Hello all,

First off let me start by saying that I am new to this forum, I have been lurking here for a while reading but have yet to ever post. I can say I have found this and other Dodge forums very helpfull as I now that I am not the only person in this world that is having problems with my truck (2000 Dodge Ram QC 4x4 sport)

I bought my truck brand new in the Spring of 2000 after being a "Chevy" guy for over 15 years I decided to use my Dodge A Plan and buy a new truck. Since I have boughten this truck it has seen the inside of the dealership's service department and my Shop more than it has seen daylight! Since new I have put 120 000kms (75 000 miles) on this truck and here is the long list of parts and problems that I have encountered with it.

1. The truck came from the factory with a bent frame! Since the day it was new I complained to the service department that the truck handled funny going down the road. I had it in for them to look at numerous times and they kept telling me they could not find anything wrong with it. I even had friends tell me that my truck went down the road sideways or "dog tracked".Finally at about 25 000kms of having enough I asked the service manager follow behind me so he could see it for himself. After proving my case they kept my truck to look at it and called an hour later saying the frame was bent and asked how I did it! I proceeded to tell them that I had been complaining since new and I even had all the service records to prove it, the first time was at 350kms! Long story short after a battle with the dealership and Dodge head office I paid for the frame to be straightned out of my own pocket!

2. Front U Joints Between warrentee work and doing it myself there has been 3 full sets (not including the origianal ones that came on the truck) put into this truck.

3. Ball Joints 2 full sets of ball joints have been replaced in this truck.

4. track Bar I am going on my second track bar

5. Front Wheel Bearings I have installed 2

6. Front Stabilizer Bushing Just got done doing them

7. Head Gaskets Blew one side at 110 000kms

8. Water Pump Just lost it today...... that is the reason for this rant!

9. Limited Slip rear axle In for warrentee work twice

10. Plenum Gasket

11. Front axle seals

And the list goes on........( I am getting tired of typing.)The only thing I have not had a problem with is the transmission (suprisingly as all I read about on here is how terrible the 2nd generation automatics are)

I Guess the point to my post is you may get a lemon in any brand of truck, I just happened to get one in my first Non-Chev purchuse.....kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth[:@] I would not wish a dodge on my worst enemy[sm=rant.gif]

I would sell it but Dodge resale values are horrible and I would not get crap for it!

Oh, I almost forgot........ THE HORRIBLE FUEL MILEAGE..... DODGE SHOULD BE EMBARRASED!

 

I hate to say it but if the frame was bent and you have had this many problems then either it was a lemon POS from factory or the dealership don't know what the hell they are doing which is also quite possible (know from friend's experience at some dealers). I know you said you have complained to Dodge but this should be classified as a lemon and it should be replaced. I hate to see it happen to a converted from Chevy to Dodge man, because that sucks. Hopefully things get better for you.

 

That is deifinately one of the problems that I had, after the service manager accused me of bending the frame myself and that he was not willing to cover it under warrentee I told him that I was going to call Dodge customer relations and complain. So I did just that and they told me that they would look into it. Well they called back the next day saying that they had contacted the service manager to get the inside scoop on the issue and he told them that I was doing some sever off-roading and bashed the crap out of the truck and I caused the damage myself. This happened at a Chysler 5 star Dealer! Well I now know that that rating means absolutely Nothing!

As for replacing it under the lemon deal, I wish...... when I was dealing with the head office and they told me that they were not going to do anything for me I threatened to put a big lemon picture on the sides of the truck but that did not even phase them!

 

Sounds like you got a lemon, and should have pursued action under the lemon law. If you flip through your phone book, there should be a few lawyers listed that deal with the lemon law and they don't charge upfront (atleast there's a few listed in my local book). Sounds like the dealership is just another stealership, and a phone call to the customer relations line may have gotten you somewhere. I had a problem getting a recall done on a 13 year old GM product (that wasn't even being made anymore) at the local dealership, but after a few calls to the customer service number and the NTSB, they couldn't kiss my rear end fast enough. The old adage "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" holds true for the most part. You really have to make a pain in the rear of yourself to get anything done.

I'm sorry to hear that you've had such a bad experience with your truck, but I hope you realize that you can buy a lemon off of any lot you go to, whether it's Dodge, Chevy, Ford, Toyota, etc. Myself, I've always had great luck with Dodges (and I've owned quite a few Dodge trucks over the years). My 98 Ram is my first second gen Ram purchase, and it's been the most problematic of any Dodge I've owned, but it's still been pretty trouble free. It has 163K on the odometer, and the only items that have been replaced, aside of normal maintenance items, are the track bar (twice), the steering box, and the pass. side hub assembly (also need to rebuild the trac-loc in the rear). Other than that, it's like a new truck.

I'm not sure on the specifics on the Lemon Law, but it may not be too late for you to file a complaint under it. If you can, do so. There's no excuse for a new vehicle to come from the factory with a bent frame, and it will lead to other problems down the road (as you well know by now) such as ball joints, track bar, steering stabalizer, , wheel bearings, sway bar end links, and even tie rod ends...it's automatically a lemon.