DODGE DEALERSHIP MECHANICS

[patjay16]

I have been a Dodge/Jeep owner for about 4.5 years now and have always tried to take the vehicle into the dealership to ensure that i did not somehow disqualify my warranty. I ate the additional cost for the "superior workmanship" provided by the dealership with a grain of salt.

I just wanted to let everyone know about some of my experiences that come to mind with my dealings with dodge dealerships.

The first and most obvious was a written quote i received from BIG FOUR DODGE (Calgary, AB) regarding a whistling sound from my rear passenger window in my dakota. For about $1000 (since lost quote but this number was close) they could bend my frame to stop the whistling, i obviously declined and bought new speakers instead.

A couple months later when my weather stripping came loose and started banging the hell out of my roof i stopped at a small town window shop to get it fixed.

For $20 he fixed my weather stripping, and when i asked about the howling in the back and he had a quick look. He spotted the issue right away, the factory had never installed the rubber stripping from the front door to the rear of the back window. I guess that explained why the water was coming through in the car wash.

And i still went and bought another!!!!

[Teddy]

;D WOW, YOU MUST REALLY BE STOOOOPID!

[patjay16]

Well the next issue came when my brakes started making an awful noise. So bad that neighbours were stopping me on the street to tell me to go to the mechanic.

I made an appointment at Dodge in Airdrie, Alberta and took my truck in. I got a call the next day from the mechanic and was told they couldnt find anything wrong with it and that i needed to come in to create the sound that i had heard.

I met with the service secretary and asked what had been done so far and they mentioned they had taken the truck out for a test drive and found nothing wrong. They also mentioned they took the brakes apart to see if something was caught inside and found nothing.

The mechanic and i walked to the truck (still parked in original spot i had left it) and the mechanic got into the drivers seat, before starting the truck he asked how fast we needed to go to here the sound. I asked him to pull out of the spot and pull back in, this time he heard the sound clearly.

When i questioned what it might be the mechanic said it was likely dust and small rocks in the break. This was a suitable response however they had already told me that they had taken apart the breaks and found nothing.

Needless to say i paid the bill for the break service, drove out of the lot with a horrible crunching sound and took the truck to a local small shop. They had the issue fixed within 2 days and i never heard the sound again.

I honestly think i was billed by the Dodge mechanics without my truck ever being looked at.

[patjay16]

Now for the most recent issue with Dodge, this is with my current vehicle a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

When my stereo is on, the front passenger speaker constantly cuts in and out to the point that it is almost better to drive in complete silence. I set an appointment at Airdrie Dodge to have the stereo looked at on warranty and explained the situation, i dropped the vehicle off that night.

The next day passed and no response, i followed up a day later and asked what the status was. To my surprise i was told that they could not find the situation and that i would have to come in and produce the issue for them, again.

They did come up with a couple ideas as to why it would cut in and out although they could not hear it them self.

The first and most humorous was this, the speaker had a built in safety device that prevented it from blowing itself, if the volume got to high it would cut out to prevent permanent damage. I thought this to be a far fetched situation but for their amusement i played along, i asked them why the other 5 speakers wouldn't cut out if the volume was the same to them all. I didn't get any response to that just another possible reason why it would happen.

The second reason was this, my satellite radio was actually cutting in and out and it wasn't the speakers at all. At this point i had heard enough and i went in to help them out. I got there, pulled out the satellite radio and turned on the stereo, i made the speaker cut in and out and was told that i shouldn't be listening to the radio so loud.

I left and have never gone back, nor will i ever go back to Airdrie Dodge. My stereo still sucks, but i did get a written invoice from them saying they couldn't find anything wrong, so at least i didn't leave empty handed. Everyone around here knows you don't use Airdrie Dodge for anything not even an oil change.

[patjay16]

As a follow up:

I took my Jeep into Renfrew Chrysler and they verified that the speaker was crushed and needed to be changed. They did it under warranty without any insults aimed at their customers intelligence.

I was thoroughly impressed, however it is common knowledge for Airdrie citizens that you take your vehicle to Calgary, Strathmore or Hannah for service, you run from Airdrie.

Please save yourself the time and go directly somewhere else, Renfrew proved Airdrie's incompetence.