Dealer holding my truck for ransom

[jatman40]

Dropped truck off at lithia dodge in las cruces nm for ongoing issue with p0541/p0542 code on 2013 ram 3500 drw TD, also told them it had been using alot more def lately than usual, truck has been in dealership numerous times for same code pcm, relay, gridheater, wiring harness, injector harness...upon this visit dealer found p20ee code stored, checked into it and called an told me scr catalyst and def injector needed to be replaced along with egr butterfly (passenger side egr valve), i asked it my 3 yr unlimited mile warranty covered this , was told yes, they also replaced the pcm and grid heater relay in relation to the p0541 code...after almost 3 weeks of them having my truck they had everything put on, i drove truck approximately 1 hour to see if cel would replicate , light stayed off...went back to dealer to "settle up" what should have been my 100 dollar deductible only to find out dealer had failed to get preauthorized by mopar vehicle protection for the 4950 dollars worth of parts (3000 is the limit)..that i couldnt have my truck till this was resolved..asked how long was told no big deal. That was on monday the 19th of oct....i still have no truck...ram case management knows, mopar vehicle prot know, lithia headquarters knows, and nothing has been resolved...The GM of lithia in las cruces called me last friday and told me they would remove all parts except the pcm and i could have my truck. I explained the error was on their part i shouldnt have to take a broke truck back because they didnt file the warranty papers.. GM told me that was tough, they wasnt going to eat the cost even if it was their fault.

Beware when getting warranty work, make sure dealer files your warranty claim

Jobless atm due to dealers failure to file paperwork.

 

[PGAdams]

Regional Rep. of the Dealership area
or
Chrysler Corporation, Customer Service or Office of the President.
Chrysler Corporation 1-800-247-9753 Customer Service.
State Consumer Protection Agency

 

[mpaulson]

What a load, I'd have a lawyer call them, that's pure B.S.!!!!

 

[seafish]

Please notice that LITHIA and SLEAZY have the same number of letters in them. Chances are they trying to double dip at worst or like you say, cover their mistake at best. Hoping that you have not paid yet, and can POLITELY but FIRMLY deny their claims, but if so then small claims court will be in order-- THEIR fault=THEIR loss, not yours. Don;t see how any judge can see it differently particularly if you have paperwork proving the warranty is valid on your truck.

 

[SnoKing]

Dropped truck off at lithia dodge in las cruces nm for ongoing issue with p0541/p0542 code on 2013 ram 3500 drw TD, also told them it had been using alot more def lately than usual, truck has been in dealership numerous times for same code pcm, relay, gridheater, wiring harness, injector harness...upon this visit dealer found p20ee code stored, checked into it and called an told me scr catalyst and def injector needed to be replaced along with egr butterfly (passenger side egr valve), i asked it my 3 yr unlimited mile warranty covered this , was told yes, they also replaced the pcm and grid heater relay in relation to the p0541 code...after almost 3 weeks of them having my truck they had everything put on, i drove truck approximately 1 hour to see if cel would replicate , light stayed off...went back to dealer to "settle up" what should have been my 100 dollar deductible only to find out dealer had failed to get preauthorized by mopar vehicle protection for the 4950 dollars worth of parts (3000 is the limit)..that i couldnt have my truck till this was resolved..asked how long was told no big deal. That was on monday the 19th of oct....i still have no truck...ram case management knows, mopar vehicle prot know, lithia headquarters knows, and nothing has been resolved...The GM of lithia in las cruces called me last friday and told me they would remove all parts except the pcm and i could have my truck. I explained the error was on their part i shouldnt have to take a broke truck back because they didnt file the warranty papers.. GM told me that was tough, they wasnt going to eat the cost even if it was their fault.

Beware when getting warranty work, make sure dealer files your warranty claim

Jobless atm due to dealers failure to file paperwork.

Is this a FCA max Care warranty or third party. If third party you might have a problem, and a reason to NEVER buy a third party warranty. If Max Care from RAM, then call them. Max care is suppose to be all in RAM computer system. SNOKING

 

[gsbrockman]

The GM of lithia in las cruces called me last friday and told me they would remove all parts except the pcm and i could have my truck.

Have them strip it down.....and when it's ready to be picked up, then call all three of your local television stations and invite them to the party.

 

[mweiman]

What year and how many miles are on the truck? Emission components are usually covered for a longer period.

 

[slingshot383]

A call to the BBB and the Attorney General of your state won't hurt, along with a call to your local news stations as they all have consumer issues investigators.

 

[RVTRKN]

Most States have a "Bureau of automotive repair" that the Dealer has to be licensed with in their State. It might be worth checking out.

 

[Bob4x4]

The 3k number is what is required imoho to keep the dealers honest.FCA does not have to pay the claim if the pre-authjorization process was not followed.This should not affect the consumer,it is between the dealer and FCA only.

 

[RustyJC]

The 3k number is what is required imoho to keep the dealers honest.FCA does not have to pay the claim if the pre-authjorization process was not followed.This should not affect the consumer,it is between the dealer and FCA only.

I agree - the consumer should NEVER be dragged into the middle of a family quarrel between FCA and the dealership. I would hope your FCA regional rep can straighten this out; if not, perhaps someone up the FCA chain of command. Hopefully it doesn't degenerate into a lawsuit where the lawyers are the only winners....

Rusty

 

[jatman40]

Hired an attorney, dealer received a letter at 430 pm yesterday, at 530 pm ram case management called me to say i could get pick up my truck the next evening. RCM said the dealer had told them the "inspector" approved the list of parts, that they had to put the pcm on the truck. Notice on my first post i mentioned i had driven the truck, and all was gtg....dealer is still trying to lie to RCM and make it look like they was being good guys all along, since i had to get an attorney involved in this im going to see if the attorney wants to push harder, not expecting monetary gains but i think Domino's needs a couple of new drivers. Amazing how after my attorney faxed them a letter within the hour my truck had the lithia dodge seal of approval to return home. Only took them 28 days to replace the pcm, scr catalyst, gridheater relay, egr valve, and def injector, that figures out to be about 15 minutes a day they applied toward my truck.


And it was a mopar maxcare 3yr unlimited mile warranty, dealer just failed to file the paperwork with chrysler and get approval. When they done that they didnt know what to do. Ram case management knew what was going on and the only reply i got from them was "i dont know what to do" same with mopar vehicle protection. I didnt hear anything from the dealership until after attorney sent them a letter explaining the NM laws they was violating. Then amazingly i was notified by RCM (not the dealer) that my already repaired truck would be repaired again and could be picked up the next evening. Dealership tried to run a bluff, i called them on it, they got caught with there pants down and are trying to cover it up.

 

[mpaulson]

Glad to hear it worked. Your attorney should just send the bill to them! You've had enough hell over this. I would have been in jail if they had my truck for a month.

 

[jatman40]

I was told by local police that if i "picked up" my truck without lithia's approval that the most i could have received was a criminal trespass ticket, non jailable ..appear in court ticket.. I figured if i tried that approach i would have went to jail because when they tried to stop me it would have quickly escalated to a jailable offense....thank god for my wife, she has kept me out of jail for the last 16 years, when i get agitated i kick common sense out the door, she's usually there to slap it back into me

 

[SnoKing]

I would walk into the general managers office and hand him the attorney's bill, telling him to pay this small amount or pay a much higher amount after the court settlement! SNOKING

 

[jatman40]

Letter from attorney worked, picked truck up this evening, didnt even have to pay the 100 dollar deductible, BUT mopar vehicle protection has decided to cancel my 3 yr unlimited mile warranty , was called this evening after picking up truck and notified that a regional inspector had went to the dealer due to my complaints and classified my truck as a commercial truck (212k miles), no dot numbers on truck (guess he seen my insurance card....commercial insurance)...no biggie , but funny thing is i dug through all my warranty papers and the only exclusions it shows is police, taxi, no mention of other commercial use.

oh well lol

 

[Dogpatch]

At least your truck is fixed. Are they going to reimburse you for the remainder of the cancelled warranty?

 

[jatman40]

no reimbursement, warranty was given to me by ram case management due to electrical issues the truck has been plagued with since i bought it (18 dealer visits) po541, p0542 codes reoccuring since ive owned the truck, injector harness failure at 61k miles, 2 pinion seals, 3 pcm's,2 grid heater relays, 1 grid heater, wiring harness replaced in engine compartment, 2 8.4 head units, steering wheel controls replaced at 22k, im sure theres other things im forgetting ..paid 51k for the truck new (was a left over 13 when i bought it in 2014...since then ram has thrown probably 35 k in parts and labor trying to fix , guess they got tired of trying lol...next time i have a problem with the emissions i will just tune and delete to eliminate the problems

 

[Tuesdak]

I'd run that cancellation by your atty as you got the warranty due to other issues to prevent a lemon law buyback no doubt.

 

[jatman40]

Gonna talk to ram case management about it tomorrow, got the truck home changed all the filters and put on an oil bypass sytem, gotta change transmission filter and fluid tomorrow, mopar vehicle protection recommended that i give ram case management a call about it since they are the ones who gave it to me. Just glad to have it back so i can put it back to work.