Remember that Ram Promaster City I bought?

We had a similar nightmare story with a Chrysler dealer here. Our ENGINE was on back-order......for 3 months!! The dealer was great to work with, but their hands were tied. I needed a rental paid for by Chrysler since a family of 5 will have a hard time fitting in a miata or a caged GLH.
Anyway, a buddy of mine slipped me the e-mail address to the director of customer service (I looked J.G. I no longer have that e-mail address). I fired off that e-mail. Within 2 hours the dealer called me back and said "I don't know who you know, or what you did, but Chrysler just called us. Your rental is paid for until the van is done. No time limit. No questions asked. Wow, you're the man!"
Sorry J.G. I spent quite a bit of time scouring my two yahoo accounts looking for that e-mail. It's not there.

Seriously write Sergio. Those CEO E-mails have a way of getting things done.

If this works or doesn't work out for you, it does make an interesting magazine article on how to deal with a bad dealer/service experience. You don't need to name names one way or the other, but your experience and how it is properly dealt with would be a good read.

You're very patient. I'd set aside a little time and visit the dealership. I'm not leaving until I'm satisfied. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Nothing the dealer likes more than an unhappy customer on the sales floor. Be like a dog with a bone and don't let go until you're happy. Good Luck.

crewperson wrote: You're very patient. I'd set aside a little time and visit the dealership. I'm not leaving until I'm satisfied. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Nothing the dealer likes more than an unhappy customer on the sales floor. Be like a dog with a bone and don't let go until you're happy. Good Luck.

Perhaps with button up shirt over a custom lettered T-Shirt that says "Ask me about my New Dodge Lemon." When the first brush-off happens, lose the button up and stand in the show room. Maybe hand out flyers like you're recruiting for Vegas hookers. Offer to put the button-up back on when you get to meet with the manager.

Somewhere there is a truck on a lot close enough to what you want. It would get to you a lot more quickly than the windshield.

Meh. Windshields are overrated.

ultraclyde wrote:

crewperson wrote: You're very patient. I'd set aside a little time and visit the dealership. I'm not leaving until I'm satisfied. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Nothing the dealer likes more than an unhappy customer on the sales floor. Be like a dog with a bone and don't let go until you're happy. Good Luck.

Perhaps with button up shirt over a custom lettered T-Shirt that says "Ask me about my New Dodge Lemon." When the first brush-off happens, lose the button up and stand in the show room. Maybe hand out flyers like you're recruiting for Vegas hookers. Offer to put the button-up back on when you get to meet with the manager.

There's some grizzled lady that drives around here with a beat up Sentra emblazoned with "Route 44 Toyota Sold Me a LEMON!!!" all over the car in those stick-on letters you get to put on your mailbox. She even started a FB page dedicated to her cause. Seeing that she is still driving around that duct-taped together Sentra or whatever it is, she probably didn't fare too well in her crusade. She was not associated with any major automotive publications, though.

Go for the jugular at this point, get your money back, and buy something that's not a FCA vehicle. Seems like they are having lots of dumb problems lately.

JG, Sorry you are experiencing this issue. What I suggest is that this is now time for Dodge corporate to help. Stop dealing with the dealer as the experience is not acceptable. Call the district or national customer care line. State while you love the car need to have this issue with the dealer fixed, now.

Don't you know any dodge reps or marketing people based upon your magazine connections? Just call them and complain.. They'll know who you are and want to get it fixed ASAP.

Never Forget: HENNESY HONDA OF WOODSTOCK SUCKS!

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine:

I love how everyone spells it wrong every single time, so that the board's silly crusade barely even makes a dent in the dealer's Google results. I never thought this group was the 4chan "personal army" type anyway, but I guess I was wrong. Not to mention, their Yelp reviews from actual customers paint a pretty crappy picture on their own...

Been lurking this thread to see how J.G.'s experience turns out, but I hope it doesn't become another inept "let's just say the dealer sucks for 50 pages straight" if it doesn't turn out well.

Wallie wrote:

Woody wrote: Jeez, where did you buy this van, Hennessey Honda of Whereverthatwas?

If it wasn't so expensive Id send them a Bag of d's.

THANKS!!! now everyone in my office thinks I'm a little more disturbed...

pointofdeparture wrote: In reply to Fueled by Caffeine: I love how everyone spells it wrong every single time, so that the board's silly crusade barely even makes a dent in the dealer's Google results. I never thought this group was the 4chan "personal army" type anyway, but I guess I was wrong. Not to mention, their Yelp reviews from actual customers paint a pretty crappy picture on their own...

It's more of a gag now instead of an actual crusade. Spelling.... Whoneedsitandpunctationisstupid.

rcutclif wrote: Why is car dealership culture like this? No way I'd believe that they are seriously running margins so small that they realistically can't take the hit. But you hear this kind of story all the time. Just perpetuates the idea that car dealers are out to screw you. I really think that car dealerships days are numbered.

Maybe take this with a grain of salt and every manufacturer could be different, but a family friend sold me a new lease and showed me the profit margin, it was less than $500 after he took his cut (not including bonus)and it was a $28k vehicle. It was my understanding that the money is servicing a vehicle rather than the purchase.

IME, they will do everything to make you wait it out and tacitly give you only the option of lemon law, which obviously is a PITA to go through and they know most people don't want to do it.

Seems to me that a lot of this goes to basic attitude issues on the part of Fiat ownership. They are selling products without having a decent parts inventory in place. That's a strong indictment of the company that wants to buy GM, and the reason that I'm not looking at Promasters for my fleet.

In reply to Spinout007:

My work here is done. I just wish they weren't so expensive. That's further than I'm willing to go for a gag gift.

In reply to Wallie :

These are cheaper.

trigun7469 wrote:

rcutclif wrote: Why is car dealership culture like this? No way I'd believe that they are seriously running margins so small that they realistically can't take the hit. But you hear this kind of story all the time. Just perpetuates the idea that car dealers are out to screw you. I really think that car dealerships days are numbered.

Maybe take this with a grain of salt and every manufacturer could be different, but a family friend sold me a new lease and showed me the profit margin, it was less than $500 after he took his cut (not including bonus)and it was a $28k vehicle. It was my understanding that the money is servicing a vehicle rather than the purchase.

The money comes when they get to sell it AGAIN after the lease is up.

trigun7469 wrote: Maybe take this with a grain of salt and every manufacturer could be different, but a family friend sold me a new lease and showed me the profit margin, it was less than $500 after he took his cut (not including bonus)and it was a $28k vehicle. It was my understanding that the money is servicing a vehicle rather than the purchase.

Supposedly, these days a lot of the profit on a car comes in the form of a bonus paid out based upon customer satisfaction survey results.

So... did you get the survey yet? :)

I have to admit that I am really anticipating the smackdown that Dodge corporate is going to bring from the heavens on this humble dealership.

In reply to RealMiniParker:

Christmas shopping is done.

Years ago when I sold Nissans, the first Versa I sold had a window smashed out by a thief. Took over 90 days for a new window to arrive. She freaked on me, my manager, the GM, nissan's CS hotline, our zone rep, the owner, etc...

She didn't like the GM saying "Waddaya want me to poop out a new ?"

In reply to F-350SD:

To a degree, you're right. The fact that it's broken is not a defect. The real problem lies with the parts supply, and the failure to put JG back to whole, in a timely fashion. Honest question: Is that something that would be covered by Lemon Law - failure to acquire parts without an absurd delay?

And I agree, the dealer should have put him in a loaner, the DAY the windshield broke, and eaten the cost of it (or taken it out of the sub)!

F-350SD wrote: This will not fall under lemon law as there was nothing wrong with the windshield. Someone broke it. If a rock hit it, cracked it, and they did not have new ones, would you think that would be covered under lemon law? This is between you, the dealer, and the company that broke it. I would tell the dealer I want a loaner and all payments made until I get my car back. The dealer can eat it or get it from the sub, not my problem.

You appear to not live in FL. Are you sure that is how the FL lemon law works? It sounds like others have researched and it may be an option for JG.