I would like to give you a little insight on our
situation. Last fall, I bought a 98' Dodge Durango. It was perfect,
inspected it, took it for a test drive, it was in wonderful
condition with service records and a newly overhauled transmission.
I drive this car every day, put my kids in it, and take it to the
mountains. Drive it in the snow, the rain, and the sun. 3 months
ago, I could have bet you one of my children this car would get you
from point A to point B without a problem. my significant other is
an engineer and keeps close tabs on our vehicles. I am also a clever
female who makes strong note of how things work and maintains my
vehicles to be sure of no major issues. This being
so...................here's where the trouble begins......
In June, a coil wire cracks, and the car needs a
part that cost $40. No problem. The car has been my best
friend!!!! So I think no big deal. take it to my local dealer to
be sure the right parts get put into it by the right service
dept., good call right? WRONG! with the coil wire, and all the
RECOMMENDED services, I pay $600. Ok, fine. Better for the car to
get the proper services by a proper dealer. The same day its
done, I take it home, it stalls and I barely make it home. the
dealership says its another issue, I have to have it brought in.
My better half says no, we will fix it our selves. In the mean
time after getting a transmission service done by the dealership,
I, like normal, check the tranny fluid, dangerously low!!!! They
just did a service, did they leave it out? Did they forget? So I
monitor for 2 days, making sure I don’t have a leak. Nope, no
leak. So a month later, its still having a problem, I leave to
California for the third death this summer, and my better half is
driving it home from my grandmothers memorial service when the
transmission fails!!!!!! WHAT???? yes, it fails. Mind you it has a
newly rebuilt tranny done by a specialist. So my better half gets
it towed home. calls the dealership the next business day. They
say they are sending someone right over to get it in to the shop.
3 days later a tow truck shows up. 3 days later? what happened to
right away? guess they took a long lunch. So a week after its
towed, they tell us, "well its your problem, we didn’t leave any
fluid out. And if it was low, its YOUR fault, cause you’re a woman
and you don’t know how to check it properly." WHAT? a woman, and
that makes me ignorant? Ok, this is getting personal. So now, we
have a problem. A car that was running fine, now needs a major
overhaul. After talking with the service manager, he agrees to
give us 50% off parts and labor, funny huh? Seem as though they
are taking some blame? Yup! We go for the overhaul $2000. say ok,
I guess. We don’t really have another option. The car is broken,
and now it needs to be fixed. So 3 weeks later, promise after
promise of tomarrow it will be ready, they call me and say "come
get your car, its done." How joyful I am to be getting my car
back!!! It was only supposed to take a week, but since they gave
us a deal, all the sudden we were low priority. Go figure.
So I go to pick up my car! I walk in, take my
paperwork and my keys. They say "all ready, we test drove it,
works great!" Get in my car, start it up and go. Funny, it seems
a little slow. I think to myself, ok, you haven't had it for over
4 weeks, might just need getting used to again. So I go home.
almost home....wont shift, feels like im towing a boat!
Something's wrong. very wrong. Im sure, even though To the
DEALERSHIP im a woman, and ignorant when it comes to knowing if my
car is acting odd, or how to maintain my vehicle. SO I open the
hood, its HOT, hot to the touch, that never was like that before.
So I call the dealer, they say "bring it back. we will give you a
loaner." Ok. I take it back. scared im going to wreck. I get
there, go inside, give them my keys and paper work. They give me a
minivan, on empty. Fine, go put $30 in it. I get 4 miles out and
it breaks down. call, go back, and they give me a Neon, on empty,
wont give me my $30 I just put in the van. Fine, not really
comparable to what I gave them, but ok. The next day, they call
my better half and say "she's paranoid, there's nothing wrong with
the car, come get it." He says, " if I come down there, there
better not be anything wrong with the car!" The dealership says,
" no, nothing wrong, we drove it. And we don’t know what she's
talking about." He goes down there, goes on a test drive, and sure
enough, there's a problem. So the dealer tells us, it will have to
wait until the tech comes in on Sat. ok, fine. Mind you, this
transmission they just overhauled the same day, had a warranty. 1
yr, 12,000 miles by this dealership. On Sat. they call us, tell us
it needs a valve body that’s going to cost $800. What happened to
the warranty? gone? Doesn’t cover that. but its part of the
transmission. nope, they say since they never touched it, its not
covered. What did we pay for then? our car is still broken. They
say its not their problem, and the part is back ordered. Ok, so
what are our options? nothing. we pay the money, let it sit until
the part comes in someday? wow! and they claim they are five star
service.
We have researched this, and it’s a very common
problem. we cant afford to get this repair that was supposed to be
covered in the first place. Its like getting your kitchen
remodeled. but after you pay, they never did the cabinets. And
when you ask, they say they aren't part of the kitchen. go figure.
What to do?
Can you shed some light on this? Daimler Chrysler
customers are getting screwed. this is awful. I can count on 2
diff times that me being a woman, was the root of the problem in
their opinion. And they made that very clear. I would love it for
you to confront Daimler Chrysler in Monroe about their sexist,
fraudulent, and Consumer robbing practices.