Another day at the dealer... another day of my time wasted

So I took my truck to Champion Chrysler in Zionsville Indiana. I have a list of 5 things I needed to have looked at on my truck and dropped it off at 8am. Worked with Ron. When I went to pick my truck up it took them 15 minutes to even find the keys to my truck. The stupid tech who brought me to my truck got out with my truck still in drive! And had to jump back in to stop it. I will never ever go back here again.

1. Since I've owned my truck the tire winch has not worked properly. When you attach the extension tool to raise or lower the winch it "slips" and won't go up pass a certain point. It's essentially like the little "nut" that the tool slides over to raise and lower is stripped out.
Dealer comments- winch works fine for us to go up and down (with no weight on it). I told them well I've tried with my tire and it doesn't work (explained the above). He said well that's not a stock tire so it won't fit... (it's a 33" tire). I explained it fits fine but it's the weight which is similar to stock that's the issue. Said sorry we can't do anything cause tires over size.

2. My power locks on the door itself don't function correctly. I have to push together lock 3-4 tires in order for any door to lock.
Dealer- there is no codes and we can't find the problem.

3. Dropped it off said there is a loud squeak when I slow down/ stop. Could be brakes or struts maybe.
Dealer- we don't hear anything and everything looks good brake wise.
I literally heard the squeak at the first stop light I came to. Such BS!! Dealer didn't even offer at drop off or pickup to go for a ride with me.

4. my battery died on Friday. They told me that it on the phone that morning that I have to bring it in for a 5 hours test but they can't get me im till Tuesday which obviously doesn't help me when my main vehicle is dead. So I bought a new one and brought the battery in.
Dealer- well you removed the battery so there really isn't anything we can do for you. We can't test it now cause you already bought a new one. Like WTF! sorry I had to get home from autozone and you people were useless prior. That literally is them making an excuse so they don't have to test my battery and give me a new one.

5. When I talk on my Bluetooth especially on the highway it sounds like I'm in a wind tunnel. (This is the only thing they even say they fixed).
Dealer- we reprogrammed your computer with an update for your phone and it should be fixed now.
I haven't had time to test this yet. I will soon though.

I am so fed up and annoyed right now. They had my truck for almost 8 hours and the most they actually did was reprogram the computer? Talk about useless. I am attaching their "report" they gave me. At this point I'm so done with Ram service department that I could sell my truck tomorrow. All they do is say we can't find it and place the blame on you. This is just like when I had my other issues and it took like 3 times to finally get them to admit there was an issue and fix it.

Here's the actual comments word for word

if and when you get a survey on the visit, let them know how you feel.
each time I fill one out that does not have a perfect score, the service manager calls me personally and tries to make it right.

Flip-er said:

if and when you get a survey on the visit, let them know how you feel.
each time I fill one out that does not have a perfect score, the service manager calls me personally and tries to make it right.

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I hve all intentions of doing that

I have read stories when you leave bad ratings on the survey the service manager will out of nowhere be on your side to get you to change your survey. I say milk it for all its worth. and maybe ask for something on top just to show them you got him by the balls lol

Devin1349 said:

I have read stories when you leave bad ratings on the survey the service manager will out of nowhere be on your side to get you to change your survey. I say milk it for all its worth. and maybe ask for something on top just to show them you got him by the balls lol

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The last time I went through this the manager called me everyday till I finally called him back.

Maybe I can get them to throw in a backup camera or something I need like tow mirrors.

Yeah thats sounds better than what i was thinking, i was thinking a few oil changes but i like your idea better

Dealerships seem to take those survey's pretty seriously---maybe there is some pressure from the regional or factory level. Or maybe it has something to do with dealer reimbursement levels regarding service work. As a side note, there sure seems to be a lot more complaints about dealership service departments lately. Hopefully they aren't really getting worse.
Jay

For what it's worth Kahlo has treated me pretty well over the years.

That sucks.

Sorry for the bad luck dude.

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully something good comes out of it.


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We do surveys in my line of work and if one is bad - i have to personally address it for my area. Let's be honest - 90% of the time the customer is right even if they are dead wrong, I know I go above and beyond for the customers in my line of work and I belive the dealer will as well, like stated above - it's the service manager who gets **** on when those reports are bad - And he doesn't like to be **** on lol.

Phylodog said:

For what it's worth Kahlo has treated me pretty well over the years.

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Where is this one located? i see you are in INDY. do they do loaners too?

Devin1349 said:

Yeah thats sounds better than what i was thinking, i was thinking a few oil changes but i like your idea better

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honestly wouldnt really trust them with changing my oil. I prefer to do it myself anyways.

I doubt they would even consider giving me a discount or throwing something in like tow mirrors (i hear most dealers say the BS line that they cant add them when they clearly can) or a backup camera. But maybe if i sweet talk them enough.

I just hate the feeling that my truck was there for 8 hours... which is a long time to have no vehicle... and all they did was reprogram the computer. Which i highly doubt will even fix my bluetooth issue.

Ratket said:

We do surveys in my line of work and if one is bad - i have to personally address it for my area. Let's be honest - 90% of the time the customer is right even if they are dead wrong, I know I go above and beyond for the customers in my line of work and I belive the dealer will as well, like stated above - it's the service manager who gets **** on when those reports are bad - And he doesn't like to be **** on lol.

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**** rolls down hill man! haha.

Yea i mean im not trying to make a complaint for now reasons but i just feel like the way i was treated and the level of work they did was way subpar.

Find another dealer or ask for a better service advisor.

I have a few friends that work for dealerships. Don't blame the brand, blame the advisor and or dealership.

Selling a truck for this - will you and I both know you'd be pretty dumb to do that.

Bdersch said:

Where is this one located? i see you are in INDY. do they do loaners too?

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Kahlo is in Noblesville on SR37. I'm not sure on the loaner situation.

I had a mishap with my truck. It just died while on my way to a job site. Ended up being towed to the dealer. It's under warranty. They had it for 8 days. They found a blown fuse. Said my oil was in dire need of a change(50) My recon third brake light bulb was out(70). Needed a software update(120) then they ran another test and said my battery was bad(260). They said it was good to go. Drove away. It died again probably not even 5 miles away. Called my service advisor. Told him it was dead. He said you're ******** me. I said nope. Called tow truck. They had the truck fixed by 10 am the next day. They found a bad wire which would have only cost me my 100 dollar deductible. Instead they charged me 500 something dollars in other service work that did nothing for me. He then said don't worry about your deductible or the tow bill. I picked that up. It was all I could do not to flip the counter over. They sent me the survey. I debated wether or not to even fill it out. I scored the service department the lowest I could. Wrote in the comments what had happened. Haven't heard from anyone. Don't really suspect I will either. I may not buy another truck from them. Definitely won't be buying any aftermarket warranties. Oh. I had a broken exhaust manifold bolt. The tick went away. They "fixed" it. Now it leaks all the time.

I have been following your battery issue and I'm sorry to hear your dealership isn't treating you right. I don't live anywhere near you so take this as you may. My local Dodge, Jeep, Ram, SRT dealership (Tacoma Dodge) has great service and they have never to date dicked me around like yours has. I have purchased 4 vehicles in the last 2 years and each one (2 used 2 new) has been in for some service or another. One issue was a water leak from a seam that didn't get sealed correctly from the factory... they almost had to pull the engine And most of the dash to get it sealed correctly. They did and had the Jeep back in 3 days, all the while my wife had a Cherokee to drive. Her loaner was a big step up over the Patriot that was in for service. All no charge.

Now I have purchased other vehicles from Chrysler and not had the service I have at Tacoma Dodge. Back in 04 I had purchased a brand new Dakota SLT plus from Virginia Beach Dodge. Loved that truck, but when it came home the only way to cancel the cruise control was to either turn it off or slow the truck down 10-15mph with the brakes. I brought it to them and they respond this is normal. I insist that it's not normal and get told the tech who is a professional mechanic unlike myself (who the service writer doesn't realize was a professional mechanic before enlisting in the Navy) knows what he is talking about and I don't. I just smile and say I will remember this. I walk over to the sales dept and ask to verify the tech's findings by driving a similar truck on their lot. I get the keys to an almost identical truck and the cruise cancels with the tap of the brake pedal.
Back to service I get told that the 2 trucks were not identical so my argument is mute. At this point I ask for the manager... this guy tells me he is the manager... well your boss then... he won't get me anyone... back to the main office area I go and demand the phone number to the owner... to my luck the man is there at the time. I talk to him for a few and tell him my issues. Thankfully this guy listens to me and we walk to service again... we get the service manager (not the first guy) and we once again are told the tech knows his stuff, and the manager is going to stand behind his tech and service writer. Now mind you the owner of the dealer is right there listening to these 2 call a customer an idiot and that I didn't know what I was talking about. The owner then turns to me and asks me what my automotive experience is (he already knows). My reply is 3 years as an auto body tech, and another 10 years working at various dealerships and as an independent mechanic... would you say your truck is fixed... no it's not fixed and it is dangerous to drive... at this point the manager and writer are uncomfortable. He then asks me what I think is the problem. Well either the brake pedal switch is bad and not sending the signal to the pcm to drop cruise or the pcm is ignoring the command until the speed is reduced and it's forced to shut cruise down... how would you fix it... check the pcm pin out for the brake pedal switch input and see if it gets the proper signal, if so flash or replace pcm, if not test and or replace switch, if the switch is good ring the wire for continuity. The owner told them to get busy and get my truck fixed. He gave me another Dakota to drive while they fixed my truck (this dealer didn't have a loaner program but used Enterprise and only econoboxes as loaners). The next day I got my truck back, fixed (pedal switch) with a full tank and a detail.

Oh and I didn't leave good marks on the survey... next time I went for an oil change my service writer was someone different... I wonder why.

The last time I went in for service they rotated the tires on my Durango and forgot to tighten one wheel... I broke 4 of 6 lugs off and limped the truck back... this was a day before I was to take the truck on a cross country trip from Virginia Beach to Tacoma. Needless to say I have never been back there again.

Sorry it is so long.

Phylodog said:

Kahlo is in Noblesville on SR37. I'm not sure on the loaner situation.

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I actually did look that dealer up and was going to go there next since I live near carmel. Thanks for the heads up