Stealership problems...what next?

I can see all of this happening to me. Hang in there. Some of this is the price we pay for having so much and wanting the lowest price at all times. It wasn't that way as much years (and years) ago.
 
I don't think you are being picky at all - for the cost of a new car or truck these days, it should be perfect. I know I've been a real PIA to the Firestone store where I have bought tires + lifetime alighment, rotation and balance. I've had them re-balance several times, I can tell they are agrivated sometimes when I aske them to rotate, check alignment and balance all four tires, but you know what? They weren't aggrivated when I paid for those 4 new tires and all those extras. Just asking you do to what I paid for.

I have found that with few exceptions, once the product (car, boat, house, whatever) is paid for, it's very hard to get the seller to give you his full attention. The fact you are having to go to the manufacture to get a dealer (heck, the dealer that sold it!) to fix a simple problem just proves it.

The business world just has a hard time understanding that it is much cheaper and easier to keep a customer than to go out and find a new one. But yet many retail dealerships that sell expensive products think nothing of pi$$ing people off to the point they take their business elsewhere. We all have stories and I won't bore you with mine, but that is whey I am on my 3rd Lexus and 2nd SeaRay, but would not take another BMW if you gave me one (I like the cars ok, but a bad dealer experience turned me off for life).
 
gerryb said:
Some of this is the price we pay for having so much and wanting the lowest price at all times. It wasn't that way as much years (and years) ago.
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Gerry, why should it not be that way now? I'm the consummate cheapskate. I love to negotiate when I buy things and hate to pay retail for things. I've found that most everything is negotiable, and I'm not talking just about the price you pay for things.
 
Gofirstclass said:
Gerry, why should it not be that way now? I'm the consummate cheapskate. I love to negotiate when I buy things and hate to pay retail for things. I've found that most everything is negotiable, and I'm not talking just about the price you pay for things.
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+1000 on this statement I try to negotiate everything even items at HD & Lowes just get a sales person if an item has been on the shelf to long they may be ready to discount it to move it out.

Mike I know some of your ordeals with insurance companies from drunk boater to lightning strikes have amazed me at how much you were able to negotiate with them. Who would have thought of having them pay your expenses to fly to look at Beachcomber before buying her (not me till I read your post). I've learned it only takes some time to negotiate with any company or seller with nothing to lose only your time spent.

BillK2632 said:
I don't think you are being picky at all - for the cost of a new car or truck these days, it should be perfect. I know I've been a real PIA to the Firestone store where I have bought tires + lifetime alighment, rotation and balance. I've had them re-balance several times, I can tell they are agrivated sometimes when I aske them to rotate, check alignment and balance all four tires, but you know what? They weren't aggrivated when I paid for those 4 new tires and all those extras. Just asking you do to what I paid for.

I have found that with few exceptions, once the product (car, boat, house, whatever) is paid for, it's very hard to get the seller to give you his full attention. The fact you are having to go to the manufacture to get a dealer (heck, the dealer that sold it!) to fix a simple problem just proves it.

The business world just has a hard time understanding that it is much cheaper and easier to keep a customer than to go out and find a new one. But yet many retail dealerships that sell expensive products think nothing of pi$$ing people off to the point they take their business elsewhere. We all have stories and I won't bore you with mine, but that is whey I am on my 3rd Lexus and 2nd SeaRay, but would not take another BMW if you gave me one (I like the cars ok, but a bad dealer experience turned me off for life).
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Maybe a mechanic can shed more light on this. I was told by my Service Adviser at Cadillac the mechanics now at dealerships are paid by the hour to complete book so if it's a 4 hour book rate he does it in 1 hour he's paid 4 hours. If the car or truck comes back he's not paid anything to repair it the 2nd, 3rd time.

This is why any good dealership would prefer you go through their Corporate Service Center to open a case file then the dealership and mechanic get paid to resolve the problem. This system sucks but with all the shady dealers out there they would abuse their own system.

I use Discount Tires heard many complaints about them in other areas ours is excellent never a hassle over anything when I want a balance & rotation they even fill the tires with pure nitrogen instead of air.
 
Bob & Sue said:
+1000 on this statement I try to negotiate everything even items at HD & Lowes just get a sales person if an item has been on the shelf to long they may be ready to discount it to move it out.

Mike I know some of your ordeals with insurance companies from drunk boater to lightning strikes have amazed me at how much you were able to negotiate with them. Who would have thought of having them pay your expenses to fly to look at Beachcomber before buying her (not me till I read your post). I've learned it only takes some time to negotiate with any company or seller with nothing to lose only your time spent.



Maybe a mechanic can shed more light on this. I was told by my Service Adviser at Cadillac the mechanics now at dealerships are paid by the hour to complete book so if it's a 4 hour book rate he does it in 1 hour he's paid 4 hours. If the car or truck comes back he's not paid anything to repair it the 2nd, 3rd time.

This is why any good dealership would prefer you go through their Corporate Service Center to open a case file then the dealership and mechanic get paid to resolve the problem. This system sucks but with all the shady dealers out there they would abuse their own system.

I use Discount Tires heard many complaints about them in other areas ours is excellent never a hassle over anything when I want a balance & rotation they even fill the tires with pure nitrogen instead of air.
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The basic formula is that an experienced mechanic splits the labor rate 50/50 with the Dealership. So the labor that is billed to the customer is what gets split. In the case of warranty work....if it is a recall....it is billed at a significantly reduced rate back to the manufacturer. If the car "comes back" after a repair....the mechanic "eats" the time since it can't be billed. In the case of the OP's issue......there is no mechanic on it....yet. Bouncing it to the tire guys was the "easy" button for the Service Associate. In their mind...."its a tire problem so it goes to the tire guys". Unfortunately, in the hierarchy of a dealership.....the tire guys are seen as the bottom of technical competency. Additionally, the tire guys or for that matter the mechanics have no idea what you paid for your car. That really has no impact when the work gets assigned to a mechanic to fix.

I worked as a mechanic through high school and college at several dealerships in the area and it was great money and fun work. The longer warranties have impacted what you can make as a mechanic since the warranty rates are low. The really good mechanics moved on to more exotic vehicles since the labor rates are higher and the cars are far more fun to work on.
 
To be honest, years ago I bought my wife's Sorento at Koons Kia in Virginia because I found that they had the best price and were most willing 'to work with me'. It's a couple hours from my house and I never anticipated getting service from that dealership once I purchased other than something serious. My Subaru I bought this year? I bought from a dealership 1.6 miles from my house. All things being equal, at this point in my life the time and hassle are not worth dealing with traffic, tolls, driving and the stress. I negotiate everything like most have posted but I am getting better at understanding the dynamic that exists SOMETIMES between cost and convenience.
 
Ironically enough I had the same issue on a truck that I bought from manassas CDJR. 2013 ram 2500. It wasn't quite so bad as what you are describing. Here's the funny part. I had them do a dealership trade to pick up the vehicle from Koons because I wanted to work through my local dealer.
 
What was the ultimate resolution? I'm thinking my rim is bent/twisted. I can almost feel the back end shimmy from side to side in certain conditions.
 
importmonkey said:
What was the ultimate resolution? I'm thinking my rim is bent/twisted. I can almost feel the back end shimmy from side to side in certain conditions.
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It went away with new tires at 45k miles. However the passenger seat would only vibrate when there was no passenger and it would come and go. My guess since I was buying near the end of the build season is that this truck sat and got flat spots. Once thing you might consider is balancing beads. However if the tire is significantly off or the wheel is then they won't help. I do know from having done tires when I was younger that if you get a seriously off balance setup you can rotate the tire 180 degrees to possibly offset it.
 
estoltz said:
It went away with new tires at 45k miles. However the passenger seat would only vibrate when there was no passenger and it would come and go. My guess since I was buying near the end of the build season is that this truck sat and got flat spots. Once thing you might consider is balancing beads. However if the tire is significantly off or the wheel is then they won't help. I do know from having done tires when I was younger that if you get a seriously off balance setup you can rotate the tire 180 degrees to possibly offset it.
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if you use the beads and they aren't enough, you just keep adding more until they work. I used to put them in my jeep tires, and i never had any tire vibration issues, even after ripping tread lugs off while rock crawling, then driving 3 hours home.
 
Yup, considering the beads as well. I needed them in my JK.

I missed the call from my case manager. She didn't call me back today. Seems like that's crawling along too. Oh well.

Called the dealership back. Chuck picked up, but I told him I think I need to talk to the service manager. He agreed, but offered to help however he could. Once Joe got on the phone, I asked what our options were. He wants the truck for a while. I asked what the plan was. I really don't want to be without my truck for long. It's our family vehicle and we have a lot of trips coming up, but it's gotta happen. He said he'd get me a rental car. Better be a nice one, d@mn!

Got an appointment for tomorrow. It didn't come without arguing though.b I just can't believe their lack of people skills. It's like he doesn't care this will be the 6th time I've brought this back. He said he'll take a ride with me so he can feel the problem and we'll go from there. I told him I want to drive another truck and if that one is good, we can swap wheels and tires. He punted that issue to sales. Said he's got protocol to follow to get things done. Dear goodness.

Needless to say, I'm not very confident it will be fixed the next time I see it.
 
So of course it was doing it coming up here but not while with Joe, the service manager. It did it a little, but not much. He's trying to tell me it's the gas I use. I told him it recommends 89 in the book, but that 87 is acceptable. I showed him the text in the manual and he still wouldn't drop it.

It's not the stupid gas. He was also telling me that he heard a knock due to the undercombustion of the lower octane. *I told him, "actually, higher octane fuel has a higher flash point and is harder to burn. knock is from the lower octane fuel combusting before it's supposed to. He argued with me. I dropped it. It's a common misperception but he's wrong. Just worries me about what he "knows."

Drove another new one and it has a similar shake to it. Certainly not as bad though. I think it's coming down to ****ty tires. I'm sure if I put Firestone on it, it would be fine. I've always had good luck with them. Michelin tires would be a great improvement too. Unfortunately, I can't have them changed now under warranty. I'll just have to deal with the wobble until the wear out. It's a shame manufacturers take the lowest bidder when it comes to tires. It really ruins their product.

I guess shame on me for not negotiating better with Shane. Should have said I'll take it once they put a set of better tires on it.

I told him if they get it on the lift right away and prove those tires are balanced, I'll let it go. Man, this sucks! Still gonna see if I can get Chrysler to get me a different set of tires - that aren't pieces of crap.

Just ready to be over with this. Might get a free oil change out of it. I still feel justified from all the time wasted for trips they told me to come in and nothing was done.

Ugh.
 
Joe told me, "Sure enough. One was out of balance." He started to question if his road force balancer was out of calibration. How can I get my tires balanced there every week and at least one of them be out of balance. He gave me 2 free oil changes.

So they were all zero. At first, I thought it was actually better. Then it all came back. Man. I don't know if the headache is from the tires or from dealing with all of this.

I'm going to follow up with my case manager at Chrysler and try to get a new set of tires out of 'em (and not Goodyear Duracraps this time). Wish me luck.
 
I cannot believe this kind of crap still goes on. I had a similar problem with a new 1981 VW Rabbit S. Got the same runaround from the dealer. Come to find out, the WHEELS had flat spots in them. Not little ones either. Probably 3-5 inches on each wheel. The morons still tried to balance the tires on the defective wheels.

Might be your wheels are so far out of whack the assemble cannot be balanced.
 
I finally talked to the case manager. I thought she would have called me back a little sooner but I wanted to make sure that she had my contact information. She asked me to go over the scenario and asked what she could do for me. I explain the whole story to her and asked her what she thought our options were. Honestly, I said I would really like a set of different tires. She said that there is nothing that Chrysler can do for me. That I need to call the tire manufacturer and work it out with them.

I told her that I would really appreciate it if Chrysler were to call Goodyear and try and find a resolution to this problem. She said that Chrysler does not call other manufacturers and that I have to be the one to follow up with him. I asked her another question. I buy a product from you and one-fifth of that product is defective. Regardless of who put that part on or poop that part belongs to, I still bought the overall product from you. If I were to buy a Ferrari and within 10 miles of driving it off the lot I see that you gave me tires that don't hold air why is that not your problem as well?

So now I'm left holding the bag. I bought a really nice truck with really crappy tires. I will keep telling myself that because of it I don't have a really crappy truck. But I certainly didn't get a hundred percent of the value out of the product I thought I was buying.

What do you think I should do? I guess I have to call Goodyear and ask them to get me better tires? I really don't understand how Chrysler can feel no part of ownership when it comes to this issue. What if my steering wheel falls off while I'm driving? I guess I can't go to Chrysler and say your product is broken. Nope. They will just tell me that I have to go to the steering wheel manufacturer and say that their product is defective. This is so ridiculous and I'm so exhausted from dealing with this whole situation.
 
Would this fall under your state lemon law?

Have you you called your state AG?

Have you been to an independent touck dealership or truck suspension shop to have an expert in the subject look at the truck?

If if not a truck place, an RV place maybe?
 
I would not accept that response. I would continue up the food chain. I would make a bit more noise.
 
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