[Indraneel Bhat]

Originally Posted by Rda

I have no complaints with Landmark Mumbai or Sky Moto Pune as they have done their job perfectly well, they helped me restore my defective brand new car to working condition, but I'm definitely very peeved with Jeep India on how such issues can slip through their Quality Control.

More than the product, I am amazed at you, my friend!! Your ability to stay positive is inspiring.

I am sure I speak for a lot of fellow members, when I say we would be at the showroom armed with flamethrowers (figuratively), if we were in your place.

Happy driving!! Here's to many happy miles and memories

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by Rda

[b]The Jeep Meridian Limited (O) 4X2 AT | Initial
My wife and I were excited to pick up the brand new Jeep Meridian from Landmark Thane. Having read online about PDI issues faced in the Jeep Meridian, I had already asked Landmark to double-check my vehicle, but little did I know that I was about to experience Murphy's Law firsthand. In just the first 15 minutes of driving, the dashboard threw up this message - "Dynamic Steering Torque Service required".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uie1sSx6Dw

I do get the above error message sometimes.

This is quite a common problem in Jeep Compass, I believe, even now I get this error sporadically. The root cause is a faulty wheel speed sensor for me.

I recently changed the speed sensor during the routine service and even after that I do get this error, might have encountered it 5-6 times in the last month.

[enj0y_ride]

Congratulations on your new ride. Wishing you lakhs of kms on your Meridian.

Sorry to hear about the issues you faced, that too the critical one within 24 hrs of delivery. We have another "Wiring harness" issue reported here as well ( for brand new Compass ) and I guess in both cases it came up within a day of two post delivery. Jeep should have paid close attention to QC of such premium models ( and they should plan a recall if wiring harness is indeed faulty or not reliable ).

Did you try contacting Jeep/ Stellantis directly?

[car-go]

It was so pathetic of Jeep to give a new car creeping up with such niggles, where these platforms should have already been sorted out across their models even if it is a new model (not a new segment they ventured into). Good that they have sorted this out for your lovely Meridian with all the timely cooperation. It is an ordeal for you! But then your positivity is awesome.

I have a Jeep Compass (bought Apr '22). In a few days of driving, it threw a 'service transmission error' which is supposed to be pretty severe, in the middle of a running traffic. I took it to the side, restarted it, and touch wood; did not recur. I guess it was an electronic problem in the relevant sensor not passing the feedback message to the car's brain.

After a month since, I started getting the seat belt warning chime when no one was sitting in co-driver seat (hence unbuckled). Got it to the ASS and they found that the coupler was loose. Not something major, but irritating. Since then I either buckle the seat beside me (when vacant) or tighten the coupler (Thanks sharan who guided me in another thread).

We are living with it however expecting every time that the niggles are not nerve wreaking. But then the experience till now is awesome, given the looks, the body, the comfort and drivability of the car. Wish you a lot of kms enjoying it to the fullest!

[supertinu]

Congrats RDA on the beautiful ride. Jeep is definitely the car with most amount of character among the other brands.

Coming to the point of niggles, its absolutely unacceptable on any product. Manufacturing industry works on concept of DPPM and nothing is ever 100% issue free, but the quality requirements keep getting stricter as the product price point goes up. So maruti letting a few slip on an ALto is much smaller impact vs Jeep letting go even 1 when the volume is so small and price point is so high. Having a fuss free ownership is my highest criteria.

Hopefully you have hit all the initial niggles and moving forward things remain fuss free.

[KL42]

Congrats on the new ride. Over the next 5 years, the ride will prove itself right and will bring smiles over the long run. Don't bother about the few issues you faced initially.

Jeep should really not let such freaky errors spoil their name. Already they sell in miniscule numbers and such incidents are not good for a premium offering like Meridian.

[dular]

After vinitbhavi, now this thread ! It is quite amazing how things are working out for Jeep India. I am even surprised at how some people are casually calling this minor initial niggles. If any other brand like MG or Tata would have come out with such quality, they would have been thrashed to the core.

I am glad Jeep India could not deliver on my booking. I am slowly realizing it as a blessing in disguise. There are many more complaints and examples of failures in Meridian on the Jeep India twitter handle.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Rda

Big shout out to Axe77's phenomenal review that helped me take a quick decision (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ip-review.html). I hope that other cars also find awesome reviewers like him.

Hey RDA. Super congratulations on your new steed and thank you for the kind words.

Random Musings
1. I expected Landmark Mumbai to give a detailed document containing all the terms & conditions of the RSA, but haven't received it yet.
…

2. Jeep should have practically priced the Meridian at least Rs. 5 lakhs lesser, to allow for a 10-15% premium margin over XUV700 and Tata Safari. (The sales volumes of XUV700 are just stupendous!) But given how impractically priced the Compass is, this has left Jeep in a hard spot. I do not expect the Jeep Meridian to sell over 6,000 units annually in the long run and I will not be surprised if the model itself will be discontinued after a few years.

…
3. There is a debate on how the Jeep Meridian will affect the sales of the Toyota Fortuner. I daresay that the Jeep Meridian will instead cannibalize the sales of the Jeep Compass as it is a better value offering.

Your crisp review is spectacularly on point on all fronts. I am on some Jeep owners group and a few things from various owner experiences as well as own experience that are apparent to me.

# While the product is brilliant, it has serious QC issues. In that sense, you are in an awkward place where you have a brilliantly capable “go anywhere” vehicle but that niggling doubt in the back of your mind on when and where it might leave you high and dry.

# It seems that Jeep Pune is a particularly bad apple in terms of the dealership experience on various fronts. To that end, you may want to cultivate some contacts at Landmark Mumbai (specifically Andheri) for future needs. Of course its not convenient for a Pune owner but may be well worth it (unfortunate truth). My personal experience with Jeep Mumbai so far has been really good and I am hopeful that if god forbid some reliability issue crops up at least they will deal with it well. I had a few minor niggles and the responsiveness of both dealership and Jeep India was superb. Perhaps they are trying to repair their customer perception and trying to move in the right direction on this.

# You’ve had two significant breakdowns. I think you should push them for some sort of goodwill warranty / service pack as a goodwill gesture. If I’m not mistaken they’ve done that for another owner and given your unfortunate issues you’d be well justified to expect something on these lines from Jeep. Please do engage with Landmark / FCA on this.

# Happy to note they gave you a replacement vehicle. Was this given by Pune or Mumbai dealership? Good on them either way to do this.

# On the plus side, JWW (Jeep Western Wanderers) is a wonderful community of owners and they are constantly organising drives and events and also a great repository of mutual assistance, experiences and knowledge. They also are really proactive in organising events so you can really get the benefit of some nice organised events with them. I believe Jeep is organising an Independence Day drive for its owners. Hopefully you’ll be able to participate (I’m traveling unfortunately and will have to miss it).

Enjoy the car to the fullest now that its back with you. Hope to meet you sometime at some Jeep event.

Cheers.

[Rda]

The Jeep Meridian Limited (O) 4X2 AT | Short Term Review after first free service (5 months, 6000km driven)


What a rollercoaster ride it has been! After my previous ordeals, I was compensated with an extended warranty and some small goodies by Landmark Mumbai. I enjoyed some lovely trips across Maharashtra and just when I thought all was finally going well, the Jeep Meridian broke down again for the second time and had to be towed to the Service Centre.



Yet another quality failure by Jeep (This time - The battery was the culprit)
1. One fine winter morning, the Jeep Meridian refused to start, the dashboard lights started faintly blinking and the engine was vibrating sporadically.


2. I got the car jump-started by an external battery, after which the car started but the dashboard displayed several errors, which basically meant that the car was unsafe to drive. So, I called the RSA and had the car towed to the SkyMoto Pune workshop.


3. The car was repaired, serviced and sent back after almost 1 week. In absence of my car, I was driving around my father's new Hyundai Tucson 2022 (Detailed comparison between Jeep Meridian & Hyundai Tucson 2022 on a separate post soon!). I was satisfied with the support given by Landmark Mumbai and Skymoto Pune to repair my vehicle.

4. The official reply from the Service Manager was as follows:
This is with reference to your vehicle reported to our workshop on 23.12.2022, we have checked with the vehicle and found the battery cell weak. We have replaced the battery unit with a new one.


Short Term Review

I have completed several trips across Maharashtra from Nashik to Konkan, on good & bad roads on the Jeep Meridian. It is an outstanding vehicle to drive. Even on bad roads, which we faced from Pune to Nashik, the car was rock solid and the drive was comfortable. Even on the curvy ghat roads from Pune to Shrivardhan, the car was super stable with minimal body roll.

I had nearly run out of DEF during my drive to Shrivardhan and RSA was able to arrange for it in the middle of nowhere after a few frantic phone calls. DEF is not easily available outside city limits, so it is recommended to refill it before going on a long trip. Interesting point is that the cost of Velvex Adblue DEF available at a fuel station is half of the same provided by Jeep Service Centre.

An issue that particularly bothering me is that the air conditioning vents take outside air inside at regular intervals. So if you're having a long drive in the city, you will get outside smell inside intermittently. The service centre informed me that this is a feature and cannot be rectified. Not a great feature for a place like India.

I'm getting a Fuel Efficiency of 9 km/litre in the city and 12 km/litre on the highway. I have covered most other aspects in my detailed review, so nothing more to add here.


Final Verdict
Despite all the trouble the Jeep Meridian has given me, I'm still a fan. It's like that toxic relationship you can't get out of. The strong build and ride quality is so good that I can't find an equivalent at the same price point. Yes, Jeep has serious quality issues, but their RSA and service has resolved my problems satisfactorily.

[cooldip]

Thank you Rda for the wonderful thread.

How have the last 12 months been? Does your "Final Verdict" still hold good?