Dealer Bait & Switch No Recourse?

[machinemover]

Ok, Up front I am going to tell you guys, no hidden agendas here. This is the actual truth of what has happened to me. I purchased a truck via Internet, dealer in Las Vegas screwed up and didn't have the actual truck we spent 3 days on making the deal. He searched out a truck and found one in California, No problem. The sales person and myself went to California and picked up the truck from the dealer late one night. Las Vegas dealership never gained access to the vehicle. Deal was closed and I drove off a happy camper.



I installed my gooseneck hitch, aux. fuel tank, diamond plate bed and then A few days went by and I had a sleeper installed in Texas. Picked up the truck and started towing my trailer for work.

I noticed a little wet under the tank, but nothing much. I thought it was fuel spill at first. I dryed it off and it eventually came back. Last week I came back from a pickup in southern Cal. Stopped home overnight and two puddles in my driveway in the morning. One from the axle, (bad axle seal) and the other about a qt. of fuel under the tank. I took it straight to the local dealer that I hate to deal with but have no choice. They dropped the tank and found a drill hole on the bottom, BUT NOT THROUGH THE PROTECTIVE PLATE ON THE BOTTOM. I had them order the tank immediatly as it was imperitive I get to Kansas City in a few days. The service manager denied the warrentee saying it was my fault. I called my selling dealer, they have done nothing, called Chrysler Warrantee, they have done nothing, and the repair dealer has done nothing. Everyone is denying the resposibility for this repair and there is no way this happend by me or by any of the work I had done. The drill hole

is on the bottom of the tank,it does not line up with any exterior hole and the tank has never been removed by me or anybody that has done work on my truck since I have owned it.

The only thing I can figure is, My truck say in California for almost a year. Someone screwed up a truck in California and replaced the tank with mine. SO in other words there is a truck running around with a hole drilled in the bottom plate and a good tank and mine with a good plate and a hole in the tank.

The tank cost me $1000 for tank and install. I am thinking as a last resort is to turn it into my homeowners, but DC should be paying for this and I don't see how I can prove it... ... Thanks for listening to my B. . t. . ch

 

[LBARTLETT]

don't know for sure by your description but in the Dallas area thieves are drilling holes in the tank to steal fuel while underneath the truck so they can't been seen, could have been what hqppened on the dealers lot, with no hole in the plate it should be warrantied, that's my two cents

 

[SierraRam]

Tough situation, I can see the dealerships point a hole drilled through the tank is not a warranty item.

 

[JDiepstra]

Tough situation, I can see the dealerships point a hole drilled through the tank is not a warranty item.

I would agree with that unfortunately. I would try to go the insurance route as well.

 

[tkerrigan]

That tank should have been repaired. much cheaper.

 

[machinemover]

At the time I was under the gun and had to get the tank repaired fast. I was hoping that DC would work with me a little more. (I should know better). The Diagnosis from the dealer was $350, so the actual price of the tank was about $600. The dealer would not repair the tank due to liability. I am not sure if they would even let me in there do the repair and have them put it back in. Dead issue now anyway. I did go to Home Depot and found a few rubber washers that I think would work pretty good to seal the tank with a machine screw and washers. I did take the tank home. So anyone in need of a tank with a small hole in it, net me know, I'll make you a heck of a deal!

 

[MLee]

Seeing as it is off, why not have it repaired by a shop that does the hot air plastic welding repair?

 

[machinemover]

I don't know much about that type of repair or where I would have that done. Besides, I'm not using the tank at the moment, really have no use for it.

 

[RVTRKN]

With the billons of dollars the auto industry is going through just to keep afloat is why warranty denied. I did read about no hole in the plate, but it did get drilled and is bad luck on your side. I was hoping to have my extended warranty pay for the vent door failure, but they are going by the letter of the contract due to losses. It will cost me $1000. 00 for repair if I have them do it without warranty. But I plan to do it myself before next summer and just pay for the plastic door myself and will look at beefing up the design if possible.

 

[machinemover]

With the billons of dollars the auto industry is going through just to keep afloat is why warranty denied. I did read about no hole in the plate, but it did get drilled and is bad luck on your side. I was hoping to have my extended warranty pay for the vent door failure, but they are going by the letter of the contract due to losses. It will cost me $1000. 00 for repair if I have them do it without warranty. But I plan to do it myself before next summer and just pay for the plastic door myself and will look at beefing up the design if possible.

Well, Maybe it's me, but this comment just rose the hair off the back of my neck. IS it my fault the hole was drilled, yet it can't be proved that I did it? In fact, it is much more likely an arbitrator would side with me, seeing I would have to go to extreme lengths to drill this hole and not drill through the plate. The fact that DC won't even take this into consideration, the dealers don't want to be bothered and I am assume guilty prior to receiving all the facts. This really gets my goat. This is my 5th new Dodge Dually since 1997. DC should do some hisltory, look at who I am, appriciate the customer loyalty and maybe they would save a few dollars in the long run. I for one have no sympathy to the Big 3 going Red. and, don't ask me for a hand out, DC has never once helped me!@ I have to date never collected on a warrantee. Oh, excuse me, they paid for the axle seal... HMMM $36 part... wooopeee!!!!

 

[KevinSmith]

At the time I was under the gun and had to get the tank repaired fast. I was hoping that DC would work with me a little more. (I should know better). The Diagnosis from the dealer was $350, so the actual price of the tank was about $600. The dealer would not repair the tank due to liability. I am not sure if they would even let me in there do the repair and have them put it back in. Dead issue now anyway. I did go to Home Depot and found a few rubber washers that I think would work pretty good to seal the tank with a machine screw and washers. I did take the tank home. So anyone in need of a tank with a small hole in it, net me know, I'll make you a heck of a deal!

Small claims court. Take em all in!

 

[DBraunig]

Did you see the hole in the tank with your own eyes? Does it look like it was drilled from the outside in or punctured from the inside out? We had a similar scenario around here, one of the rods on the fuel pump module puntured a hole in the tank from the inside out (no hole in the plate under the tank) Hard to be sure what happened, but we think the tank didn't vent properly and collapsed itself and caused the puncture? The hole in the bottom of the tank lined up perfectly with the pump module and the module itself had one of the rods lower than the other (actually looked bent a little)



Dave

 

[raksasa]

Well, Maybe it's me, but this comment just rose the hair off the back of my neck. IS it my fault the hole was drilled, yet it can't be proved that I did it? In fact, it is much more likely an arbitrator would side with me, seeing I would have to go to extreme lengths to drill this hole and not drill through the plate. The fact that DC won't even take this into consideration, the dealers don't want to be bothered and I am assume guilty prior to receiving all the facts. This really gets my goat. This is my 5th new Dodge Dually since 1997. DC should do some hisltory, look at who I am, appriciate the customer loyalty and maybe they would save a few dollars in the long run. I for one have no sympathy to the Big 3 going Red. and, don't ask me for a hand out, DC has never once helped me!@ I have to date never collected on a warrantee. Oh, excuse me, they paid for the axle seal... HMMM $36 part... wooopeee!!!!

If there is an arbitration clause in your contract, it will probably specify that the DEALER picks the arbitratior, not YOU. The only good thing about that is you know how it will turn out in advance and you can already be thinking about another solution.

 

[ROCKJEEP]

There has been a lot of tanks being drilled around here steeling the diesel out of them. It sounds like someone started on yours and didn't finish. I don't want to be a jerk, but this is not a warranty cause. This is an insurance claim. axle seal yes drilled hole no.

 

[RVTRKN]

Do not touch that tank, and as DBraunig stated it might have been an issue like he described. I would take it to an Cummins repair shop, not D/C, and pay to have the tank investigated for the issue that DBraunig described or just the fact that it was punctured from the inside out. That way you would have good evidence in a court of law from an independent source. It will cost you some money but if your serious about taking D/C to court, it would be a creditable piece of evidence. Remember if you win you get all of your money back and they would have to pay for your costs as well. If you know a plumber he might have a line camera that could see inside of the tank without the costs and you would have video evidence.



Question? Can that plate be replaced without a lot of expense? One of your vendors might have replaced it to conceal thier screwup.