Extended warranty for used 2017

[brucejohnson]

So a new twist on these FCA warranties. Got a CEL a couple times so dealer (Rairdon in Monroe, WA) read code, something to do with turbo, 74,000 mikes, left truck with them. Next day tells me its the actuator. Sounds right, fix it, Maxcare should cover. Well, its not that easy. They have to send an "inspector" to check it and give green light. OooooK. Inspector looks yesterday. Great, will leave truck there so you can fix. Uh, no, he has to go have a meeting now and they will maybe green light in 3 or 4 days. Well what the fork! Are you not a RAM dealer? You can't decide on your own? Well I got the feeling the unscrupulous dealers out there have been milking warranties or something. Service writer (who is very knowledgeable and seems honest) said now they have to have anything over $200 approved in advance. Is this nationwide? Or just dealers identified by some "cheating algorithm"? Wasting a LOT of my time as well as shop time, lots of phone calls and driving truck back and forth. The kicker is parts are in stock and it could have easily been fixed by now. Have to take it back next week.

I have experienced much of your angst with current model warranty work a couple hours south of you. The dealer tries very hard to accommodate the customer, however, FCA wants to verify the minutia of anything and everything related to a part change or labor effort. It has a lot to do to prevent shotgun maintenance and the waste of expensive resources. A significant number warranty parts returns had been tested as 100% serviceable. The technology is more involved as an issue than hardware today. A lot of software issues arise for simple defects. FCA attempts to get to the core of the issue. Technology sucks when it doesn't work as advertised. Then there are vendors who cannot supply the hardware quality the technology requires, and government regulations passed for standards that cannot be met with "current technologies". Vicious circles, all...

 

[endoscott]

I mean its good that FCA wants to figure this stuff out and get away from the shotgun approach. I hate shotgun approach and its in every walk of life now. Way easier for service writers to "sell" warranty work than what people have to pay for. I never felt like these guys at Rairdon were pushing incorrect work but then I dont get to actually talk to a mechanic either. If they somehow don't want to pay for a new actuator I will raise hell. But I think they will cover after the hoop jumping. Glad I am retired and have a flexible schedule!

 

[brucejohnson]

I mean its good that FCA wants to figure this stuff out and get away from the shotgun approach. I hate shotgun approach and its in every walk of life now. Way easier for service writers to "sell" warranty work than what people have to pay for. I never felt like these guys at Rairdon were pushing incorrect work but then I dont get to actually talk to a mechanic either. If they somehow don't want to pay for a new actuator I will raise hell. But I think they will cover after the hoop jumping. Glad I am retired and have a flexible schedule!

Totally agree. I had a good experience with the shop; unlike the forked tongue from the sales department many years ago. I hate traveling two and a half hours after a long phone call to find a vehicle was sold two days before. Service was very honest in describing an issue with an alternate vehicle. But parts were two weeks out.