Archived CA Lemon Law Options

[TMConroy]

Need help on how to attack this. Here is my problem: Been to original dealer and two others and had them road test my vehicle - Results: 12/13 mpg highway 9/10 city. I believe this vehicle to be a lemon. Most post and even Dodge's corp says that my vehicle should be getting 18/19 highway 13/14 city.



If I take my tank and multiple it out (7 mpg lost time 30 gallons it is 210 miles lost per tank load!). Assuming that I use 1 tank a week (very common), that's 840 miles lost from poor performance per month or 10080 a year. This is unacceptable.



Now one of the dealers got a pin up their *** when I mentioned lemon law and they said I didn't have a leg to stand on because it doesn't mention anything about mileage on the window sticker.



Does anyone have suggestions or previous experiences that can help me with my problem. Your help is greatly appreciated.



06 Ram 3500 Dually Diesel, 5. 9L Cumm 3. 73 Ax 9000 miles

 

[Hoefler]

I am in the same boat. The best I ever got was 16. 3 mpg, I consistently get 10 - 11. The worst was 7. 8 mpg. The manufacturer does not claim nor represent any kind of fuel economy when you jump up to a 1 ton or bigger. My old 83 Chevy gasser with a stroked 383 was getting this and has 353 hp and 512 ft-lbs of torque.

 

[CSkal]

Now one of the dealers got a pin up their *** when I mentioned lemon law and they said I didn't have a leg to stand on because it doesn't mention anything about mileage on the window sticker.

Unfortunately, I think the dealer is right. You will probably have a very hard time getting anyone from DC to take this seriously since the window sticker does not specifiy mileage on the diesel motor. Without a confirmed diagnosis of an engine problem that could contribute to low fuel mileage it is going to be tough.

On the other hand, you only have 9K on the odometer. Your mileage should get better with more miles on the motor. How is the truck otherwise?

 

[redram3]

My mileage has also went south,but I belive the culprit to be this new Garbage they are trying to pass off as diesel fuel.

_________________________ John:

 

[Missouri Mule]

When I bought the Mule (96-2500) they didn't have the AVG fuel mileage on the sticker.

As I understand mileage should pick up at about 10,000 miles.



Look at CA lemon law and see what it states. You will probably need proof of something specific wrong to cause bad mileage.



Have you checked your odometer is recording mileage correctly?

 

[SAndreasen]

I am in the same boat. The best I ever got was 16. 3 mpg, I consistently get 10 - 11. The worst was 7. 8 mpg. The manufacturer does not claim nor represent any kind of fuel economy when you jump up to a 1 ton or bigger. My old 83 Chevy gasser with a stroked 383 was getting this and has 353 hp and 512 ft-lbs of torque.

guys also claim 20 mpg on here out of there trucks and we all know thats not possible either

 

[CSkal]

guys also claim 20 mpg on here out of there trucks and we all know thats not possible either

Hey! I resemble that remark!

 

[MMeier]

Truck usually has to spend xxx amount of days out of xxx amount of days , down for the same reason I believe to EVEN be considered about taking back. And usually for some safety related issue, not over something little like MPG. Want mileage, but a Honda Insight or something, buddy has one and gets an honest 80-110 MPG with the thing... personally you won't see me in the thing, but oh well!!!:-laf

 

[roperteacher]

Hey there, I live in Calif as well and posted a thread on the 5. 9l " No engines and transmissions" board about Calif Lemon Law , etc. I have a 3500 Sing Rear Wheel, gets excellent mileage at 22 Unloaded hwy, 19 around town, and 13-14 Pulling my huge horse trailer. I agree you aren't getting the best mileage. THe reason I posted asking about Lemon law is I have been getting a little streak of coolant loss out the top of the coolant overflow. Been to dealer now 3X. Yesterday they replaced the reservoir bottle, return line, Thermostat, and Water pump and seal. I was seeing a few drips from there periodically as well. Nothing major etc... But it was irritating... Well, they did a complete cooling system ck and also checked for exaust gasses in the coolant to determine a head gasket issue. Everything is OK, and they gave me a weird explanation for the overflow. . COndensation of hot coolant. Anyway. . I researched the lemon law in case it was a head gasket.



Honestly, they do not have to report mileage on full sized trucks. Nothing is guarenteed there. Make sure the dealer has flashed your truck with the latest updates.



#1 Have you cked your Fuel filter ( Even low mileage trucks can have a bad batch of fuel, might even have been your first takn of fuel).



#2 Ck your AIr filter



#3 Mileage WILL improve with miles... Mine started getting 16 around town and is now higher. Same with pulling.....

 

[roperteacher]

All of my mileages are hand calculated and I also have the 6 speed and not a dually. So YES, 20 MPG and better is very possible!!

 

[SAndreasen]

i wish you would come up here and whisper in either of my truck ear what you been telling yours to get that kind of mpg hell my overhead cant even come up with those numbers

 

[roperteacher]

I had my truck flashed for the long crank for the 06 and thats when I really began to notice an increase in my mileage, and time. Don't forget I have a Single rear wheel, Change fuel filter every 5,000 if not sooner. Only 2 wheel drive as well with a stick. Kind of the "Idea" good mileage set up... Oo.

 

[TMConroy]

Thanks for the replies all. Here's what I've done and not done:

Done: Complete checkup, Flashed from Rev E to Rev S, Reset tire inflation, changed oil and air filter, kept truck below 2,000 rpms.

Not Done: Changed out gas filter. Will do it this weekend.

My analysis. Even if I take the slight exaggerators (over 20 mpg on freeway), I should be getting better than the 13. 7 mpg I get now (as tested this week). So I pose the question: When is a lemon a lemon. I mean, isn't there a level of 'expectations' from a manufacturer? What if I was only getting 7 mpg highway? Wouldn't you all say it was a lemon? Of course you would! 13. 7 sucks and I think it might be time to bring on the lemon lawyers unless someone can tell me something else I should do, or something that I might have missed, or whatever? Is there a way to check the efficiency of the turbo? It's probably the only thing I have left before the legal sharks get their hands on this.

In any case, thanks for the inputs.

 

[DCreed]

u can pressure test the charge air system for leaks ,also the injectors may be defective even if only one is bad ,seems a common problem in 3rd gens.

 

[sag2]

As far as I know there is no fuel economy guarantee on any vehicle, especially a diesel. I think you will be hard pressed to get a legitimate attorney to take this. Where do you live? Flat land, foothills, mountains? There are so many variables. I drove a mini van a couple of weeks ago to try and verify a fuel economy complaint. Lady said couldn't get over 14. Drove it over 100 miles at 65 with the cruise on, flat ground, and got just shy of 26. So where was the difference? Driving habits and conditions, period. On a gas engine the best way is to put them on the smog machine. If it passes, fuel economy can't be too far out of line as there are only a couple of places for the fuel to go. Leaks, making power, or out the exhaust unburned. If it passes smog, it is burning it pretty efficiently.

I would guess if you did the same kind of test, your results would be better than what you see in real world driving, for your specific habits and conditions.

 

[SAndreasen]

Need help on how to attack this. Here is my problem: Been to original dealer and two others and had them road test my vehicle - Results: 12/13 mpg highway 9/10 city. I believe this vehicle to be a lemon. Most post and even Dodge's corp says that my vehicle should be getting 18/19 highway 13/14 city.



If I take my tank and multiple it out (7 mpg lost time 30 gallons it is 210 miles lost per tank load!). Assuming that I use 1 tank a week (very common), that's 840 miles lost from poor performance per month or 10080 a year. This is unacceptable.



Now one of the dealers got a pin up their *** when I mentioned lemon law and they said I didn't have a leg to stand on because it doesn't mention anything about mileage on the window sticker.



Does anyone have suggestions or previous experiences that can help me with my problem. Your help is greatly appreciated.



06 Ram 3500 Dually Diesel, 5. 9L Cumm 3. 73 Ax 9000 miles

if you only have around ten thousand or so i would keep driving it it should go up some more with milage also drag some pretty good weight around witch i assume you are doing since it is a dually? another that really helps mine is either stanadye or john deere fuel additive depending where i am when i need to purchase some as they both are realy hard to find around here. i also have the bully dog power pup chip and before that i had a hypertech programmer either one of these brought my fule milage up 2mpg from 15 to 17. 5 the lowest i get is pulling and i average 11 or 12 mpg and i pull heay loads up to 37000 gvw. another thing to consider is with a truck that heay 14 or 15 is realy good id say i dont know but my 01 weighs 8000 lbs on the scale and its only a shortbed quad cab . also your 06 is pushing the same amount of power if not a little more hp. than my 01. also you are pushing two extra wheels and i assume its 4 wd?

 

[catoiler]

The lemon law in Ca. only pertains to repairs. I got my 03 replaced under the lemon law for the 4 rear ends and ac that would not work. their is no mention of fuel milage.