I have a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 with about 36K miles and the factory lifetime warranty.
I took it to a local dealer in July because it was leaking transmission fluid. They gave me a hard time about what was covered and wanted to charge me a diagnostic fee to have it looked at. I explained the warranty, they took it in. They called back and gave me an amount to cover the work. I again explained the warranty and they agreed to call Dodge, and they covered the warranty.
The other day, I realized the leak was back, or never went away, and I just recently noticed it.
I called to make an appointment and they brought up the diagnostic fee again. I explained it was from a previous service and that I had the lifetime warranty.
Today I took it in and they came back to me after a couple hours and said they needed more time to locate the leak and that there will be additional time added to the diagnostic fee. I again told them it would be covered under warranty.
They came back to me 2 hours later and said they had cleaned up the area where there was fluid underneath, but could not find the leak. Tole me to drive about 100 to 200 miles and bring it back in.
They also said I needed to pay over $400 for diagnostic for their time to try and locate the leak. I told them it should be covered under warranty, and they told me it wasn't a warranty issue because they couldn't find the leak.
I asked to speak with someone higher up at the dealership, they said I would receive a call within 24 hours.
I asked for my keys and they said I had to pay the bill first.
They basically held my truck hostage.
Is this what should have happened for warranty work?
Even when you forget about lifetime warranty, what about the warranty of their work in July?
Sorry so long, very frustrating day off.

 

I agree with you. The supposedly fixed the leak, and here it is, leaking again. That should be covered by THEIR warranty policy.

I would have a chat with dodge corporate....... I am sure the main issue here is the dealership LOVED selling those lifetime warranties, and now hate having to honor them. If the truck was still under factory warranty (the original 3 years/36,000 miles, or whatever) you wouldn't be charged for this work.....

 

Agree this is crap service from your local dealer, I’d go to the next town over after this. But I don’t believe the dealers actually lose anything “honoring” the warranty. I think the biggest thing is they need to get approval form corporate, save the parts and submit the repairs to HQ, a lot of hassle. And, the techs don’t like working on older vehicles where a corroded bolt or fitting will fight back and add time to the job that’s not provided for in the book time. I drive past three dodge dealerships here in metro NY to go to the one I’ve had good luck with.

 

I'm not sure how it works when it's a shop warranty, but if it's manufacturer warranty, they can lose labor dollars on warranty work. Typically warranty work pays slightly less in labor hours than the standard repair labor, so unless it's a repair that the dealership knows they can perform in less time than the book allows, they will typically prefer non-warranty work.

As an example, the following shows the difference for a Nissan Armada between billable "standard" labor time and "warranty" labor time.

Example standard vs warranty labor book

 

well I learned something today. Thanks for the example.

 

In the end it all worked out.
The pan they replaced in July was not properly sealed and was leaking. They say they have a 12 month/12K mile warranty on service they provide. I also have the lifetime warranty. But to charge me over $400 to tell me my transmission has a leak the was obvious to everyone is ridiculous. They even put it in the write up on my $400 bill. I took it back and they fixed it for free and returned the money billed.
It was a horrible experience for me which is why I dread going to a dealer for warranty work.
One time I knew the problem and it was covered under the warranty, but just took it to a local mechanic and paid to have it repaired.

 

I'm glad to hear they ultimately came to their senses and repaired their mistake. Hopefully you never need to deal with that again.

-Rod