Hi,
I'm new here and also new to Dodge. Also I'm new to obtaining warranty service. My whole life I've always bought used cars that were 5+ years old and just dealt with the issues as they arose. I've been driving my 1991 Honda Civic for twelve years now and plan to keep driving it just for the MPG as long as it holds out. It's running great, the only "problem" right now is rust....Oh well, enough about my background....here's why I am posting. Just two days ago I bought a Black 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 (28K miles) 4x4 QC SLT with the 4.7L V8. Like I said, I've never bought anything even remotely NEW before, so my wife and I are both absolutely THRILLED to have this fine vehicle. We haven't driven it too much yet because we don't want to use up the miles left on the 36,000 warranty too quickly. Anyway, just yesterday, our second day with the truck, I noticed a big (2-foot-round) spot on the driveway under the inside of the right front wheel. I got under the truck with a flashlight and can't tell where it is leaking from, but I do see a clear, very slightly brownish, fluid on the large spring/shock directly above the driveway spot. I moved the truck to a new place on the driveway and checked again this morning and see a new, but much smaller spot, about 4-inches round, under the same spring or shock. I've contaced the dealer where I bought the truck and requested a service appointment. Since this truck is a 2006 and has less than 28,500 miles on it, I should be covered under warranty right??? I think I should and feel a bit stupid for even posting this question. I'm just getting a bit nervous because I've never had any previous dealings with any dealerships service dept.
I used the online service-appt-sign-up website, but I haven't heard back from them yet, though it's only been 1/2 day so far. My wife and I took out a $17,000 loan on this truck, by far the biggest auto loan we've ever had. I'm just afraid of getting "screwed". We test drove the truck before buying it, but did NOT hire a mechanic to look it over. I just figured with almost 8,000 mile of warranty left I didn't need to have a mechanic look it over. We bought it for $17,683 and felt like we got a great bargain. After putting $1500 down and then adding the tax + document fees etc.. We ended up financing about $17,500 for five years. Maybe it's just my OCD making me worry, but I can't help feeling I got taken. I'm sure I'll feel better after the dealer fixes the leak and doesn't try to charge me for anything.
Another reason I'm a little anxious is it feels like I got too good of a deal....and there must be a reason.
The truck was listed on their website for $18,990 last week. I made a note of it and checked again last weekend. I saw that it had dropped to $17,683 so we decided to go test drive it. After we got there we asked the salesman how much he was asking for this and he said "$18,900". we told him it was only $17,683 and he acted surprised, then left and came back a few minutes later and said "Yes, $17,683 is OK". Well my wife saw some other trucks on the lot with 20" wheels (ours has 17") and she told me she wanted to get the truck we picked out, but with the 20" wheels. I called a tire dealer and was told to expect around $1200 to change the 17's to 20's. I then asked the saleman if he could change the wheels / tires. He assured me that he could but he'd have to wait until Monday (this was on a Sunday that we were at the dealership). He said he'd have to wait until Monday to see how much it would add to the price. Well we were about to leave and another salesman said they would agree to change the 17's to 20's if we bought the truck today...for the same $17,683. So we did it and drove it home Sunday afternoon 5/11/08 .
Now after seeing the leak spot on my driveway I'm wondering if the dealer was a bit anxious to get rid of the truck for some reason I'm not aware of....
Thanks for listening...If anyone responds I'll be sure to add to the post later telling how it went at the delaership's service dept.
Thanks,
ArcherM

 

WOW my fingers got tired just lookin at all that text ..

But seriously I bought my 06 used and have taken it into the dealer for a cracked fan housing and it was under warranty. If you are below the mileage then you should be a o k! As for them being ready to get rid of the truck, look at the gas prices they are begging people to buy these things! They either sit on the lot or go to auction cause nobody wants a gas guzzler these days.

 

To be perfectly honest, the dealerships and dodge are damn near GIVING away brand new trucks. Ive heard some dealerships not wanting to take used rams as they cant give those away with the incentive plans on new. As far as the "shock leak" problem, warrenty or not you SHOULD be able to get it repaired on their dime. Good luck on that and keep us posted on your progress.

 

I really don't think you'll have any problems. I haven't had to have any service on my truck done (yet) but I've had 3 other other Chrysler products in the past, and they've had better warranty service than the others...at least at the dealer's around me. I sure wish I had been around when you swapped your 17's. I wanted to to have a set of them on my truck instead of the 20's!

Edited in: I did buy a set of 17's that were take off's to put on my truck.

 

All seems to be OK now....I took the truck back to the dealer to get the 17" wheels swapped for the 20's, and told the service manager about the fluid on my driveway. Then I sat in the waiting room watching Dr. Phil...It seems that a chinese all-you-can-eat buffet was trying tocharge some patrons double just because they were BIG eaters. Can you believe that crap?

I'm gonna write to Dr. Phil and...oh wait a minute, let's get back on topic. After a few hours of waitingI was brought into the service bay and shown the truck, now with 20" wheels (though the 20" tires do not have as much tread left on them as the 17's had). Also, the mechanic told me he saw the oil on the spring and some more on the frame, but could not find any evidence of a "leak". He's pretty sure it was just an oil spill by whoever did the last oil change, presumably this dealer, right before I bought the truck. He said to just continue to look for "spots" on the driveway and if they persist, then bring the truck back in.

I was a little skeptical, but it's been about a week now and I haven't seen any more drips on the driveway.

I'm feeling much better now.

Thanks, I think I'll take the family out for dinner to a buffet...

 

It's good to hear that you're satisfied (or at least comfortable) with the initial response. I do try to avoid watching the Dr. Phil show while in there.....