MaxCare Lifetime Warranty Issues

[leroys73]

My ABS service light came on on my 2018 2500, so no cruise either, in February. I was told it needed a module and a pump(?). Dealer told me they could only order one of what I needed per week. When they ordered it I was told it was on back order and would be in in August. WTF!
I called MOPAR and firmly told them that was not acceptable on a truck with only 51,000 miles. Also that this was not an uncommon problem and it is a safety issue.
I do have Max Care.
Long story short MOPAR called me the next day to tell me they found one at another dealer. Once the part was in and my truck was in the shop it was a week for approval to repair it under Max care.
The truck was ready to go April 4.

 

[Mbrigh3]

I had maxcare on my 14 Ram and it saved me a ton. The dealer provided me with a rental each time. My 14 was a lemon and I replaced 2 transmissions under 50000 miles as well as tons of other major issues. Good luck. If it means anything I found finding a dealer that would actually help went a long way.

 

[gofishn]

As an update, my dealer got the authorization from “Digital Imaging” on Thursday and they completed the install yesterday. I’ll be picking it up later today.

It’s been a month since I dropped it off but I’m just glad to be getting it back.

I’ve heard that most of these 8-speed trannys are now made in Germany but some are still made in the US. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if there’s a way to tell the difference by checking the model or serial number stamped on the tranny?

First posted, negatively, about the Issue, on April 10th,
on the best Ram Forum on the Internet.

Problem resolved, by April 15th.

POWER TO THE FORUM !


If you have a Problem,
don't go all Suicide vest wearing, Fanatical about it.

Be Cool.
Be Calm
Be Polite
BE FIRM

Inform the World about your specific situation,
so all can see, just where the Fault lies.

These companies spend gazzillions to get business,
Letting the beloved Fanboy base, who they've 'rapped', often and hard,
know just how Sucky the Company & product has become, sure don't help anyway.

Gauaruntee you, they watch these forums, like a Hawk watching their next meal.

Jsut look at the improvements made, year to year.

Remember that fugly RAM logo o n the back of the tailgate?
Didn;t last long afer we went 'Can you believe these Idots?' Nuts about it.



OP
Thanks for coming bakc and posting up your results.
Well d one

all too often gusy get a fix or repair
never to be heard from again.

We hear about the problem but never the solution or resolution.
Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Escondido Steve]

Ok mine failed at 84,000 and it took 11 weeks to get it back. Not much was happening until I threatened to get a lemon law case because they didn’t repair it in 30 days. I’m in california so there’s a law for this. Let customer retention know that’s a possibility for you if it’s not fixed in time.

 

[sleboom]

Chrysler will look for any way possible to avoid repairing your truck. They will take their time and it will be one delay after another.

 

[Scottly]

For future reference....Somewhere in your terms and conditions, there is a blurb printed that says something like, "This service contract is not insurance but is covered by an insurance policy issued by ***. If you cannot resolve a claim, please call XXXXX" Make note of that number...the insurance companies that cover these plans have state regulations that require response times, so they are quick to help.

 

[TomB 1269]

Hemi = Germany
V6 = Liscensed by Chyrsler to build in the US

Or at least that is my understanding. When I bout my truck I know it refernced parts from Germany amoung others. I want to say it was specific that transmission was build in Germany as well but I can't remember.

 

[TomB 1269]

FYI, in most cases you will not be able to file in small claims court unless it is against your local dealer.....
Court has to have Jurisdiction to preside over the trial. Small claims jursidiction is local to your city/town most liekly county.
Unless the individual has residence or an office in that jurisdication then you are out of luck in small claims and have to take it to federal court.
Its one of the ways the auto manufactures protect themselves, because the dealer is a franchise. Therefore the $1000 tranmission repair that they are not doing a recall on cause NHSTI is not calling them on the carpet for your model year, but is for the 2 pervious years (of which it was only made for 4 years total) for the same exact problem. you get to pay out of pocket. (check out the Ford Freestar torque converter recall is only for 2004 & 2005, but the 2006 and 2007 have the same problem fior the same reason, only NHSTI was investigating and about to force a recall and Ford descided to do it "voluntary".... The damnest thing is no lawers will willing to run a class action as judges had thrown out other cases as they were going after perceived lose and not using the the Case in which the US highway safety went after Ford I ebeleive for a faluty wipe assembly that they knew could fail without notice, the same as the torque converter issue.............. Yes I did a lot of research at the time, and it is one of the reasons I have no plan to ever buy a Ford again. 3 Fords, 3 know design / manufacture issue... No recall to fix..... 2 of the 3 had no fix othre than full replacement, the other you had to be lucky enough or dogged enough to find someone who had seen the problem, knew what the symptoms where before you totaled a motor...3.0L V6 in the Rangers with direct ignition. F150 front drive drum manufacturing design flaw causes failure when used for regular heavy towing over its life.

 

[Dean2]

FYI, in most cases you will not be able to file in small claims court unless it is against your local dealer.....
Court has to have Jurisdiction to preside over the trial. Small claims jursidiction is local to your city/town most liekly county.
Unless the individual has residence or an office in that jurisdication then you are out of luck in small claims and have to take it to federal court.
Its one of the ways the auto manufactures protect themselves, because the dealer is a franchise. Therefore the $1000 tranmission repair that they are not doing a recall on cause NHSTI is not calling them on the carpet for your model year, but is for the 2 pervious years (of which it was only made for 4 years total) for the same exact problem. you get to pay out of pocket. (check out the Ford Freestar torque converter recall is only for 2004 & 2005, but the 2006 and 2007 have the same problem fior the same reason, only NHSTI was investigating and about to force a recall and Ford descided to do it "voluntary".... The damnest thing is no lawers will willing to run a class action as judges had thrown out other cases as they were going after perceived lose and not using the the Case in which the US highway safety went after Ford I ebeleive for a faluty wipe assembly that they knew could fail without notice, the same as the torque converter issue.............. Yes I did a lot of research at the time, and it is one of the reasons I have no plan to ever buy a Ford again. 3 Fords, 3 know design / manufacture issue... No recall to fix..... 2 of the 3 had no fix othre than full replacement, the other you had to be lucky enough or dogged enough to find someone who had seen the problem, knew what the symptoms where before you totaled a motor...3.0L V6 in the Rangers with direct ignition. F150 front drive drum manufacturing design flaw causes failure when used for regular heavy towing over its life.

Well that sucks. Small Claims Court is obviously very different in the States than it is in Canada. Here I can sue in small claims.

 

[John Nurczyk]

My 8-speed tranny is failing on me. The local dealer confirmed various issues and submitted a request to Chrysler for it to be replaced two weeks ago. I have the Lifetime Chrysler MaxCare warranty. It’s showed as “Pending” in Chrysler’s system ever since and my dealer says there’s nothing they can do but wait. They said all of Chryslers dealer support lines have been shut down so they can’t even talk to Chrysler anymore.

RamCares opened a case number for me and a Chrysler rep did contact me last week. While they were sympathetic they offered no resolution and they seemed as helpless to resolve this as my local dealer.

No truck, no rental, and no ETA on authorization.

Anyone else having issues with Chrysler authorizing warranty repairs?

I have a 2014 Durango that we are same issues with the Mopar max care warranty. The customer service number is a joke they always refer you back to the dealer and email system due to the repair being over $1000. We brought the Durango in on the 4/8/23 but I knew they would not look at it till Monday the 10th and the dealer summitted the email approval process to get the repair approved and we are still waiting for a response. I have been renting a car this week, last week I was able to use my wife's Jeep. I am going to keep all the receipts and out of pocket cost for the rentals and plan on taking them to small claim court to make them reimburse me for the rental cost. I believe they have to respond to the small claims because I was sold the warrant in this county not in their home state or county. Is any one aware of any class action law suites for the max care plans at all. I would like any info if any one has any. Also they made this change to their plan recently and never disclosed this change to me and the issues with response times taking up to weeks to get approved. I feel like they have no problem selling you the plan until you need it. I will never purchase another extended warranty plan ever again.

 

[rpr]

Didn’t see all these replies, found forum notifications in my SPAM folder.

The truck only has 56K miles on it, and I hardly ever tow anything with it, maybe once a year.

With respect to extended warranties, I agree with those saying they generally don’t make sense. They are almost always high profit margin add ons that almost never pay in the long run.

However, a lifetime (close to) bumper to bumper warranty from the manufacturer as opposed to a 3rd party, for just a little over $2K on a $70K truck, is a bit of a different value proposition. Especially true for someone like me who doesn’t ever plan on selling this truck.

There’s a reason Chrysler doesn’t offer these anymore, they’ve lost money on them. They’ve even offered to buy the warranty back from me on several occasions because they continue to lose money on them. So these MaxCare warranties are a rare example of an extended warranty that has a track record of generally more than paying for itself.

In my situation, they’ve replaced the transmission as well as broken manifold bolts under the MaxCare warranty. Out of pocket costs for just those two repairs are likely 3x to 4x what I paid for the warranty.

Does the slow walking and other BS diminish the value? Yes, quite a bit and it’s disappointing to see Chrysler handling these claims like this. It seemed like my dealer was almost as frustrated with Chrysler as I was.

Regardless, they ultimately did the right thing and while their tactics to avoid authorizing the repair simply to avoid paying for a rental vehicle is a sad state of affairs it doesn’t negate the value of the warranty, at least for my situation as I don’t intend to sell the truck and it will likely outlast me.

 

[RamRider60]

Your scenario with "Digital Imaging" has become a popular discussion point for me and my dealer lately. I had a lifter issue diagnosed on June 21 with the Camshaft loaded with metal fragments. It looked like Jimmies on an ice cream cone. Cylinder 8 had a serious lifter issue that caused the mess. Anyhow, I've also experienced the dealer can't talk to anyone like they had been earlier before April 2023. Dealer diagnosed the issue as needing a new engine and started the process to get it authorized. They tell me there is a STAR write-up about this issue that was listed as needing an engine replacement. Well, my Service guy has now sent the "digital images" to four different places as every one of them tells him that he needs to send them to the "next" digital imaging group to review to get authorization. Of course it could have been handled the first time with "Oh you sent it to the wrong place, let me send it to the correct group and they will call you...". Nope lets drag this thing out and make it as big a hassle as possible and in the meantime, my truck sits in the dealer lot with no date for a possible resolution. Prior to April, they were able to call a representitive and get the authorization with no issues. I know because I had warranty work done in March 2023 to replace a gas tank for a P0456 issue. Got Authorized next day, got the work done quickly once the gas tank came in a few days later. April comes along, suddenly dealers can't call and talk to the representitive any longer. They can only email and continously inquire about the status via the email. They can't tell the customer anything regarding the status and whether it will be authorized. This is how much they "Customer Care" up in Michigan. My Service guy is doing everything he can to get this through and calling me explaining things as they happen. The people on the other end however, have mastered the art of foot dragging to the extreme.

 

[rpr]

Did you ever get this resolved?

This issue was recently the focus of a Jalopnik article. Interesting read, they cited this thread.

 

[Jcvccase]

Maxcare lifetime warranty denied claim on 2013 wiring harness because wiring harness no longer available. Karl Klement Chrysler told me nothing they can do. Have been dealing with this for weeks. Chrysler customer care closed the case today saying the car is out of warranty when I have documents showing I have the warranty, also said part no longer available. Said there was no one else I can talk to because case has been closed. I took the car to a place in Dallas and they built a wiring harness for it. $2300.00
I’ll never buy the extra warranty again.

 

[Dean2]

Maxcare lifetime warranty denied claim on 2013 wiring harness because wiring harness no longer available. Karl Klement Chrysler told me nothing they can do. Have been dealing with this for weeks. Chrysler customer care closed the case today saying the car is out of warranty when I have documents showing I have the warranty, also said part no longer available. Said there was no one else I can talk to because case has been closed. I took the car to a place in Dallas and they built a wiring harness for it. $2300.00
I’ll never buy the extra warranty again.

Sue them for the 2300 bucks. Pretty open and shut, no lawyer needed if you kept the paper trail.

 

[Jcvccase]

Yes I have all papers. its frustrating to give in to the extended warranty pressures at signing, to be talked into a lifetime warranty that they know they don’t have to make parts for but I didnt.

 

[chrisbh17]

Did you ever get this resolved?

This issue was recently the focus of a Jalopnik article. Interesting read, they cited this thread.

Link to that article? My Google fu is failing me right now.

Thanks.

 

[rpr]

Stellantis' Lifetime Warranty Holders Were Kept Waiting Weeks For Simple Repairs

A policy change in the spring made owners wait days for claim approvals, often without their cars. Now Stellantis says things are back to normal.

jalopnik.com

 

[Yardbird]

The plan was for the majority of owners to get rid of their vehicles before any warranty claims were made.

Obviously, too many people held onto their vehicles, and the pay outs have been too much, or the expected repairs have been more than anticipated.

What auto manufacturer would warranty their vehicle for lifetime anyway, even if just for the original owner?

I would like to get in on a lifetime warranty. I've had my Ford pickup since 1992, and my '94 Ram since 2007.

Maybe they mean the lifetime of the vehicle. When it breaks, they say, "Well, that's all the life in that thing." lol

 

[Jcvccase]

I have had successful claims with Mopar maxcare warranty in the past With this vehicle.This is first time denied because of a wiring harness no longer available. AES in Dallas built a new front wiring harness for my vehicle. It was not cheap but at least we can drive the car now.