Jeep Vehicles

What a cool little EV. Surprised these aren’t selling like hotcakes considering the value for money. They’re made in Poland by the Stellantis group… Read more

so they’re cool affordable quality for the same price as a used Tesla. It’s just a really fun car to get around in. An electric Jeep!! We love it

WARNING : Engine Fire, Extreme Risk to Life and Property, and Appalling Customer Care - 2022 Jeep Gladiator Overall Rating: 1/5 Stars (Only because… Read more

zero stars is not an option.) Vehicle Purchased: 2022 Jeep Gladiator

A Nightmare on the Road: Spontaneous Engine Fire

My review is a stark warning. The vehicle I am reviewing belongs to a close friend who purchased a new Jeep Gladiator. While driving recently, the unthinkable happened: the brakes stopped working, the engine started smoking and then once they pulled over it spontaneously burst into flames under the bonnet.

The fear experienced by my friends—a couple driving what they believed was a safe, reliable new vehicle—was immediate and overwhelming. Witnessing smoke and then flames erupting from the vehicle they had been driving seconds earlier is a trauma no new car owner should ever face. The sheer panic of having to pull over, narrowly escape a burning vehicle, and watch their expensive investment turn into a dangerous inferno is indescribable.

The Unacceptable Risk to Home and Life

This incident highlights a terrifying risk: what if this fire had happened minutes later, once they had arrived home, and while the vehicle was parked? My friends' home is a timber house with the Gladiator typically parked in the adjacent carport. The real-life risk is horrifyingly clear: a major defect in the Jeep Gladiator could have resulted in the total loss of their home, the destruction of neighbouring property, and, worst of all, potential loss of life. Knowing that they park a ticking fire hazard right next to where they sleep is a level of anxiety that is simply unconscionable for a brand-new vehicle.

Jeep Australia's Appalling Lack of Customer Care Perhaps the most shocking part of this experience is the response—or lack thereof—from Jeep Australia.

Instead of immediate, compassionate, and appropriate action commensurate with a life-threatening safety defect, my friends were met with a stunning display of disinterest and bureaucratic indifference. There has been an appalling lack of care, urgency, or human consideration for the terror they endured and the property risk they continue to face.

Jeep Australia's failure to swiftly acknowledge the severity of an engine fire and provide a timely, definitive, and fair resolution is a monumental breach of trust and a blatant disregard for their customers' safety and rights under Australian Consumer Law. This is not how a global manufacturer should treat a customer who has suffered a major failure of their product that put their lives in danger.

I strongly encourage all readers to avoid this vehicle and company at all costs.

You are not just buying a 4x4; you are potentially buying a fire risk that could destroy your home. More importantly, you are buying into a company whose local customer service operation demonstrates a shocking indifference to its customers' safety and wellbeing when a true catastrophe occurs. The product failed catastrophically, but Jeep Australia's customer care failed even worse. Product safety is non-negotiable. Customer duty of care is non-negotiable. Jeep Australia has failed on both counts.