Hall of Shame

I would like to give you a little insight on our situation. Last fall, I bought a 98' Dodge Durango. It was perfect, inspected it, took it for a test drive, it was in wonderful condition with service records and a newly overhauled transmission. I drive this car every day, put my kids in it, and take it to the mountains. Drive it in the snow, the rain, and the sun. 3 months ago, I could have bet you one of my children this car would get you from point A to point B without a problem. my significant other is an engineer and keeps close tabs on our vehicles. I am also a clever female who makes strong note of how things work and maintains my vehicles to be sure of no major issues. This being so...................here's where the trouble begins......

In June, a coil wire cracks, and the car needs a part that cost $40. No problem. The car has been my best friend!!!! So I think no big deal. take it to my local dealer to be sure the right parts get put into it by the right service dept., good call right? WRONG! with the coil wire, and all the RECOMMENDED services, I pay $600. Ok, fine. Better for the car to get the proper services by a proper dealer. The same day its done, I take it home, it stalls and I barely make it home. the dealership says its another issue, I have to have it brought in. My better half says no, we will fix it our selves. In the mean time after getting a transmission service done by the dealership, I, like normal, check the tranny fluid, dangerously low!!!! They just did a service, did they leave it out? Did they forget? So I monitor for 2 days, making sure I don’t have a leak. Nope, no leak. So a month later, its still having a problem, I leave to California for the third death this summer, and my better half is driving it home from my grandmothers memorial service when the transmission fails!!!!!! WHAT???? yes, it fails. Mind you it has a newly rebuilt tranny done by a specialist. So my better half gets it towed home. calls the dealership the next business day. They say they are sending someone right over to get it in to the shop. 3 days later a tow truck shows up. 3 days later? what happened to right away? guess they took a long lunch. So a week after its towed, they tell us, "well its your problem, we didn’t leave any fluid out. And if it was low, its YOUR fault, cause you’re a woman and you don’t know how to check it properly." WHAT? a woman, and that makes me ignorant? Ok, this is getting personal. So now, we have a problem. A car that was running fine, now needs a major overhaul. After talking with the service manager, he agrees to give us 50% off parts and labor, funny huh? Seem as though they are taking some blame? Yup! We go for the overhaul $2000. say ok, I guess. We don’t really have another option. The car is broken, and now it needs to be fixed. So 3 weeks later, promise after promise of tomarrow it will be ready, they call me and say "come get your car, its done." How joyful I am to be getting my car back!!! It was only supposed to take a week, but since they gave us a deal, all the sudden we were low priority. Go figure.

So I go to pick up my car! I walk in, take my paperwork and my keys. They say "all ready, we test drove it, works great!" Get in my car, start it up and go. Funny, it seems a little slow. I think to myself, ok, you haven't had it for over 4 weeks, might just need getting used to again. So I go home. almost home....wont shift, feels like im towing a boat! Something's wrong. very wrong. Im sure, even though To the DEALERSHIP im a woman, and ignorant when it comes to knowing if my car is acting odd, or how to maintain my vehicle. SO I open the hood, its HOT, hot to the touch, that never was like that before. So I call the dealer, they say "bring it back. we will give you a loaner." Ok. I take it back. scared im going to wreck. I get there, go inside, give them my keys and paper work. They give me a minivan, on empty. Fine, go put $30 in it. I get 4 miles out and it breaks down. call, go back, and they give me a Neon, on empty, wont give me my $30 I just put in the van. Fine, not really comparable to what I gave them, but ok. The next day, they call my better half and say "she's paranoid, there's nothing wrong with the car, come get it." He says, " if I come down there, there better not be anything wrong with the car!" The dealership says, " no, nothing wrong, we drove it. And we don’t know what she's talking about." He goes down there, goes on a test drive, and sure enough, there's a problem. So the dealer tells us, it will have to wait until the tech comes in on Sat. ok, fine. Mind you, this transmission they just overhauled the same day, had a warranty. 1 yr, 12,000 miles by this dealership. On Sat. they call us, tell us it needs a valve body that’s going to cost $800. What happened to the warranty? gone? Doesn’t cover that. but its part of the transmission. nope, they say since they never touched it, its not covered. What did we pay for then? our car is still broken. They say its not their problem, and the part is back ordered. Ok, so what are our options? nothing. we pay the money, let it sit until the part comes in someday? wow! and they claim they are five star service.

We have researched this, and it’s a very common problem. we cant afford to get this repair that was supposed to be covered in the first place. Its like getting your kitchen remodeled. but after you pay, they never did the cabinets. And when you ask, they say they aren't part of the kitchen. go figure. What to do?

Can you shed some light on this? Daimler Chrysler customers are getting screwed. this is awful. I can count on 2 diff times that me being a woman, was the root of the problem in their opinion. And they made that very clear. I would love it for you to confront Daimler Chrysler in Monroe about their sexist, fraudulent, and Consumer robbing practices.

Last Modified: 05/09/09