A Los Angeles woman who bought a brand-new 2026 Jeep Wrangler said the vehicle broke down on the same day she drove it off the lot. The incident, which she described in a viral TikTok video, has drawn hundreds of thousands of views and sparked a debate among viewers about new-car reliability.
The woman, who posts under the username @yee.doggies and goes by Amber Crane, said she took her new Jeep out for breakfast shortly after buying it. She said that when she came out of the restaurant, the check-engine light was flashing and the vehicle began shaking.
Crane said she returned the Jeep to the dealership, where staff told her it was a software issue. She said the dealership performed a software update and returned the vehicle to her within four hours, and that it ran fine for the rest of that day.
Dealership found a spark plug recall after several days of testing
The next morning, Crane said the same problem returned. She said the check-engine light came back on and the Jeep began shaking again. She brought the vehicle back to the dealership a second time.
She provided a rental vehicle, a Ford F-150, while the dealership examined the Jeep. According to Crane, she did not receive any updates for several days. When she called the dealership, she said she was told they were “still doing tests.”
After going several days without an update, Crane said she went to the dealership in person. She said she found her Jeep parked in the same spot where she had left it, appearing untouched. Crane became upset at the dealership, saying she was under pressure because she needed to drive out of state for eight hours in the coming days.
She said the dealership then told her the issue was linked to a recall on the spark plugs. Crane said she was informed the spark plugs were not in stock, meaning the repair could not be completed right away. She asked the dealership what they planned to do for her, since she was told she could not take the rental truck out of state. The troubles go beyond a recall, as a South Carolina woman’s wheel fell off after dealership service left her car unstable.
She said the dealership then gave her a different loaner car: another brand-new Jeep. Crane said in her video that she felt “petrified to f**king drive it because it’s a brand new Jeep and you just had issues with your brand new Jeep.” Her fear of another Jeep issue isn’t unique, as a North Carolina dealer once made a costly mistake with a Wrangler order.
In a follow-up video posted on TikTok, Crane responded to comments on her original post. She said she received repeated messages suggesting the issue was a common “Jeep thing” and comments questioning whether spark plugs could cause the problems she described. She said she was addressing the comments in general and not directing her response at any one person.
Crane said that although the vehicle involved was a Jeep, she believes anyone who buys a new vehicle and experiences mechanical problems would be frustrated. She said she has never purchased a new vehicle before this one. She also said she plans to continue driving a Jeep despite the issues with this vehicle.
In the follow-up video, Crane said she had no new updates on the repair status of her Jeep at the time of posting. She said the vehicle was still with the dealership and that she was continuing to drive the loaner Jeep.
Some viewers who commented on the original video described similar experiences with other vehicle brands. One commenter wrote, “Same issue except a Subaru Forester Sport … feel u sis.” Another wrote, “I use to work for a jeep dealership, sounds about right. You were probably the 5th one to do the same thing that day unfortunately. sold my jeep last month.”
Other comments raised doubts about how the dealership initially handled the problem. One commenter wrote, “They didn’t do a d**n update. They just cleared the codes.” Some commenters framed the situation as a reason new-car buyers have legal protections. One comment read, “This is exactly why factory warranties exist.”
Published: Aug 9, 2026 06:11 am