2008 Jeep Patriot 4X4

I TOOK MY CAR TO THE SHOP TO REPLACE THE TIRES. MECHANICS FROM 2 DIFFERENT SHOPS TOLD ME THAT THE LOWER BALL JOINTS ON THIS VEHICLE WERE COMPLETELY WORN ON BOTH SIDES, THAT THE CAR WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND THAT THE BALL JOINTS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SHOT FOR THE AGE AND MILEAGE OF THE CAR. I HAD THEM REPLACED IMMEDIATELY. I THEN CHECKED ONLINE TO SEE IF OTHER OWNERS OF THIS VEHICLE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND WAS ASTONISHED TO SEE THAT MANY MANY PEOPLE HAD COMPLAINED OF BALL JOINTS GOING PREMATURELY BAD ON THIS VEHICLE. HAD I NOT BEEN REPLACING MY TIRES, I MIGHT NEVER HAVE DISCOVERED THE PROBLEM AND IT CLEARLY WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPECTED. MY DAUGHTER IS THE PRIMARY DRIVER AND DOES A LOT OF HIGHWAY DRIVING. HAD THE BALL JOINTS FAILED, SHE MIGHT EASILY HAVE BEEN KILLED. THIS IS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN. I CONTACTED JEEP AND THEY SAID THERE HAD BEEN A RECALL FOR BALL JOINT FAILURE FOR THE 2005-2006 MODEL YEARS. I STRONGLY FEEL A RECALL SHOULD BE ISSUED FOR THE 2008 MODEL YEAR AS WELL BEFORE SOMEONE DIES. *TR

AFTER SNOW HAS MELTED, THE MAPLIGHT LEAKS WATER ALL OVER THE INSIDE. I'M CONCERNED THAT THERE WILL BE WIRING ISSUES FOR THE SUNROOF AND THE LIGHT AS WELL AS ANYTHING IN THE DASH DUE TO THE WATER GOING EVERYWHERE. PRIOR ISSUES W/WATER LEAKING IN THE FIREWALL AND LEAVING AN INCH OF WATER ON THE DRIVERS FLOOR (3 ATTEMPTS TO GET IT FIXED) RESULTED IN CHRYSLER PAYING A PORTION DUE TO BEING OUT OF WARRANTY. WATER SHORTED OUT WIRES RUNNING UNDER THE FLOOR FOR DASH LIGHTS, ANTI LOCK BRAKES WANTED TO KICK IN DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, 4WHEEL DRIVE WOUDL NOT WORK AND THE CRUISE CONTROL WOULD NOT WORK. NOW BACK TO DEALING W/WATER AGAIN LEAKING OUT THE MAP LIGHT, VERY FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY! *TR

AT ABOUT 15,000 MILES WE STARTED TO HERE "CLUNKING" WHEN DRIVING THE CAR, HAD IT IN SEVERAL TIMES FOR SUN ROOF LEAKS AND HAD THE DEALER TAKE A LOOK, BUT THEY COULD NEVER FIND ANYTHING. THIS WEEK HAD IT IN FOR THE 5-YEAR CHECK UP AND IN THE NOTES IT STATED THAT THE FRONT CONTROL ARMS ARE BAD. DID A SEARCH TO FIND OUT MORE DETAILS AND CAME ACROSS ALL THESE POSTS FROM OTHER USERS. LOOKS LIKE I'M NOW STUCK WITH A LARGE REPAIR, SIMILAR TO OTHER USERS, FOR SOMETHING THAT WAS AN ISSUE EARLY ON. ALL THE MILES HAVE BEEN HIGHWAY MILES. NOT AT ALL HAPPY RIGHT NOW. IF THEY WERE AWARE OF THE ISSUE EARLY ON, WHY WAS IT NOT FOUND AND REPAIRED DURING THAT WARRANTY PERIOD? *TR

HAD VEHICLE IN FOR OIL CHANGE AND WAS TOLD BE DEALER THAT BOTH LOWER BALL JOINTS AND TIE ROD ENDS WERE "WORE OUT" AND WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. OH AND THE BALL JOINTS ARE "BUILT IN TO THE LOWER CONTROL ARM, SO BOTH LOWER CONTROL ARMS NEED TO BE REPLACED" THIS IS ON A VEHICLE THAT HAS ONLY 43,500 MILES ON IT! HOW CAN THIS BE! THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL ON THIS BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THIS IS HAPPENING TO A HUGE NUMBER OF JEEP PATRIOT OWNERS AND THESE PART SHOULD LAST WAY LONGER THEN 43,000 MILES. THIS IS POOR QUALITY PARTS! THE OWNERS OF THESE VEHICLES SHOULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO REPLACE THESE MAJOR SUSPENSION PART EVER 40,000 TO 45,000 MILES! THE COST OF THIS IS OVER $1,000.00. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS ISSUE AND DEFINITELY MAKES THE VEHICLE UNSAFE. *TR

WHILE TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEED (70 MPH) IN MICHIGAN, THE CVT TRANSMISSION OVERHEAT WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER A FEW MILES, THE JEEP WOULD NOT GO FASTER THAN ABOUT 45 MPH. THIS IS A REAL SAFETY HAZARD WHEN EVERYONE ON THE HIGHWAY IS DRIVING 70 MPH OR MORE. AFTER PULLING OVER FOR 30 MINUTES, THE LIGHT DID NOT REAPPEAR WHEN THE JEEP WAS RESTARTED, BUT RPMS HAD TO BE KEPT BELOW 2100 TO AVOID THE OVERHEAT LIGHT COMING ON AGAIN. THIS LOW RPM LIMITED SPEED TO ABOUT 55 MPH ON FLAT TERRAIN. THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN IN PA ON THE RETURN TRIP, SPEED WAS RESTRICTED AS BEFORE, AND THE WARNING LIGHT DID NOT REAPPEAR AFTER RESTARTING THE JEEP AFTER A 30 MINUTE REST STOP. HOWEVER, KEEPING RPMS BELOW 2100 ON THE PA TURNPIKE RESULTED IN A TOP SPEED OF ONLY ABOUT 45 MPH, A REAL HAZARD WHEN EVEN TRUCKS ARE GOING MUCH FASTER. FIRST DEALER FOUND THE FAULT CODE OF 0208 AND DID A SOFTWARE UPDATE TO THE PCM. THE PROBLEM HAPPENED AGAIN. THE SECOND DEALER COULD NOT FIND THE TRANSMISSION OVERHEAT CODE BECAUSE IT WAS NOT SAVED. THE DEALER HAD THE VEHICLE FOR 4 DAYS AND SAID THE TRANSMISSION WAS NOT SERVICEABLE AND HAD A LIFETIME FLUID. THE DEALER SAID TO BRING THE JEEP RIGHT BACK IN IF THE PROBLEM OCCURRED AGAIN SO THAT THE CODE WOULD BE STORED. THE PROBLEM HAPPENED AGAIN AND THE JEEP WAS BROUGHT DIRECTLY TO THE DEALER. THIS TIME THE DEALER FOUND THE 0208 TRANSMISSION OVERHEAT CODE. AFTER 5 DAYS OF WAITING, THE VISITING CHRYSLER TECH SAID TO OPEN THE TRANSMISSION AND REPLACE THE FLUID. THE TWO JEEP DEALERS SEEMED TO BE COMPLETELY CONFUSED ABOUT WHETHER THIS CVT TRANSMISSION HAS LIFETIME FLUID OR WHETHER IT COULD BE SERVICED. THE CVT TRANSMISSION ON THIS 2008 PATRIOT HAS A LIFETIME WARRANTY, BUT CHRYSLER APPEARS TO HAVE NO INTEREST IN REPLACING IT EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD. INTERNET SEARCHES SHOW OTHER OWNERS OF CHRYSLER VEHICLES WITH CVT TRANSMISSIONS HAVE HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEM. *TR

IN DECEMBER I HAD TAKEN MY JEEP IN FOR NEW BRAKES AS THEY WENT BAD AND WAS TOLD MY FRONT CONTROL ARMS WERE BAD AND GOING TO NEED REPLACED. I COULDN'T AFFORD IT AT THE TIME AND IT SEEMED TO BE RUNNING OK. IN MAY IT WAS RUNNING TERRIBLE, VERY SHAKY AND BUMPY. WHEN I TOOK IT IN I WAS TOLD FRONT CONTROL ARMS AND BUSHINGS AND ONE BACK CONTROL ARM AND BUSHINGS WERE ALL BAD/BROKEN. AS A RESULT OF THAT I ALSO RUINED MY TIRES AND HAD TO REPLACE THOSE AS WELL. AT THE REPAIR TIME ONLY HAD ABOUT 56000 MILES ON IT. THIS WAS A VERY COSTLY REPAIR AS WELL. (OVER 1600 DOLLARS TOTAL AND THAT IS WITH A DISCOUNT I GET). *TR

MY JEEP PATRIOT NEEDED FRONT BALL JOINTS AND CONTROL ARMS REPLACED AT 32,000 MILES. IT HAS NEVER BEEN DRIVEN RECKLESSLY OR EVEN OFF ROAD. IT WAS A $1,045.00 REPAIR JOB. THE MECHANIC SAID IT WAS A HAZARD TO DRIVE. THE JEEP FORUMS ARE ALIVE WITH COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE EXACT SAME REPAIR EARLY ON. THIS IS AN EXCESSIVE REPAIR AND A DANGER. HTTP://WWW.JEEPPATRIOT.COM/FORUM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=37926&PAGE=4. *TR

FRONT END SUSPENSION PARTS WERE WORN AND ABOUT TO FAIL. REPLACED LEFT AND RIGHT LOWER CONTROL ARMS, SWAY BAR BUSHINGS, SWAY BAR LINKS,BUSHING SWAY ELIMINATOR. FURTHER DRIVING WOULD HAVE CAUSED CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF FRONT END. *TR I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY, WITH THE LARGE NUMBER OF SUSPENSION ISSUES THE PATRIOTS HAVE NOT BEEN RECALLED. ALL OF THE FAILURES ARE OCCURING AT VERY LOW MILEAGES AND BOTH FRONT AND REAR SUSPENSION ELEMENTS ARE FAILING. ALL SUGGESTING DEFECTIVE PARTS USED IN ORIGINAL MANUFACTURE.