August 10, 2025 • 9 mins
Tiffany’s $16,000 Jeep Corrosion Battle | Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor Podcast
Description:
Jeep door hinge corrosion, costly repairs, and a year-long fight—Tiffany shares how she finally got Jeep to pay a $16,000 bill. Ron Ananian explains galvanic corrosion, hidden recall risks, and why some Chrysler and Crossfire repairs are so expensive.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You'll call it, and.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
If you call and we're not live, you can leave
a message and we'll call you back to get you
on the air with Ron eight five five five six
zero nine nine zero zero.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Speaking of Ron, here he is.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Let us go to Illinois and talk to Tiffany because
this doesn't sound good.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Tiffany, Sorry, Ron Allegen.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
How are you? I love you about I think I'm
better than you at this point. How's your jeep? How's
your jeep? In your corroda hinges? This is going to be?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
It was. I do have to say, after fighting with
Jeep for a year, I'm happy I didn't stop fighting.
They did finally fix it. I found a Jeep dealer
that finally would take us in. It ended up costing
them sixteen thousand dollars. My concern is that other people
(00:59):
have the same issue, and before someone is injured seriously
in an accident, I think Jeep needs to do the
right thing and recall. I think it's twenty eighteen to
twenty twenty one. Don't quote me on that, but I
think those are the models one percent. They know the issue.
I was reading online several people have had this issue
(01:22):
and if there's an accident and those doors fall off,
someone could be seriously injured.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Well, you mean the parts aren't supposed to fall off.
The vehicle's a that's a sign of failure, you know.
You know what jeep stands for, right, no junk each
in every part. You know, it's either that or just
expect expensive problems. And here you go sixteen thousand dollars.
It boggles my mind and for everybody else out there
that wonders what Tiffany and I are talking about. The
(01:49):
door hinges on certain Jeep models corrode depending on that.
You know, some of them, I've heard it where some
of them are aluminum, some of them are zinc. But
there's a galvanic reaction, galvanic corrosion, and it will cause
the paint to bubble and lift. You know, you start
noticing it when you're at a traffic light in a
Nonjep vehicle. I'm sitting there at these vehicles, Go look
at the hinges on that thing. Wow, that's going to
(02:10):
fall off soon.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And it was all to lighten the load and get
better gas my ledge out of these vehicles.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Listen, the same person that thought of that created evs.
You know, because they thought that was a step in
the right direction. Oh was I critical. I'm sorry, God,
I have to stop doing that. Somebody sent me, you know,
and I'm going to use this as an opportunity. Thank you, Tiffany.
I love you for presenting me with this opportunity. But
I've got to tell you. Somebody sent me an article
the other day. I haven't looked it up to see
if it's true, but the US military is now buying
(02:42):
Teslas cyber trucks to use as target practice. I saw that.
I thought that was the funniest thing. I said, No,
that can't be that, it.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Can be right. It's just unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Is that what they're good for? And I've got to
look it up. I've got to google it, and I'm
sure the car Doctor Nation you guys will find out
and let me know and we'll all talk about this.
But how can that be We're actually using cyber trucks
for target practice? Boy, let me tell you. I think
I think they should put the engineers inside of them
when they do.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Well, it's a good thing. I don't drive a cyber
truck right on the road. It might be yeah, got it.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So how did you finally get jeep to solve the problem.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I just you know what, I went to dealership after dealership.
I was given the run around constantly, and like I said,
I found a dealership in Cedar Lake, Indiana that finally
would take me in. They had the car for quite
a while because they had to take off all the
doors repaint all the doors. So I want to say
they had it for like two months, but it took
(03:45):
me three months from when they initially said, well, we'll
do the car. I think it was three months before
I finally got in, and then another two months they
had the car to do the repairs. But it was
just it was my time and fighting. And they're not
cheap vehicles to begin with, so.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That's probably that's probably a sixty sixty five thousand dollars
vehicle entry level to get in the door. How much
was that vehicle new?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Well, no, we actually bought it used it was only
it was only a year, not even a year old.
The guy couldn't fit in it because you know, jeeps
are lower and the guy was tall, so his head
was hitting the ceiling. So he traded it in and
we bought it. It was only a year, maybe a
year old, and then as soon as we bought it
for forty thousand used.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
It was only forty right, it was only right, only
forty thousand, let's let's talk about.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
But when I saw the corrosion, I thought, no way,
it's already starting. So I was very upset. And actually
it was my husband's midlife crisis. I never wanted the jeep,
but then we were stuck with it, and I thought,
I'm fighting for this, even nailed.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Now having been through this, would you buy another one?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
No? Absolutely? You know what, Maybe an old school jeep.
I've always wanted an old school jeep, one that you
could just take the top off, leave it outside.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Drive it through eight feet of mud, don't wash it.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, just because I'm having other problems with other Chrysler,
Like my mom has a minivan, her transmission is going.
My dad passed away last year and left No, that's okay.
He's always with me, left me a Chrysler Crossfire and
my nephew. We had originally given it to my nephew.
He was going to sell it. I said, no, that's
(05:35):
my dad's sports car. I'm buying it.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
So I did.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
He neglected to tell me that the key fob was
like breaking apart. Well, two days after I bought it,
key fob breaks right, and I thought, oh no, I
can't start the car right. So had it towed to
a Chrysler dealer, only for them to tell me that
they do not make that key and they cannot fix
the key. So they said, you can try Mercedes because
(06:01):
it has a Mercedes engine in it. Called Mercedes. I
was given the same response, we cannot fix the key
and we do not make those keys. So I had
to pay some genius carlock guy to come out. He
broke open the dashboard and somehow rechipped the key to
make me a key, but I ended up costing me
(06:22):
nine hundred dollars to do it. So I don't want
to see them Why that genius can figure it out,
but the people who make the car or the engine
cannot figure it out.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Well because they're not paid to figure it out. They're
paid to sell cars. And that's you know, that's the
downfall of technology. Listen. I tell this story a lot.
It happens to me all the time. I'm always at
the Delai, I'm always at Wilkes Deelhi over here in
mal On, New Jersey, I'll give pull a shout out.
And you know, I'm always coming out on a Saturday
before the show. I'm always getting my lunch and somebody
(06:52):
inevitably pulls in in some new fancy something Mercedes. Some
guy pulled in with a Corvette, a new vet, and he's, oh,
what do you think of Hey, great? You know, I
think it's a giant flower pot in ten years when
you can't get parts for it, like, enjoy your hundred
and sixty thousand dollars car while you can, and you know,
but they're like, yeah, no, that's not true. And my
argument is, okay, go find me a computer that'll run
(07:15):
Go find me a copy of Windows eight. Go find
me a copy. Go find a computer that'll run Windows ten.
At this point, and they're getting few and far between.
So technology just overtakes us. And that's that's part of
the problem. By the way, I like that Crossfire. That's
a sharp car, and well.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
My baby is actually in nineteen seventy two Volkswagen Beetle convertible.
That's my baby, and that's my love. And those are easy.
You can pop out the engine and pop a new
one in.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
You had me until you said Volkswagon. I'm telling you
we were going to have this whole thing, but I
just you know, it's.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
But it's a nineteen seventy two Volkswagen Beetle convertible.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Listen, everybody had one, right, There's there's a lot of
stories about me and volks Russell my best friend in
high school, Russell Right, and we went to the opposite
high school. He was the Volkswagon and guru and I
was I was just the muscle. We would have a
at his mom's house many a Friday and Saturday night.
Russell had a seventy two super Beetle that we chopped
and put Porsche barrels on it and Weber carbureaders and
(08:13):
drove everybody nuts. But we can have the engine out
of that car and literally twenty two minutes on the
floor exactly. Yeah. So yeah, it's definitely definitely a cool car.
But you know, and that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
And then bringing back memories for you, Right, every time
I drive it, everybody says, oh I had one of those.
I had one of the I guess everybody had one.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Back then you know, you're you're you're starting to sound
like Danny my mechanic because he bought a Volkswagon, he
sold it. He bought a cabriolet convertible deal and it
was broken. And he you know, Danny's Danny's good, but
he's you know, he doesn't. He wasn't around when that
car was in its hey day, right, And I started
to remember working on those cars, and I ended up
fixing the car with a lot of little things. And
(08:50):
he's like, see you remember this. You could work on
these again. And I'm like, yeah, but why would you
want to see? That's the point, you know, it's it
was painful, you know, Like I want the wisdom of
sixty at thirty, I want you know.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So listen, Well, my dad was a car guy. He
always picks cars in the garage. But I know nothing.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Well, I think listen, I think you know enough that
I think you know enough. And I enjoyed the conversation. Tiff.
I want to tell you right up front, you're going
to be the call of the week this week, so
you can look for on the podcast coming out of
iHeart the Cow. Not to make you a cow, but
you're the cow this week. And I appreciate the conversation.
Be well, I'm running ay in the car. Doctor I'll
be back right after this
You'll call it, and.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
If you call and we're not live, you can leave
a message and we'll call you back to get you
on the air with Ron eight five five five six
zero nine nine zero zero.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Speaking of Ron, here he is.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Let us go to Illinois and talk to Tiffany because
this doesn't sound good.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Tiffany, Sorry, Ron Allegen.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
How are you? I love you about I think I'm
better than you at this point. How's your jeep? How's
your jeep? In your corroda hinges? This is going to be?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
It was. I do have to say, after fighting with
Jeep for a year, I'm happy I didn't stop fighting.
They did finally fix it. I found a Jeep dealer
that finally would take us in. It ended up costing
them sixteen thousand dollars. My concern is that other people
(00:59):
have the same issue, and before someone is injured seriously
in an accident, I think Jeep needs to do the
right thing and recall. I think it's twenty eighteen to
twenty twenty one. Don't quote me on that, but I
think those are the models one percent. They know the issue.
I was reading online several people have had this issue
(01:22):
and if there's an accident and those doors fall off,
someone could be seriously injured.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Well, you mean the parts aren't supposed to fall off.
The vehicle's a that's a sign of failure, you know.
You know what jeep stands for, right, no junk each
in every part. You know, it's either that or just
expect expensive problems. And here you go sixteen thousand dollars.
It boggles my mind and for everybody else out there
that wonders what Tiffany and I are talking about. The
(01:49):
door hinges on certain Jeep models corrode depending on that.
You know, some of them, I've heard it where some
of them are aluminum, some of them are zinc. But
there's a galvanic reaction, galvanic corrosion, and it will cause
the paint to bubble and lift. You know, you start
noticing it when you're at a traffic light in a
Nonjep vehicle. I'm sitting there at these vehicles, Go look
at the hinges on that thing. Wow, that's going to
(02:10):
fall off soon.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And it was all to lighten the load and get
better gas my ledge out of these vehicles.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Listen, the same person that thought of that created evs.
You know, because they thought that was a step in
the right direction. Oh was I critical. I'm sorry, God,
I have to stop doing that. Somebody sent me, you know,
and I'm going to use this as an opportunity. Thank you, Tiffany.
I love you for presenting me with this opportunity. But
I've got to tell you. Somebody sent me an article
the other day. I haven't looked it up to see
if it's true, but the US military is now buying
(02:42):
Teslas cyber trucks to use as target practice. I saw that.
I thought that was the funniest thing. I said, No,
that can't be that, it.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Can be right. It's just unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Is that what they're good for? And I've got to
look it up. I've got to google it, and I'm
sure the car Doctor Nation you guys will find out
and let me know and we'll all talk about this.
But how can that be We're actually using cyber trucks
for target practice? Boy, let me tell you. I think
I think they should put the engineers inside of them
when they do.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Well, it's a good thing. I don't drive a cyber
truck right on the road. It might be yeah, got it.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So how did you finally get jeep to solve the problem.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I just you know what, I went to dealership after dealership.
I was given the run around constantly, and like I said,
I found a dealership in Cedar Lake, Indiana that finally
would take me in. They had the car for quite
a while because they had to take off all the
doors repaint all the doors. So I want to say
they had it for like two months, but it took
(03:45):
me three months from when they initially said, well, we'll
do the car. I think it was three months before
I finally got in, and then another two months they
had the car to do the repairs. But it was
just it was my time and fighting. And they're not
cheap vehicles to begin with, so.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That's probably that's probably a sixty sixty five thousand dollars
vehicle entry level to get in the door. How much
was that vehicle new?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Well, no, we actually bought it used it was only
it was only a year, not even a year old.
The guy couldn't fit in it because you know, jeeps
are lower and the guy was tall, so his head
was hitting the ceiling. So he traded it in and
we bought it. It was only a year, maybe a
year old, and then as soon as we bought it
for forty thousand used.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
It was only forty right, it was only right, only
forty thousand, let's let's talk about.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
But when I saw the corrosion, I thought, no way,
it's already starting. So I was very upset. And actually
it was my husband's midlife crisis. I never wanted the jeep,
but then we were stuck with it, and I thought,
I'm fighting for this, even nailed.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Now having been through this, would you buy another one?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
No? Absolutely? You know what, Maybe an old school jeep.
I've always wanted an old school jeep, one that you
could just take the top off, leave it outside.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Drive it through eight feet of mud, don't wash it.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, just because I'm having other problems with other Chrysler,
Like my mom has a minivan, her transmission is going.
My dad passed away last year and left No, that's okay.
He's always with me, left me a Chrysler Crossfire and
my nephew. We had originally given it to my nephew.
He was going to sell it. I said, no, that's
(05:35):
my dad's sports car. I'm buying it.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
So I did.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
He neglected to tell me that the key fob was
like breaking apart. Well, two days after I bought it,
key fob breaks right, and I thought, oh no, I
can't start the car right. So had it towed to
a Chrysler dealer, only for them to tell me that
they do not make that key and they cannot fix
the key. So they said, you can try Mercedes because
(06:01):
it has a Mercedes engine in it. Called Mercedes. I
was given the same response, we cannot fix the key
and we do not make those keys. So I had
to pay some genius carlock guy to come out. He
broke open the dashboard and somehow rechipped the key to
make me a key, but I ended up costing me
(06:22):
nine hundred dollars to do it. So I don't want
to see them Why that genius can figure it out,
but the people who make the car or the engine
cannot figure it out.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Well because they're not paid to figure it out. They're
paid to sell cars. And that's you know, that's the
downfall of technology. Listen. I tell this story a lot.
It happens to me all the time. I'm always at
the Delai, I'm always at Wilkes Deelhi over here in
mal On, New Jersey, I'll give pull a shout out.
And you know, I'm always coming out on a Saturday
before the show. I'm always getting my lunch and somebody
(06:52):
inevitably pulls in in some new fancy something Mercedes. Some
guy pulled in with a Corvette, a new vet, and he's, oh,
what do you think of Hey, great? You know, I
think it's a giant flower pot in ten years when
you can't get parts for it, like, enjoy your hundred
and sixty thousand dollars car while you can, and you know,
but they're like, yeah, no, that's not true. And my
argument is, okay, go find me a computer that'll run
(07:15):
Go find me a copy of Windows eight. Go find
me a copy. Go find a computer that'll run Windows ten.
At this point, and they're getting few and far between.
So technology just overtakes us. And that's that's part of
the problem. By the way, I like that Crossfire. That's
a sharp car, and well.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
My baby is actually in nineteen seventy two Volkswagen Beetle convertible.
That's my baby, and that's my love. And those are easy.
You can pop out the engine and pop a new
one in.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
You had me until you said Volkswagon. I'm telling you
we were going to have this whole thing, but I
just you know, it's.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
But it's a nineteen seventy two Volkswagen Beetle convertible.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Listen, everybody had one, right, There's there's a lot of
stories about me and volks Russell my best friend in
high school, Russell Right, and we went to the opposite
high school. He was the Volkswagon and guru and I
was I was just the muscle. We would have a
at his mom's house many a Friday and Saturday night.
Russell had a seventy two super Beetle that we chopped
and put Porsche barrels on it and Weber carbureaders and
(08:13):
drove everybody nuts. But we can have the engine out
of that car and literally twenty two minutes on the
floor exactly. Yeah. So yeah, it's definitely definitely a cool car.
But you know, and that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
And then bringing back memories for you, Right, every time
I drive it, everybody says, oh I had one of those.
I had one of the I guess everybody had one.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Back then you know, you're you're you're starting to sound
like Danny my mechanic because he bought a Volkswagon, he
sold it. He bought a cabriolet convertible deal and it
was broken. And he you know, Danny's Danny's good, but
he's you know, he doesn't. He wasn't around when that
car was in its hey day, right, And I started
to remember working on those cars, and I ended up
fixing the car with a lot of little things. And
(08:50):
he's like, see you remember this. You could work on
these again. And I'm like, yeah, but why would you
want to see? That's the point, you know, it's it
was painful, you know, Like I want the wisdom of
sixty at thirty, I want you know.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So listen, Well, my dad was a car guy. He
always picks cars in the garage. But I know nothing.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Well, I think listen, I think you know enough that
I think you know enough. And I enjoyed the conversation. Tiff.
I want to tell you right up front, you're going
to be the call of the week this week, so
you can look for on the podcast coming out of
iHeart the Cow. Not to make you a cow, but
you're the cow this week. And I appreciate the conversation.
Be well, I'm running ay in the car. Doctor I'll
be back right after this
Host
Ron Ananian
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