Been a member here for a bit but never posted. Just wanted to share my story of my dodge caravan purchase and the last year that we have owned it. This will be a long story of being mistreated by employees of the dealership and overall dissatisfaction with Dodge. I do however, love the van and its capabilities, and of course the comfort. It's a pretty good read if you can stick with it!

- Bought brand new, 21 kilometers on it.
- Dealership installed remote start, in the process:
-Damaged dashboard when they removed the center console panel
-Damaged panel under the steering wheel, by the driver's legs.
-Damaged panel on the side of the dash, where the door closes up against.
-Developed a rattling noise out of one of the vents, from a panel they removed to install the remote start

- Took the van in for a detail and paint seal from a friend of mine (not clear coat sealer, just a really good coat of wax).
- He noticed rear bumper misaligned
- He also noticed a couple spots from the factory the paint did not "Stick".

- About a week after owning it noticed that the engine was making a loud ticking noise, especially prominent when cold.
- Also noticed a loud chirping coming from what seems to be the wheels, and the rear calipers "clicking" frequently.

- Took the van back to the dealership with all these complaints, they changed the oil to alleviate the ticking noise. All damaged panels replaced, dashboard "Touched up" so damage is not as noticeable. I was told they heard the chirping and clicking but cannot do anything about it.

- Took van in again to diagnose noise because the ticking continued, was told that it was just regular break in. Got the salesman to start several other vans in the lot, not one sounded like mine. Salesman proceeded to tell me I complain about everything and to "EFF OFF". Also called me a girl. I got the manager involved, nothing happened to the salesman or any kind of retribution to me for the poor service.

- Made another appointment and took van in. They diagnosed for a day or two and told me lifters need to be replaced, must be ordered. All other issues unresolved. Dealership replaced the blower motor for the rattle in the vent. I took the van home upset because the rattle persists (Also found a screw or two on the passenger floor) and engine is not repaired.

- A couple weeks later lifters are in. Van at dealership for three days replacing lifters. I'm told the noise is gone and everything is okay. Immediately when pulling into my driveway noise is obviously still there.

- Took van in again for diagnosis. This time they kept the van for 3 days and told me they cannot hear the noise any more. I pulled mechanic out from the shop to listen to the van. He told me nothing is wrong with it. Got a second mechanic to tell me the same thing. Took mechanic out and started another van in the parking lot, he admitted there is something wrong.

- Called Dodge Customer Service to get assistance with repairs. Dealership seems incapable of coming up with a proper diagnoses. I am promised engineers will be involved in determining the problem.

- Drop van off for diagnoses. Am given rental car.
-Two weeks without a word from the dealership. Dodge customer service calls to tell me no new updates.
-Three weeks after drop off I call the dealership and am told they are inspecting the pistons.
- 25 days after dropping the van off I get it back with a replaced engine. Sound is gone and I am somewhat happy.
- Dealership tells me the rattle in the vent is gone, which it is not.

Now I am getting ready to make another appointment for the remaining problems:

-Rattle in the vent
-Misaligned bumper
-Spots on body paint did not stick (small, but enough to repair)
-Chirping form who knows where when decelerating.
-Clicking from rear calipers.

Am I being unreasonable to keep bringing the van back? I feel if I had just ignored the issues I would not have had the engine replaced and would have been much worse off. But now I have a van with 12,000kms and a replaced engine. How does that stand for trade in????

Any idea what the chirping noise or clicking could be?

 

I don't have an answer to your question but you might want to consider looking into lemon laws in your state/province if you have paid money for any of these repairs. I don't see any sane reason to have replaced an engine or even just the valve lifters with fewer than 12,000km on it.

 

No dealership/manufacturer takes engine changes on a low mileage vehicle lightly. No doubt they had good reason.

"Salesman proceeded to tell me I complain about everything and to "EFF OFF". Also called me a girl. I got the manager involved, nothing happened to the salesman or any kind of retribution to me for the poor service." That is absolutely unacceptable! I would hope that salesman had the backbone to at least man up and apologize for his remarks, especially after he saw Chrysler engineering decided to change your engine. If he didn't you can't let that stand.

Unreasonable? Not in the least. You fork over 30 grand for a vehicle it had better be right. I had 17 issues with my 96 in the first 3 months after purchase. None as serious as yours and half were cosmetic but they fixed every one of them bar one. Rear brakes "moan" when wet. It eventually quit so I blew it off.

Chirping? If you're sure it's from the wheel wells it has to be brakes, bearings or cv joints. If it's a constant cyclic chirp when the van is in motion it has to be something that rotates.

Which engine?

 

Lemon laws go out the window when you're outside of America and Canada..

Sounds like you got hustled or the dealership people are incompetent and hate the idea of having to work.. Which isn't that uncommon in the auto industry..

 

try see if a member here chryslercares can help ya. you should had a perfect working van period.

 

Thanks for the words of reassurance. I'm going to continue pursuing with the dealership as far as I can. Unfortunately the lemon laws here in Canada are pretty vague and as long as the dealership is attempting to fix the issue I don't think I stand a chance. They have fixed the ticking / knocking noise by replacing the engine but it rattles me that this kind of work needed to be done on a brand new van. It's a 3.6 pentastar. The incident with the salesman happened a year ago, with no apology so I doubt I can follow up on it now.

 

Well the salesman is a spineless loser then. Lot of that going around. Regardless of the engine change I would look for another dealership. Yes they fixed it but you had to jump through far too many hoops and deal with way too many ash holes along the way. If you have the equivalent of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) or States Attorney General or Consumer Affairs Bureau I'd be all over them.

As far as the engine change on a new van, well it happens. The 3.6 ltr engine had it's problems early. There was a recall for debris in the cylinders causing noises and failures then there was the cylinder head problem. They only effected a very limited number of vehicles. With those problems cleared up so far, the 3.6 ltr engine is proving to be a very reliable beast. Unfortunately, anything made by man can break at anytime. Can't see it doing anything but help your resale value. You've got a year + old van with a brand new factory engine.

WHERE IS CHRYSLERCARES? HE SHOULD BE ALL OVER THIS THREAD!

 

Good a little more reassurance. I have done everything in my power to keep my cool and I won't lie I've lost it on a few occasions when dealing with all this. The dealership seems to have stepped it up a little bit in caring for me so hopefully when I bring it back for the remaining issues they keep it up. I still feel that with all the mishaps the right thing to do here would be to replace the van though. I know Dodge does not have a buy back policy but in extreme cases they should adopt one. Every time I go to the dealership I feel like my issues aren't important and the nearest dealership after that one is a half an hour away. I'm pretty busy with a family, both the wife and I work so dealing with this is becoming a huge hassle.

 

The minivan section isn't exactly high on peoples to-view list..

 

Considering the number of minivans sold it should be high on Chryslercares list. He is a Chrysler LLC representative.