Archived 2005 Dealer Screw-Up..Your Opinions needed

[desertbull]

After extensive research and pricing, I found my 05 Dodge Ram Lariat loaded to the gills w/NAV, Leather,Infinity, 4WD, etc... totally loaded ready to tow for the next few years while building my business in the off-road motorsports industry. Oo.



I had the best experience ever with a Dealer that I've ever had in 25 years of buying new cars. Absolutely no B. S. and no games. I'm in the motorsports industry and let the Dealer know that from the beginning so there were no games. Oo.



After several visits to the same dealer and a few different test drives... (a yes I'm a test drive *****... no wiggles, no wobbles and all is good) I made an appointment to purchase my truck on this Sunday morning. With the appointment at 11:15 a. m. with the dealer having plenty of time to suck down his weekend strong brewed coffee I arrived with check in hand ready to do the deal.



An hour later I was out of the front doors of this 5 Star Dealer driving my new 05 Dodge Ram CTD 4WD 3500... . but then :--)



only 6. 3 miles from the dealer a warning bell began to chime as I adjusted the stereo... ah f*** I said... . looking at the gauges and the water temp was pegged at 245 degrees in the RED :--) :{



Jeeeezzzussssssssssss I thought... you got to be kidding me.



I exited the freeway immediately stopping and shutting the new 2005 CTD down. I popped the hood and the engine coolant bottle was completely EMPTY :--) I slowly turned the radiator cap and she was hot... doh!



No fluid at all in the bottle.



The Dealer sent a tow truck and the salesman to me 6. 3 miles away apologizing explaining they'll look at it tomorrow on Monday... The salesman says "The General Manager has been contacted and some idiot in service really screwed this up. "



Questions I have to the consensus of CTD professionals.



With no load and heating up for only a short time do you think pistons were scorched, heads were cracked etc?



I viewed the head gasket and it seemed to be Okay... . visually speaking.



No paint was peeled from the valve cover and that cover over the valve cover seemed to be Okay... ... but that's far from any significant determination.



I'm under the assumption the dealer cannot do anything unless they tear down the motor to inspect the pistons or their is a cracked head or blown head gasket...



I'm afraid they'll merely fill it with fluid in the morning, call me and tell me that it's ready to go... know what I mean?



I'm open to all suggestions and I'm listening to you all. I've been a TDR reader since late 1998 back in the day... Me and my friends are diesel nutz but I've never come across this problem before... probably got to make a decision in the next few days on whether to take a new truck most likely with less options since I grinded these guys to the hilt on this truck and got away with what I think is an opposite version of Dealers Scamming... I worked them hard for this deal... and when I drove away I was feeling good... now I'm wondering if I should take a whole new truck or... . keep this one???? Depends on what YOU guys really think... I'll decide but would like you opinions. . good, bad or ugly!



Thanks in advance.



Tim Sanchez

aka "Desertbull"

 

[GrantP]

I think your DesertTank got jealous and threw a hex on the new one before it even got home. Seriously though, I would walk away from this truck. Maybe there is significant damage, maybe not. Do you really want the dealer techs to be tearing into your brand new truck to determine whether there was any damage? I think your gut is telling you the same thing. Get a new truck, not one that's been overheated and refilled with coolant but low miles... .

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

Wow Tim,

What a bummer,

I would probably say that in six miles you didn't do much if any damage. Was there oil in the diffs, trans, engine? Then I would start to get a little worried. All in all these are very tough motors. Can 6 miles in a truck kill a motor? I'd say no. Can it hurt it? Doubt it. Will they replace it( the truck)? If they offer to replace it go for it. If not, check the h2o before you leave the dealer and never look back. Give me a call before you start the bombing process. I have some special stuff for you!!! Rmmm Rmmm Rmmm... ... ... ... !



Congrats on the new ride, SSSWeeetttt



The Mighty Boardman

 

[robbiesworld]

I personally would tell them to give you a new truck.

 

[desertbull]

Thanks for your quick replies...



As you can imagine, I've been on the phone non-stop since early this afternoon talking with the people I regard as the experts in the CTD industry... Greg, I left your phone number in the bathroom of the Spearmint Rhino in Las Vegas this past week while working at the 04 SEMA Show... so I couldn't call you... :-laf Hahhhhh, you know I'm joshing ya'... . LOL



But seriously, every single person that I've talked to who are well-qualified CTD mechanics, biz owners etc... all agree with Greg... probably nothing wrong at all in 6. 3 miles with no load and just leaving the dealership.



I did check the engine and trans oil as soon as I stopped and it all appeared to be no problems at all. The dealer called me this evening to check on my blood pressure... yeah, I got a very wise salesman and his sales manager is pretty cool as well... *note to those that don't know*



I ain't too easy to jack over...



I'll be down there tomorrow weighing each and every option available and I'll keep you posted as I lean over the mechanics shoulder while he complains that I'm there watching him...



Greg & those that know me... . and The Desert Tank



The Desert Tank is not retired yet... with only 200K on her she's being reformed to a full desert beast for full-time prerunning in the dez and the Baja Peninsula. For this upcoming Baja 1000, we've made 3 complete prerun trips of the entire race course only returning a the day before the SEMA Show from our last run. Rain, Dust, Mud, Rocks, Dirt, Mexican Diesel Fuel and she just keeps on going. . The Dez Tank is running strong. We have some plans for her... bed removal, full tubular rear fitted with all the right stuff for secured gear storage etc... rumor has it Kent's KORE truck might get nerfed... Oo.



The new 05 is a 4x4 DRW for towing that big *** 40' Enclosed Race Hauler trailer emblazed with DIRTsports all over it... as in 2005 we'll be on a nationwide schedule. With the DRW, my 20 year-old daughter (Operations Manager) can get at the towing all over the nation while Kent and I drink Pacifico from Gonzaga..... well at least that's the plan right now...



Got Dirt?



Desertbull

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

I talked with your drinking buddy last night and told him what happened. What a bummer. We decided after further concideration that the new truck should go back if possible. I do think that the truck would be fine but WTF!!! You want a NEW as delivered, with water, truck and no concerns about breakage. Why don't you call me today Tim. I want to hear the story for real. I'll be on the road today. I have to go to Valley Center to exchange some parts for the race truck. After that I have to put my truck back together. (See Big Bear trail ride post. ) I have the same truck for towing and it is great. Never missed a beat and your little girl will do fine. My wife drives it on a daily basis. As for the Rhino? I was wondering why I kept getting all those pictures on my phone. Thanks Buddy!!!



Greg

760-819-9551

 

[Eric_77]

most likely okay I would try to work a deal for them to throw in the 7/100 no deduct extended warraty

 

[Doubleclutch]

Pardon my ignorance, but where did the coolant go in the first place???? Sounds like there might be a rotten fish in Denmark here. Agree with the extended warrantee. Is there such a thing as "darkest Baja"?

Greg

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

If the coolant temperature sender registered 245 there must have been coolant hitting it. Was just the overflow bottle empty? How much coolant was in the engine? Cracks might not be detected externally, but magnafluxing the head would tell (have to remove it to do that). Scoring the cylinder walls would result in blowby, which could be detected by a leakdown test and/or compression test.



If there was a good bit of coolant in the engine, all is probably OK. Under no load, still OK if less coolant. You can start and idle a Cummins dry for a bit as egt's are so low.

 

[willyslover]

something one might think about... . IF [or when] you do ANYTHING to this truck the dealer would use that as an excuse to VOID any warranty...

not refering to Bombing. . just normal things like air cleaner or gauges might be cause to void... [not an issue with a normal truck but this one is different now]

I have no problem with being my own warranty station after Bombs but in this case you would would have to wait to do anything do to the issue at hand.

 

[GFrance]

Sounds like you test drove it the day before. Were there no temp. problems then? How many test driven miles on the truck before you test drove it? My point is I would be concerened as to why the coolant was low. A possable oversite from the factory or did the dealer do some work on the truck due to some problem that was discovered during a previous test ride. Did the dealer forget to check the truck over before it was put out on the lot or atleast checked out before customer takes delivery.

I'll agree with the post above & I would be real adamant about an extended warrenty.

 

[DPelletier]

It may have damaged something, or it might not have. Damage may not be exactly the right word either, it might just have worn something more than it should have with 6. 3 mi on it. All I know is that because of the fact that it happened when it did, I personally would demand a replacement vehicle (even If I had to order it to get the exact same truck). Otherwise, I would always wonder if a problem was going to rear its ugly head.



Dave



ps. I also would be very curious as to why it was out of coolant.

 

[desertbull]

Wow... thanks to you all for the well thought out advice. I'll try to answer some questions here...



Spent the day at the dealer and just rolled in.



Basically, I'm such an TDR trained freak and a no BS kind of guy that the nonsense the Service Manager was trying to blow up my arse wasn't cutting it after only 35 seconds of conversation. The Service Manager interrupts my conversation with the Sales Manager in the dealer lobby after my arrival not even introducing himself and immediately blazing into a "his" version of what happened. He said, "We pressure tested the radiator and at 15 psi we determined a very slight leak in the bottom hose. " I said, "Ahhhhh Grasshopper... so over the past couple weeks the truck was here some employee from the dealership has been cleaning up the leaking fluid from this truck right?"



Well... well... well... well... .



General Manager says, "Did we actually perform any pre-check on this truck when it came in?" Service Manager says, "Yes, we do on all of them. " I'm just biting my lip Oo. saying sure you do.



The entire time while the Service Manager is digging a deeper hole the GM basically says... "Go back to your hole. "



GM admits they mistakenly sent this truck out without performing the said checklist and the Service Manager is obviously trying to cover his arse :--) Imagine that... .



So we got down to the grinding stone with the numbers... including the 100K bumper-to-bumper warranty , LoJack, Spray-In Liner + 3 chip keys and they wrote me a check on the spot to make this feel better... AND the GM said... "Any problems related to this in the next 6 months from today and I'll simply put you in a new truck for the same price minus the check we just wrote you. Anything after 6 months you run it through the warranty process etc... " With his words written on the due bill they provided to me for the other options they have yet to install.



I drove away in that same truck this afternoon...



I sincerely appreciate everyone's input and immediate responses to my inquiry and I'll keep you updated here at the home of the Cummins Turbo Diesel Oo. Oo. Oo. Oo. Nutz!!!

 

[DF5152]

sounds good but i think i missed something why did they cut you check?

 

[desertbull]

Basically in my humble opinion it was to sweeten the pot... If I didn't take this truck... they'd have to sell it as a "used" truck and take a bigger loss if they couldn't get the right dollars for the truck or have the uninformed TDR non-member walk in and pay the sticker price for the "used" truck... I was leaning towards giving the truck back and waiting for a new similar truck to arrive... however that was going to be 6-8 weeks with the exact options... and I'm all about being a biz'ness man... saved enough that I've already ordered my toolbox/fuel tank combo and got the other stuff thrown in...

 

[DPelletier]

Sounds like the Dealership did the right thing.



Good luck and enjoy the new truck.



Dave

 

[GrantP]

Alright Tim, this might be better in another post but you've gotta spill your guts on your plans for the desert tank. Will there be two stock full Dodges running in Ensanada soon? See you there...