So I thought I'd ask to see if anyone else got this kind of run around.

When we purchased our 13 R/T (new) it had ~400 miles on it. The sales folks have always told us our warranty would be 36000 miles that _we_ put on it, so in theory the warranty would be to 36400. We just rolled over to 36k this past weekend. Right before it rolled over, we started having an issue with the TPMS not getting a reading from the front passenger tire. We made a 400 mile trip this weekend and are now at 36.1k. I called the dealership, assuming we would still be under warranty and the service dude said that it's BS that you get the extension of whatever miles were on it when you purchased it. He said the warranty is 36k, end of story. Even if you purchased it with 1k on it, you would only get to put on 35k before the warranty expires! WTF? My wife and I have purchased several new vehicles and each time we're told the warranty starts on the day you purchase, but I guess we've never ran into a situation like this before so it's not been an issue. Anyone else run into this? I did take a picture of the gauge cluster before we rolled over to 36k, so I could prove that it happened before I rolled over and the service tech said that may help, so they'll take a look at it when we bring it in Friday (can't get it in until then), so hopefully they can take care of it, but who knows.

A bit more on the issue I'm having... It started out only happening first thing in the morning. The truck would ding, the TPMS light would flash and the display would say Tire Pressure System Service. If you went to the tire readout, I would see reading for 3 tires and '--' for the front passenger. I checked pressure and while it was a bit low (32 lbs) it wasn't horribly so. Inflated to 38lbs just to make sure. It kept doing it. As we were driving to Pensacola over the weekend, it pretty much stayed on the whole time. When we got home Sunday, I rotated the tires to see if it would follow the tire or not. It did not. Still front passenger. Of course, the service dude said you have to reprogram them so even if it was the sensor in the wheel, it would still give the same reading. I've seen others say that it re-calibrates itself once you drive, so I think that was a line from him. Otherwise you really couldn't have anyone but the stealership rotate the tires... really? whatever. In any case, I don't know if it's the sensor in the wheel or the pickup in the truck... Anyone else seen anything like this before? I figure, if it's not covered under warranty, then I'll just live with it until we have the tires replaced (they have probably a max of 10k more on them), I'll have the sensors replaced to see if that fixes the issue.

I hate dealing with service centers at dealerships (I do most of the maintenance myself). And with all the recalls on this damn truck (getting the fuel pump fix while it's in this weekend), I've about had it with them!! We love the R/T, but may not be getting a Dodge again when we replace it. In all the vehicles I've owned over the last 25+ years (most of them new), I've never had this many recalls to deal with... oh well...

 

Usually the way it works. Factory warranty is to 36,000 miles from 0, regardless of owners. You would need an extended warranty for anything after that.

 

I found out about that warranty trick the hard way too. I purchased a certified 2012 DD with just over 14K miles on it back in December 2014. Sales staff said that the vehicle was certified by both the dealership and by FCA and the warranty would be extended another year after the 3 year mark. NOT! Service dept. said it was out of warranty as of April of this year 2015. And that doesn't even match up with the actual build date of the DD. Sales staff will tell you anything you want to hear as long as you buy the car.


Get a extended warranty, for peace of mind.


SF

 

Every warranty I've ever read has specifically stated that it starts on either the date of sale OR the first day it's put into service by the dealer (ie: demo, loaner, etc.) WHICHEVER OCCURS FIRST. The end period is always a SPECIFIC mileage such as 36,000 miles for bumper/bumper or 60,000 powertrain, etc.

So, in a nutshell, the dealer places a truck in service one month before you buy it and the owners runny nose 16 year old puts 400 miles on it - you have 35 months and 35,600 miles of coverage the day you buy it.

I've been reading them for over 30 years and they have always read that way. IF a salesperson infers anything else - get it in writing.

As for your issue, Schrader 20398 system requires no tools or active recalibration. Simply driving over 15 mph for 15 minutes recalibrate them.

As for the recalls, this is because in the past 4-5 years the NHTSA has gotten super involved in the recall process. EVERY vehicle is having multiple recalls. I'm on all truck forums and a couple years ago EVERYBODY pissed and moaned that every little issue should be a free recall - now that the NHTSA is up manufacturers a$$es, EVERYBODY is griping about having to take them in for free repairs. The only real solution would be to build 'em right the first time - and that ain't happening. Not by any manufacturer, anywhere...

 

Good post. I would ask is why would OP would purchase a "new" vehicle with 400 miles on it? Sounds like a demo to me. I wouldn't be paying "new" price for it and hopefully you got a nice discount due to the 400 miles on it already. When I got my R/T, it had 2 miles on it. When I got my Charger this year, it had 3.

As for recalls, this poster is right. There has been a lot of pressure on manufacturers to issue recalls asap even for the slightest of things. As the justice department and the NHTSA have already shown that they're willing to flex their muscles and issue huge fines and penalties for late recalls, you can't blame the manufacturers for acting with abundance of caution and "cover your ***" tactics by issuing a bunch of recalls. Would you rather them act like GM and cover up something for a decade and put you and your family in danger as a result? Didn't think so.

Now, on to your specific issues. I'd find another dealer. Most dealers I've been with have been pretty understanding and will perform the work under warranty if you're just slightly over. I recently took my R/T in and they discovered a tire balance issue. Even though it was slightly over the 12 months/12,000 miles they have for those problems, they performed the work for free anyway.

To me, your dealer telling you that the sensors need to be re-calibrated by them every rotation is a red flag. They don't. It's sad that some dealers want to be dishonest when it comes to service, but the more you know about the car yourself, you can sort of use these things as a litmus test for which ones are honest and which ones are jerking you around. I think, generally speaking, the internet has forced dealer service departments to be a little more customer friendly and honest as anyone can google certain issues and know right away if the dealer is full of crap.

FWIW, I've found that the dealers that have the best service departments are the ones that when you buy the vehicle, they personally take you over to the service department and introduce you to all of the service managers and allow you to ask questions and interact with them before you cut the check for the purchase. It shows some solidarity between the service and the sales departments rather than two separate entities who contradict each other like they did in your case.

Sounds to me like it is probably an issue with the truck and not the sensor, but I admittedly know very little about TPMS sensors so I could be wrong there. May not hurt to go to a discount tire shop and have them replace the sensor. They're usually cheap by comparison and that would isolate the issue as far as truck vs. wheel sensor.

 

I bought my '13 R/T as a demo on 12/29/12 with 4,400 miles on the clock. The D had an inspection sticker dated Sept. 2012. It was stated to me that the D had never been titled so the 36 month warranty would start 12/29/12, and there would be 31,600 miles left on the 36,000 miles part. I recently purchased a 4 year extended warranty. Below is a snip from my Dodge owners page confirming this. So the point is I did get the full 36 months of the warranty even though the D had been used by the dealing for 4 months. BTW I did get a very good deal as well.