Dodge Chrysler dealers not ashamed of ripping off thier customers.

[darkfiire5000]

I use to work at a Lithia Dodge in Pocatello Idaho it sucked.As for the rates they charged people $85 bucks an hour. As for the parts I saw the parts department mark up parts by up 50% so yah they screw you royaly.

[david hunt]

  Yes the dealership is high priced. I took a v-10 3500 dualee in twice to turn off engine light. Grand total was 900 dollars. I finally bought a OBD 2 reader and shut my own engine light off. Shows a misfire on number 1 plug wire. I probaly could use a new set of wires.  Stay away from any dealer. No parts for my old Mopars too boot. Learned a lesson!  Inspector Mopar

[ChgrSteve67]

Update

After cancling the order on the switch and the dealer saying they would give me back 50% of the labor cost they have yet to actually give me back any of my money.

Now its off to the BBB and BAR to see how they like getting complaints filed against them.

[b5blue]

Go get em Steve! 

[451-74Charger]

When I was at school, i did a weekend job at a bike shop.
When we ordered parts we added 34% to the cost, and for retail parts (helmets, stickers etc, we added 84% to our cost to give us the retail price.

[quapman]

No offense, but why did you talk to a salesman instead of the service manager? Salesfolks don't give a carp about anything but their commission.

Did you try the Chrysler 800 number?

We had issues with the wife's 97 Charger and I called. Got nowhere, but made me feel better after unloading on the "customer service" guy.

I'd try to get the DISTRICT manager's number, give him a verbal bitch-slapping and get ALL your money back. YOU diagnosed the problem, right?

[ChgrSteve67]

I never dealt with a sales person, I worked with the Service agent.
Supposedly he conveyed my complaints to the Service Manager to get approval to reduce the labor cost.
When my money was not refunded I tried to talk to the Service Manager but always got routed to someone else or dumped into voice mail. After that it was BBB and BAR complaint time.

The survey person I conveyed the story to told me that my comments would be read by a manager at the dealership however she did not exactly say who that was.

[Ghoste]

When the service manager was blocking you did you try the dealer principal?  I'd be ragging on him too.

[68charger383]

Remember the dealer makes about 70% of their profit from the service area.

Selling new cars is only a small piece of the profit. Actually when you think about it, selling new cars is more of a way to keep a constant flow of cars to come in for service/warranty work.   Why do you think they sell most of them for $200-300 above invoice 

[ITSA426]

I must be the odd guy here.  I just bought a set of identical replacement Michelins for my RT Daytona.  I shopped around and the  dealer beat everyone's price, installed, including tirerack.com.   They were installed promptly and I just got a letter from Chrysler for $50 VISA card for purchasing tires from the dealer. 

They do most of my oil changes, but I can buy air filters and a lot of other stuff cheaper elsewhere.  They usually ask if I want the car washed when I pick it up.  They have settled any disagreements I've had promptly and fairly.  They are a little poor about explaining their work, however, unless you ask a lot of questions.  I'm not particularly happy with their rental/loaner car program so I don't use it.

I know at least one of the local MOPAR clubs holds an occasional meeting there.  I get discounts on aftermarket trinkets and accessories for the cars.  I think they work hard to keep relationships going.  It's very competitive out there and they know that.

[ChgrSteve67]

Complaints are now filed.

I'm not expecting much.

Bad customer service is the norm in CA not the exception.

[quapman]

OK, I get it now, wasn't paying attention, I guess.

Unfortunately, it's not just CA. Poor service in general seems to be the norm and when you complain, it's nothing but excuses.

How did the U.S. lose its competitive edge again?

[Ghoste]

ITSA426 you are becoming an odd man out and you should be sure to promote that dealership whenever you hear of someone complaining about a dealer or asking where to go for a new car or service and parts.  If they  treat people right they deserve the support. 

[moparheater]

I finally located the hard to find turn signal terminals for my 66 charger at Larchmont Dodge in New York (I'm from KS). They charged me 11.01 shipping only to send the little teminals in a regular envelope which got torn somewhere from NY to KS. Opened it up and you guessed it, only 6 terminals in the envelope. Got 2 calls into the service mangager since the middle of June and have yet to have this problem resolved  All for an .83 terminal.


The other dealership that i tried to get these parts through sent me the wrong terminal, but luckily didn't charge me because he lost my information. Stupid.

[ITSA426]

ITSA426 you are becoming an odd man out and you should be sure to promote that dealership whenever you hear of someone complaining about a dealer or asking where to go for a new car or service and parts.  If they  treat people right they deserve the support. 

I try.  It took several tries to find a good dealer.  I bought my Rumble Bee from a dealer who is now closed down, involved in a huge bankruptcy, under FBI investigation, fraud claims, and it gets more bizarre each day.  Chrysler claims he owes close to half a billion dollars.  Too bad, because he had some good people working for him.  That's not the dealer I use now.

Dealers are in business, and can't stay in business if they give everything away but they don't have to change their attitude after you make a big purchase either.

[Ghoste]

Exactly, the crappy service and attitudes make the prices even worse than they may or may not actually be.  The dealer I go to for parts always treats me good and sometimes the part is more than another place but as long as it isn't stupid more I go there because he gives me a discount when he can but just as or more important, he always knows my name, he always asks about the Charger and if I phone and say order this number he doesn't question me or ask for a deposit.

[b5blue]

I wish someone around me was like that! My local guys are smug A-holes who just look at you like they are some kind of know-it-all.

[ChgrSteve67]

Update

Better Business Bureau called me and they contacted the dealership.

The Dealership told them they would refund the money for the switch but not the labor.
They also told the BBB that I should have contaced the service manager which I tried to do but the dealership never returned any of my calls.

I'm not going to hold my breath on seeing any of my money again so the best I can do is let everyone know about my experience and keep filing complaints.

I'm also currently working on a letter to the Chrysler Corporation which I figure will land on def ears as well but it will at least make me feel I have told and warned everyone I could.

I still have 5 years left on the warranty on my wife car so now I will need to find a new dealership to get it serviced at.

[b5blue]

Why not contact a local TV station....Like one they advertise on?

[ChgrSteve67]

Waiting for the whole story to unfold.  Believe me that option is still on the table.

I want to give each company and organization an opportunity to step up and do the right thing.

In the end for the $115 its worth it to know who not to do business with when it gomes time to spend the BIG money.
My PT Cruiser will be 9 years old in October and needs to be replaced in the next year or so.

Guess I need to go down a take a look at the new Camero or Mini Cooper.

20 years ago I said I would never own another ford, so far thats been pretty easy to live with.

[ChgrSteve67]

Well to close out the thread I figured I would give everyone the results.

After filing complaints to the Better Business Bureau and the Bureau of Automotive repair the Dealership finally refunded me the money for the switch but that was it, they said they would not refund the hour of labor (or the half hour they said they would) they claimed they needed to plug in the fuse and check that the switch was bad.

I got a switch from another dealer for $25 less ($59 for the switch and $15 shipping - local dealer was screwing me for $100 for just the switch) and for the hour of labor they wanted to charge me twice for it took the removal of 6 screws and about 15 minutes to replace it (no special tools required)

Steve

[greenpigs]

I'm done buying new Mopar products since they closed the archives. I buy a new car about every 3 years so I guess now its a Ford. No way im buying an obama wagon.

[moparheater]

if you want to file a complaint with an out of state business, do you file it in that state, or go locally? my guess is contact the out of state better business bureau. or is the better business bureau national?

[ChgrSteve67]

The BBB is National
http://www.bbb.org/

I don't know if each state has a consumer affairs department or not. I would guess they do.

[moparheater]

thanks for the info steve, got my compaint sent!