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July 13, 2025 • 10 mins

Call of the Week
Each week on Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor Radio Show, we spotlight one standout caller as our Call of the Week. It’s chosen for the originality of the problem, the clarity of the conversation, and the value it brings to you, the listener—whether it’s a tough diagnosis, a smart question, or just a great exchange. These calls remind us why we love talking cars and helping people. If you’re a podcast subscriber, think of this as your quick sample of the full show—insightful, entertaining, and maybe just the nudge you need to stay tuned for more.

This week’s Call of the Week comes from Stephen in New Jersey, who’s shopping for a 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.7L HEMI V8—and wants Ron’s take on reliability, used options, and extended warranties. He is literally standing outside of the dealership, as you can tell by the sounds of all the cars and trucks going by on the highway behind him.  The conversation covers real-world pros and cons of Jeep and Chrysler products, from oil change intervals to parts distribution headaches. Ron gives an honest, mechanic’s-eye view: yes, Jeeps can be tanks—but they can also be trouble. The advice? Stick with low mileage, buy the V8 if it’s the one you want, don’t skimp on the service contract, and remember—when it comes to vehicles, like relationships, it pays to know their history.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
To the radio home of Ron and Aanian the Car Doctor.
Since nineteen ninety one. This is where car owners the
world overturned to for their definitive opinion on automotive repair.
If your mechanics giving you a busy signal, pick up.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
The phone and call in. The garage doors.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Are open, but I am here to take your call
at eight five five five six ninety nine hundred and.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Now pee.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Ronnie.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
All right, let's let's get right into it.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
I see the phones are little already and I want
to take this first call. It sounds interesting. Let's go
to Stephen, New Jersey comments about buying a new jeep. Steve,
Welcome to the Car Doctor, sir. What's going on?

Speaker 4 (00:39):
Yeah, yeah, thanks for taking my call. Ron, You're welcome.
Nice to talk to here again. I talked to here about
five years ago. I came up to your shop. But
that's that's another story.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
Ron, I'm thinking about getting a I'm trying to get
a twenty twenty three jeep Waggoner M Grand Flagging Nero
Grand Cherokee right with the V eight and uh you
know that's like the Oval Land or Summit. I'm wondering

(01:13):
what you think of the the the Jeep. If you've
had any experience with the V eight, the me there,
the five point seven and the car as a.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
General, you know how many miles are on it?

Speaker 4 (01:26):
Steve, Well, I haven't gotten it yet. They gotta, they
gotta find ay, they find a V eight. They found one,
but it had like one hundred thousand miles on it.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Yeah, you don't want you know, mileage, mileage in age? Brother,
all right, I want something, you know, something two years old.
I want thirty thousand miles on it or less?

Speaker 4 (01:49):
Really?

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, Okay, that's just the way I'm built, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
And I'll pay more for a lower mileage vehicle.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Reason being, reason being and think of me, right, can
imagine going car shopping with me?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Right, reason reason being? Less mileage means less likelihood.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Somebody worked on it and made a mistake, right, And
I would I would pay for that, I really would. Now,
I'm gonna tell you the way I think about Jeep
and Chrysler, and no offense to Jeep in Chrysler owners.
I think you know, Jeep and Chrysler are still in
one of my top five choices.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
They're not at the top top, but.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
There some reliability issues some of the things that break
and fail. I don't think I would buy a new
or used Jeep or Chrysler without putting an extended warranty
on it. And that's just being honest.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
You know, would you go for a three year or
a five year five? Five? Five?

Speaker 2 (02:46):
All right? I think it's I think it's worth the value.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Jeeps are funny, well, jeeps are funny, critter Steve, all right.
You know, it seems that there are some out there
that fifty thousand miles they need an engine, and there
are some out there one hundred fifty thousand miles and
they're running strong.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
And I can't figure it out. There's no rhyme or reason.
I've got customers.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
I've got one customer, his son's got a fifteen Wrangler.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
It's got one hundred and sixty three thousand miles on it.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
He changes the oil, he does his regular maintenance, he
lets us do the big services and so forth, and
that thing's a brick.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
It just keeps going.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
And then I've got some other ones that same service,
same treatment, same driving habits, and they're junk.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
They're just it just doesn't hold up, and you sit
there and you scratch your head.

Speaker 4 (03:34):
So you know what, I think the V eight is
a little more reliable than.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
The Yes, yes, as long as it doesn't have any
of the valve train issues and you stay up on
your oil changes. And let me tell you that vehicle
is that engine has some specific oil requirements, and I
would follow it like religion.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
All right, Is that right? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (03:57):
I would buy, Yeah, I would.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
I would be using Chrysler Speck oil in that vehicle,
and I would be dumping it every five to six
thousand miles every five to six months. I don't care
what the manufacturer tells me. I don't want to hear
about extended oil drain intervals and all that nonsense, because
it sounds like you're gonna buy this and try and
get one hundred and fifty tw hundred thousand miles out
of it.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
And the reason I say a five year service contract
is because you know, if if it gets to that
seventy five eighty thousand mile one hundred thousand mile mark
and nothing's gone wrong, he got your value out of it.
But if the engine pukes at sixty five thousand miles,
at least it's covered, right, and you know it's you're
not buying You're not buying a cheap automobile, all right.

Speaker 4 (04:43):
No, this you got to get the over Land or
the summit to get the VA right, and it's.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
All the bells are all right, listen, there's a reason
my jeep guy. You know, listen, every business owner has
a has a guy. Right, I've got a guy that
sells me jeep parts. I got a guy that sells
me GM parts and so on. My jeep guy drives
a Ford Mustang, okay. And I asked him, I said
why And he said how many times do you call

(05:11):
for parts? And I said, well, quite often, he said,
And that's the reason, because.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
He sees what breaks. And it's it's not that you know.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
Listen, all cars break, but Chrysler seems to have some
issues with parts distribution. It's gotten better, but you know,
I'm just cautious, man, I'm just cautious.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Would I like to own a jeep, Yes, I just
don't have time to fix one. And and that's and
that's the bottom line. But but but if you really
like that.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
Twenty three dreep Jeep Grand Cherokee, and you like that
V eight, and you've driven that vehicle and I know
the vehicle you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
If that's the vehicle.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
That floats your boat by it, by all means, just
just find a guy to work on it, regular maintenance,
a service contract, form.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
A relationship with the dealership.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
If that's where it's gonna go right right, and just
enjoy the vehicle.

Speaker 4 (06:11):
Yeah, thank you, Ron. I have another question. I contacted
to another friend, a huge card dealer down in Corney. Now, see,
I'm at a new car dealer now, and they can
only draw from their dealership. Now. Supposedly they have fifty

(06:32):
one dealerships, so maybe they can get the V eight.
But this huge car guy, obviously he probably got it
with an auction and it's in Tennessee or something. But
he had three V eights, and I don't know if
I'm going to be able to get a V eight
with this dealership the area.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Don't negotiate with yourself, Steve.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
Yeah, just hold to the hold to the V eight.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, hold for the VA. Don't negotiate with yourself. You're
buying it.

Speaker 4 (07:02):
Listen.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
You're buying a premium product, right, You're buying a premium product.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
You want to deal with the front of the horse.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
Okay, okay, and you tell the dealership that you know
what life's about relationships.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Many it really is.

Speaker 4 (07:19):
If I went with the used car dealer down in Carny,
what should I go with their warranty?

Speaker 3 (07:27):
Well, my concern is it's a used car dealer. Nothing
against used car dealers, but you know, it's a I
think it's a little easier for that used car guy
to go out of business and reopen under Fred's used
cars rather than Joe's used cars versus the dealership that's
got fifty one dealers across the country.

Speaker 4 (07:46):
Yeah, but the thing is he's he might be the
only one that'll get me a V eight twenty three.
You don't know that, Well that's true. No, No, you're
right right.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
And listen, as long as we're doing this, it's a
V eight twenty three, you know. As long as we're
doing this, don't we want to get something that maybe
the dealer's service, Maybe the dealer is going to get
one in.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
On trade from the area dealer purchase.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
There's no guarantee that that car coming out of Tennessee
isn't a flood car, isn't from Arizona, isn't from Florida.
Isn't from Texas. Not that's anything wrong with those states,
but you can't listen. I try not to take I
take cars personal, all right.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
I try to look at cars.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
As what they are and where they're from, because you know,
there's a certain element of I can't think of the word.
I'm looking for spirituality to a car. It's not a
cold piece of metal. It just isn't all right, it
just doesn't. I want to know where it came from.
I want to know who worked on and I want
to know.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Who touched it.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
And if I can't, if I can't get a car,
if I'm you know, you're buying a hot rod, Steve Core.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
I would look to have this car. Steve.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
You're buying Steve, You're buying a thirty two four to
five window coop and yellow? Right?

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Am I wrong?

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Keep talking? Right?

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Am I wrong talking?

Speaker 4 (09:13):
You are right?

Speaker 2 (09:15):
So you want this thing? You want this thing dead
nuts on the money in plain English.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
And if they can't find you at twenty three, why
don't you find out if you can order a twenty six?

Speaker 2 (09:26):
Because Christler just brought back the V eight.

Speaker 4 (09:29):
They just brought it. Yeah, I don't think it's in
the not yet.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
I don't know if it's there yet, but they just
brought back the what is it, the Road and Track Department.
There was a big write up on it in the news.
Once you go research it is the VA. You know,
if you have to wait six months for Jeep to
catch up and do this, isn't that worth isn't that
worth waiting for?

Speaker 2 (09:49):
I understand. I understand.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
They opened up the the order desk for Hemi trucks
and they got over ten thousand orders in the first
three days.

Speaker 4 (09:59):
I believe it, Oh, I definitely, I believe it. So
you know that Hemmy has been around a long time.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
And you know what, if you've got.

Speaker 4 (10:06):
A two thousand and three truck the year that was
probably your first year, you get a Hemmy. It's been
around since.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Right, Stevie. I gotta run all right?

Speaker 4 (10:14):
Yeah, Ron, thank you so much. It's pleasure talking.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
Enjoy your hot rod, brother.

Speaker 4 (10:20):
Thanks you very well. Thank you, Fife.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
I'm welcome.

Speaker 3 (10:23):
I'm running ady in the car doctor eight five five
five six zero nine nine zero zero.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
I'll be back right after this.
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Host

Ron Ananian

Ron Ananian

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