Leaking head gasket at 18K mi. keep or dump?

[wmphipps]

At less than 18K miles and 5 rounds at the dealer for cooling system issues and check engine lights and more over the past 2 months, the dealer says leaking head gasket and is “ordering parts”. We have kinda lost confidence in the Nitro so I am in the process of deciding whether to keep it (it does have the lifetime drive train warranty for whatever that is worth) or trade it for something else. Any comments or opinions that may help me decide will be very much appreciated.

[rickaren]

Originally Posted by wmphipps

At less than 18K miles and 5 rounds at the dealer for cooling system issues and check engine lights and more over the past 2 months, the dealer says leaking head gasket and is “ordering parts”. We have kinda lost confidence in the Nitro so I am in the process of deciding whether to keep it (it does have the lifetime drive train warranty for whatever that is worth) or trade it for something else. Any comments or opinions that may help me decide will be very much appreciated.

Well I had the newer designed head gaskets installed on my R/T to eliminate a whistling noise. All was covered under Factory Warranty. I bought my Nitro the day after their Lifetime Powertrain Warranty was announced and also purchased their best Extended Warranty, since I wanted to be covered for any unexpected issues, since I plan to own it for a long time.

It all depends on if you enjoy your Nitro and it's design. You should know you will take a financial "hit" if you trade it in (as any used vehicle) and maybe more than normal. Mine just ran out of the 3 year/36,000 factory warranty with only 13K miles. I love this vehicle and don't expect much in future repairs, but if they pop-up I have the best warranty coverage available. All previous issues have been addressed under warranty so hopefully it should be good for another 100,000 miles.

Good Luck with your Nitro in the future if you decide to keep it. Maybe it too will be dependable for a long, long time. Seems like all your past issues may now be corrected with this repair!

[Snowdog]

We are going through transmission problems with 1600 miles on it now. We are on our 3rd trip to the dealer for this and hopefully will get it fixed. If not we will be turning it in under the lemon law but will be getting another or a Wrangler. It is my wife's car and she really likes it as do I. I am going with another because you can get a bad vehicle with any make or model so since we may have gotten one what are the chances of us getting 2? Plus I have had great luck with my Rams.