defective door locks

[jeep39]

1067920

On recent trip, twice I had problems opening driver's door. Noticed cracks in door panel where closing device latch located. As I traveled further, problem with door not closing properly occurred. Finally, using a screw driver to tighten screws holding latch in place, I was able to close door partially. Secured it with a bungy cord and made it 400 miles to my home.

Took grand cherokee into dealer's body shop. Was told by the body shop employee that this type of latch problem was a widespread jeep defect .

Then I got the estimate of $2,400 for the repair--new door, transfer of door wiring etc, painting and matching of the paint to repaint the rear driver's side door as well as the new door and all the attendent pieces that make up the jeep body (cladding etc.).

I am going to write jeep customer service about this defect and high repair cost, and am wondering if anyone has had this problem--and if yes, what was done about it.[addsig]

 

[K-Phat]

1067926

WOW!!!!!!!!! I would defenatly get in touch with DC about that :-O

That is crazy especially if it is a common problem. I have a wrangler so I have not had this problem just thought I would put my $.02 in[addsig]

 

[randomjeeper]

1067939

that's crazy!! i have a '94 grand cherokee, but haven't had any problems with the door locks yet (thankfully). good luck!![addsig]

 

[dingus]

1067947

dude, 2400 bucks is rediculous. save all that money, and take the thing apart, and tighten down all the hardware, realign all the stuff that's outta whack, etc... your passenger door works fine right? you can use that size as a sample for measurements, angles, etc...

-nate[addsig]

 

[osito129]

1067954

What year is your grand? I have a '97 and have had no problems with that yet. There was a recall on the light switch though. Maybe it is just the year of grand you have that has this problem.[addsig]

 

[MudderChuck]

1068397

At Alldata.com you can sign up for about $15, they provide many common schematics (wiring diagrams) and how too´s on many repairs. As good as most repair manuals and a list of the cost of most repairs, so you have something to compare against, when the robber dealer tries to take advantage of you.
If your specific problem is on the list of racalls, you can probably work out a deal with a Jeep dealer to fix it. Door latch problems should be high on Jeeps list of things to fix, quickly and cheaply, as the law suits, are much more expensive, than the cure.
Jeep, as with most auto manufacturers, arn´t real customer friendly (if you ignore a problem long enough it will go away). But persistance often pays off, I´ve brought Jeep scratching and clawing, all the way to a settlement, on a few occasions.
I recently wrote Jeep a nasty gram, about poor customer service. To make a long story short, a local Jeep dealer calls at least once a week now. Things are changing, a little at Jeep, customer service seems to be higher, on there list, of things to do. Return customers and brand loyalty are a large part of there customer base.[addsig]