+1. I doubt very seriously you'd get a new vehicle because they can make yours like new. But I agree with an earlier poster that you need to inspect your vehicle carefully before signing off on the paperwork. I know it sounds major, but it's not like they've never taken an engine out before. I had to have a gas tank replaced on a week old car and they had to drop the entire drive train out. That was also "major", but was perfect afterwards. You should be thanking your lucky stars that they didn't say it was not their fault. When you pick the car up I'd insist on going over it with the service department manager, and even going for a test drive with him if possible. He should be happy to do it considering the egg is on his face.

 

To follow up, I met with the service department on Friday and it was a very good meeting.

It will be a new engine directly off the line, and will have the paperwork to review. They said the new engine should be here in two weeks.

They are going to offer some extended warranties and options and plan to send to me on Monday to pick from for what is best for me.

Thanks again for all the advice on the forum.

But I miss my Durango

 

Hopefully the repair and the new engine works well for you. G/L

 

You will probably forget all about it once you are back in your D and happily motoring around. Sounds like you have a pretty good dealer there to deal with. There is definitely something to be said for that.

 

TCC,

If you have any questions on the extended warranties I would be happy to answer them for you. Sorry for all the trouble you have gone through.

 

I agree here, your resale just dropped! Fight and make them either give you a new vehicle and they can deal with the resale issue or make them give you some nice upgrades/options along with the new motor. They need to compensate you for the lower resale value of a replaced motor. I have had a vehicle where the motor was replaced and they lowered the resale value 1000 just because it had the motor replaced. They said the motor could be just fine, but you never know the issues that may come up with it down the road from being replaced, that is why the value lowers.

 

I can't agree with this and think it's a crazy argument (even forgetting for a moment that they have no legal obligation to give you a new vehicle and will never do it).

You have a used vehicle (albeit just a little bit), and you are now going to have a new engine. With this agrument, where do you draw the line? Does the value of your ride go down if you put in a new suspension? How about a new rear-end? What if you replace the steering rack, or a new gas tank, or transmission? Your car was not in an accident, it just had a part replaced. To take this to the absurd, what if you put new tires on??? Cars are made up of parts, and they are ALL replaceable. The engine (though it may be large) is not actually that difficult to replace. Rebuilding it would be even harder to do, but you'd be even less happy with that option. But hey, you'd still have the same vin numbers! I'm just not buying the argument that this lowers your resale value at all. And if you keep the car long enough it may actually increase the value.

 

If in the end, after whatever else you try, if all you are going to get out of them is an "extended" warranty, insist that it be a lifetime maxcare.

 

I am no Carfax expert by any means, but I am of the opinion that how the repair is paid for will determine if it shows up on a Carfax report. One of my questions when picking up the vehicle would be who is paying for this repair? If it is the dealers insurance company then it will most likely wind up being reported. Wouldn't surprise me if they claimed it as a warranty repair either. Seen such things before.

As far as resale value is concerned, I don't see how anyone could say with any certainty about that. If you wind up trading the vehicle in and the dealer taking the vehicle on trade runs a Carfax and it shows up they may try to use that to offer you less but if the vehicle is sold privately some would look at it as a plus and others as a minus, just like the differing opinions on this thread.

The most important thing is that it is fixed to your satisfaction.

 

I just traded in (2 weeks ago) a 2007 Mountaineer with a motor that had been replaced and had 50K less miles than the odometer says. Well the dealership said that since the carfax states that the motor has been replaced, they will have to auction off the vehicle and cannot sell it on their lot, so therefore, they could not offer me the normal trade in for it. So, yes, 100% it does affect the trade in value when the carfax says the motor has been replaced. I now know this first hand.