What are my options now? ..........

[HGDMARTN]

I will try to make this short. Sept. '00, I bought a '00 2500QC 2WD with 24k miles from the body shop of local Dodge dealer. Was wrecked in passenger side front. I was told all was corrected and that truck was put on frame machine and all was lined back up "to spec". Gosh, what a bad decision to buy. Have had nothing but trouble. Truck has been in 3 times to fix popping front. They still could not fix. Put new stabilizer bar on, checked ball joints, etc. Finally they just said we do not even hear it any more. Well, Monday morning I have my monthly appointment and truck will have about 35,985 miles on it. I want them to fix my oil pan leak (rear). They say it does not leak. I also have a ticking in QC door. Most importantly, I want the popping fixed. I finally got smart and took truck yesterday to the highest regarded local truck frame/alignment shop. (They occasionally do work for the Dodge dealer I am referring to) I will refer to the frame shop as the experts. Experts showed me that the driver side frame rail is about 3/4" behind the other causing the left wheelbase to be significantly shorter than right side. I do not believe this meets the specs referred to earlier. Lower ball joints are shot; this is the source of the popping. Truck rides good with a slight drift to left. Expert says he can try to straighten frame and re-align all panels, cab, etc. May tear frame due to strength of frame. Very high cost too. Expert recommends pulling the driver side "knee" forward. (Control arms, mounts, etc. and I mean bending them too) Then replace ball joints, 4 wheel align and let her go. He will do this for about $400. Says this is a good fix. My questions are:
1) Is the motor sitting sideways? I assume it has to be if frame rails are not even. If I pull the motor 10 years down the road, will it even go back in?
2) What kind of liability does the dealer have since they fed me a line of crap about the frame being in spec? Can I get a buyback since they have not fixed popping noise?
3) Is truck still going to be a problem if expert pulls the "knee" forward to offset the frame rails? This "expert" was recommended by everyone I asked over last 6 months. Seems to be genuinely interested in fixing my truck.
4) Should I cut my losses and try to find my 1990 Chevy 1/2 ton gasser that I traded in?

Hoping to get alot of good feedback as I really want to know my options when I approach dealer Monday.

Anyone looking to buy a wrecked truck please learn from my mistakes.

Thanks in advance.
David

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'00 2500QC-LWB 2WD 6sp. loaded with a bunch of goodies that I would not have ordered if I bought the truck new.

 

[danandamy]

Hate to say it, but I think you can probably forget any buy back since you bought it used. I think you can forget much else since they did tell you it had been wrecked and you did buy it from their body shop. I wonder how their body shop wound up with it, anyway. I wonder if it was "totalled" in the wreck? I wonder if the dealership was the one who wrecked it and that's how it wound up with it. Anyway. .
1. To a certain extent, I would think so. There is going to be a certain amount of give from the motor mounts but still. I'm also wondering how much of a bind this is putting on the rest of the drive train. Think about it, this is bound to be putting everything into a certain amount of binding.
2. Think we covered that already.
3. This is probably going to be the best you can hope for. It's never going to be 100% right. The best you can shoot for is making it right enough to where you can drive it without it making you crazy.
4. I think you should go ahead and cut your losses dealing with the dealer. I think the highly recomended body guy is probably your best bet. It sounds like he is the only one in this whole sorry eppisode who is pretty much shooting straight with you. If you go to get rid of it, it's going to show as having been wrecked and they're not going to give you anything for it anyway and if $400 will fix it well enough to make it drive normally that's probably what you're going to have to go with.
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Sorry to hear of your bad luck.

Daniel

 

[RON'S RAM]

David; sorry to hear about your problem. I wouldn't give up without a fight. Can you get in writing about the truck being out 3/4" , bad ball joints, and whatever else is wrong? If you can, I'd go to the Motor Vehicle Dept. to start with, then if no luck try the Better Business Bureau. I wouldn't let the shop that you bought it from touch it again, unless that's your only option with help from MVD or BBB. If you have the experts do the repairs, ask if they can unbolt the engine to straighten the frame. Then align the mounts to bolt back up with no stress. Good Luck either way. Ron...

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1997 2500HD 4x4 Club Cab SLT,5 Spd, Rhinoliner, basically stock 4 now

 

[jmeehan]

Do you have it in writing that the dealer's body shop returned the bent frame to spec? This might be where you can nail them. If they said it's in spec, and you can proove they said it, but it's not in spec I'd think they'd at least have to fix it, or pay to have it fixed.

I shudder to mention this but... have you talked to a lawyer?

Good luck, I hope everything turns out alright.

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ex Ford tech, now driving '01. 5 2500 4X4 QC LB ETH/DEE SLT 3. 54, Patriot Blue

 

[illflem]

My advice is a little late and I hope you can work your problems out. With over 35 years of buying used cars and trucks I learned the hard way never to purchase one that has been in a major accident, they will never be the same. You may be able to get it to drive right without spending too much money, but it may nickel and dime you for a long time. If the dealer won't buy it back fix it up so no evidence of the accident is apparent then sell it to someone you don't know who isn't a TDR member.