Chrysler Dealer Praise / RANT

O.K.
Thanks to Kaitlin @ DODGE CARES, I took my 2010 SRT in for the V01 Passenger AirBag Recall.
(For those new to this board, I bought this 2010 in 2018 w/ 8,500 miles, now has 40,867)

I have been reluctant to take my girl back to the Local Dealer for anything
due to many previous problems over the 23 years of living here in PDX.

So first,
Praise to Katlin for her professionalize and listening.
and Praise to whoever hired the Cute, Young thing at the service desk.

RANT ON:
O.K. probably my ignorance, but the Service Dept didn't have the normal Shuttle Because of Covid.
So I got a 3.4 mile walk this morning to work.
Funny, the Taxi's are still running so I didn't have to walk in the heat this afternoon.

Service writer, starts out with, "It will be $150 to Diagnose the P0430 Error"
I said, "But this is an on-going Problem that you failed to fix the Last Visit"

Back to Praise:
Mechanic called and said B1 CAT was fine,
but B2 was Empty, BAD CAT and OEM one would be $1850.
But then he said, he called around and could get Aftermarket ones MUCH Cheaper

I told him if it does not cause any Engine Problems, I can live with the Light
as I live OUTSIDE the Emission Testing Boundary (on purpose)

Back to RANT ON:
Then he said, "O, and your Tie Rods are Bad and should be replaced"
But funny, didn't wright that down on the ticket.
Took it over to my Front End guy and He Laughed and said they looked and felt BRAND NEW.

RANT-OFF and as I said before, it will be the LAST time I use this dealer.

Of course the other dealers in the area are no better.
When I was looking for my 2000 V10 Ram 2500,
I had a Dealer tell me I was looking for a Morphydite Truck
because I told them I would not buy a truck with an automatic.

 

Holy crap!
Why didn't you grab an Uber? Most of the dealers I've used in the last couple years use Uber/Lyft for customer transport.
Sounds like a typical anti-dealership rant. Sure, I've had bad experiences at dealerships in the past. Also had bad experiences with independent shops as well. I generally only use dealerships for warranty work. Everything else goes to my local mechanic. After living in the same area for 23 years, I'm very surprised you haven't found a reputable mechanic by now. Oh, just my opinion but I wouldn't operate your car with one empty cat. I'd have both removed, or both replaced with high-flow cats.
Almost forgot...what's a Morphydite?

 

I had the same problem finding my Manual 5-speed Truck
as I did finding my Manual 6-speed SRT Challenger.
The Dealers order what the majority of the Customers want, I get that.
But I had to go 3-cities away to find one that would order one for me,
just to find out Mother Chrysler had stopped shipping Manual Trans with the V10 sometime in 1999 and gave them all to the Diesels.
We contacted everyone we could find and wrote Snail Mail Letters,
cc'ing CEO's and the like until someone helped us walk through the order.
A co-worker ordered the exact same truck in 2001, with no problems.

O, the Dealer that told me I was looking for a Morphydite Truck,
told me they no longer make manual transmissions and I was out of luck.
"Stop trying to Morph a Manual Transmission to a Truck, not going to happen"

Back to the RANT of the closest Dealer,
Took my truck in at 28k miles with the Anti-lock Brakes acting up.
While in line, I heard the Service Writer ask the girl in front of me if she wanted the Differential Fluids Changed while they did the Oil and Filter on her NEW Jeep (1st time Oil Change at 5k)
She said Sure, and $145 per axle.
When I got up to the desk, and explained the Anti-lock Brake issue, he ask me too if I wanted the Differential Fluids Changed (at 28k miles)?
I laughed and said No Thanks. The Mechanic called me a couple hrs later and said he had to adjust the Brakes and it wasn't covered under warranty and I needed to do that every 20k miles as these are Mechanical Drum Brakes on the rear. ????
FYI, that did not fix the issue, I found an ARM that somehow effects the brakes as you put a load on the truck was out of adjustment. And never adjusted the rear brakes again with over 160k miles

I understand Upper Management of the Dealerships push Service Writers to ask customers for as much as they can get out of them,
but seriously???

 

And I did check Uber, and RadioCab
and RadioCab was $2 cheaper on a 3.4 mile trip.

 

The "ARM" you referred to is a proportioning valve. It limits braking power to the wheels when the rear axle has a low load and increases braking capacity as load is applied to the rear axle. Without it, the rear brakes would be far too sensitive when there's no load on the rear.
Regarding the dealership trying to sell fluid changes, unfortunately, virtually every chain shop tends to do that. Usually wipers, coolant and brake fluid flushes etc.

 

And WHY did I have to figure that out myself?

 

Before I answer that, I'd be interested in what was the complaint about the ABS? What specifically did you tell the service writer?

 

Front Brakes felt like they were Grabbing and Releasing under normal stopping
as ABS does above 10-15 MPH under HARD Stopping.

Once I got the rear brakes to ACTIVATE due to the ARM being out of position,
the brakes worked fine unloaded or pulling our 27' 5th wheel

 

Yeah, that was a simple diagnosis. No clue where the guy came up with you needing a brake adjustment.

 

By the time I was 10 my Dad had taught me, "buy cars at a dealership, buy gasoline at a gas station, buy repairs at a garage. And never mix them."

As already said ... I only take my car to the dealership for warranty work. Everything else is DYI or to my favorite independent garage.

I live in Jacksonville, FL ... but my go-to dealership is Garber AutoMall about 45 minutes away in the small town of Green Cove Springs, FL. HUGE difference in the level of customer service and positive attitude compared to the city dealers.

Back in February, a freak water leak caused the computer in our '17 Durango R/T to freak out. Horn blasting, lights flashing, every error code it could think of level of freaking out. We were at 37 weeks of ownership and 36,200 miles on the odometer. Out of sheer laziness I went to the nearby in-town dealer who gave me the "$150 for diagnosing the problem ." "No, you're out of warranty." spiel. SO ... I drove the extra distance to Garber AutoMall in Green Cove Springs where we'd bought the vehicle .... "No problem. I have a couple of cars ahead of you. Would you like a ride to the mall or home?" What about my warranty? "Wow. You're so close. We'll take care of it."