Working on Strike #3

[Archive]

I ordered the first 94 2500 in the zone to pull my stuff and the brakes caused it to be replaced with a 95 club cab. It was the first delivered in the zone. after 5 times in for brake "adjustments" I had the Chrysler zone rep get in and I aimed the truck between 2 rows of new cars and trucks. I explained to him that I would accellerate to 20 and hit the brakes since they were "within tollerances", any damage done would be his. They bought the 95 back. Now I have an 3500 SLT Plus cummins and they missed painting everything from the moldings down, under the hood the door hinges etc, the factory forgot to put in the fog lights,the AC has never worked, the auto trans has been worked worked on twice, the engine has had the ECM reprogrammed once and the little problem with the trailer hitch. I tow heavy boat trailers 500 to 1K at a clip. The truck is ONE MONTH OLD. I am meeting with DC Jun 2 for their rememdy. The dealers owner, General Manager, and service manager are telling me that it is too much to dissamble the truck and repair all the missing unpainted and broken items. Stay tuned for the DC song and dance on this one. I have been told that I am one of the only people that has had 3 in the same series of Dodge products that DC will be buying back . What a luck guy I am. #ad
#ad

 

[Archive]

And I once thought that mine was a lemon ! #ad


------------------
"Roadrunner"-96 4X4 club cab-12v-auto-3. 54 gears-Amsoil bypass filter - all Amsoil fluids-trans filter-britebox-shelfit-DeeZee boards-Rhino liner-Rancho 5 speed shocks-Hellwig rear antisway & overload springs-Warn 12000 lb. winch-dual redtop optimas-combo gauge and trans. temp gauge in pillar mount-255/85R16 Kelly MSR tires-custom pinstriping- Walker muffler-Cummins mudflaps

 

[Archive]

And im on my third with no problems except steering wander on my y2k. Says something about luck of the draw. I always replace the hitch.

 

[Archive]

Harvie,
Man I am sorry to hear the problems you have had with your rigs. This last one is amazing.

Was in made in Mexico or St. Louis? Let us know and hang in there,
Mike

 

[Archive]

Harvie #ad
Sometimes ya gotta wonder what is up with the people who build these things. I wonder how many people had to inspect this truck before it left the building. not to mention all the people who had to move it, park it and do the F&I at the dealership before you got to take it home?? If anyone of them was to say it was a honest mistake that would scare the hell out of me.
And this song and dance we get around here every once in awhile about how many parts it takes to make a truck and how low the % is to good trucks compared to bad ones is really sickening. I can see a bad internal part every once in a blue moon but when its visible to the eye and fifteen inspectors making GOOD union wages just don't care well?????? I'm done, see ya Regards Pete

------------------
99'3500,quad cab,4X4,a/t
3:54,all the right packages!PROPER VALVEMENT

 

[Archive]

This is a classic case of "Not my job" in US car manufacturing plants. There is no assumed responsibility and pride in workmanship by the individuals that are building vehicles. They can't hold anyone responsible for the flaws because the UAW will throw a strike or sabotage more vehicles.
This is what gave Japan their huge boost in automobile sales over the last 20 years... QUALITY. Remember when a Japanese automobile used to be a tin piece of crap? They figured it out and are producing the most reliable, highest quality automobiles in the world. Some US Auto manufacturers still haven't learned the lesson.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for buying American, but these horror stories are all too common and make buying a US vehicle a crap shoot.
I hope DC honors their responsibility to warrant quality and a reliable vehicle. Best of luck. Keep us posted. ^^^Bat^^^

'99 2500 4x2 QC XLT
Replaced the throttle position sensor at 10k. No troubles since.

 

[Archive]

I cannot understand how anyone can have so many problem with his trucks. I have had 3 dodges 93,96,2000 and have never had these kind of problems. I have had a few minow problem which the dealer has taken care of. If you have had as many problem as you claim I feel sorry for you.

------------------
2000 DODGE SLT,ULTRA-RUNNING BOARDS, AMERICAN TOOL BOX/FUEL TANK,AND REESE 20K HITCH,GTS BUG SHIELD,RHINO LINING . MEDIUM SIERRA BRONZE, QUAD 2500 LONG BED. 4:10 POSI-TRACTION REAR END W/AUTOMATIC. STAN'S 4" EXHAUST SYSTEM TURBO BACK, AND VOYAGER BRAKE CONTROLLER,PIRO/BOOST/AND TRANY GUAGES. ULTRA-BOARD MUD FLAPS. HEAVY DUTY TOWING AND ALL ACCESS. A POSI-TRACTION 4:10 REAR END. K&N AIR FILTER. MOPAR DEEP ALUNIUM TRANY PAN. KLEEN WHEELS, DD STAG 1 INJECTORS. CUSTOM BURLWOOD DASH KIT AND WINDOW SWITCH COVERS. 29' ALPENLITE 5TH WHEEL W/SLIDEOUT. 5" GENO'S CHROME EXHAUST TIP. STULL ALUMINIUM BILLET GRILLE. STAINLESS WHEEL OPENING TRIMS. POWER VENTED TRANY COOLER. Hellwig 3500 progressive overload springs.

 

[Archive]

Alpenlight you have a great record, I just go in pay cash and expect to get a truck that starts, stops, everything is there, and looks new. I bought 94 95 qnd 2K Dodges and missed. I bought 95 97 other brands and they both were in shop less than 2 days combined for both. what seems to be wrong with my technique? All of my trucks are ordered and I wait 4-10 weeks until I get them also. #ad

 

[Archive]

HARVIE: I AM CURIOUS AS TO WHICH PLANT IT CAME FROM? ST. LOUIS OR MEXICO?... ... . I AM TRYING TO GET THE MEMBERS TO ADD TO THEIR SIGNATURE WHERE THEIR RIG WAS BUILT! TIM.

------------------
'00 2500 SLT QUAD 4X4 SB/DRIFTWOOD-MIST GRAY/AUTO/3. 54/POWER SEAT/CD/FOGS/SPAY LINER/NERF BARS/4X ABS/CAMPER PKG/TRAVEL/REMOTE/FLAPS/AMSOIL SYNTHETICS/NOT BOMBED..... YET/MFG:ST. LOUIS,USA.

 

[Archive]

Harvie, Third time is the charm, huh? Sucks to be you. All kidding aside, let us know how you fare with the DC clowns #ad


BTW, How do you tell where your truck was made? Every now and then I get a smell of burritos through the vents.

 

[Archive]

UPDATE:
Well DC declared the truck should never been released from the plant and is replacing it. No mileage charge just order new truck. 3 Strikes and I'm in #ad
#ad
#ad
Back to the waiting game.

 

[Archive]

I have had only 3 Dodges (not counting my 1950 pickup), and I have yet to go back to the dealer with a mechanical problem before 50,000 miles. (My "other" brand figured out how to self distruct). Over the years I have owned four "High Quality" foreign jobs and three of them LIVED at the dealer. When I hear people talking about the great imports, I agreee that they were fun to own---I just couldn't afford the repair cost. Other than the trucks mentioned, in the past 15 years(I have had excellent service from the many vehicles owned before that but can't recall those details), I have owned two T-birds and a Caddy. So far mechanical repairs for all three have been one power stearing pump and one heater switch. The Volvo, on the other hand required four cam shafts, one transmission rebuild, one differential rebuild, and an engine rebuild by 100K.
It seems to me that the higher quality of the foreign cars is mostly a figment of the America bashing hippy sixtys. I personally do not believe it to be real, and will chose AMERICAN when ever I can.

And I do subscribe to the % of error idea. There are many thousands of parts in a vehicle and it is a marval that there are not 1 or 2 percent of them that go bad-- even with the most diligent effort by everone involved. . Witness the NASA problems with nearly one engineer for each part invloved and buckets of money for each part.
Sure its frustrating for the person it happens to,when the odds catch up, but not grounds for a blanket condemnation. Our trucks on whole are amazingly well made.

Vaughn


[This message has been edited by merryman (edited 06-02-2000). ]

 

[Archive]

I think we should not bash the UAW so badly either, i have worked in both union and non-union plants, ( not automotive) and the quality was higher in the union plant. The "Company" is still responsible.

Just my $. 02

------------------
95-2500-ExtCab-LB-4x4-Auto-AMSoil Air Filter, Bypass Oil Filter by others, AMSOIL and Mobil Synthetics, TST 255HP and TransGO Shift kit .

 

[Archive]

Congrats to Harvie on the new truck. I hope this one works out for you.

I agree with Vaughn that we can expect a certain number of random bad parts, but that is not the only issue. First, if the unlucky new owner has a problem the service people should immediately admit it and address the issue with minimum hassle to the owner. Second, occassionally a single vehicle will have more than 1 or 2 bad parts (E. g. Harvie's past rigs and my current one). In these cases the problem is not random but related to a manufacturing PROCESS problem, either human or mechanical. DC and other companies employee numerous Quality Control Engineers whose sole job it is to keep track of repair histories to scientifically/statistically identify which problems are truely random and which are not. They then help the Process/Manufacturing Engineers fix the problems. THAT part is the same for all companies.

The problem I have noted with DC is they and their dealers make the customer fight to prove there is a problem.

My last P/U was a 4x4 Toyota. I drove it 106,000 miles without a problem except for a blown head gasket at 68K miles. Even though the truck was well past warrenty the dealer and Toyota USA fixed the head gasket for free and paid for a rental car while it was in the shop for a month (parts backorder). Even though it was out of warrrenty they acknowledged the problem was a design error.

My current truck needed a new drive shaft at 900 miles and still makes weird grinding noises when shifting or pulling under load. The dealer won't even admit there is a problem and I am having to work thru the District and Zone to get action... and slow action even then.

The problem is not the trucks. It is the poor customer service! Trucks can be repaired or replaced, DC's integrity can't!

Jonathan

PS: Mexico built


------------------
2000 Ram 2500 QC 4x4 SLT with Cummins and 5 spd transmisssion.
Stock so far but considering bedliner and louvered gate... then?

 

[Archive]

Yea!!!! all you union guys!!! I took my truck,> after the buy back agreement was made<, to my friend (union mechanic for 30 years) at Cummins to see why the check engine light was on.

GUESS WHAT!!! A BUBBLE GUM WRAPPER WAS IN THE ECM CONNECTOR causing the connector to short out intermittentaly.

GREAT(break time)JOB(lunchtime) UNION(holiday)CONTROLLED(birthday pay) INSPECTORS.

 

[Archive]

JMFVet, this is a little off the subject, but you know I work for a dealer and you would not BELIEVE how hard DC makes us work to prove what we repaired under warranty was really necessary. Every warranty claim has to have proof attached that the vehicle is still under warranty; the tech has to have a super write-up on the back describing the CAUSE of the condition or failure and also the CORRECTION they took to remidy the situation. If an auditor comes in and these are not on the repair orders to his/her liking they will charge back the claim. These conditions exist for all the jobs performed on all the repair orders! They have so many rules/regulations it makes it DAMN HARD to get the claims paid with consistancy. So on and so on, etc.