Extended warranty concerns

[snapper]

Hello, forum members.
I have noticed a trend over the past several months that are starting to concern me. I have a 2019 3500 Ram equipped with a Cummins. I had the truck at my local general auto service center that is owned by friends for over 15 years. While on a routine visit for tire rotation and balance the mechanic noticed a front wheel bearing hub with play in the device. He showed me the visible movement. They were aware that i have an extended factory warranty and recommended that I make an appointment to have it replaced. The appointment was made and I was informed that the dealership service mechanic stated that the truck was within specs and no repair would be made unless I was going to pay for it on my own.

I questioned this procedure and diagnosis. They informed me that the factory extended warranty company will not authorize a repair for slight wear and movement and that the part and vehicle is safe in their eyes.

Recently I took the truck back to my local shop for an out of balance wheel, one of the stick on wheel weights came off and needed replaced. This visit I was told about an upper ball joint that had movement and under state safety inspection requirements that this item would fail and required replacement. I took the vehicle back to the dealership for this repair and I was advised again that the defective part was within specs and the warranty would not cover the repair and costs.

This type of business practice is not reassuring to me and my confidence in a very expensive so called warranty I paid for. My local service center had no motives to sell and repair something that they knew I have an extended warranty that covers these parts. They were simply advising me of the suspension problem and wanted to make sure it was addressed.

My question to the forum is, are any of you experiencing this type of information and poor customer relations with your extended warranty program? The dealership service department I feel are in a bad spot, they will not take a position to make their customer feel confident that your vehicle is 100 percent safe. I have to make the determination on who to trust and what the next step is to make me feel safe.

I saw with my own eyes the movement in the upper ball joint and now I was denied warranty service for the repair. Same goes true for the previous wheel bearing issue from several
Months before. Both of these visits had a diagnosis cost that I had to pay as well.

This business practice is forcing me to pay thousands of dollars to have my local service center perform the repairs because RAM warranty refuses to honor their business obligation and make repairs. I think the basis of a repair issue should be this. The vehicle parts should be as they were when the vehicle was manufactured and if and when a detect in that item is noticed that it should be covered under the warranty agreement. If anyone has experienced this type of incident I would be interested to hear your story and corrective measures you took.

Thank you.

 

[Daw14]

Go to a different dealer , lots of times you will get an entirely different experience.

Most seem to be dishonest and full of B$ .

Sometimes you need to visit a few places to find a good one.

Read your warranty and see what it says.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

You got 4 choices



1. Pay for the repair yourself and cancel the warranty to get some of your $$ back
3. Be a pain in the *** and force the current dealer to do something with the repair
3. take it to a different dealer for perhaps a different outcome
4 do nothing- your choice so far

 

[Grams]

Tell the dealer to place their “within spec” comments IN WRITING and then send a copy of the outside-repair-shop’s written diagnosis that it fails to meet inspection requirements to BOTH Stellantis (Ram Cares) …AND…your state inspection authority…copy your dealer IN on the correspondence to both.
(The state inspection agency should become VERY interested in a dealer who approves return-to-service a vehicle which fails state inspections)

 

[Jeepwalker]

Contact Ram@Cares ...on this forum. Explain your orginal post.

They should be able to help you. They're Ram...

 

[Wild one]

Contact Ram@Cares ...on this forum. Explain your orginal post.

They should be able to help you. They're Ram...

Now that made me laugh,

 

[BossHogg]

If anyone has experienced this type of incident I would be interested to hear your story and corrective measures you took.

I'm beyond frustrated with RAM and Maxcare. But if I look hard at the issues I have with both my trucks, the real problem is with my dealer; they are the face of the monster I have to deal with. In this thread, it was suggested to visit another dealer, which may turn out well or not. I have run out of dealers in my area, they all suck.

My 2022 has random EPS dropouts. DTCs are set and clearly indicate the dropouts, but the dealer continues to claim that my battery is bad, despite not replacing it because it doesn't meet the criteria for a failing battery. As ridiculous as this sounds, this is what I'm dealing with. BTY, there is nothing wrong with my battery, nor are there any DTCs indicating low battery voltage.

My 2015 Cummins had the 67A recall performed. About 900 miles after the recall, I got a check engine light. A single DTC is set in history which will keep the check engine light on until a number of drive cycles complete without the DTC being set again, which doesn't happen. The 67A recall included an additional warranty of the emissions system. The dealer is clueless about what to do. I take the truck to them, they sit on it, I get frustrated and go get it back.

 

[mtofell]

If it's not on fire and moves there's no warranty issue according to most dealers and FCA.

 

[EdGs]

Tell the dealer to place their “within spec” comments IN WRITING and then send a copy of the outside-repair-shop’s written diagnosis that it fails to meet inspection requirements to BOTH Stellantis (Ram Cares) …AND…your state inspection authority…copy your dealer IN on the correspondence to both.
(The state inspection agency should become VERY interested in a dealer who approves return-to-service a vehicle which fails state inspections)

Plus, the paperwork would show you brought it in for an issue, which they failed to address, which could become a much bigger issue for them should you experience a failure (God forbid) on that issue.

Try a different dealer if you can, even if you have to take it somewere not in your immediate area.

 

[Dean2]

While I believe Stelantis has become a real pain in the ass to deal with due to their financial problems, I must be missing something. According to the OP, it is a 6 year old 3500, and we have no idea how many miles are on it. Since when are wear items like bearings and ball joints a "Warranty" item in the first place. Do you think they should cover brakes too?

 

[BossHogg]

While I believe Stelantis has become a real pain in the ass to deal with due to their financial problems, I must be missing something. According to the OP, it is a 6 year old 3500, and we have no idea how many miles are on it. Since when are wear items like bearings and ball joints a "Warranty" item in the first place. Do you think they should cover brakes too?

The OP did not state which extended service contract he has, and the thread assumed it is a Maxcare contract. If this is true, Maxcare DOES cover ball joints and wheel bearings.

 

[mtnrider]

There is movement in the factory ball joints and I suspect that is what your local mechanic saw and there is a spec for how much is allowed. (I have delt with this myself so am intimatley familiar with this scenerio) This is a common issue when people take these trucks to alignment shops, the shops are unaware of this and will tell you your ball joints are bad.

In this case I think your dealer is probably correct. Either way this would be considered a "wear" item and not covered by warranty, just like brake pads etc.


.

 

[62Blazer]

I understand the frustration and I'm not a fan of dealerships....have had a few bad experiences with them. However...
Keep in mind that if the dealership does do warranty repair they are getting paid for it. It's not like a dealership is doing warranty work for free. Sure, you don't pay for it but the vehicle manufacturer or warranty company is covering the cost. So if a dealership does $10,000 in warranty work, that dealership is getting paid $10,000 from the manufacturer or warranty company. A lot of people seem to think that the dealership is actually eating the cost of warranty work, but they are not. They are basically turning down work in this case. The point being made is that the manufacturer or warranty company has to approve the work or otherwise they won't pay the dealership for doing it. If you bring in a vehicle to a dealership they will review the issue and present it to the manufacturer or warranty company for approval. If approved, the dealership will do the work and get reimbursed for the work. But if the work is not approved, the dealership would not get paid of doing it.
Also as mentioned above, I question whether you are getting into the wear items vs. warranty work category. I have seen a lot of miscommunication or misunderstanding between what a dealership or mechanic shop tells somebody versus how that person understands it.