Lost my Lifetime Warranty!

[packer96]

Just looking to see if this has happened to anyone else. In September I purchased a new 2020 1500 Ram Big Horn North Edition. I traded in my 2015 Ram 1500. Got an excellent deal I thought. Yesterday we take in my wife’s old 2012 Journey, now my son’s car, because the heat wasn’t working. When we bought this Journey new we also purchased the Lifetime MaxCare warranty with it. Anyway, after their done looking at the car, the lady says she can’t find the warranty in the system.
Today she called Chrysler and they told her the policy was canceled back in October by the customer. I said they must have canceled the warranty on the Journey instead of the remaining extended warranty on the Ram I traded in. She gave me the number to FCA and told me to call them. So I call and am told that the warranty was canceled in October by the customer. I said I made no such request. I was then told to call the dealer back and have call to reinstate it. So I call the dealer back and explain what I was told. She says she has to go to finance and try and figured out what happened.
Little bit later the dealership General manager called. He then tells me when I bought my new Ram, that one of the $3000 rebates I agreed to cancel the lifetime warranty on my Journey. I told him at no time was I informed I would lose this warranty. I never would of taken this rebate because financially it made no sense. Journey is still worth $6300. Needless to say my wife and I mad. After talking with him I called FCA to see if my warranty on the 2015 Ram was canceled because prior to this, the owner’s website showed it was still in effect and then all of a sudden it didn’t. FCA told me the Ram’s warranty was still in affect. They also confirmed they did have a rebate for people that canceled their Lifetime warranties.
Sorry for the long story, but I am wondering if anyone was aware of this rebate and took it either intentionally, or was surprised later on like myself. All we want is our
Thanks.

 

[ScLeCo]

 

[Farmer Fran]

I have had more than one sneaky thing happen to me at dealers. Only recourse is keep trying to get it resolved if not... Seems you already talked to the highest up person. Almost always the owner will revert to the GM.

And I say this seriously, do you have a "Channel XX News On Your Side"? It works sometimes. Especially if this has happened to more than 1 person. No large business wants that kind of negative viewing.

or

The only other thing is lawyer up.

 

[packer96]

Thankfully this is a corporate type dealership. I managed to get the corporate COO on the phone a few hours ago and explain my situation. He said he was going to look into it. Well, guess who just called apologizing if we thought he wasn’t going to help us. Said he wants to help us without getting more people involved due to communication issues. His goal is get our warranty back and he’s so sorry. He’s going to call FCA but is not very optimistic about it. I guess we’ll see what happens Monday.
I mentioned my attorney the first time I talked to him. Tells me very calmly that’s fine and he will also get his lawyers involved in litigation and he’s sorry we feel that way. That makes no sense to me. It would be cheaper for him to just try and repay the $3000 back to FCA and try to reinstate the warranty.

 

[Sandevino]

That's definitely shady right there.

 

[retired]

did you notice if your butt hurt the next day after doing the deal...because you got slipped a mickey and royally screwed.

 

[packer96]

did you notice if your butt hurt the next day after doing the deal...because you got slipped a mickey and royally screwed.

Come to think of it, I had a mean headache and couldn’t walk right.

 

[chri5k]

Thankfully this is a corporate type dealership. I managed to get the corporate COO on the phone a few hours ago and explain my situation. He said he was going to look into it. Well, guess who just called apologizing if we thought he wasn’t going to help us. Said he wants to help us without getting more people involved due to communication issues. His goal is get our warranty back and he’s so sorry. He’s going to call FCA but is not very optimistic about it. I guess we’ll see what happens Monday.
I mentioned my attorney the first time I talked to him. Tells me very calmly that’s fine and he will also get his lawyers involved in litigation and he’s sorry we feel that way. That makes no sense to me. It would be cheaper for him to just try and repay the $3000 back to FCA and try to reinstate the warranty.

Always leaving mentioning a lawyer as the last resort. Most corporations will have very limited dealings with you after you mention a lawyer. Since most COO's, GM's etc. are not lawyers, they want to make sure they don't mess up the corporate lawyers case so they are very careful with what they say if they will say anything at all. Keep trying to be nice and don't mention the "L" word again. Maybe they will make good on the warranty.

Look over all the sales documents you received to see if there is a clause in there about cancelling the Maxcare warranty. If it is there and you signed it, you will most likely lose in court. Your charge will be they didn't tell you about it verbally. Their defense will be they did tell you verbally and they will show the signed document and the $3000 rebate they gave you as proof you agreed to cancel the warranty to get the $3000 rebate. The verbal pieces of each story cancel each other out because the court has no way to know what was said during the sale. The dealer will win because they have a signed document and the sales agreement showing the $3000 rebate which is a pretty strong case. If they have written corporate or FCA rebate policies, their case will be even stronger that they followed well established policies and procedures.

 

[NorthStar1]

Did you get a prorated refund for the warranty when it was cancelled? Or did that dealer pocket that too?

 

[packer96]

Always leaving mentioning a lawyer as the last resort. Most corporations will have very limited dealings with you after you mention a lawyer. Since most COO's, GM's etc. are not lawyers, they want to make sure they don't mess up the corporate lawyers case so they are very careful with what they say if they will say anything at all. Keep trying to be nice and don't mention the "L" word again. Maybe they will make good on the warranty.

Look over all the sales documents you received to see if there is a clause in there about cancelling the Maxcare warranty. If it is there and you signed it, you will most likely lose in court. Your charge will be they didn't tell you about it verbally. Their defense will be they did tell you verbally and they will show the signed document and the $3000 rebate they gave you as proof you agreed to cancel the warranty to get the $3000 rebate. The verbal pieces of each story cancel each other out because the court has no way to know what was said during the sale. The dealer will win because they have a signed document and the sales agreement showing the $3000 rebate which is a pretty strong case. If they have written corporate or FCA rebate policies, their case will be even stronger that they followed well established policies and procedures.

First thing I did was comb over all the paperwork I have. Nothing.
When I talked to the higher up on the phone he said the Journey should have had nothing to do with the offer. Just funny I get a call from the dealer GM after talking to the higher up. He was not happy I went above his head. He even admitted it was not right I was not told to my face about the rebate ramifications.
As for the attorney part, I told the Higher up I mentioned it, but was not gonna pursue that route, we just wanted the warranty reinstated.

 

[packer96]

Did you get a prorated refund for the warranty when it was cancelled? Or did that dealer pocket that too?

Never got the check. From what the dealership admitted it was only for $25. So yeah, they must of kept it.

 

[yakalong]

Shady dealership....

 

[Patriot_66]

All this "stuff" noted above is yet reason # 168 people still hate having to buy vehicles from dealerships.

 

[packer96]

All this "stuff" noted above is yet reason # 168 people still hate having to buy vehicles from dealerships.

Yeah, I used to laugh at all the millennials buying cars from Zoom and Carvana. Now I think they might be on to something.

 

[Farmer Fran]

Yeah, I used to laugh at all the millennials buying cars from Zoom and Carvana. Now I think they might be on to something.

Nah, they will just find the new way to screw you.

 

[tron67j]

Did you ask for a copy of the rebate fine print that stated accepting the $3,000 rebate would terminate any other FCA lifetime warranty in effect at the time of purchase of a new FCA product? Assuming the new truck is in your name, whose name is the Journey in? Not sure it makes much difference but is one of the unknown facts that you need to compare to the rebate fine print. State laws on property differ, and it could be FCA can do this in your state or conversely they may have just violated a state law by modifying a vehicle's value which you have no ownership of.

Just a point in mentioning an attorney, if you have one I recommend paying a couple hundred dollars to have them write a letter requesting all documents relating to the purchase including rebate details about the cancellation of the warranty. Businesses hear "I'll call my attorney" many times a week and it is almost always a bunch of hot air and has no impact. But even if you go no further than the letter, it might get you your warranty back since it does immediately become a cost calculation to the dealership and they will possibly reinstate it if they find any point is weak in their argument.

Good luck.

 

[seabrook]

this is a crazy story. in the future go through a credit union- i pay in full for all my vehicles but what i do is get a loan through the credit union (Shell), they analyze the paperwork (and so do i), i show up and sign the paperwork then pay off the vehicle the next day. they actually caught some stuff from a acura dealer that i would have likely missed. when the dealership sees that you are going through a credit union they usually are on the up and up because they know the credit union will analyze the paperwork. also you can work the whole deal online and through the fleet manager.

 

[packer96]

Did you ask for a copy of the rebate fine print that stated accepting the $3,000 rebate would terminate any other FCA lifetime warranty in effect at the time of purchase of a new FCA product? Assuming the new truck is in your name, whose name is the Journey in? Not sure it makes much difference but is one of the unknown facts that you need to compare to the rebate fine print. State laws on property differ, and it could be FCA can do this in your state or conversely they may have just violated a state law by modifying a vehicle's value which you have no ownership of.

Just a point in mentioning an attorney, if you have one I recommend paying a couple hundred dollars to have them write a letter requesting all documents relating to the purchase including rebate details about the cancellation of the warranty. Businesses hear "I'll call my attorney" many times a week and it is almost always a bunch of hot air and has no impact. But even if you go no further than the letter, it might get you your warranty back since it does immediately become a cost calculation to the dealership and they will possibly reinstate it if they find any point is weak in their argument.

Good luck.

Thanks. The Journey is in my name also. I have all the paperwork I signed. The only thing mentioning rebates is the itemized bill of sale. After talking to the dealership GM yesterday, my wife and I have the feeling the wrong warranty was canceled and since it was a Maxcare lifetime warranty, Chrysler is not going to budge on reinstating it. I mean, I paid $1800 for that warranty and it has paid out at least $9000 so far. He said he will try to have it reinstated but wasn't very optimistic. He even admitted he knew there was no way I would have agreed to the rebate if it was going to cancel a warranty. Now that someone higher up is involved I'm somewhat optimistic this will end on a positive note.

 

[packer96]

this is a crazy story. in the future go through a credit union- i pay in full for all my vehicles but what i do is get a loan through the credit union (Shell), they analyze the paperwork (and so do i), i show up and sign the paperwork then pay off the vehicle the next day. they actually caught some stuff from a acura dealer that i would have likely missed. when the dealership sees that you are going through a credit union they usually are on the up and up because they know the credit union will analyze the paperwork. also you can work the whole deal online and through the fleet manager.

Thanks for the tip! I went through a local credit union, but not mine. The dealer got them to beat mine by .5%. sitting at 2.3%.

 

[packer96]