I learned AGAIN...why to never take your car to the dealer!

Apparently I am a glutton for punishment! I swore I would never take my car back to my dealer...Arrigo Dodge after the last incident I had, but alas I did!
A quick recap! I tend to avoid dealer service like the plague usually, but when I got the SRT 2 years ago I thought...I will follow the rules and go there for my oil changes etc...huge dealer, they will treat the car well...lol
My second oil change they not only don't put in synthetic...but 5/30 not the recommeded 0/40! How hard is it to read the oil cap and computer screen! So within a short period of time my tranny dies and it has to get towed to the dealer. The car had less than 10k miles on it and I knew it would be there a while and I would need a loaner. The service manager told me that I looked like I could afford a rental car, so he cant give me a loaner! Nice huh! After these evets I swore off Arrigo and luckily have had no issues w/ the car so I never had to go back!
Recently though, my airbag light would come on after the car ran for 5-10 minutes, and pulling the fuse/battery wouldnt cure it. I was closing in on 36k miles and I knew I needed to take it in. I figured how could they screw this up, all tehy need to do is look at the code, and reset the sensor, right. I even explained the fact that the car DID NOT need to be driven to casue the light to come on. Just start the car and let it run for a short period and it will come on. Of course they can see the code anyway so again no need to drive it.
The Service advisor calls midday to tell me the car is ready and they reset the sensors etc. He also tells me I need new brakes because they are metal to metal...ummm not so much. I looked at the pads just last week and I have plenty left! On top of that how do you know I need new pads when you didnt take the wheels off or drive the car???
So we get to the dealer, and I notice on the sheet that they drove 9 miles...although I am upset because it want necessary, I figure the manual probably says they have to drive it..so no harm no foul as long as the car is ok.
They bring the car out and Lisa and I give it the once over, looks ok..and in one piece. We decide to walk over to the showroom to see if any Challenegers arrived and as I walk away from teh SRT..I notice something is not right with the inner wheel well.
Both sides are the same....the undertray is pushed back several inches and broke, underside of the bumper is scuffed at both passenger and drivers side....apparently in their little "test drive" they must have bottomed out the car...and HARD...I can't tell you how pissed I was/am. I have driven 36k miles and NEVER done that...how did these F*&^s do it!. So back into the service dept I go...unfortunately the gem of a manager and my service advisor are not there, so we leave the car for the night, and they will look at it tomorrow. Part of me wants them to fix it, part of me doesn't want them to touch the car again....I am so freaking pissed off!

 

I say yell, pitch a fit, punch out who you need too, but DO NOT let them touch it again.

 

I would flip out. Sorry, but I would. Everyone in that place would hear what they did to my car. YOU HAVE TO MAKE THEM PAY!... So they never do something like that again. I really can't believe that sh*t. DON'T F**K WITH ANOTHER MAN'S CAR!!! Jealous weasels...all of them. Kris, seriously man, I'm pissed for you lol..I hate to hear things like this...when people work hard for their money and save for a nice car only to have some disrespectful punks treat it like some rental and assume you're too stupid to even notice or blame it on someone else? ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Kris, that just ain't right man, you gotta go back and let them have it, SCREAM BLOODY MURDER!!!!!!! Sounds like that's the only thing those morons will understand. I'm one to subscribe to the philosophy that "you get more flies with honey than vinegar" and try to treat people and places politely so they do the same but in your case bro no way, YOU GOTTA LET THEM HAVE IT!!!!! NO HOLDS BARRED TOO!!!!!! I happen to have lucked out and have a good dealer so I feel bad for you, good ones are out there you just gotta find them. I hate to tell ya but I just took my Maggie for an oil change Monday and my service writer John who I've known for 9 years now comments on how clean my car is (I keep it spotless). I say, "Johnny, you know the deal, not a ..." and he cuts me off and says "I know, I know, not a scratch Scotty, don't worry." I happened to see the tech doing the service and he had on white rubber gloves and made sure he cleaned himself off before getting into it, brushed himself off and everything, I was kinda shocked. Nice. They're out there, you just gotta find them.

 

What can be said about this?!?! It sucks. Period. Dealerships are mostly shitheads.

In my hometown of Buffalo, NY, there was a Dodge dealership that my family bought our cars (new or used) from. Friend of the family was a service guy there... never, ever, got screwed by them. Family owned since the 1950s... maybe we were lucky, but I swear, the dealerships in San Diego are asshat thieves.

*took my car to the dealer for the tranny TSB this AM. Went to pick it up about 5 minutes before 6 (they're closing time) and the service dept was already closed, locked, and not a soul to be found. Now, I gotta get up earlier than usual and drive there to get my car, an inconvenience to me and the wife... both this evening and tomorrow AM.

Either way, you got the short end of the stick that's for sure. Sorry to hear it.

 

I hear you!
I did specifically tell them there was no need to drive it for this issue, also there was no need to be on the lift either, but I do understand they could tell the brakes could need replacing if on the lift. Although they dont lol. I was going to let the test drive slide and not mention it, of course then I realized the damage. It just amazes me...I have never stuck the nose on a curb or bottomed out the car in 2 years of daily driving and they do it in 1 day and 10 miles!
This is why we do all the work on the car, but for something like this you have no choice but to take it to the dealer unfortunately.
I am taking Lisa with..well she needs to drive me since I have no car lol...she will be much more diplomatic than I will...lol!

 

I can count the number of people who have driven my truck on one hand.
My *mom* asked to drive my truck and I told her "no". Not to be a jagoff, but if something goes wrong, I know it's ME that caused it.

When I do go to the dealership, I always stand in the repair area and watch the guy like a hawk. I'm not so much worried about him (Viper techs are usually pretty damn good), but more the clown who's so proud of his 3rd consecutive day at the new job that he mis-calculates the length of the minivan he's trying to take off the rack and runs into ????.
That's the guy I'm worried about.

I've only had one scary dealership incident. I took the truck into have the reverse light switch on the transmission replaced. It was a warranty issue, and should only take about 10 minutes to remove the old one and install the new one. The paperwork was ready and the part was in stock, so I handed my keys off to my normal repair person, Christine. She's very cool and understands my obsessiveness about the truck.
The 'vehicle mover' comes up and takes the keys from her and walks over to the truck. The moment of truth.....does he stall it? Leave two black stripes out the repair bay? Thankfully, he's pretty good with a clutch and begins to pull it around the opposite side of the shop area where the Viper techs area is.
I see him come in the big bay door at the back, but then he stops. Huh? He pulls in a couple of feet more, then stops again. Something's going on here.
He puts the truck in neutral, sets the parking brake, and gets out. He sees me and walks right over to where I'm watching- toes on the 'insurance line' of the shop. He says, "I can't find reverse."
Holyf-ingcrap.
"Can you pull your truck into the bay?"

I do, and the switch gets replaced by a nice guy (forgot his name; it's been a while). I accidentally tricked him when he went to test it- I forgot to put a new fuse in. LOL

The truck came away from that one unscathed, but had me sweating bullets for a couple of minutes.

THINGS YOU CAN DO:
- If I'm going to be dropping the truck off for some kind of serious work, I will take my digital camera with me. I'll ask the dept. manager to come out with me and watch as I take pics of the odometer and trip odometer (usually at some random number; NOT at "0.0mi").
I inform him that I will be taking the same pictures when I pick the truck up.

- Ask very nicely that ONLY the Viper tech or Svc. Dept. Mgr. move or drive the vehicle. If you work up a good rapport (or have a great rack/ass), this can usually work.

- Here's a little more covert method:
http://www.gearthstore.com/categories/gpstracking.html
If any funny business does happen with your vehicle, you'll be able to play the dealership owner a spiffy little video of the roadtrip your vehicle went on after the tech replaced a broken fog lamp. :grin:

 

Did you go to McCune again? I've been there three times and will never go back. That place is the worst. Last time they were supposed to call me and let me know what was the deal and let me know when to pick it up... well 6:00 rolls around and they closed about 5:30... like you not a parts guy around anywhere. I made them call the mgr and come unlock everything so I could get my car.
I hear you guys on the stealership description... seems like most people don't give a sh1t about their cars much less anyone elses car. Just take a gander at how everyone parks at Walmart...Lol!

 

Sorry man, I feel your pain. Currently waiting to have my shtty dealership fix what they jacked up on the last two visits. Good luck!

 

Upon further consideration of the original post and the fact that I had a bad day myself:

I'd scream, rant and rave until I had NEW parts on the car. I nearly flipped a switch just with my menial issue earlier at the dealership (yes, Drew, it was McCune).

 

McCune always treated me right....then again, I've only been there once to replace sway bar endlinks.

 

That sucks...I hope they make it right for you, since they obviously screwed it up.

 

Kris...the service manager at my local dodge isnt there anymore for doing something less than that with me...i'd have his ass on a platter if i was you...

I'd make them pay for a real place to fix it...and i would damn sure never let them touch it

 

Well we went by this morning, I let Lisa do most of the talking as I think my approach (read screaming) probably wouldn't have gone over too well lol!
Their exact words were ..."we will fix it as close to new as possible" well isn't that comforting!
Supposedly the tech heard a noise when he backed off the lift but didn't see any damage...not sure why it was on the lift to begin with since they were fixing a thrown code for an airbag light...but I digress.
We were also told again how SRT's don't get any special attention, as they are not a specialty vehicle.

 

I would tell you what my exact response to that would be but there could be children reading this...

i would see to it that it was fixed at a REAL place PERFECT...then slap them with the bill...

they cant just be like...oh well we smashed up your car so we will buff it out real quick and pretend like we did something and give it back...

I would also have a nice pleasant letter going to Dodge about it too lol...are they a "5 Star"?...

 

Last time I took the Jeep in for service I wrote on the service ticket that no one was allowed to drive the Jeep off the lot without calling me first and me being there in the vehicle with them for the test driver otherwise they are responsible for anything I find wrong, that will end their free joy rides. Plus I snap photos of the odometer and a few places WHILE IN THE SERVICE BAY.

 

I stand there and watch....literally right next to the guy....

and if they cant finish it in one day...i take my keys and they can continue the next day when im back....

I dont trust ANYONE at a dealership...

 

Thats why I gave up on dealerships for serive a long time ago. Its hard to find a place around here in South Fl for good service.

 

Yup 5 star! They are the largest dealer in the SE and one of the largest in the US so I guess they think they can do what they want. As long as they keep sellign cars Dodge probably doesn't care.

 

Thats why we do all of our own work, but with something like this you have no choice but to take it in