Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Automotive
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-11-2009, 12:41 PM
 
11 posts, read 98,263 times
Reputation: 16

Advertisements

I drive a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 38,000 miles. And this is the following frustrating story... need your advice and expertise.

Sarurday - Driving around from 9:00am until 4:00pm when it dies outside the store. I was in there 15 min or so. I come out and "click" the car won't start. Across the street a Just Tires... I run across and borrow a battery charger. I connect it "click" still won't start. Left car in parking lot overnight.
Sunday - Go back try to start with two different keys... "click" wont start. I call a tow truck they bring it to closest dealer (1 mi. and they are charging me $130 ... I digress.)
Monday - Service Advisor will not give me straight answers and finally calls back and says it started fine!! It could use a new starter though. I say how much $250... I do not ask if this includes labor ... realize this after I hang up phone.

Should I get the starter?
Is this a good price?

Thanks for any and all advice I can get!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-11-2009, 12:45 PM
 
Location: Earth
4,237 posts, read 24,771,717 times
Reputation: 2274
Dunno if it's a good price but let me tell you this....there's a reason why they're called a stealership....they steal your money. Or they mark up all the prices of parts by 200%.

My suggestion is call around and see if you can get a new one for less. And don't get one of the rebuilt ones from Autozone or Advance or OReillys unless you want to change it again soon. Get a new one if you can.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-11-2009, 12:50 PM
 
11 posts, read 98,263 times
Reputation: 16
Yeah, I'm waiting on a quote from a couple of different places... thanks for the advice!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-11-2009, 12:52 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,211 posts, read 57,041,396 times
Reputation: 18564
No way should you need a new starter at such low mileage. This sounds more like a battery or even battery clamp issue.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-11-2009, 01:07 PM
 
Location: Clear Lake, Houston TX
8,376 posts, read 30,691,505 times
Reputation: 4720
Should be easily accessible underneath. Take a hammer to it a few times all around the starter casing.

BTW, does this Jeep not have the Chrysler 7 year - 70k powertrain warranty??
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-11-2009, 01:28 PM
 
11 posts, read 98,263 times
Reputation: 16
Nooo... that came after 2005. Sadly.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-11-2009, 03:12 PM
 
Location: I think my user name clarifies that.
8,292 posts, read 26,664,764 times
Reputation: 3925
I'm with Mitch here. You should NEVER have a starter go out at 38,000 miles. In addition, the "click" you mention sounds like a solenoid issue, not necessarily a starter issue.

All connections need to be checked.

That said, the price of the starter through OReilly's is about $125.00, depending on whether your Jeep has a V6 or V8. So yeah, I can imagine that $250 is what the dealership wants to charge you for just the starter. They'll probably want to soak you for another $250-$300 to install it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-11-2009, 03:20 PM
 
Location: Kansas
3,855 posts, read 13,263,769 times
Reputation: 1734
The last starter I bought was $85. Labor was $35/hr and it took an hour. This is a job I could have done myself had the starter quit on me in my driveway.....but it didn't. Thankfully the mechanic was reasonable and charged me a reasonable price for a starter.

That said....Dealers charge TOP DOLLAR for OEM parts. Something that costs $85 at Pep Boys will cost $200 at a dealership....and it's not necessarily a better part.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-11-2009, 03:24 PM
 
Location: I think my user name clarifies that.
8,292 posts, read 26,664,764 times
Reputation: 3925
Quote:
Originally Posted by drjones96 View Post
The last starter I bought was $85. Labor was $35/hr and it took an hour. This is a job I could have done myself had the starter quit on me in my driveway.....but it didn't. Thankfully the mechanic was reasonable and charged me a reasonable price for a starter.

That said....Dealers charge TOP DOLLAR for OEM parts. Something that costs $85 at Pep Boys will cost $200 at a dealership....and it's not necessarily a better part.
It strikes me odd that sometimes re-manufactured parts have a better warranty than new parts.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-11-2009, 03:49 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,211 posts, read 57,041,396 times
Reputation: 18564
Gettin' back to basics here though - *first* you need to figure out what is actually wrong with the car - this could be a battery, battery cable, ignition switch, transmission/clutch pedal interlock switch, solenoid, or starter issue. And of these, I would say the starter is the least likely suspect.

Like I'm always sayin' don't "Easter Egg". That is, change one part, then another, hoping to finally hit on the actual problem.

With so few miles on the car, was it stored for awhile? Do you drive it several times a week now, usually? How old is the battery?

You can check/clean the battery terminals for free. White fuzzy corrosion is *not* a normal conditon for battery clamps, if they are not tight and bright, make them that way.

Use proper eye protection whilst futzing with the battery. Take the negative (ground) lead off first.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Automotive

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:43 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top