I have to warn you what youre about to read is part rant part review. I am so sick of our situation and feel absolutely helpless on how to get out of it. Wish I had the money right now to go trade both vehicles in for another brand.
First would like to start off by saying I am a degreed Mechanical Engineer and at one time held several state ASE certifications in various different disciplines as working on cars was once my livelyhood. My wife and I have always bought dodge vehicles. In fact, the two that we have today are our 9th and 10th brand-new dodge vehicles, IN A ROW. We buy them, and as soon as they go out of warranty, we trade them in and get new ones. Texan Dodge has vastly changed my opinon on the brand and certainly on the way it is supported. We bought my 2011 Dodge Ram 1500 in Nov of 2011 and my wifes 2012 Dodge Avenger in Feb of 2012. With about 400 miles on the clock on my RAM, the torque converter went out. For you non-gearheads, that means separating the engine from the transmission, this is major surgery. This was handled by another dealership, but wanted to illustrate the sheer number of issues that we have had with both of these vehicles together and then at the end of this review, tie that back into how we havent been upgraded above the guy-who-shows-up-at-the-dealership-with-a-taillight-out. Anyways, my wifes car with a few thousand miles on it started blowing hot air out of the air conditioner. We took it in and they told us that they would diagnose the problem, and when they did, if it was going to take longer than 24 hours to fix, they would get us a rental. So instead of diagnosing it the same day, or the next day, they waited 4 full days to diagnose the car. So we took the car in on Monday and on Thursday they told us that the car would be ready the next day and that we wouldnt get a rental because it was only a 24 hour fix. On MONDAY they called to let us know the car was done. Now mind you we've been without a loaner car for a week, forcing me to ride my crotch rocket in the rain and whatever other conditions were present during that 7 day period. We have a small toddler, I dont necessarily like riding a motorcycle all over Houston, its dangerous. During this, they replaced the radiator, water pump, all the coolant, and the heater core, again, MAJOR surgery. About 4 days later my wife takes the car on a long trip and notices the carpet getting wetter and wetter. Well by the time she got back to Houston, there was over 3 inches of water in the car. They had ripped the dash apart and forgot to reconnect one of the AC drain hoses, so the AC was draining into the cabin. The in-cabin drains got plugged somehow, and we had lake dodge inside the car. We take the car back. They realize they messed up and were gracious enough this time to give us a loaner for 3 days while they took the whole dash back out of the car and reconnected the drain hoses. Fast forward another few thousand miles. Oil all over the floor in the garage from her car. I get under there, ALL the oil pan bolts are loose. Off to Texan Dodge we go. This time they keep the car for another 3 days while Im stuck on my motorcycle again so the wife can drive my truck with no loaner. Fast forward another few thousand miles. Safety recall. This was a quick fix, but none the less just another day we had to sacrifice with our kids to come to the dealership. So about a month after we get out of the safety recall with her car, one of the small interior lights that stays on at night above your head to illuminate the cup holders in my truck begins to start flashing. At first it didnt bother me but then after a few weeks it was like an all out disco in there. Youd be driving down the road at night and the truck would be in all out party mode with you behind the wheel. You want to talk about distracting. I ended up putting a piece of tape over the light. Off to the dealership we go. I bring the truck in there for an oil change and very clearly show the service writer where the problem lighting was. Well I leave, the next day rolls around, back on my motorcycle again, and the service writer cant locate the light that I was showing him a day earlier. They wont touch the truck until I come up there and show them again. Off to the dealership we go, again. 40 mins there, 40 mins home. Every. Single. #$*&ING. TIME. They keep the truck for another two days to get the part fixed. No loaner. Fast forward to about a month ago. My wife takes another long trip in the Avenger, water starts dripping on her feet. At this point we have left this issue alone for the time being while we decide if we are just going to trade these vehicles in for another brand. Meanwhile a couple weeks ago I jump in my truck, start it up, instrument cluster is lit up like a christmas tree. ABS, Traction Control, and Service 4wd lights are all on. Now mind you, at this point my truck has just rolled 21,000 miles and her car has just rolled 28,000 miles. I call up good ole Texan Dodge to schedule an appointment for service. "Well sir the first available appointment we have is 3 weeks out due to the teachers going back to school August first." I lost it. Here we are, I have 3 safety critical systems out in my truck and Texan is worried more about broken tail lights and tire rotations likely. Ask me how I know these are safety critical. I found out REAL fast that the truck doesnt stop so good in the rain without ABS and whenever you hit big puddles, the traction control does nothing. So I called Chrysler customer care on July 18th to complain. Today is 24th. Called THEM BACK yesterday to check up and why do you think the issue hadnt been resolved? Oh yea its becuase no one from the dealership will call customer care back. So dodge, wont even call dodge back haha! So here we are, barely 50,000 miles between mine and my wife's vehicles. She gets to have her feet soaked all day anytime shes driving and I have no working safety critical systems in my truck. Dodge better pray no accidents happen or the lawyers will have a field day. I can bet that if anyone reads this, theyll probably try to feed me some BS about how they need to "diagnose" the truck before giving me a loaner. YES I understand this is company policy. But at what point do I get upgraded from average joe to red carpet treatment? Do we need to blow an engine or something for that? Ive kept track of all of this. 2,100 miles going back and forth to the dealership, and having to drive other vehicles while Texan dodge wont give us a loaner. We just cannot afford to be without our vehicles not even for 5 minutes while theyre diagnosing. Between the two of us we've taken 6 days off work because the weather was too bad for me to be driving my motorcycle. So one would stay home so the other could use the one vehicle we had. Can I send Texan a bill for that? We've given them ample opportunity to rectify these issues. Ive been called by Chrysler to rate Texan dodge, so they heard all about it. Ive even had someone from the dealership call wanted me to do a "short survey", 45 minutes later after Ive told them all this, crickets. Absolute silence, no call backs. Unreal.
First would like to start off by saying I am a degreed Mechanical Engineer and at one time held several state ASE certifications in various different disciplines as working on cars was once my livelyhood. My wife and I have always bought dodge vehicles. In fact, the two that we have today are our 9th and 10th brand-new dodge vehicles, IN A ROW. We buy them, and as soon as they go out of warranty, we trade them in and get new ones. Texan Dodge has vastly changed my opinon on the brand and certainly on the way it is supported. We bought my 2011 Dodge Ram 1500 in Nov of 2011 and my wifes 2012 Dodge Avenger in Feb of 2012. With about 400 miles on the clock on my RAM, the torque converter went out. For you non-gearheads, that means separating the engine from the transmission, this is major surgery. This was handled by another dealership, but wanted to illustrate the sheer number of issues that we have had with both of these vehicles together and then at the end of this review, tie that back into how we havent been upgraded above the guy-who-shows-up-at-the-dealership-with-a-taillight-out. Anyways, my wifes car with a few thousand miles on it started blowing hot air out of the air conditioner. We took it in and they told us that they would diagnose the problem, and when they did, if it was going to take longer than 24 hours to fix, they would get us a rental. So instead of diagnosing it the same day, or the next day, they waited 4 full days to diagnose the car. So we took the car in on Monday and on Thursday they told us that the car would be ready the next day and that we wouldnt get a rental because it was only a 24 hour fix. On MONDAY they called to let us know the car was done. Now mind you we've been without a loaner car for a week, forcing me to ride my crotch rocket in the rain and whatever other conditions were present during that 7 day period. We have a small toddler, I dont necessarily like riding a motorcycle all over Houston, its dangerous. During this, they replaced the radiator, water pump, all the coolant, and the heater core, again, MAJOR surgery. About 4 days later my wife takes the car on a long trip and notices the carpet getting wetter and wetter. Well by the time she got back to Houston, there was over 3 inches of water in the car. They had ripped the dash apart and forgot to reconnect one of the AC drain hoses, so the AC was draining into the cabin. The in-cabin drains got plugged somehow, and we had lake dodge inside the car. We take the car back. They realize they messed up and were gracious enough this time to give us a loaner for 3 days while they took the whole dash back out of the car and reconnected the drain hoses. Fast forward another few thousand miles. Oil all over the floor in the garage from her car. I get under there, ALL the oil pan bolts are loose. Off to Texan Dodge we go. This time they keep the car for another 3 days while Im stuck on my motorcycle again so the wife can drive my truck with no loaner. Fast forward another few thousand miles. Safety recall. This was a quick fix, but none the less just another day we had to sacrifice with our kids to come to the dealership. So about a month after we get out of the safety recall with her car, one of the small interior lights that stays on at night above your head to illuminate the cup holders in my truck begins to start flashing. At first it didnt bother me but then after a few weeks it was like an all out disco in there. Youd be driving down the road at night and the truck would be in all out party mode with you behind the wheel. You want to talk about distracting. I ended up putting a piece of tape over the light. Off to the dealership we go. I bring the truck in there for an oil change and very clearly show the service writer where the problem lighting was. Well I leave, the next day rolls around, back on my motorcycle again, and the service writer cant locate the light that I was showing him a day earlier. They wont touch the truck until I come up there and show them again. Off to the dealership we go, again. 40 mins there, 40 mins home. Every. Single. #$*&ING. TIME. They keep the truck for another two days to get the part fixed. No loaner. Fast forward to about a month ago. My wife takes another long trip in the Avenger, water starts dripping on her feet. At this point we have left this issue alone for the time being while we decide if we are just going to trade these vehicles in for another brand. Meanwhile a couple weeks ago I jump in my truck, start it up, instrument cluster is lit up like a christmas tree. ABS, Traction Control, and Service 4wd lights are all on. Now mind you, at this point my truck has just rolled 21,000 miles and her car has just rolled 28,000 miles. I call up good ole Texan Dodge to schedule an appointment for service. "Well sir the first available appointment we have is 3 weeks out due to the teachers going back to school August first." I lost it. Here we are, I have 3 safety critical systems out in my truck and Texan is worried more about broken tail lights and tire rotations likely. Ask me how I know these are safety critical. I found out REAL fast that the truck doesnt stop so good in the rain without ABS and whenever you hit big puddles, the traction control does nothing. So I called Chrysler customer care on July 18th to complain. Today is 24th. Called THEM BACK yesterday to check up and why do you think the issue hadnt been resolved? Oh yea its becuase no one from the dealership will call customer care back. So dodge, wont even call dodge back haha! So here we are, barely 50,000 miles between mine and my wife's vehicles. She gets to have her feet soaked all day anytime shes driving and I have no working safety critical systems in my truck. Dodge better pray no accidents happen or the lawyers will have a field day. I can bet that if anyone reads this, theyll probably try to feed me some BS about how they need to "diagnose" the truck before giving me a loaner. YES I understand this is company policy. But at what point do I get upgraded from average joe to red carpet treatment? Do we need to blow an engine or something for that? Ive kept track of all of this. 2,100 miles going back and forth to the dealership, and having to drive other vehicles while Texan dodge wont give us a loaner. We just cannot afford to be without our vehicles not even for 5 minutes while theyre diagnosing. Between the two of us we've taken 6 days off work because the weather was too bad for me to be driving my motorcycle. So one would stay home so the other could use the one vehicle we had. Can I send Texan a bill for that? We've given them ample opportunity to rectify these issues. Ive been called by Chrysler to rate Texan dodge, so they heard all about it. Ive even had someone from the dealership call wanted me to do a "short survey", 45 minutes later after Ive told them all this, crickets. Absolute silence, no call backs. Unreal.