First Service Comes Early - 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk Long-Term Road Test

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First Service Comes Early - 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk Long-Term Road Test

The first service comes early for our long term 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk

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ebeaudoin

Whoa! $145.36? I know synthetic is a little more expensive, but that's pretty steep for 7,500 miles. Can we get a detailed list of services performed? I've never owned a new car so maybe I'm just naive..

s197gt

OMG. That's a lot. Insane really... for a 7500-mile oil change on a compact CUV.

"This is also when the service advisor informed me that the 2.4-liter engine in our Trailhawk model required more expensive synthetic oil."

I would have said, "Must be what makes it so FAST!"

daryleason

@ebeaudoin : You've got to remember, that's a dealership service center. For synthetic anywhere else, it'd probably be 2/3rds of the cost of what the Dealership is going to milk out of you.

The only reason I'd take a vehicle for service to a dealership would be if it was a warranty claim or no other shop within an hour's drive could do it for me. I know the dealership tries to say why their costs are justified...but really, they're just price gouging. They know that the people that go to the dealership don't care they're being over-charged. Its sort of expected.

desmolicious

Off topic here, kinda, but the best service experience I had was with my Miata at Galpin Mazda in LA. I took it in for the first service even had a coupon ready. When I went to pay I got a 'don't worry, this one is on us'. I actually bought it through this site's referral system and got a great deal, so it wasn't as if I got stiffed on the selling price and they threw me a bone.
Point being, some dealers do care, especially if u bought it from them. $150 for an oil change on a CUV seems way too much. And it needs synthetic??!

daryleason

@desmolicious : There are great dealerships out there. But they have a bad reputation for a reason. It's the same thing with Sales People. Some of the car salesmen really do their best to find you what you want, at a price that is fair for both sides. But between high-pressure tactics, fake fees, etc., no one trusts them.

bankerdanny

I don't know why everyone is so surprised it calls for synthetic. That 7.500 interval pretty much guaranties that, plus most modern engines use it to improve cold weather starting and fuel economy. I would have been surprised if it used dino oil.

nagant

I would have expected a syn blend for a turd like the Tigershark but $150 for that service is stupid high.

kirkhilles1

Okay, so you do this twice a year (15,000 miles per year) and hey, its just $300+. No big deal, right? Just an extra $25-$30 per month, not to mention any other costs. Do that for 15 years and just $4,500 for oil changes and whatever other "checks" are part of that. Not bad... if you're talking about a Mercedes.

longtimelurker

I'm not surprised at it needing synthetic...I have been using it in everything for the past 15 years and when I go to the store for oil, I don't even see the dino juice even though it's sitting right there on the shelf.

He doesn't tell us what the $145 bought, just that the oil was synthetic. I imagine there was maybe something else done - ? Is there some rear diff fluid replacement like with the Acura?

kirkhilles1

longtimelurker said:

I'm not surprised at it needing synthetic...I have been using it in everything for the past 15 years and when I go to the store for oil, I don't even see the dino juice even though it's sitting right there on the shelf.

He doesn't tell us what the $145 bought, just that the oil was synthetic. I imagine there was maybe something else done - ? Is there some rear diff fluid replacement like with the Acura?

There shouldn't be anything that needs to be replaced other than oil at 6 months worth of driving. At the earliest, the Diff fluid should be changed at 15k, although often at 30k. I'd say probably a tire rotation and those "inspections" that for some reason are expected to pay for even though dealership will do checks for free if you don't ask them too.

longtimelurker

kirkhilles1 said:

longtimelurker said:

I'm not surprised at it needing synthetic...I have been using it in everything for the past 15 years and when I go to the store for oil, I don't even see the dino juice even though it's sitting right there on the shelf.

He doesn't tell us what the $145 bought, just that the oil was synthetic. I imagine there was maybe something else done - ? Is there some rear diff fluid replacement like with the Acura?

There shouldn't be anything that needs to be replaced other than oil at 6 months worth of driving. At the earliest, the Diff fluid should be changed at 15k, although often at 30k. I'd say probably a tire rotation and those "inspections" that for some reason are expected to pay for even though dealership will do checks for free if you don't ask them too.

With the Acura, it said the service minder could have required diff fluid replacement as early as 7,500 miles, which is what THIS vehicle is at now. Not the same mfg., I understand, but unless you have specific info about this particular vehicle's maintenance schedule, it may have asked for it now. We just don't know.

roadburner

One BMW dealer I know of has a $79.95 Oil Service special that it runs from time to time- all BMWs save ///M cars and diesels.

kyfdx

roadburner said:

One BMW dealer I know of has a $79.95 Oil Service special that it runs from time to time- all BMWs save ///M cars and diesels.

My dealer runs that continuously on my model. You can't beat it.

allthingshonda

Wow they gave it to you with no grease. I have a feeling that you guys don't care about the price because the company is paying for it. I bet if the money was coming out of your wallet this article would be about the outrageous price the dealership charged for an oil change.

thecardoc3

The most important lesson here is that vehicle owners today should not be having services performed by shops that start out with a "Good, Better, Best" approach to this service. That approach falsely suggests that conventional oil is OK and then the sales person is supposed to upsell to the "synthetic". The facts are that the conventional, and blend products don't meet the specifications for many of the cars out there and this Jeep is no exception.

any1there

allthingshonda said: " I have a feeling that you guys don't care about the price because the company is paying for it. I bet if the money was coming out of your wallet this article would be about the outrageous price the dealership charged for an oil change." --

One of the purposes of these long-term reviews is to provide knowledge of dealership service experiences for our benefit, not trying to obtain the lowest-cost service at local, independent maintenance/repair facilities.