Had the Dak for only 2 weeks now and here is a rundown of what we have had to deal with...

Constant CELs...

First was the remnant of a dead battery when it was on the lot in -40°C temps, no worries there, understandable..

Next CEL loose gas cap, my fiancees fault for not tightening it she now knows...

Next CEL faulty purge solenoid... Replaced under warranty

New CEL no ideas tranny went before scheduled service...

now after 3 trips to the dealership this weekm She jumps in to go to work last and low and behold the truck will not shift into gear! It comes outta park but stays in neutral. 4x4 doesn't work, nothing, transmission is just not going into gear. The linkage feels and sounds like its working. So this morning I had a ow truck come in, had to push it outta the underground so he could get a hook on it. Get to the dealership, no loaner cars, and rentals aren't covered. I miss my GM for that loss of use was standard coverage in basic warranty...

Just had to rant, this is the 4th trip (not counting that it was scheduled to go in tomorrow for another CEL) to the dealership. I'm starting to doubt this truck not a good way to start a vehicle relationship...

this brings me to my question, how much is a service contract? If this is gonna be norm, I wanna be covered for rental cars and towing. I can't ferry her around, she's a nurse and works odd shifts that never coincide with mine, so ride sharing is outta the question. It would also be nice to have the 7 year 115,000 kms warranty as well...

Sorry for the long read...

 

Keep us advised as to the no shift thing. My shift cable just broke last week. The shifter still moved, but it wouldn't change gears.

Pain in the butt since the new cable is on national backorder.

 

sounds like a similar problem i had. but mine didn't break like that...mine wouldn't shift into gear and 4x4 wouldn't work for a few minutes and they replaced the transmission filter pack because i had hit a bump and knocked the filter loose which cause pressure loose causing the truck not able to shift because it was not reading proper pressure. check that to see if it could be the problem. also since you've had battery issues check to see if your PCM is not fudged up some way. just a piece of advice from a man who sold his due to military relocation to the land of sand and sun. lol anyway hope that helps.

 

I will keep you updated. Needless to say my fiancee is pretty fumed about the whole thing. I feel for the service advisor today. Shes livid that they have no loaner cars for people that actually need them. They are all booked a month in advance for fairies that cant stick around for an oil change. Sp that leaves people that are in a bind high and dry. She aint taking it and I don't blame her.

 

Turns out its the tranny oil pump. Glad to see that it can fail so easily as I have the 545RFE in my 1500. Its a sealed unit, so they have no idea what failed. They will have to remove the whole tranny to get at it as well.

The dealership told us to blow a rental out our *** as Chrysler won't pay for it, and neither will they. Pissed me off as they said it would be a week until the part would be available and we would be short a vehicle. So we then told them that we would gladly have it towed to another dealership that could offer us a courtesy car. The $100 towing bill would be covered under our insurance, unlike the $300 rental. Amazingly enough, they found a unit only a days away and will have the truck ready by Thursday...

I have a real urge to break my foot off in a service advisor's *** right about now. Starting to regret this truck. Now its also gonna have a tranny thats been in and out, which is always great. I don't trust any mechanic any further than I can get my foot up their *** and I wear size 14s. Too bad I guess...

 

YEAH? took them that long to figure it out...wow some service department. anwyay yeah that filter they have on our trucks is bull****. you hit a bump to hard and it can come loose cause its not attatched by screws but it is slid on and bascially forced onto a bigger connection so that it will stay in place. pretty crappy. lol anyway yeah i thought that could have been the problem. it happened to me. glad to help.

 

I have an extended warranty till 100k or seven years from Chrysler that provides a loaner if the repair takes more then one business day. There is also a $50.00 and $100.00 deductable depending on the repair. I have 33k so 3k until the factory warranty expires. My dealer has been excellent so far for warranty repairs and other general service. Boniface-Hires in Merritt Island FL have a great reputation and I'm lucky to have them. I read so many dealer crap that people go through.

 

Glad you are getting somewhere with them! Sometimes you have to tell ppl how it is before shiet gets done. I can gladly say I have a good dealership, CVM (Cumberland Vallery Motors) in Mechanicsburg, Pa. They have treated me well and no questions have been asked, of course, I havent had any major warranty work done or needed a loaner. I would like to keep it that way too Thanks for keeping us updated man.

 

my dealership bolles motor in stafford springs is the only dealership i go to. great people and they enjoy it when i bring my truck in for service. first thing they say. what new have you done to the truck. plus they dont mess with my upgrades or give me **** about them

 

Have you (by chance) looked to see if there were any recall notices on that year and model for your Dakota? It looks as thought there was a recall notice for the 2007 Dodge Dakota 4 X 4, 4.7L regarding the PCM module. "Recall - PCM Update for A/T Shift Logic".

There was also a service bulletin for your Torque Converter for that year, and model.

I don't know if this is your problem, but it may be worth a try getting this fixed for free through Chrysler.

If you go to "Alldata.com" you can find out what recalls and service bulletins that have been published. The problem though is you can't read the entire recall or service bulletin unless you (i think) subscribe/buy it.

I'd be really pissed too, if I had a vehicle less than 3 - 4 years old and had problems like that. In other words, poor quality workmanship from a car maker vs. keeping up normal maintinance.

That ain't right.