Lithia Dodge has Failed to Honor Warranty

[Nordby]

aarlucas - Exactly our thoughts too. The crank problem is still there - only fixes this time were the seals - they claimed oil contaminated the CKS and caused it to throw codes. Many replies back someone was pretty adamant that there was no way oil is going to cause the CKS to fail - it is exposed to too much road grime, etc.

Dave is just going to drive it - we are pretty sure the out of balance issue will cause seals to fail again, the helicoils to come loose/shear, and throw the 0336 code again. Just a matter of time. Since Lithia is at least paying attention to it, Dave has to go through this step in order to get a real fix.

Part of me wonders if this step is an attempt to get Dave to trade it to someone else? Just thinking out loud. I'll let folks know trouble-free miles in this thread.

thanks,jon.

 

[KnightR]

You guys are scaring the hell out of me. Damn I use to get 200,000 on my target 350's gas. No problem o. Than ***** about spending $1400 for a new one. Hell got to the point I can change them in 2 hours and be on my way. I'm new to diesels and I just seen on one website a rebuilt injection pump for $1600 and a core of $1200. Don't get mad my friends but where's the fringes?

 

[Nordby]

KnightR - you will find most of these engines outlast the truck. Just that when they do have problems it seems to be more of a trend that dealers and mfg's are not standing behind them. Wonder if there is a way to correlate customer mistreatement to how bad the manufacturer is hurting - like spike in lawsuits after quarterly results show Billions lost...

 

[Nordby]

Meant to update this for a couple of weeks. The truck is down again, same codes, same problems. It lasted 4 or so weeks and a couple thousand miles, but was not trusted to tow anything except locally. Calls to Joe Rossi at Lithia have not been returned.

Instead of deal with it, Dave has had to be on the road - horse shows in Las Cruces, OKC and now in Pueblo, CO. All in borrowed trucks.

Any resolution progress, or trade-in progress, I'll update here.

thanks,jon.

 

[Huskerman]

Simply un-freaking-believable.



You would think that they (Lithia, Chrysler) would have learned from the first hub-bub.



I have no doubt now that this issue will probably go on forever on this specific truck. My recommendation would be to get it fixed and get rid of it. It's not worth this kind of headache.



Word of warning however. I have owned Fords and have friends who have owned Chevys. Neither truck is any better.



Getting a new truck won't necessarily solve your friends problems either. At the end of the day, all mechanical things can have issues so the most important thing is to find a dealer/shop that will support you properly.



Huskerman

 

[CogginsP]

Wow... . I was going to buy a new 6. 7L (once I win the powerball that is)... definetely will NOT be going to Lithia.

 

[Nordby]

Yep Huskerman - I agree with all you said - he needs to get that one down the road and replaced with a well supported (dealer or private mechanic) truck that is mostly reliable (like a majority of the rigs in these forums).

(the vin # is posted in this thread folks - check before you buy used!).

Thanks for the support folks,
jon.

 

[DonFitzwater]

Send your buddy to Geno's garage and have him get that "I'm my own warranty station" t-shirt as this is most probably his best option at this point! I did email that little honey you mentioned earlier in this thread but she never responded... ... ... ... surprise surprise.

 

[WardD]

I just have a quick thought a little of the subject. Lithia has quite a few Dodge dealerships across the west and for some reason they can't seem to sell more Dodges than Dave Smith Motors, who's single dealership hails from the back woods of Idaho. Kinda funny huh? You would think the top brass at Lithia might look into this situation after being sued so many times.

 

[Huskerman]

Any more updates on this issue?



Huskerman

 

[Nordby]

I was just with Dave Sunday, June 10, at a horse show in Pueblo, CO - got an update. Of course, he was there in a borrowed truck. He basically had enough of it and had his fixed - by Cummins in Albuquerque. The tech's first comment was that the crank was ruined the second they drilled anything into it. (my note: sure, some properly trained and equiped machinists could do this, but likely not in the truck, and very likely not at a dealership). Crank, bearings, timing cover - basically a new lower end. $6K. Ouch indeed.



Likely the bill will be handed to, and ignored by Lithia and Chrysler, unless lawyers are brought into the fray. Sigh.



I'll update again if this moves forward in a significant way to try and get reimbursed.



Thanks,

jon.

 

[SHyans]

It's a sad commentary on DC that they can make it clear that they don't give a rat's *** about it's customers on a public forum. 8,000 poeple have read or posted to this thread and this guys lack of results indicates that DC doesn't care.

Which is it? The attitude that there is so much potential business out there that DC can turn it's back on it's customers because there is plenty more where that came from. Or, go ahead, sue us..... we've got more money to spend on legal fees than you do and we'll drag this on for as long as it takes for you to give up or run out of money.

That's "business" folks! Sad but true.

 

[CRutledge]

I second what HeberRam said below

IMHO, Dave I believe it's time to step it up a notch. If it were me, I would contact an attorney , put the dealership and chysler on notice, stop futher payments on the truck, through the advise of your attorney, rent another vehicle to keep you business going. If possible, tow the vehicle to another dealership, that is not affiliated with the one you are using, to get a second opinion. . I know this sounds costly, however, your truck isn't making you any money sitting in the dealership. Keep the pressure on... all TDR members and future dodge owners should immediately boycott any business with this dealership and it's affiliates.

Keep us posted

 

[BigIronRam]

It's a sad commentary on DC that they can make it clear that they don't give a rat's *** about it's customers on a public forum. 8,000 poeple have read or posted to this thread and this guys lack of results indicates that DC doesn't care.

Which is it? The attitude that there is so much potential business out there that DC can turn it's back on it's customers because there is plenty more where that came from. Or, go ahead, sue us..... we've got more money to spend on legal fees than you do and we'll drag this on for as long as it takes for you to give up or run out of money.

OR until they run out of sales. I've also had unsatisfactory dealings with D/C warranty issues, never again will they have the opportunity to do me that way again.



Robert