The joy of buying a new car came to a sudden stop for Tamara Zeien.
She and her husband were thrilled to buy their 2017 Jeep Cherokee Latitude.
“Let’s be a Jeep family. Let’s look at the new Jeeps that are out,” Zeien said.
But five months after bringing the SUV home, she says it stalled on her way to work.
“At that moment we had to turn everything off and wait,” she said. “I had to put on our hazards.”
She said she took the SUV back to the dealership where she bought it and they noticed the oil level was low.
“They told me they I had no oil. I said it can’t be because I take care of my cars,” Zeien said.
Local
She says the SUV was topped off with oil and she was told to come back in 1,000 miles for an oil consumption test.
Documents show Zeien took the SUV in for the same problem four times in less than a year.
Technicians found the car had a low oil levels but repair reports show the technicians couldn’t find a leak. At one point, the engine was replaced but she says five months in, the SUV stalled again.
“It made me truly feel that my family didn’t matter to them and my safety didn’t matter to them,” Zeien said.
Zeien called NBC 6 Responds for help.
We found she isn’t the only driver looking for help. A search on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s database shows 29 complaints from 2017 Jeep Cherokee owners related to oil consumption and stalling issues.
We reached out to Jeep’s parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles about Zeien’s issue.
A spokesperson sent us this email response, “Regarding her concern, I can confirm we have received similar reports. We continually monitor the performance of our vehicles in the field. We do so through multiple data streams, including dealer service records. Our 2,650 U.S. dealers perform 20 million service operations per year, from diagnostic inspections to oil changes to accident repairs. FCA uses algorithms to examine the contents of these records. If an issue is discovered, we act accordingly.”
After we reached out to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles they made Zeien an offer to buy back her SUV and she accepted.
She is now shopping for a new car and hoping to get one that she can trust to get her where she wants to go.
