damaged the Renegade as getting that smell out is sometimes very difficult. This clearly is a case that FCA has to buy the car back.

 

[RenGade]

A couple of things I'm having trouble understanding.... If it was sparking, popping, and smoking, why can't the dealer find out where is was coming from? There would be scorch and burn marks and melted wire insulation if it as bad as you described and how long it was before the battery was disconnected. Another question is why did the dealer say, "They couldn't do anything." and for you to contact FCA.... That's their job.

That's horrible. I'm also wondering why the dealer isn't helping.

The dealership said that we had to be the one calling for the FCA, that even if we bought a BMW and it happened with that car, they still couldn't do anything coz they are only authorized resellers. The dealership's after sales customer service sucks. Never buying a car from them.

It could be something like a pinched wire that was shorting out. Once fixed with new parts that were damaged or melted, there isn't any reason not to trust the car.

Except it is possible the burned fire smell has forever damaged the Renegade as getting that smell out is sometimes very difficult. This clearly is a case that FCA has to buy the car back.

I do really hope they buy back the car. To even think that they have to replace the airbags? Not even gonna think of driving that lemon ever! I will never feel safe with my family in it.

 

[Foobar]

The dealership said that we had to be the one calling for the FCA, that even if we bought a BMW and it happened with that car, they still couldn't do anything coz they are only authorized resellers. The dealership's after sales customer service sucks. Never buying a car from them.

They have a service department though, don't they? Or are they strictly just a sales showroom? Either way, they represent the manufacturer and should be the ones to contact FCA for you. Even if you bought a Hyundai or a KIA, they would do that for you, let alone a BMW.

Please let us know what god awful dealership this is you're dealing with so that the rest of us may avoid them.

@JeepCares Jack - care to step in and provide some customer care on this one? Seems like a bad situation that reflects poorly on FCA if this is the whole story.

 

[RenGade]

They have a service department though, don't they? Or are they strictly just a sales showroom? Either way, they represent the manufacturer and should be the ones to contact FCA for you. Even if you bought a Hyundai or a KIA, they would do that for you, let alone a BMW.

Please let us know what god awful dealership this is you're dealing with so that the rest of us may avoid them.

@JeepCares Jack - care to step in and provide some customer care on this one? Seems like a bad situation that reflects poorly on FCA if this is the whole story.

Hall Dodge Chrysler Jeep in Virginia Beach. They have a service department and the manager seems too busy to call back (on the day of the incident) hence too busy to help. The dealership got us a rental car and said that was all they can do.

I bought a new car thinking it wouldn't give me headaches until years later but I was wrong

 

[Indiana Jones]

The dealership said that we had to be the one calling for the FCA, that even if we bought a BMW and it happened with that car, they still couldn't do anything coz they are only authorized resellers. The dealership's after sales customer service sucks. Never buying a car from them..

Didn't you buy this from a Jeep dealer? When I had "mystery issues" with my Fiat, my dealers were the ones that contacted FCA. ONLY when my dealer did shoddy work and sabotaged my car did I have to contact FCA myself.

 

[JeepCares]

They have a service department though, don't they? Or are they strictly just a sales showroom? Either way, they represent the manufacturer and should be the ones to contact FCA for you. Even if you bought a Hyundai or a KIA, they would do that for you, let alone a BMW.

Please let us know what god awful dealership this is you're dealing with so that the rest of us may avoid them.

@JeepCares Jack - care to step in and provide some customer care on this one? Seems like a bad situation that reflects poorly on FCA if this is the whole story.

RenGade,

I'm very sorry to hear that you had this experience. Please PM me your VIN and contact information so I can look into this further.

 

[RenGade]

UPDATE :
Chrysler will repurchase the car although for me, nothing is final until I get the check. A day after I was informed that they will buy back the car, I got a call from them, asking if I could sign a release for the car so the engineers could "work on it to avoid future problems and save lives in the long run". I said no for the reasons that I just might be tricked into something that would give them a upperhand, just in case they turn around and say "we will not pay for your car". After all the guilt trip they did over the phone, I just told them that I am not comfortable with the idea and if they are really eager to do preventive measures, they can just speed up their 3-4weeks process so they can work on the car right away.

Hoping for a better news soon. Stay safe y'all!

 

[raz-0]

UPDATE :
Chrysler will repurchase the car although for me, nothing is final until I get the check. A day after I was informed that they will buy back the car, I got a call from them, asking if I could sign a release for the car so the engineers could "work on it to avoid future problems and save lives in the long run". I said no for the reasons that I just might be tricked into something that would give them a upperhand, just in case they turn around and say "we will not pay for your car". After all the guilt trip they did over the phone, I just told them that I am not comfortable with the idea and if they are really eager to do preventive measures, they can just speed up their 3-4weeks process so they can work on the car right away.

Hoping for a better news soon. Stay safe y'all!

I agree with your answer. Whose lives will they save. Nobody should be driving your property, and as soon as they cut the check, that issue goes away.

 

[Karamich]

Oh dear this is a horrible flaw. The good news is that no one was hurt... It is really sad and unfortunate that Jeep is still betting on random quality control and it is really like rolling the dice with these products... They still did not learn the lesson... And they create models from scratch (Cherokee, Renegade etc) and that is a big risk for a company that has no solid quality control philosophy and process...

 

[fmunk]

Oh dear this is a horrible flaw. The good news is that no one was hurt... It is really sad and unfortunate that Jeep is still betting on random quality control and it is really like rolling the dice with these products... They still did not learn the lesson... And they create models from scratch (Cherokee, Renegade etc) and that is a big risk for a company that has no solid quality control philosophy and process...

A car consists of thousands of parts. It's a daunting task to check everything and for efficiency sake (meeting production and sales deadlines/targets) it's impossible for every part and every car to be checked.

Quality has to be built into the entire process. From the engineers' CAD files, the parts suppliers and to each assembly worker on the line. With a totally brand new product and new corporate merger, issues are bound to happen. They could've delayed release until everything was exhaustively but that would mean missing deadlines and sales (neither are good headlines on Wall Street).

This requires time and dedication on their part to sort out. Wasn't that long ago when factory workers at one of Chrysler's plants was photographed (and fired) for drinking beer and smoking pot during their break. For their sake, I hope they sort it out. I don't think the American taxpayers can stomach another "too big to fail" bailout.

 

[CalTom]

But, there have been many problems reported of simply loose connectors, not just one place, but all over the Renegade. If you can't teach the assembly workers to "snap" the connectors together, it does not matter how good or bad your engineering is.

Disclaimer, yes, I'm an engineer, in the aircraft avionics world.

 

[fmunk]

But, there have been many problems reported of simply loose connectors, not just one place, but all over the Renegade. If you can't teach the assembly workers to "snap" the connectors together, it does not matter how good or bad your engineering is.

Disclaimer, yes, I'm an engineer, in the aircraft avionics world.

And that's why I said quality has to be built into the car through out the entire process of building a car. From the engineer doing the design work, to the suppliers making the parts and the guys at the factory who put it all together. And then once the cars leave the factory, it's up to the port staff and the dealers to ensure and uphold the other part of the quality experience.