Here's the story... I just have to vent...

sorry my first post is so long....

[sm=icon_flaming.gif]

I own a 2001 Durango R/T. The ownership of the vehicle has been relatively problem free, up until now.

I am not sure how Dodge has pulled this off, but they have timed the reliablility of this vehicle like the expiry date on a carton of milk.

My warranty was due to expire on Dec 21, 2005. Like clockwork, the brakes needed to be done (Dec 24th) ...

No big deal... I understand that the brakes are a wear item so I ponied up and had them serviced. I wasnt angry about this at all.

Simultaneos to this the registration for the car came due, and for the second time in its life it had to go for emission's testing (required localy here). It failed, and out of warranty.

Dealer spoke to Chrysler, charged me a $150 diagnostic fee, and then warranteed the emissions. (Jan 06) Cat. converter toast as were several sensors. (3000 kms or about 2000 miles and 2 weeks out of warranty)

I wasnt pleased about having to pay anything for the repair at all as the car is so new, but whatever, it was only $150.. .again.. no big deal and finally the car passed emissions.

Two weeks ago (Jan 06) (6000 kms or about 4000 miles and just over 1 month out of warranty) I'm driving along on the highway and it just shuts off, dies. Get it back to the dealer and they diagnose it. Crank sensor failure. $350. Fine.. now I'm getting a little cheesed. I jokingly say to the service manager... "I cant really afford to repair a sensor a week. The whole truck isnt about to fall apart as the warranty is up, is it?"

Yesterday (Feb 06) (7000 kms or about 4800 miles and just over 1 month out of warranty) I am driving on the highway. Overdrive goes away. Gone. Next thing I know "Transmission Temp" warning light comes on.

I limp back to the dealer. They check the computer. At a minimum 2 relays inside the tranny are gone, and computer is showing torque converter failure.

They tell me its a minimum $750 repair and that's if there's no physical damage beyond the relays. They urge me to call Daimler Chrysler Canada's 1-800 customer service line to get some help from Chrysler as it is literally just out of warranty.

So... here's where it gets good. I call the number and some lady answers the phone. Doesnt give her name. I can barely hear her. I ask her to call me back because the connection is so bad, and she does. I explain the situation to her, and immediately, without checking my name, VIN #, nothing, she reads me a line out of a book "we do not cover" blah blah. I point out to her that I understood the warranty was up, but that I was calling for further assistance as a potential total transmission failure seemed unreasonable to happen so quickly, literally a hair out of the warranty, and that generally companies work with there customers, especially those who bought their most expensive top of the line vehicles.

She refuses to help. I ask her for her name and she refuses to give it to me. I then ask to please speak to her supervisor and she tells me "there is no escalation of this. I am the manager". I ask her again for her name and then she starts YELLING at me. I tell her there is no need to yell at me, and pointed out that her own msg said the call was being recorded. She then yells at me telling me she's yelling at me because I said I could not hear her.

I politely pointed out to her that I could hear her just fine and she again began yelling at me, then lambasted me for even asking for her name, told me there would be "no escalation" of this problem and hung up on me.

I was shocked.

So... I called back.. Since the first lady said she was not just "a" manager there, but "THE" manager there I figured I would get her again, but guess what, this time it was another CSR who answered the phone. She too identified herself as "the" manager. Her name is Sheryl Wade. (At least I got a name this time).

I explained to her exactly what happened, I pointed out that everything was recorded and I encouraged her to listen to the recording so she could hear how I was treated. Sheryl apologized and said she'd help out. After a few minutes on hold she came back and fed me the same line the first lady did (out of a book, most likely) about how "too bad, etc etc". I asked Sheryl for the name of the first CSR who hung up on me and seh refused to give it to me.

Again I then asked if could please speak to a supervisor at which point she stated there were none and she was the manager etc etc. She then also told me there would "be no escalation" of this problem.

I asked again for her supervisor, or her corporate HQ phone number. She said "no" and that they dont have one. Then she began to yell at me. After begin yelled at by her, she also hung up on me. It's times like this that I wish I had my own voice recorder, because I would love to serve up an MP3 of this for the members of this site.

So... I've gone ahead and contacted Chrysler's corporate office in Canada. YES SHERYL, Your company DOES have a corporate office ( :rolleyes ) Does she think that customers are that stupid that we would believe something like that?

Does Chrysler Canada honestly believe customers will buy the answer that they can call every single CSR they employ "a manager" and that will end all problems?

I never expected full coverage of anything. Going into this both the dealer and I felt that it would be fair if Chrysler would help out a bit, but being told to take a hike by their self appointed managers has made me so angry that I could spit nails.

I cant drive my car, and I have no resolution process in place. The 1-800 number is useless and the CSR's are the rudest that I have encountered from any company I have dealt with in my life. They were worse than a collection agency. Terrible, deplorable customer service.

If this is how Chrysler thinks they can win me as a customer and expect me to suck their dicks making another Durango my next purchase they have a nasty surpise coming to them.


I would encourage all Canadian members of this site to think twice about what will happen to them when their warranties run out, and what the fake "managers" will tell them when they call.


Try for yourself. If you have 15 minutes to waste being yelled at by a catty girl in her mid 20's or 30's then here's the #...

It's free to call:

1 800 465 2001


Chrysler Canada apparently cant afford an operator... but you can also give them a call directly (if you can figure out who to talk to without an operator) at 519 973 2000 .


Canadian Dodge owners write these #'s down. I can assure you that like clockwork, the split second your warranty is up, you'll need them.


Be prepared to be made to feel smaller than a piece of dirt on the ground for spending $50,000 + with them. [sm=icon_flaming.gif]

 

Sounds like you need a new vehicle, a vacation, and a house in America. We don't tolerate catty business chicks yelling at you. The BBB shuts them down..


-Matt-

 

Amen.... stick to your guns on this one man. Every manufacturer you know can make a lemon of a car. It sucks that you had to experience this first hand..because knock on wood, I haven't. Good luck and welcome to DF, hope you stay!

 

thanks fellas...

believe me.. my wife and I talk about moving to the US everyday.

The "ghetto" treatment Canadian companies dole out to their customers is just plain embarrassing.

I sure hope someone from Dodge/ Chrysler Canada reads this...

you know... someone in that head office that doesnt exist ...


hey... I know... I'm A manager too! so are you.

that's it... end of discussion...




grrrrrrrrrrr.

 

i kno eh ( lol, canadian to canadian talk here ) , DCC sucks ballz. I took my moms grand caravan in for a service at the dealer. and surprise surprise, the fcked something up! They had an aprentice working on it and he wrecked the transmission computer ( i dont know how the fck he did it but... ) , and when i came back a week later , they were going to make me pay for it myself ( evene though it was still on warranty at the time[:@]. Anyways , we went to small claims court over it, and we won, the repair would have costed something like $2K, so it wanst pocket change. so we got the repai for free and $2K in damages . Just so you know, your not the only person who got fcked around by DCC.

 

move to teh states

 

It may be possible the dealer you are taking it to is screwing up your car. I am a die hard Dodge fan. My first Dodge was a Omni based 1985 Shelby Charger with a turbo 2.2. I tell ya, I was so happy I bought an extended warranty plan for this car. I can still show you that I have over 30 service tickets within the first year of ownership of this car. Back then, Texas did not have a lemon law, or else I would have mine traded out with another brand new one. After my 7/70 extended warranty plan expired and a 100 page service ticket notebook later, all problems went away! I was so happy! I was ready to junk this SOB off a hill! Most of these problems were caused by inexperienced techs at the dealership where I bought the car. Within the last 20k miles of the extended warranty, I took my car across town 20 miles to another Dodge dealer and since then they fixed everything right the first time around. Granted, the first few repairs, the techs were just in awe and shocked by the crappy worksmanship from the original dealer where I bought the car from. Knowing this now made me felt better about my car and not to blame Dodge engineering on this car, but blame the stupid *** techs from the original dealer where I bought the car that made all these problems for me.

Today, I own a 2000 Durango R/T with a 5.9. I bought it in 2001 and this Durango had 21k miles. Paid 26k for it which was a little steep for the miles it had, but it was the last black model they had. They had a red one with 5k miles for the same price and red just don't have that badboy look like the black one did! Before I bought this Durango, I did a thorough background check on this dealership. It is called Autonation Dodge in Irving, Tx back in 2001. Background check and reference came back good on their customer service and repair reliability so I bought this Durango from them. Today, the dealer is now called Bankston Dodge Irving but most of the original staff that I dealed with are still working there.

I bought an extended warranty since this guy is used and a year old. From then until now, these are the only major problems I came across for this R/T

23k - Front end making jingling noises. Replaced rack and pinion under 3/36 warranty.

24k - leather on steering wheel melting off! Yes it was actually melting off! Could have been from acidic hands from previous owner. Dealer replaced under 3/36 warranty and got a brand new leather steering wheel. Dealer recommend me to buy a steering wheel cover to protect leather. To this day, steering wheel is ok and not melting.

26k - Transmission stuck in 1st and/or 2nd gear. Won't upshift unless you nail the throttle for a second or two and then let off the pedal to make the tranny shift. Check engine light also came on. Dealer found the governor actuators gave out. Replaced under Factory 3/36 warranty.

35k - Smelled antifreeze. Cannot figure where it was coming from. Dealer checked and found leak in one of the head gaskets! Under factory 3/36 warranty.

37k - Heater core went bad, slow leaks. Out of factory warranty and just discovered my silver extended warranty plan did not cover this. Wasted $1700 for nothing for extended warranty. Costed me $700 out of pocket to fix this.

44k - Can hear wind noise on driver door when driving down the highway. Wind noise much louder when you have a cross or head wind. Dealer found door out of alignment and may have partially been my fault. NEVER let the wind catch your door where it will force swing it wide open, can bend the support arms to cause your door to go out of alignment. Dealer sent me to a body shop where they do all the body work for their cars and they re-adjusted and re-aligned the door for free as this was not covered under warranty! They even re-aligned the remaining 3 doors just to make sure I don't come back with the same problem for another door. I wrote a letter of customer satisfaction to the service manager's upper management. My Durango rides very quiet on the highway now.

50k - 2k left of extended warranty. Metal tube where heater hose is attached to and other end of the tube goes to water pump was leaking. Customer service manager said the tube is not covered under extended warranty, but worked his magic and was able to warranty the water pump which in turn will cover the tube. Costed me $50 deductible and rest is covered under warranty. This is superior customer satisfaction. Wrote them a very satisfied customer letter to his upper managment.

55k - Front end upper and lower ball joint replacement. Replaced under Factory recall.

Presently just hitting 69k - Leaking antifreeze again, this time the leak is coming from either the water pump housing or the housing that holds the water pump connecting to the block. Luckily I have a very good friend that is a certified mechanic and has his own shop who now takes care of my Durango.

Minor issues mainly solved by references from others on this forum.

Replaced Throttle Position Sensor:

This have solved my cruise control engine surge. When cruise control is enabled, engine will periodically and briefly surge 200-300 rpms and then back to normal. Dealer exhausted all possibilities and even hooked up a computer to monitor my D for a few days while I was driving it. Came back with no errors of any kind. But reading enough users that had the same issue and the TPS replacement did the trick, I replaced it and flip the bill for the part on my own and fixed this problem. I did not blame the dealer and they have to go by a set of guidelines on troubleshooting according to Dodge's specs. Just FYI, the check engine light never light up because there were no failure codes. The sensor was just bad enough to wreck havoc on the engine speed without actually failing. TPS part costed me about $35 from NAPA auto parts and was a quick do it yourselfer.

Replaced both Transmission output and rear speed sensor at the same time:

This fixed my transmission slipping issue. When engine is under near or full power, when it is time for the tranny to upshift, it slips and stays in neutral. I had to immediately let off the gas in order not to blow the engine and also let the tranny upshift. Very bad when you need to stomp on the gas to blend with traffic or to avoid something. Transmission seem to shift much better and perform better as well. Again, just FYI, no codes were shown and no check engine light. Just the sensors were just faulty enough to cause problems without actually failing. Trasmission sensor costed me about $25 from NAPA and the rear speed sensor was OEM part only for the 2000 year model (Don't know why 2000 models only) costed $50. Had my mechanic swapped them out as I did not have the creeper to crawl under nor the right tools needed to get the sensors out. Mechanic says the sensor on transmission was a easy changeout but the rear sensor located on top of the rear axle took more time than initially thought.

Other than these, the Durango runs great! Interior and Exterior still in near mint condition. My Black R/T is always garaged even at work! Only time it is exposed in the sun is when it is on the road or when I drive it to go shopping.

I always perform extreme maintenance schedules even tho I never drive it hard.

4k synthetic oil changes.
20k tranny and full time transfer case oil changes as both uses the same fluid.
60k axle fluid changes.
20k anti-freeze fluid changes.
40k plugs, wire, cap, rotor changes.
replaced paper air filter with K&N OEM air filter replacement. (I actually got about 1 mile improvement in MPG's)

My note payoff is July 2006 and then this Durango paid in full! Sad to say I do not like the 2nd generation Durangos so this durango is the end of the dodge line for me for SUV's. I will wait to see what the Chrysler's Aspen looks like when it is available to the public. The Aspen's front end is much better and blends with the rest of the body much better than the Durango. I just hope the interior is just as good too. I cannot stand the new cluster dash on the 2nd gen durangos! I want all my gauges! If not, at least don't make the speedo look like a huge clock for blind people.

I hope my next car purchase will be a dodge product. Will wait until this SUV is paid off and see what Dodge has coming out in fall 2006. I definitely will buy from this same dealer that treated me so well.

 

I'm sorry..but 2nd Generation D's are simply ugly. Of course that's my opinion only.

 

Holly cow Kensai,

I hope you didn't write that all in one breath. But thanks for the info.

 

So did you ever talk to anyone else in Chrysler? There may also be a Zone Office or District Manager that you can contact. I would not put up with that rudeness for sure.