Dodge comes through

[jfrow2]

Since picking up our truck after the engine replacement, everything seems OK. I took the truck to the local Dodge dealer a couple of weeks ago and had them check it all over and they said everything was fine.



Now for the good news, and it is about time for some. Chrysler "Issues Outside of Warranty Department" reimbursed me for all my expenses during the time the truck was out of service, except for food. This is the settlement that I asked for and felt that was fair.

 

[KennethS]

Glad to hear that they took care of you

Most of the time all you hear Is bad news about the dealer or factory. I am glad that they took good care of you. Oo.

 

[jwduke]

Hey, it is good to see, that they can step up to the plate & take care of their customers.

 

[tractorseller]

What dealer was that? I need to get mine in if I can find a decent service department. Neither of the dealers here in Tucson is worth much.

 

[macdaddy]

I would give the dealers name on a post. You would be surprised who reads these things. I do it all the time for the guys at Glenn E Thomas Dodge here in Long Beach Ca.



Mac

 

[DIESELMAN]

jfrow2 - This is from your blow up in Canada this summer? Or did you have another issue?

Didn't you have to wait in Canada for the replacement at a Canada Dealer?

What expenses did they reimburse?

Refresh our collective memory.

DM

 

[tractorseller]

I would give the dealers name on a post. You would be surprised who reads these things. I do it all the time for the guys at Glenn E Thomas Dodge here in Long Beach Ca.



Mac

Well I don't want to mention any names, but the dealership's initials are Jim Click Dodge. Spent a whole day with my truck tied up in there getting the runaround. They are more interested in looking for mouse poop to prove that a mouse ate my firewall insulation than they are in fixing white smoke, rough idle, and bad door seals. The service advisor, mechanic, and the slick-talking service manager all feverishly dug around my battery insulation (I caught them in the act) and said they found two mouse turds :--) . Conclusive proof my friends, that a mouse ate my insulation. Sherlock Holmes doesn't hold a candle to them. Didn't fix one problem, not one, but they found two pieces of what they claim was mouse poop and gloated that they weren't going to replace my firewall insulation under warranty. I then had to endure a lecture from the service manager about how "warranty fraud" was "illegal" and how their "owner" wouldn't allow it. OK Sherlock, what about the white smoke, the rough idle, and the bad door seals? Well, the smoke and idle are probably caused by "bad fuel" from New Mexico and Texas, and the door seals we told you we had in stock the day before you got here, well we sold those just before you got here. We'll order some more and you can come back another day. They then assured me that their failure to fix anything had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I bought the truck in Oklahoma . I hope they are reading this. That's the worst service department I've ever been in.



I think Bill Breck Dodge used to be decent, but they were bought out and are now called Tucson Dodge. You can't even hardly get past the surly service advisors there. Click's service advisors are plenty friendly when you call them, they just don't get a damn thing done. They also left me sitting in the service drive for over 20 minutes while they walked around doing nothing before they would even talk to me. This on a "scheduled" visit. Complete bozos running that outfit. I guess I need to take that "Chaprell Dodge. Ada, Oklahoma" sticker off my tailgate :-laf .

 

[jfrow2]

jfrow2 - This is from your blow up in Canada this summer? Or did you have another issue?

Yes, this is the engine failure I had in Canada this summer.

Didn't you have to wait in Canada for the replacement at a Canada Dealer?

Yes, I did wait in Canada almost 4 weeks to get the engine replaced.



The reimbursement issue started because I felt that I should receive some reimbursement since the truck had only 12,000 miles on it, the repair time was excessively long, and the engine apparently blew because of an engine assembly problem.



What happened is another story. While in Canada, I tried to get the garage repairing the truck to contact Chrysler about reimbursement. They said I had to do that myself and gave me a 800#.



I called that number and was told that the warranty would cover only the engine replacement and not any of my expenses. And besides, it is an American truck and I needed to take that up with U. S. Chrysler---another 800#.



Called that number and was told that I had not purchased a service contract and could not get any reimbursement.



Back to the local Canada garage, I was told to contact the dealer that sold me the truck in AZ.



Did that when I got home and was told there was nothing they could do and they gave me another 800#.



Called that number and was told I probably could not get any reimbursement but, to send in detailed receipts and they would see what they could do. I sent in all the receipts along with a letter detailing all the expenses. About 10 days later, I got a check in the mail.

What expenses did they reimburse?

They reimbursed exactly what I requested, rental car and campground rental (we were in a fifth wheel trailer) for three plus weeks and the cost to move the trailer to a commercial campground. I did not ask for any reimbursement of meals and received none.

Refresh our collective memory.

In summary, I felt the reimbursement was fair, but only after a long run-around. Would I buy another CTD? Absolutely, even if I had not any gotten any reimbursement.

 

[EBottema]

did you get a cummins reman. engine or a brand new crate engine?



How was the compensation calculated if you dont mind letting us know.



Erik

 

[jfrow2]

did you get a cummins reman. engine or a brand new crate engine?

I don't know, I asked that question of both the Canadian and Arizona dealers. They said they had no way of telling (I have a hard time believing that). And that it did not matter anyway since the engine was in every way equivalent to a new engine, and under the terms of the warranty, Dodge had the option of using reman. parts. They both thought that it was probably new since there were not many reman. 2004. 5 engines sitting around.

How was the compensation calculated if you dont mind letting us know.

Actually, I did the calculations based on what I though was fair. I did not include any expenses of meals, food, rental vehicle fuel, or entertainment/sight seeing expenses. All items I requested reimbursement for were documented in the letter, and receipts were included with amounts in both Canadian and US dollars. I did not request any compensation for the delay in our vacation, since we had the rental car we took advantage of it and did a lot of sightseeing that we would not have done otherwise.

 

[AzCattle]

I will second that motion on the pathetic nature of Tucsons dodge dealers. Dont even get me started on JClick Dodge. Horrible service at best. Have not tried Tucson dodge yet. I guess I am just fortunate my dodges dont need a lot of service. My wifes 6. 0 PSD excursion on the other hand is on a first name basis with the dealer.

 

[EBottema]

Well that is good the truck got fixed. Sure dodge has the right to use reman parts but in all honesty only a new engine should be installed on a truck with such few miles. I would have fought for that. We all know a new engine is better than a rebuilt.

 

[sag2]

I don't feel there is a difference between the two, knowing what I've seen of the Cummins Reman engines. There is an advantage to having a seasoned block and internals as they have gone through heat/cool cycles and the molecules have settled. Many of the old racers used a used block to rebuild as they felt they held tolerance better. And besides, you can jump up and down all you want, even yell and scream a little, but your warranty book says reman except on unsold vehicles, and I have never seen DC vary from this policy. The zone tech guys can only request a new line engine if the truck has less than 1000 miles.

A complete reman is over $10,000 warranty price, so the chances of them throwing away even more money on a new does not make sense from a business standpoint. Especially if there is no discernable difference.

 

[EBottema]

Yes, seasoned blocks for gas engines do make a difference. However, for a 40k dollars truck with only 10k miles on an engine that should go 300k, a new engine is the only way to go. sure a truck with 40, 50k+ only deserves a reman cummins. But a truck with so few miles and a failure should get a new engine.



Lets say you have a transmission failure with a new truck w/ 5k miles, would you want a reman tranmission with used parts in it? NO.



The warranty book really in the end means nothing, there is always exceptions.

 

[jfrow2]

I would have fought for that. We all know a new engine is better than a rebuilt.

I probably would have too, if we had been in the US. We had already been delayed almost a month in Canada, and I could anticipate a lot of time and hassle fighting for a new engine when it was costing me over $100 a day and had no indication that a Dodge was going to reimburse me for any expenses.



I might have a gotten a new engine anyway.