A Sunshine Coast man is so fed up with his lemon of a Jeep that he’s offering people a chance to support the destruction of it. Ashton Wood has launched an online campaign where strangers can bid to to bash, break and even set fire to his $49,000 Jeep Cherokee.
“Have you ever bought a new vehicle that has let you down so badly, you just don’t trust it any more?,” reads the website destroymyjeep.com. “We’ve decided, after 20 issues and nearly 4 years of relentless emails, meetings and legal costs, to give up on their little game and start a game of our own…”
According to Ashton and Vanessa Wood, their reasoning for auctioning off the destructive of their ride is threefold. Firstly, the Jeep has been “unreliable” from when they purchased it and it continues to cause them headaches.
Secondly, they don’t want to sell the car’s problems onto someone else and thirdly, they hope their actions will push the government to review the current Australian Consumer Law and introduce a “Lemon Law” that protects consumers from defective vehicles.
Mr Wood told the Courier Mail the Jeep was bought new in 2010 and he claims it has done only about 50,000km, has been towed four times and has had 20 defects requiring constant maintenance. Such defects include; a major coolant leak inside vehicle, ignition failure, the wipers intermittently coming on and the rear strut leaking oil. “See why we want to burn it?” said Mr Wood.
Mr Wood said he has tried to go through all the correct channels to sort the situation out, including two hours of mediation with his solicitor and lawyers from Chrysler, who eventually offered him $22,500 for the car, $26,500 less than he originally paid for it. “I have a fundamental issue with selling my problem to someone else and I know if I let Jeep buy it off me for $22,500 they are going to sell it and make money on it, which is even worse,” he said.
“And it has become a real principle thing for me, if I raise the money that Chrysler was offering me, then that’s what I will take and I will pay the difference I owe on the car and I will destroy it,” he added. “I am not taking any more offers from Chrysler now, if they came back to me tomorrow and offered me $50,000 I would not take it.”
Supporters can sponsor the destruction of the Jeep from as little as $12, which will get your name written on it in permanent marker. $55 will contribute to a series of metal tipped arrows being shot at the vehicle. Pledge $85 and your name will be yelled out as a crow-bar is launched at the window and a whopping $7000 will allow you to take the heaped remains of the car home with you.
So far the Woods have raised $12,016. For more details head over to the Destroy My Jeep website and Facebook page.
