Car dealership is a crook.

[LD1]

Thought I would share this and see what some of you all think. This is not my ordeal, rather it is my cousins.

They purchased a used 08 Jeep Grand Cherokee just back in december. So only 3 months. Had 83,xxx miles on it. Vehicle now has 90,xxx miles and is making a terrible noise any time you "get on it" a little more than what would be considered normal driving. So I told her to bring it over and I'd have a look.

Conclusion....transfer case is bone dry, transfer chain jumping teeth. NOT GOOD.

I have never bought a new chrystler product, but do know that dodge has been offering 10year/100k warrantys for quite some time. But the dealer claims that is non-transferable.....Odd, but ok.

They also didnt buy an extended warranty. Only the standard 30 day 3k mile warranty.

Now normally I would think ok, as crappy as that is, you are screwed because they technically have no obligation to fix anything.

But then I look at the paperwork from when they bought the vehicle....and there was a detailed list of everything they "fixed-up" when they took it in on trade and their umpteen point inspection. Listed right on the paperwork (that also documents the milage at 83,xxx) is that they replaced the rear x-fer case seal.

So in summary, Dealer just changed the seal 3 months and 7k miles ago, and here we are today with a bone dry case that is toast, and a dealer that says its not their problem. Dealer claims its her fault for not checking it or noticing a leak. Well, the thing only only holds a little over two quarts, and likely only leaks when driving....who notices that? And who checks x-fer case fluid 3 months / 7k miles after buying a 83k mile vehicle from a "certified" dodge dealer??? This aint some mom-and-pop used car lot. This is an actual dodge-chrysler dealer that has a few locations in the area.

So while none of this directly effects me in any way (allthough I will likely be replacing the x-fer case with a used one here in the near future) curious what some of your thoughts are.

 

[Clint S]

Who did they talk to at stealership ? Go higher up the chain. Next call corporate. Next small claims court.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Technically they are under no obligation to warrant the vehicle. But if I was the salesman or sales manager I would offer some assistance in getting it repaired. That could be at a reduced cost or just eat the bill. Good will goes a long way. Every situation is different. In this case it looks bad on the service department.

 

[newbury]

"Car dealership is a crook" should have been Used Car dealership is a crook. But that's like saying fish live in water.

Are you sure the transfer case leaks? Perhaps they forgot to put oil in it.
Take it to a local TV station consumer reporter.
And ask the dealer how often one is supposed to check the fluid level.

 

[LD1]

Who did they talk to at stealership ? Go higher up the chain. Next call corporate. Next small claims court.

I looked at this jeep on saturday. Monday 3/27 (yestarday) is when they called the dealer and the dealer basically said its not our problem. After saying they would call BBB and the news etc, they said to bring it in and we will look at it. (that was today 3/28). But yesterday, they did call corp. Dont know who they talked to at corp, but they way they came across is that they would make this dealer play ball. That there is no way a rear transfer case seal should fail only 3 months and 7k miles after one of their certified techs installed it. The corp rep also told them to call when they took it in if there were any issues at all.

Totally different tune today from corp. They deferred everything to the dealers judgement. Best offer the dealer could muster was to say "if you can get a transfer case, we can install it for half our normal labor rate". But that dont fly well because $500 labor instead of $1000 labor (plus the cost of the transfer case) is still outrageous given the situation.

So as it stands now, I believe they are filing a claim with BBB, alerting news media, and posting all this on the dealers social media pages. And as of now, her dad is picking up a low mile used x-fer case on in two weeks and I'll be swapping it in.

I told them not to give up on calling corp, and even the salesman. The service dept dont care what kind of image the dealership has, as long as they have cars to work on. But negative press hurts the sales guys. And they have quite a bit of influence over the service guys.

So getting a case in 2-weeks, fingers-crossed that something will come through with the BBB, corp, news, social media, etc and the dealer will do what is right before then.

 

[LD1]

"Car dealership is a crook" should have been Used Car dealership is a crook. But that's like saying fish live in water.

Are you sure the transfer case leaks? Perhaps they forgot to put oil in it.
Take it to a local TV station consumer reporter.
And ask the dealer how often one is supposed to check the fluid level.

This is NOT a used car dealer. This is an actual Chrysler / Dodge dealer. And a rather large one with a few stores. My cousin just happened to buy a USED vehicle. But the same service depart services the new and used stuff.

 

[Zerk]

I suspect they are screwed it is 10 year old car, and they didn't buy it yesterday.
Sometimes they do charge you for inspections, which is BS. They inspected it for them, not you. But if so, I would bring up. Maybe deal on labor.

I don't believe in Chrysler products myself.

 

[Kentuckyfarmer]

I've owned 4 dodge pickups, 3/4 ton and three 3500 dually's. Every dealership I went to was a lot to be desired. All looked like crap and was treated like crap. Was glad I bought every one thru private parties. I don't like dodge at all but I did like the cummins motors. I feel her pain I really do. The best dealership I've been to since I've owned cars or trucks has been Toyota. Warranty work was never questioned and alway fixed everything like it should be. But I have to say they do like your money if it's not warranty but I guess they all do that.

 

[Snobdds]

Putting the dealership situation aside for a moment, I hate the notion that someone feels their perpetually owed something and if the chips don't fall there way... then Slamming on social media is the appropriate response. That sounds like a high school girl response to not getting her way. The professional way would be to ask for a meeting with the service manager and general manager and make your case. You​ might be surprised.

Back to the transfer case. Who knows what happened to the fluid. The dealer will only source new, as that's their only part source. It's a used car, get a used case and install it...Not all that hard.

Turn this into a learning experience for your cousin. Revist the fact it's a used car and there are inherent risks.

 

[Garandman]

We had an issue with a dealership: overheating Ford 3.8L diagnosed as a bad waterpump, when head gaskets were bad. Was my mom's car.

We called the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General's office. They called the dealership and they very quickly agreed to replace the engine.