Do you remember, a year ago, when the boss of Jeep Australia boldly told us all he was revising parts prices, in the spirit (I’m paraphrasing) of being less extortionate? I don’t think this worked out all that well.

Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contact

AutoExpert discount roadside assistance package: https://247roadservices.com.au/autoexpert/

Did you like this report? You can help support the channel, securely via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=DSL9A3MWEMNBW&source=url

Time flies, doesn’t it? It’s virtually the first birthday of the announcement by Jeep 'Straya boss Kevin Flynn that the company was fixing its sky-high parts pricing.  

“On parts, we have taken nearly 17,000 part numbers we sold during the course of last year across Chrysler Jeep and we have done a full analysis on the pricing. We have taken a number of key points as a reference and we have changed our price points wherever it was necessary.

“So we set a parameter and anything that was above that parameter (was cut). Ninety per cent of the dealers’ parts revenue was from those parts so that was the area that was causing concern and that was the area we needed to (fix). That is done, live in the market now. All the pricing infrastructure has been changed and all the dealers are up to speed.” - Kevin Flynn

And then Wrench-wielding Jeff handed me the Red Pill - once again.

See, WWJ gets this 2013 Grand Cherokee rushed into his surgery. It’s only got 116,000 kays on the clock. Grieving owner in the waiting room. WWJ masks up, and whips out the tools; does an emergency fuel tank-ectomy, right there on the floor of the trauma centre.

WWJ tracks down the bleeder. It’s on the proximal aspect of the fuel tank, where a cheap, plastic artery rubs on the body over time, becomes a ticking time bomb, before one day, without warning, going poopy in its trousers.

Here’s the thing, right? Jeep doesn't sell the hose as a replacement part.  You have to buy the whole fuel tank. And it’s ‘only’ $4050.

So, this turns into a $5400-ish repair bill, overwhelmingly because those leopards just can’t change their spots. And this is after the alleged ‘parameter reset’ and getting the dealers (quote) ‘up to speed’.

I don’t know about you, but I find that emphatically disgraceful. A naked rip-off, not to mention a gross waste of resources. I’ve seen the official repair quote - it’s hilarious/shocking … depending on whether or not you’re the owner.

Anyway, Wrench-wielding Jedi is an old softie at heart, and he locates a transplant from a donor vehicle at a wrecker nearby. A used tank from a Grand Cherokee that had gone poopy elsewhere in its trousers.

There’s plenty of those around, unsurprisingly.

Used tank: $400. Still more expensive than a new plastic hose would be, had Jeep just designed the tank to be serviceable. But $400 is somewhat less of a heart-stopper than $4000.

To Big Kev, sitting on the Golden Throne in the Jeep Oz boardroom, encouraging the other executives over another job well done, I would humbly say: Dude, you seem to be venting credibility into space. Again.

How are those sales going, by the way? That turnaround? Still on track?