Lithia Dodge has Failed to Honor Warranty

[TKeeler]

I am not the suing type but I think the BEST advice would be for you to get an attorney and see just what your options are and what would be reasonable.



Some folks think that a mechanical device should last forever without any problems and some businesses think that a mechanical device will always have problems and shouldn't be repaired. You need to find the middle ground and hopefully you can find an honest attorney (stop laughing please!!) that will help you find it.



Remember, no matter HOW rude and disrespectful the fools at Lithia treat you, REMAIN CALM AND ON POINT.



I cannot stress that point enough. If you remain calm, polite and ON POINT, it makes it nearly impossible for them to simply brush you off as just another a-hole.



If you lose your temper and say something silly, you lose the high ground. Once again, this is good reason to contact an attorney and find out what your recourse is.



Lithia owns just about everything here in Boise as well and I don't trust them either. In FACT, I don't trust ANY dealer. I will say however that when my truck began "making oil" within the first 3 months of me purchasing it, Petersons Stampede treated me fairly well including cutting me a check for one months truck payment since they had the vehicle for almost a complete month trouble shooting.



The only thing that Stampede did that was silly was they wanted to charge me $4/day for a rental car. I spoke with the service manager and explained to him how silly that was over $4 when the truck issue wasn't my fault but a manufacturing defect.



Good luck. Keep in mind that high visability can also back-fire. If Chrysler thinks that helping you will encourage other people to fight for a new engine, they just might dig their heals in.



Keep us posted.



Huskerman

I was in contact with the local Lithia about a deal on a new truck for a few days until I started getting the 'Car Salesman' runaround... "let me talk to my manager" etc... I was straight up with them right out of the shoot, I told them the best quote I had got and what could they do. I got the how big of company we are line and we take of our customers. "We will loose money on the deal at this price"... you all know the lines. I was doing the negotiating via email and they even had the gaul to call our house the first day of contact... I had never given them my phone number and for a good reason.

After reading this thread I am sure glad I didn't make a deal with them.



I have placed my order with Adam at Dishman Dodge in Spokane. Very thorough, appreciative & no high pressure. Thanks Adam!

 

[MickeyMiller]

Sorry to hear all these issues with Lithia... I bought my truck from Lithia Dodge in Billings, MT and was pleased with the sales and service... they even let you watch when they work on your truck!



BTW, Lithia is a publically traded company which may open up other ways to get their attention. I would also engage their Investor Relations to see if they would like to expedite an agreeable resolution.



Good luck!

Mickey

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Lithia was well represented in numbers by dealerships in the California area we lived in before moving to eastern Oregon. I never had business dealings with them, other than looking at a couple of new Toyotas for my daughter - and was THOROUGHLY turned off by their con-men salespeople and hard-sell tactics.



I later bought my '02 truck across the street from that Lithia Toyota dealership, from a family owned and operated Dodge/Chrysler dealership. Difference in operation was night and day, courteous sales people, fair pricing, and after buying my truck, 2 warranty replacement issues were handled promptly and expertly, no questions asked.



I was VERY sad to hear that about the time we moved away, Lithia had bought that Dodge dealership as well - and another decent and capable dealership disappears and is quite likely now operated by the same shoddy quality as this thread covers.



I'll NEVER set foot on the lot of a Lithia dealership!

 

[JR2]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. There is a webiste that contains a list of dealers and reports on them (http://dodgeram.info/survey_dealer/Dealers.htm). I have found it usefull to look at once in a while.

As for how to solve the problem, like mentioned above keep the high ground. Don't loose your temper and call anyone any names etc. One thought is to sue the dealership and Chrylser in small claims court (depends on the amount you are trying to get and state laws). Be sure to name the service manager, the regional rep and others in the claim. Dodge will not show up in court and the judge will rule in your favor. There is (or was) a member who did it and it worked out great. You might also contact the webmasters here at TDR. They know some higher ups at Dodge and Cummins and may be able to point you to someone with a kind ear. I know they have helped a few of the 53 block victims.

 

[fj40dave]

Lithia... ... WON'T BE BUYING ANY NEW VEHICLE FROM YOU UNTIL THIS IS MADE RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!

And..... you know the saying:

Good News... ... a few friends hear about it.

Bas News... ..... can't tell enough people about it - and I will be advising EVERYONE & ANYONE I meet interested in a vehicle that YOU (lithia) are SHADY @ BEST.



Why do ya think the foreign manufacturers and dealerships are doing so well... ... !!!!!!!!!!



I bought my truck from Dishman..... awesome in all respects.

I have my truck serviced at Bremerton Dodge... ... Mike Papas in the service department takes GREAT care of me (and everyone else I see him interacting with) EVERY time I'm in there (oil changes and 0. 5 & 0. 10 cent stuff).....

Simm's Honda in Burlington... . great dealership.

Westhills Honda in Bremerton - bought a vehicle there too..... great dealership.

Westhills Toyota - haven't bought there yet - but soon! Great people - put a FJ-Cruiser on the lift just so I could look under it!!!!!!!!!



LITHIA... ... ... ... I hope you figure out that taking care of customers and building relationships with the people that give you their hard earned income is what will keep you around. If not..... can't miss ya till you're gone!



DO WHAT'S RIGHT..... and you'll be pleasantly suprised!

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Why do ya think the foreign manufacturers and dealerships are doing so well... ... !!!!!!!!!!

Lithia has dealerships selling foreign cars too...

 

[16919]

I would go as far as to put an add in the classifieds or cars/trucks for sale in the local newspaper, etc. on you experience with them... . right next to their ads if possible. Post your email responses from them and your original letter. Make sure everyone knows about that dealership in your town and they run from it. It might cost a couple hundred bucks but it would be worth it.

 

[one8upcb]

I'll have to pass this info out to all my military buddies throughout the continental US!!!!

 

[JasonCzerak]

100,000 miles? Check your warranty book! Remember a thread a while back that the 100,000 mile start "AFTER" the 36,000? Just additional idea to use when you dealings.

 

[Nordby]

MickeyMiller - the Lithia in Billings is where Dave took this truck when it first broke with the crank bolts sheering. Dave's comments were that this particular service department bent over backwards to help him and get him on the road - 1st week of July, so around the holiday even and they still got him out of there to get home 4 days later. The service there pulled the service record, and were pretty sure a service/recall work in the Albuquerque Lithia before Dave bought it was when the crank bolts were improperly torqued back on.



Huskerman, JR2, and others - thanks for the reminder to stay calm, and keep the higher ground. Integrity and reason win always in the long run. Dave has never even raised his voice to these folks, continued to make payments on this truck in good faith that it will be fixed, and was told by the Lithia service rep Lonnie Johnson that he "was more than reasonable and patient with this issue. " We'll continue to fight like heck, but calmly, and with facts and reason.



JasonCzerak - Good info, thanks, we'll check the warranty paperwork over again.



The support from you guys is much appreciated. For grins, we googled Lithia from the suggestion of several (gentleman from Medford where it all started!) and, well, wish we'd have done that before doing business with them. Wow, a ton of issuess. Wonder how many aren't even know about.



Thanks! Monday should be interesting in dealing with these folks. Recall the truck is at Lithia Santa Fe waiting for $$$'s up front for a $750 oil pan gasket...



jon

 

[JApol]

www.rip-offreport.com is a good place to go when looking at business'

Here is a search for Lithia

 

[jnelson]

We had an issue with the paint job on my wifes 04. 5. the dealer we have bought our last 4 dodge trucks at EH Green in Odem Tx does not have a body shop. they sent us to meet with a dodge rep at Lithia Dodge in Corpus Christi.



After waiting for several weeks and making several phone calls, we finally got an answer. Lithia did all they could to try to make it look like the peeling clear coat was rock chips. We finally got it painted with less than perfect results.



I will never buy an auto from Lithia or any of its affiliates.



I have found much better service and a more personable buying experience from the small town dealerships. the smaller the better.

 

[JNehl]

egt prob

Took my truck to lithia with about 5000 miles on my truck to get the injectors looked at. They broke the screws off of two where the wires connect and then they tried to blame it on me. After three weeks of arguing they finally fixed it. When I went to pick up my truck there was a dent in the front fender and they said it was there when I brought the truck in! Another couple of weeks of arguing they replaced the fender. You got my vote for not buying from Lithia.

 

[camsv3500]

I, for on,e would be happy to email them as a tdr member and tell them to honor your warranty. . while they might blow a couple of us off after the dealer,, even better the owner starts getting multiple emails from us they might notice...



what say the rest of you... ????



good idea. . or not?

 

[abdiver]

Did I miss read the first page Was this a USED 03 with 85K miles bought in 06 ???

 

[BTighe]

i live in medford and bought an 06 from lithia last may. after dealing with there service department ive come to the conclusion that im better off on my own. i know have an 02 that they wont be touching. im not sure if theres any warrenty left (30k) but unfortunatly lithia is the only dodge dealer within 75 miles or so.

 

[Nordby]

abdiver - yes, this is a used 2003, bought in May 2006. Had ~60K miles on when purchased, this issue started at 85K miles and was never fixed.



Not sure that it matters new or used - this vehicle was sold, and under the remainder of the factory warranty on that engine. One difference, the New Mexico Lemon Law does not apply to used vehicles. There is a brief sentence or two in there that covers a purchaser for a couple of weeks as I recall.



thanks, jon.

 

[Big MAK]

1. Five Star Dealership = Screws the most customers. Five Star is 100% about how much money they make for Daimler Chrysler Corp and has absolutely nothing to do with customer service -- unless you count the customer satisfaction surveys they fill out for you that you never see. Even if you were allowed to return your own survey it's a very small factor in who gets the star. The more stars; the more profitable they are for Chrysler Corp (least warranties honoroed). That's the bottom line. I think customer satisfaction is inversely related to number of stars.



2. Sounds like the crank is out of balance. Lot's of things can cause it... need to tear the engine down. (imo) My guess would be gradual degradation from a scored/bad piston (taking bets on #6). There's a good chance the person that had it before you over-fueled it for that to happen. Are you burning a bit too much oil? Bought at 85,000 or not it's the type of thing they should have checked before selling the truck to you (the bolts were likely sheered off before you bought it). Water pump is probably going to die soon.



3. No way in heck a leaky oil pan gasket would cause a crank sensor to fail. You could probably keep that sensor submersed in oil and it wouldn't affect it. It's hanging on the bottom of the engine block where it takes on all kind of debris from the road. Oil is the least of it's problems. It sounds like the problem is excessive vibration from the crank -- not oil.



Litha bought the local lying cheating dealership in Omaha, NE too. They outright lied to me on several occassions -- the last time they lied to me I went in there and threatened to kick some ---. They looked me in the eye and said "Dodge trucks don't come with those" so I went out on their new truck lot and took one off a new truck and walked into their service dept with it (where I threatened to kick their ---)! I'm never going back in there again. I gave them 2 chances after they bought out the previous lying cheating scumbags and found out Lithia is just as bad.



I now do all my work via Woodhouse in Blair; they don't always get everything 100% right but they've never intentionally lied to me and they always give it their best shot.

 

[JCasper]

1. Five Star Dealership = Screws the most customers. Five Star is 100% about how much money they make for Daimler Chrysler Corp and has absolutely nothing to do with customer service -- unless you count the customer satisfaction surveys they fill out for you that you never see. Even if you were allowed to return your own survey it's a very small factor in who gets the star. The more stars; the more profitable they are for Chrysler Corp (least warranties honoroed). That's the bottom line. I think customer satisfaction is inversely related to number of stars.

This statement seems to be very true. Dicks country dodge here in Hillsboro has about the same type of service. They recently screwed a guy out of $1,500 for front hubs and brakes when all he needed was a center u-joint.



5 star dealer doesn't mean a thing. I will definitely put Lithia on my do not do business with list. When you buy a $40,000 truck they should take care of it for at least the warranty period. They are supposed to stand behind the motor for 100K.

 

[Ross]

I recently bought a new 2006 from Lithia (All American Dodge) in Midland, TX... NOT a good experience. They tried every trick in the book to hose me. The ONLY reason I bought from them was they had about the only Mega Cab dually in the 3 states equipped like I wanted. They jacked me around on price pretty bad; lied to me about the discounts, and tried very hard to make me buy crap I didn't want or need (extras, snake oil, etc. ,).



I have not had any warrantee work done, but basically have accepted the fact that I'm on my own.



I will never trade with them again, and will NEVER refer anyone to them.