Renegade repair thread

digitalwanderer

digitalwanderer

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Renegade repair thread



My wife was rear ended a few weeks ago in our 2020 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk. Her back is messed up and she's getting it looked at/fixed, but aside from that everyone was all right. The other driver took responsibility and has great insurance which is nice, but the repair shop called and the rear bumper cover and muffler are on back order with no ETA. Could be months.

We got an awful 2021 Rav4. Ok, it's not awful but the seats are uncomfortable and it's the lowest trim level you can get which I HATE! It'll do, but not well.

Guy from the repair place called. Offered to have a generic muffler put on and temporarily fix the bumper cover until the new one comes in, then we'd take it in and have it swapped. I liked the idea, 'specially since I want a glass pack high flo muffler back there.

PROBLEM: The 2020 Renegade Trailhawk with 1.3l turbo has a funky exhaust to help it pass emissions, which we have to pass biannually here in Indiana due to reasons.

I am looking for an aftermarket, performance muffler for the Trailhawk that will pass emissions. I'm scouring the net and using the phone for local shops, but not having the best luck or else it just don't exist. Anyone know of anywhere I'm not looking or have any insight? I ain't an exhaust specialist.
 
We'll start with the logical: a true muffler has nothing to do with the chemical makeup of your exhaust, rather it's there to muffle (!) the sound coming from the engine. The exhaust-side emissions equipment for a modern gasoline engine would be the exhaust-gas recirculation valve and related plumbing (modern cars usually have this integrated straight into the cylinder head), the various catalytic converters and the various oxygen sensors. If you were to remove or replace any of that equipment, you'd potentially affect emissions in some way. So long as you're only messing with the muffler at the rear of the truck, emissions (even if you fully removed it) would be unaffected.

That said, emissions laws aren't always logical and aren't always about just gasseous emissions. Just because your muffler swap does nothing to affect the gasseous diffusion of the burnt and unburnt aftereffects of a high compression gasoline combustion event, doesn't mean the emissions laws allow it. There might be some stupidity around factory noise compliance in your area, so "sound emissions" then become the conversation. Other times it's not about whether the emissions change or not, but instead you must show ANY part of your induction, injection, engine combustion, or engine exhaust system must either be from the OE manufacturer or be certified (haha, $$$$$) by the state emissions board.

It's worth investigating the emissions laws a bit before assuming anything.
 
I decided to cheat and spoke to a representative of Magnaflow about their mufflers and how they'd affect emissions in my state. They assured me they'd pass, which is good enough for me.

Still doubt I can convince the repair shop, gonna have to wait months to get our baby Jeep back. :(
 
They might both be right: a gas analysis "exhaust sniffer" will show zero difference, which would be Magnaflow's (entirely correct) statement. As I mentioned above, this may be wholly unrelated from the problem of a city, county or state mandate that ANY exhaust modification must be an OE replacement part or one otherwise "approved" (haha, $$$$$) by the emissions legislative or administrative board.
 
I've never had them question what type of exhaust system I had, I doubt it'll be an issue. (I'm talking about them not asking me in my 35 years of driving history)
 
Sounds like my time in Albuquerque, NM then. Once a year, they'd take a look under the hood to "see" if you had all the requisite parts, they'd run a sniffer to see if you passed the exhaust test, you paid like $100 for the privilege of waiting for it all, and then you were done. If that's kinda mostly how your locale works, then nobody's gonna give any fllips or clucks or flecks or bones about a new muffler :)

Strap the big ol' fart cannon on that turbo bastard and BRRRRRRRRRRT into the sunset! :D
 
Wowzers, I should probably update this one as it's turning in to an absolute clusterfuck.

The dealer got the exhaust and offered it to us back with a damaged rear panel to drive while waiting for the part. We jumped at it since we hated the rental and love the Jeep.

Slight problem, my wife took her hands off the wheel and it tried to go in to oncoming traffic. This is a car we've had less than a year with under 8k miles on it that was mint before with tracking. I complain, they repair shop says to bring it in so they can evaluate it. I tell them I'd rather not drive it since it's been acting all suicidal and figure a tow is better. This brings the insurance company in to it who on Friday at 4:43p call me back to inform me that they will be towing the Jeep in and giving us another rental in the interim but upon the results of the repair shops analysis would decide if they would pay for any of it, which I sort of had issues with.

I explained I wasn't sure the place that gave me back a half-repaired vehicle they assured me was safe was the best place to see if was intend working or not, and she explained that didn't matter as it's not their policy. We had a bit of communication issues over philosophies before she decided to get all condescending and lay out how it was going to go down with her.

I think that's when I got mad. I'm pretty sure of it because I remember suddenly going from furious to totally calm and righteously aggrieved. I told her I explained her position, but she had opened my eyes to the potential for questions of liability on driving around a partially repaired vehicle. So we wouldn't be taking the Jeep back until it was 100% completely done, and at that point we would decide on what actions to take. (We're gonna have it towed to the dealer for a thorough inspection I think)

She was unaware of us being nice so they didn't have to pay for a rental, she hadn't read the notes. They've shelled out $4,500 so far or more for the first months rental, and every month it'll be another $4,500 out of pocket for them. Surprisingly the car rental place has been great with us, they hate the insurance company too. LOL

Spoke to our lawyer this weekend and they recommended a colleague who specializes in these things who we're working on getting in contact with. Chrissy is getting an epideral on Weds to try and help with her back pain, but something is def not right there. :( (I'm not gonna go in to that too much because I just don't know)

Today they called at 8 to tell me they'd be by in about 60-90 minutes to pick up the Jeep. At 12:45 I hear a horn honking outside and there's a flatbed towtruck with our Jeep on it. I ran out asking why they didn't call and were there keys in it? He said no, he just dragged it on to the flatbed because that's perfectly fine and safe with an automatic transmission in park.

o_O:runaway:o_O:runaway:o_O:runaway:o_O

Gave him the keys and mentioned my extreme displeasure with his actions and my extreme disagreement about how "it doesn't hurt nothing to tow it that way". Then got his details, then contacted the bloody tow dispatcher to lodge a formal complaint and took pictures of everything.

Then I wrote it all down on my continuing text document of hell for this ordeal that is just turning in to a freaking nightmare. I can't believe how much pain/frustration/hardship someone else with good insurance rear ending you could cause!

EDITED BITS: Just because I'm not always as trusting as I should be when dealing with people trying to shaft me I took the Jeep out yesterday with my wife to video document the pulling issue. These companies have got my paranoia into hyper drive!
 
So, I take it there's no fart cannon exhaust yet? (just kidding!)

Sorry to hear about your wife and her back; I send her my best wishes for her quick return to good health and no pain! As for the shop, I know precisely what you mean about that tipping point where everything just gets suddenly calm as you then lay out exactly how you now be handling it. Excellent choice on getting the lawyer involved as well.

LOL at the dumbass flatbed driver presuming you can just drag the wheels against the transmission locking pin like BFD. The world makes all kinds, doesn't it?
 
They got the stock exhaust in and installed, forgot to mention that bit. I'm thinking of taking it off and putting on the farty one, then selling the new one since they're apparently made of gold. (They cost 3x as much as the aftermarket farty one!)

Thanks for the well wishes towards the wife, hopefully the procedure Weds helps. Yeah, I'm out of my depths and I know it. I need someone who knows what the what is in these situations, and knows what our rights in the matter are. It might cost a bit for a lawyer, but it'll cost a whole lot more without one in the long run.
 
Lawyer secured! :D

Also the company that dispatches the tow acknowledged that it was insane to tow our Jeep in park like that and have offered to cover any damage. They sent over a damage claim form, just gotta wait for the Jeep to be repaired so we can see what damage the tow did.... <sigh>

It IS better than I expected, they didn't accuse me of lying or say it was cool to drag it on like that. In this matter even half-sane measures are welcome from the people I'm dealing with.
 
So I spoke to the repair place today and they say the Jeep is 100% done. The cleaned the stain, got her an alignment, and all pieces are in and installed. So since I spoke to him and know it's ready apparently that means we have to have the rental car back today even though we can't pick the Jeep up until Monday. They recommended I call the insurance company and get the rental extended until Monday. I don't know why the onus is on me for that, but I did it anyways.

After 25 minutes on the phone with USAA (insurance company of the guy who rear ended my wife) they extended the rental out until Monday and I let them know about the towing incident and our case number with that. We'll be picking up the Renegade on Valentine's day and taking the rental off since my wife took the day off so we could be together. Decided to add a bit of romance to the occasion so we'll be having our first face to face meeting with our lawyer that day too. I'm almost excited, 'cept I'm still not sure how to deal with the towing thing now. Do I drive the Jeep from the repair shop or have it towed, and in either case WHERE do I take it for something like that.

Screw it, it's almost 40f outside. I'm gonna go use the big Jeepy to smash through the side of the driveway that me and my son haven't shoveled so it'll melt before it gets cold again. Nothing like getting a bit of ultra violent road rage out on the safety of your own driveway, with the advantage of a winch if I really screw it up! :D
 
Picked her up today and she's all aligned and the panel was on. When I laid down on the pavement and looked under it though I noticed the back panel was a bit flappy/loose feeling, then I noticed the two bolts to hold it in place weren't there. :|

We waited while they put the bolts on. While we waited I had 'em give me an itemized invoice, an alignment report, and am having them e-mail me all the photos they took.

Oh,the lawyers appointment before hand went GREAT! I never have to talk to the insurance company, medical people, or repair shops again! (Well, 'cept for getting a Jeep dealer to check it out thoroughly to make sure it's actually repaired and no damage from the bad tow...)

Happy v-day everybody! :love:
 
And now Renny is overheating and I can't figure out why. <sigh>
She's been acting up the last few days, then this morning threw out a P026E engine code. I noticed the coolant reservoir was damn near empty so I picked up more coolant to add. When I opened the reservoir to add it there was a sucking "whoosh" noise of air and the reservoir filled up to the max level and I noticed coolant splashes around the hoses but couldn't figure out where it came from. So I started her up and let her run while monitoring the coolant temp and reservoir level and the level did the same drop to empty thing over about 10 minutes and the coolant temp got up to 186F. I ran her at 3000 rpm and the temp dropped a bit, but the reservoir was damn near empty and I couldn't go over 4000 rpm revving the engine.
I've contacted my mechanically inclined friend and the guy repairing our Wrangler about it. I'm gonna let her cool down and open the reservoir again and see if I can figure out where the "whoosh" is coming from.

And yes, I smell coolant. :(
 
SIDENOTE: If you're thinking about getting a Jeep please reconsider! I haven't been insanely happy with any of 'em and I'm always running around in my 13 year old car to get parts to fix 'em with.
 
digitalwanderer said:
SIDENOTE: If you're thinking about getting a Jeep please reconsider! I haven't been insanely happy with any of 'em and I'm always running around in my 13 year old car to get parts to fix 'em with.
Click to expand...

Quality for Jeeps started a steady slide after Willy's sold them and got really bad under Chrysler ownership. The acquisition of Chrysler by a Chinese company definitely didn't help quality and reliability either. They were at least still decent under Kaiser and AMC, but ooof, Chrysler made Jeeps I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot or 10 mile pole.

Regards,
SB
 
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