So you bought a new truck? Congrats, now learn from my mistakes

[ERuhl]

Here's the short version:

If and when you have repeat issues with your new truck, send in the lemon card immediately. If you wait until after 36k miles you're screwed (at least in CO you are, other state lemon laws may vary). Also if it's a repeat issue you're pretty much screwed anyway, and can fully expect Dodge to nurse the issue until the warranty expires. At this time they'll wipe their hands of the issue and leave it up to you to deal with it. Been there, still doing that.



For those who have some time to kill, I invite you to read the long version. This comes from my frustrating 3+ year experience with Dodge trying to resolve an A/C leak since the day I bought the truck new off the lot. Again, if you have repeat issues with your truck, don't hesitate to send in that lemon card!

>Click here for the long version<

 

[DieselFiend]

Sucks about your experience. As crappy as this sounds, I'd probably keep switching dealers until you find one that treats you well, and keep ALL your paperwork on it.

 

[ERuhl]

I'm past 70k miles now so no dealer will touch it unless I cover all costs (no more warranty coverage).



After about the third visit I started keeping close track of everything. I have the receipt from every service visit for this issue (over a dozen now) and I even generated a geeky spreadsheet to track the service dates and the work that was done. All my ducks are in a row, but Dodge says "talk to the hand".

 

[klenger]

Dodge and I are in bed together for 7 years or 100,000 miles on my truck. They won't get off that easy with me.

 

[Grizzly]

Maybe it pays to buy the extended warranty after all. I wasn't going to buy it when I purchased my 05, but the dealer offered it to me for half price so I bought it.

 

[Tony T.]

Maybe it pays to buy the extended warranty after all. I wasn't going to buy it when I purchased my 05, but the dealer offered it to me for half price so I bought it.

I did not buy the extended warranty for my truck and was not really interested at the time. At 33K it started having ball joint issues, like so many others on this forum, but of course DC says they are still well with in specs and no problem was found on invoice sheet. My mechanic friend says BS, that they will need replacing very soon, so this would have been one benefit of the extended warranty for me. Justly recently we bought a 06 Honda Civic for my daughter, the extended warranty issue came up during the paper work and they offered it for half price also (at the time of signing $900. 00 or if we waited till the following day it would be $1800. 00). I know a sales pitch, but since she's on her own now and not living at home I feel little bit better we went ahead and got it.



Tony

 

[CMBOld]

Hey Tony, while I understand why you bought the warranty on your daughter's Civic, good luck ever needing it! Mommy's 97 must have better than 200 k on it by now , she sold it to her brother when her Pilot came in. Pilot is an 04 and has 50k on it with no issues thus far,and I'm watchin'. Mike

 

[ScottLowry]

Maybe it pays to buy the extended warranty after all. I wasn't going to buy it when I purchased my 05, but the dealer offered it to me for half price so I bought it.

My dad has a 02 4WD high output 6speed. The truck is totally stock. at 70k they put an injector pump on it. At 99,200 they put another injector pump on it and a lift pump. This was all covered by the factory Cummins warranty. They told him the new parts has a 1year 12ka warranty because his other warranty was about up. The service guy told him that if he would have bought the extended warranty the injector pump would be covered for the life of the truck since they had to replaced it under warranty. Has anyone ever heard of a dealer doing this.

 

[Tony T.]

Hey Tony, while I understand why you bought the warranty on your daughter's Civic, good luck ever needing it! Mommy's 97 must have better than 200 k on it by now , she sold it to her brother when her Pilot came in. Pilot is an 04 and has 50k on it with no issues thus far,and I'm watchin'. Mike

I agree hopefully she will not have to use it and the reputation of Honda's engines lasting and lasting was not really a worry. Any of the major electronics involved going south got my attention for extended warranty. There again hope she never has to use it, but you never know.



Tony

 

[klenger]

My feeling on the extended warranty is as follows: I paid $1995 for a 7 year 100K $100 deductable extended warranty. If I drive my truck for 7 years and put 100,000 miles on it and nothing ever breaks, am I supposed to feel bad about that?



I would not even consider an extended warranty on my 5th wheel as it does not have a drive train and most of the repairs are simple and can be done by anyone handy with tools. The most expensive appliance would only cost $1000 if I had to replace the whole thing. I've had it for 4-1/2 years and have never taken it to a dealer for any repairs.

 

[Grizzly]

With so much electronic components on these new vehicles I think it's worth buying the extended warranty. More especially since you can negotiate it down to half price or sometimes cheeper. There is a lot of markup on extended warrantys and most dealers are willing to work with you on the price. One power window motor failure will pay for the warranty. If you never use it, like I never used on my 95 CTD, well, you've got yourself a great vehicle.

 

[Turbo_Bob]

I had a problem with my 96 Dodge 2500 V-10 truck. The radiator coolant was getting low and I could not find it. It was also running 10 degrees hotter in the summer. Took it to the dealer and there fix was to install a cap. That did not work and I took it back again to them. Oh sorry, the warrenty just ran out, 37,000 miles, you need a radiator.

I took it to an independant shop, much better price and labor than the dealer, with the same OEM radiator.

The plastic end cap where it is crimped had a very small leak.

 

[JonathanBurk]

Had the same prob with my 2004. Would work for a while then it's just hot air. Sucked.



Took it in, they replaced somethin they said was broken.

Took it in again, they did something else.

Took it in a 3rd time, they replaced the ENTIRE A/C. Took them a couple days if I remember but they ripped everything out, put a new one in. Worked great after that.

 

[ERuhl]

Took it in a 3rd time, they replaced the ENTIRE A/C. Took them a couple days if I remember but they ripped everything out, put a new one in. Worked great after that.

That's what I asked for but was denied. The dealer refused to change anything unless they could prove that's where the leak was and Dodge customer service refused to give them authorization to change anything. Their (Dodge's) solution was to refill it every two months until the warranty expired. Nice eh?



I purchased the upgraded warranty specifically to cover all of the electronics. I never thought I'd use it for something as simple as an A/C system, and I never suspected it would prove worthless in that respect.

 

[klenger]

Report them to the local authority responsible for licensing AC techs. They do not approve of refrigerants leaking into the air and might come down hard on the tech and dealership for not properly fixing the system.

 

[Rescue Ram]

What dealer(s) in the Denver area were you using? I would love to stay away from that type of monkey business...

 

[ERuhl]

What dealer(s) in the Denver area were you using? I would love to stay away from that type of monkey business...

Prestige Dodge in Longmont for the first 8 visits, then Valley Dodge in Boulder for the rest of the visits. I wouldn't recommend either, although Prestige was by far the worst of the two. Their tech is absolutely terrible. I could go off on a completely separate rant regarding their tech. I kept taking it back there only for the A/C issue because I felt they were obligated to fix it, however after I found evidence of the tech tampering with components of the truck completely unrelated to the A/C issue I had to go elsewhere. It's a sad day when the tech becomes your adversary when troubleshooting a problem instead of helping to find the solution.