This may be a little long, but here goes. hopefully someone will give me a little advice here.
2006 Dodge Ram 2500 Big Horn Hemi. bought in 07 with lifetime powertrain warranty. truck has 41000 miles.
Took it into the dealer for my normal oil change and also asked them to look into some other odd issues that were going on.
1st issue: I told them my dome light turns off on its own after just a few seconds with the door open or when turning on with the switch. not a big deal but it was annoying when getting out of the truck to go hunting in the early morning hours.They found an update available for the cabin computer control and performed the software update for $63.00 which seemed to fix this.
2nd: I told them the drivers side rear door lock will not work unless pushed down or pulled up manually. Technician stated he found 3 frayed wires that were causing the problem. They can order a new wire harness and repair for $270 but the wire is on back order right now. Charged me $72.00 for this. I will repair the wires on my own but didnt tell them that.

3rd: 4-wheel drive works fine but for some reason the light on the dash that says the truck is in 4x4 doesnt come on. technician found the 4x4 switch is defective and will cost $78.45 to fix. I told them to go ahead and order the switch and they can replace it when they get it in. charged me $45 labor

4th: heater sounds like theres a ping pong ball bouncing around for a few seconds when turned on. technician found the recirculation door is broken and causing the noise. will cost cost $228.50 to replace. cost me now for labor to look into the problem $63.00

oil/filter change as normal was $34.75 and free 16 point inspection.

I was billed a total of $255.75 labor and $22.00 parts. pay for my oil change is fine of course. I dont mind paying for the software updat that fixed the dome light. although I would think a software update should be free. All of the other charges were to simply diagnose problems and quote a repair price, but they didnt actually fix them. This does not seem right to me. Or is this just the way it is?
I didnt make too big of a stink about it when I picked it up but I am thinking about calling or e-mailing the srvice manager or something. what do you guys think?
I did sign that they could go up to $340 for repairs if needed, otherwise they were suppose to call. I figured that they would at least fix more of the things for this...
sorry this is so long

 

I'll bet the dome light wasn't a software issue at all. If one of the frayed wires is the door sensor, the light will come on when the door is opened but then the connection is broken and the "turn off" delay begins immediately. Broken wires in the door harness seems to be common on these trucks, esp. the rear doors.

I'd love to know how the dealer plans to replace the recirc door so cheaply, unless they have also abandoned Dodge parts and plan to use the kit from Heater Treater. There's no way they're removing the entire dash and discharging the AC system for $200ish.

Their labor charges sound ok but a separate diagnostic charge for every little item seems to be gold-digging. I fix computers and have never charged to say "Yes, you have a virus" in addition to the virus removal fee.

 

Out of line in general - YES, out of line compared to what other dealers (and not just Chrysler) charges - NOPE.

I agree with John in that I think the dome light issue is related to the wires and NOT TIPM (which I hate TIPM control - SO glad my '04 still has basic relays and fuses)!

Mopar DOES in fact offer a blend/recirc door repair kit which is VERY similar to the "Heater Treater" fix, is close to the price of it AND just like it does NOT require full dash removal for installation. It even one-ups the Heater Treater in the fact that you don't lose dual climate control if so equipped.

Wire harness in the door issues are common with '06+ TIPM models, btw. IMO it's a design flaw.

If it was me and I could not diagnose/fix NON-warranty issues then I'd find me a good, reputable, neighborhood shop for any non-power train related repairs...

 

I sorta learned a lesson here anyways. This is the first thing I've ever really had looked into on the truck other than normal maintenence. I expected them to either fix something or to give me a price to fix things, not charge me to give me a price to fix things... I kinda think its because it was written up as 4 different things that they charged for 4 different diagnostics. I know the service manager a little, but he was not in when I had the truck there. He should be back tommorrow. I sent him an e-mail explaining everything so I will be interested to hear what he has to say.
I dont mind the prices to repair things, its the fact that they charged me to give me an estimate for each little thing that bothers me. If this is really what dealer auto shops have gotten to be its pretty scary. Next time, I'll try harder to diagnose the problem myself as I can fix most things unless its computer software update crap. makes me want to pull the old 86 chevy and 78 Trans Am out of the garage more often since those I can work on without a computer science degree.

 

Up here they clearly tell you the diagnostic charge. If you have them fix the problem then the diagnostic fee is not charge for that problem just the labor to fix it. The sounds like the basic diagnostic fee. Some diagnostic are not worth the fee, but sometime the diagnostic takes longer than the book rate. For you probably they probably were able to diagnose fairly easy. I would think they will subtract the diagnostic fee from the labor charge in they actually fix the problems.

 

as a rule of thumb, the dealer will rape you every chance they get. Unless you do what I did, and make them agree to fix a bunch of crap before you buy the truck.

 

The door wires broke on my 06 MC last summer.. drove me nuts until I found it.. they wanted $1300 to rewire the harness incl parts/labour. I fixed it for about 30c in electricity, and 40c in solder.... oh ya..10c in tape..

If you are technologically capable, I'd be looking into it.

The rest of the rates, I cannot comment on.. my dealer up here charges you to walk through their door on a good day.

 

thanks for all the replies.
I talked this over with the service manager for a while. They found that 'oh yeah the 4x4 switch is covered under your powertrain warranty.' So I will get that done for free at least. I told him they need to refund the $45 diagnostic for that also and I'm sure I will need to ask again when I go in to get it.
This is the best I could get them to do. seems like this is the normal practice for them which is really sad. I was told that when they wrote up the work order that they could have charged a $89 diagnostic fee for each thing. He said they were trying to keep the charge down so they charged by labor time since that would be cheaper than the straight diagnostic fee.
Next time I have anything looked into, I will make sure it is exactly clear what I'm getting into. I had far too much faith in my small town dealer that I have been going to for years. lesson learned.
as far as the door wires go. I'll fix that on my own no problem sometime this week. I cant believe they would want to rewire everything for a couple of minorly damaged wires.
I wont be going back to the dealer for service unless Its something I think will be covered under my lifetime powertrain warranty.

 

When you do your door wires, wrap them to keep the door from nicking the wires, even some of that plastic flexible stuff that costs about $2 for ten feet at the auto parts store will keep you from having the problem...

 

Unfortunately, this is commonplace. Avoid the dealer. Here is a perfect example:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...al-patron.html