2018 jeep jl (all white) has paint turning yellow from excess heat in the engine area. Jeep has less than 300 miles on it. Areas affected include front grill, right front fender. Primarily on driver's side. Not an isolated incident - see https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/bright-white-grille-turning-yellow.6394/ .
2018 Jeep Wrangler body complaints
Page 4 of 4: complaints 71 to 97 of 97, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On 9-26-18 I purchased a new 2018 jeep wrangler rubicon. A friend of mine told me to do a data search for an upcoming recall concerning the front track bar bracket. I see that 18v‑675 dated 9-28-18 was issued. Fca recall #ua5. Mine is one of the recalled jeeps. However, I proceeded to inspect the track bar welding and identify what the problem is and check for separated welds no welds, etc. While under the jeep I discovered other issues that will cause future significant safety issues with the vehicle. Such as frame failure or other components attached to the frame failing due to poor welding techniques as well as premature corrosion. These potential failures may result in significant injuries to the occupant(s) of the vehicle. On the frame, many welds appear to be inferior, such as perforated welds, missing welds, welds that are not complete leaving gaps between the edges of the frame. Additionally, in many areas of the frame, the paint has flaked off of the welds and is now starting to rust. I have had this vehicle for 3 weeks with 500 miles on it. It has been street driven only. With the current recall for the track bar, the dealer advised not to take it off road. On 10-17-18 I emailed pictures to the dealer as well as paid them a visit. I have supplied the dealer with pictures and have an appointment on 11-6-18 for them to look at it. I am extremely concerned that the dealer may attempt to weld these areas. And that if attempted, would only blister off any paint on the inside of the frame that could not be seen or primed and repainted properly. As this is a box frame and I believe it has to be dipped to be primed and painted on the inner side of the frame. Any other method that may be utilized would not be the same nor would it offer the same amount of corrosion protection as what the factory methodology utilizes.
Recently fca started a recall campaign (ua5) to inspect and repair the front track bar bracket welds but at the moment it is incomplete with no solution. This is pretty alarming to me since this can cause the vehicle to loose steering response. Now I am afraid to take long rides on the vehicle and I am scare to let my wife drive the vehicle. I talk to fca and they said it is still safe to drive, but after reading some of the experience of wrangler owners that had their track bar welds broken I don't think is safe. Also, I would like to know if a repair can be done on this kind of defects? And if the welds will be long lasting and not have a problem in the future.
Vehicle driven fo approximately 30 minutes with no apparent issues. Average speed about 40 to 50 MPH. Driver smelled a concerning odor, pulled into a parking, got out of vehicle and noticed a flame. She called 911and vehicle became fully engulfed. Vehicle is a total loss. After some research, it appears this is an issue with jeep.
Brand new 2018 jl wrangler rubicon 2 dr owned for 2 weeks frame appears to be spray painted all welds are rusted. Never been in the rain or even washed. Jeep has 16 miles on it. This is absolutely ridiculous for any new vehicle. Jeep should have addressed this issue instead of trying to cover it up with spray paint that isn't sticking anymore.
Frame weld discontinuities with porosity spots, incomplete fusion spots and rust. The consumer stated the investigation of the 2018 jeep wrangler jl 2 and 4 door models needed to be accelerated.*js*dt
Poor frame welds at critical points. I have welds that you can stick your finger nails behind. Have poor weld at track bar and shock mounts. Slag and poor penetration. Have spots where burn through occurs and rusts. Vehicle clicks and pops during turns. Structural integrity is compromised..
The welds on the frame of my jl wrangler are not of acceptable quality for welding standards. Weld splatter, slag, porosity, showing signs of corrosion, insufficient penetration. I notice these deficiencies when looking at my track bar bracket weld. This weld which is on a recall has an x on it like it was noticed but not changed. Manufactured 6-18
Got a recall notice (ua5) for a brand new 2018 jeep wrangler jl regarding possible bad frame welds. Dealerships do not have instructions about how to inspect the welds or what to do if an issue is found. No clear way to determine if the vehicle is safe to drive without an inspection that the dealerships don't seem capable of performing.
Jeep has bad welds throughout the frame posing significant safety risk not only while driving the vehicle but even more so in the event of a crash. A large majority of bad welds are in structural areas. Some are off seam, porose welds, welds that appear to have little to no penetration, weld joints with little to no weld material in the joint and off seam. Also many of the welds show sines of heavy contamination in the weld material.*dt
Very serious safety issue with the majority of all welds that connect parts/frame/body. They are extremely porous which will cause the welds to fail over time due to rusting from the inside out, some are very very thin which will cause failure just from every day use, and some are not even connecting the part to the frame/body which will cause deadly failure when the part comes off from shearing. I do not feel safe in this vehicle, and this is the only mode of transportation I have. I have a 3 year old daughter who also has to ride in this vehicle. It is not okay that our lives are being put at risk any time we have to drive this vehicle with knowing these welds could fail at any time. I have contacted several fca reps, and the dealership and have been told there is nothing they can do. I have multiple, multiple pictures of these welds, however I will attach a few to this so you can get an idea. This is unacceptable, and it should not require someone dying before anything gets done about this. *bf..... Updated 10/30/18
Hello.this is regarding my 2018 jeep wrangler jl rubicon. I have been reading extensively about the frame welding recall (issued 10/5/18) that unfortunately does include my vehicle. We spent over fifty five thousand dollars on this jeep, and are extremely disappointed in the build quality. Just to make sure that the welds are bad, I looked under the jeep and several extremely important welds (some involving the steering bracket) were not done properly, and will fail. Also, some of the welds have several pocks in them and will develop rust. If a weld isn't done properly (or repaired) properly, it will fail and that for fca to release a vehicle, in this condition to the general public is disgusting. I have a wife and a baby on the way' my wife no longer feels safe in our new jeep. I am writing you to voice my concern and warn others about this unsafe vehicle. We no longer drive the jeep and it sits in our driveway. I cannot drive a vehicle that may fail structurally and injure or kill us.
Missing and failed welds on front chassis where track bar and everything else meet. *dt
Unpainted and exposed weld slags on entire frame. Weld slags will flake off and expose raw metal then rust threw and weaken frame. Weakness of frame will be catastrophic in an accident and fca should inspect, replace all vehicles with this life threatening defect immediately.
Unacceptable welds on frame. Many with porosity and spatter.*dt the consumer no longer owns the vehicle. The vehicle was sold as a buyback for unresolved steering failures.
Welds on track bar mount not lined up correctly. Throughout the rest of the frame, lots of slag, misaligned welds, bad penetration, malformed weld caps, spatter, and porosity. *dt
I looked under my brand new wrangler jl after hearing people complain about bad welds. Sure enough, my welds are awful. A jeep service technician told me there is no way this should have been able to leave the factory. As of right now, jeep has not done anything for me. Feel very unsafe in this vehicle. I hope jeep has a recall soon. I'm not the only one with this issue.
Many welds on the frame to include the track bar are extremely porous. If/when the track bar weld gives the vehicle will result in a total loss of steering. Making it a high risk for accident and injury. *dt
Bad and incomplete rusting welds.
Steering wheel bracket now welded on to frame properly. It has fallen off car causing steering to be floating and dangerous
Frame welds does not pass your safety standards and jeep admitted that it was bad and they was going to switch jeeps but all the new jls are bad and starting to rust they have porosity real bad all over. *dt
Jeep wrangler jl has poor welds on the frame around major components that will appear to fail. 2 welds appear to have been poorly repaired during manufacture and are rusting at major connection points to suspension components. This will lead to catastrophic failure while driving under normal driving conditions. Recommend investigation by the federal safety agency and recall. I am currently pursuing lemon law in north carolina. 'poor track bar bracket welds that have broken and will cause complete loss of steering. 'porous welds exceeding safety standards that could lead to catastrophic failure. 'slag on nearly every weld on the frame which paint will not adhere to. This will eventually cause rusting of the frame at the welds leading to potential catastrophic failure. 'lack of penetration on some welds that could lead to catastrophic failure 'over penetration on some welds that could lead to catastrophic failure 'overweld or weld drip on several welds 'weld splash on various part of the frame that will result in lack of long term paint adherence and increased likelihood of rusting of the frame.
I notice when driving on 2 lane highways and meeting bigger vehicles the hood comes up and it appears as if the rubber latches are going to snap. It will absolutely startle you and I could see it causing an accident. There is no way a hood should lift up as much as it does. This occurs at any speed over 50mph when meeting other vehicles and is worse the bigger the other vehicle is.
Track bar bracket and other welds are very poorly done, which can lead to serious malfunction or injury. Welds have poor porosity with pinholes, slag inclusions, lack of fusion, underfill, etc. The welds on my new 2018 jeep rubicon jlu that cost $52,000 are all malformed. I don't see how there could have been an inspection pass on these welds, as they are dangerous. I've had them inspected by two professional welders with a combined 45 years of experience and they both immediately agreed. One user on the jl wrangler forums with very similar welds had a complete failure of the track bar bracket at a higher rate of speed (highway posted speeds) and was somehow able to get the vehicle to the side of the road without killing himself or anyone else. This post can be found on jl wrangler forums dot com, search for "track bar sheared off at the weld" the track bar bracket weld on my jeep doesn't cover the top of the bracket but instead the weld sits almost on top of the bracket edge as you can see from the added pictures. The side welds are simply weld blobs and do not follow any weld standards. This is simply dangerous and shows that the vehicle was not inspected when leaving this stage of the build from fca. Just to note, most all other welds that were visually inspected are just as poorly done.
While driving in high winds, hood flutters.....rises up about 1/2-1 inch due to stretching of hood clamps. While it hasn't broke, I have read of it breaking on jeep forums. I would think over time with solar exposure, temperature changes and repeated stress, the possibility of failure would be great. I was in new mexico in high wind conditions and two lane highways with trucks coming by at high speeds so admittedly the worst conditions, but it does not seem like a safe system. The single metal central latch does not seem likely to hold if the side plastic/rubber clamps fail. At highway speeds, this could be catastrophic. Regardless, it is distracting to the driver.
Frame has welds that are substandard on the passenger side. Especially around the control arm bracket. Large areas of porosity, and slag all over the frame. Took to dealership, and service advisor immediately identified which welds were not up to specs. After 4 days, dealership turned back vehicle, siting I would need to go to another dealership since they do not have proper facilities to repair frame welds. Went to dealership #2 which was referred by dealership #1. After 4 days, I received a call that engineers had mechanic look at other welds, and said if they are the same, they are good welds. How can a mechanic who is untrained in welding identify over the phone what a substandard weld is or is not ? I have had my vehicle inspected by 2 professional welders, and both have identified welds that are not up to specifications, and need attention. Other vehicles of this same make model and year have had issues with control arm brackets failing due to insufficient welds in the same location, why is fca not doing anything, and why has the federal safety agency not forced a recall ? This is highly unsafe, and needs immediate attention.
On 2/9/18, flew from boston to pick up purchase of new 2018 all-purple, 2-door 40k jeep at canandaigua ny jeep dealership. (none available in mass.) upon delivery on lot, driver door would not close completely. Salesman roberts stated to us that all jeeps are quirky; doors must be slammed to close. During 400-mile highway drive home, door ajar light came on and had to re-close door repeatedly during drive. Reported problem to (absentee) owners harry/scott kesel, chrysler corporate steve stander, and 1-800-jeep rep d. Pittman; also brought car to kelly jeep service (lynnfield, ma). All jeep reps told me that jeep cabins are airtight when closed, causing door problem. This doesn't happen if you skip the driver side and enter on the passenger side. Jeep reps told me to live with problem - no repair necessary, and instructed me to: enter car driver's side, turn on ignition; power down window; re-open door; slam again. Due to impending danger, this car hasn't been driven since purchase and is at service dept. For 35 days, mileage: 400. I do not want my daughters driving this jeep for obvious safety reasons and to prevent them from being targeted in a dark parking lot because of this noticeable diversion to attempt to close the door. No factory or zone area manager has inspected, nor has canandaigua dealer owner, who practiced other false and deceptive sales tactics on me. Dealership owner scott kesel will not take back the car or compensate loss of $6,000 for a trade-in. He blames jeep factory; jeep blames dealership. Both claim that the other party is responsible. Chrysler corporate rep said corporate doesn't speak to or influence dealer owner's response to customers -- hands off. Dealer said he'll do what ever chrysler directs him to do. I am paying for a car that I don't have and can't use.
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