@shadash What is the repair that is needed?

 

Front HVAC blower motor + wires are melted

Steering rack is leaking from the right side

Shrader valves on AC line need to be replaced

Ball Joints need to be replaced

Dealer quoted $4000 for all parts and labor to repair.

 

Remember, most warranties only covers DEFECTS, not wear and tear. A lifetime warranty does not mean that your car will last forever or that they will fix everything forever....

 

So your starter stops working and you take it in. Tell me how they decide if it was defective or just worn out from use? How long should the brushes last? How long should the solenoid last? Who makes the call that the relay that is supposed to last 1.2 million cycles only made it 1.1 million cycles and is defective? How do they prove it? The warranty was granted for unlimited time/mileage so that would infer that there are parts that should last that long, yes? In theory never go bad? Why would they grant a lifetime warranty (until the cost of the repair exceeds the value of the vehicle, then they pay you KBB value for the vehicle) if things were not covered for that long? Here’s why, they did not count on people cashing in, since it was not transferable, they figured the odds were on their side. That contract is written in favor of the customer, not enough fine print on their part for a customer that has all their records/history/maintenance in order.

 

KBB for a 2014 Citidel with 170k is 16k-14k

If Dodge wants to pay me out fine.

Otherwise fix the car and stop jerking me around.

 

The MVP has always been a pretty good plan for the most part. Wear and tear has always been covered. I have to wonder if this is the dealer dragging their feet, or Stellantis trying to cut costs. Since we have had some folks get their Racetrack light replaced under the MVP, while others are denied, there must be more local input than they want you to think.

Don

 

Dealer is blaming Dodge.

But the Service Manager I'm working with is terrible so I'm not sure if hes telling the truth or not.

Theres a good chance my car sat on the lot a couple of days before the dealer had techs look through it to see what needs to be fixed.

 

Front HVAC blower motor + wires are melted >>> Sounds like a defect to me.

Steering rack is leaking from the right side >>> May be a defect, may be wear and tear.

Shrader valves on AC line need to be replaced >>> If never used, should last almost forever. If used in the past, possibly damaged.

Ball Joints need to be replaced >>> Definitely wear and tear.

Dealer quoted $4000 for all parts and labor to repair. >>> Did you get a quote from another dealer or an independent shop.

 

What are you talking about? Broken is broken.

Nonsense response

 

There is a spot that says normal wear and tear items are not covered, but they never define what normal wear and tear items are. They clarify in bold what is not covered, are those wear and tear? Since there is no clear definition of wear and tear, the argument becomes did it fail due to wear and tear or mechanical/electrical defect. How long should a printed circuit board last? How do you say a capacitor or resistor failure is wear and tear? If your A/C compressor fails, how do they claim it is wear and tear, they have no idea how much you used it, how many hours are on it, but it is covered until I die or sell the vehicle. It clearly states that the plan covers mechanical coverage of stated items for the lifetime of the purchaser, until they die or sell the vehicle.

 

If it is a lifetime maxcare, mopar is hot to end that deal.. so they may decide to buy you out.

The dealer is a BIG part of the equation, though. Last year I went through some things with my '14GC.. service manager says "Mopar says that's nornal and they won't cover it" .. ended up calling the maxcare folks and the nice lady on the phone said "Huh, I don't see any approval requests on your VIN..."

That service manager is no longer employed by that dealer, and I got my car fixed under warranty.

 

Are you guys thinking a 9yo Durango is "end of life"

 

They are still taking care of mine, don’t consider it near the end of its life. 2011 R/T with 196k on it. They just put a new oil pan, both rear sway bar end links and both inner tie rods on it for $100.00

 

This is quite the opposite situation from our member Moose135 who had a spanking new 3.6L dropped into his '14 Durango @175k via the Lifetime MaxCare. From what he said, there was little to no fuss or muss, the way it should be.

Don

 

This is quite the opposite situation from the member here who had a spanking new 3.6L dropped into his '14 Durango @175k via the Lifetime MaxCare. From what he said, there was little to no fuss or muss, the way it should be.

That was me! It did take a little time - the dealer had to get a district guy to inspect it, which took a few days, then it took a little time to get it approved. It was the height of COVID, so everyone was working remotely which backed things up a bit. Probably took 8-10 days to get everything approved. We were up against a deadline to travel for a family wedding - was planning to take the Durango on a 1K mile road trip and be gone for 10 days. It wasn't going to be ready (with a few days to drive it locally) in time, and I talked the dealer into covering the cost of a rental for our trip, a new Pacifica minivan. It was a little stressful given our travel plans, but other than the little delay due to COVID, it really was an easy process.

 

I took my 2015 Chrysler 200 S (hot garbage, I know) to the dealer months back for a notorious transmission issue (transmission pretty much took a shit) . I bought the MVP maxcare plan with it way back when and Stellantis flat out said they weren't going to bother with the repairs. They cut me a check for almost $10,000, cancelled the policy and let me keep the car. I turned around and sold it to carmax for $2,000. I think that was more than fair for a car with over 268,000 miles on it. That's my story with MVP 🤷‍♂️

 

If Dodge chooses to buy me out I'll use the $$$ to repair my Durango.

I bought the car because I like the look, the design, and the Hemi. Had to buy it in a different state + get it shipped to California because for some reason Dodge didnt provide any loaded V8 Durangos to CA in 2014. (At least none that I could find.)

I have all the parts sitting in my garage needed to convert the front end from 2014 to 2021+ style. Haven't installed it yet because I thought it could give Maxcare a reason to reject my warranty work.

If they pay me out the new frontend + headlights will be installed within a week. ;-)

 

Called Jack Powell Dodge Escondido CA for an update on my car.

Was able to get through to a Service Manager. I asked what's going on, they said that they're waiting for dodge/maxcare to provide an approval before moving forward on the fixes.

I reminded them that they've had by car for 10 days. The service manager argued with me that it hasnt been 10 days because they dont work on weekends + yesterday was memorial day. Quickly realized that the conversation was going nowhere so I ended the call.

Called Maxcare + opened a case with them reguarding the status. They took my info + promised a response in 24 hours with an update.

 

Your Service manger is a douche!

 

What's even more annoying is that I knew the Service Manager was lieing about not being open on weekends. Its posted right on their website. So playing the service managers game theyve had my car for 7 working days (10 calander days).

Heres their service hours...

Service Hours:
Mon - Fri
7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Sat
7:45 AM - 4:00 PM
Sun
Closed

 

Right.... instead of being understanding towards the customer they felt the need to bust your chops on 'business days' and 'calendar days'

 

Does this service manager only drive his car on weekdays? Days are days, a-hole. Doesn't matter if the shop is open or not, it's still a day you were without your vehicle. Unbelievable. Check your state lemon laws... they count days, not business days in the shop. While lemon laws might not apply in this case, it is nonetheless precedent for what "days" means... what a schmuck.

 

Some of these dealers are just pitiful to say the least

 

So I called Dodge and spoke with Crystal. What a night and day difference between the Service Manager. She transferred me to different departments in Dodge looking to get an update on the Maxcare case number I received yesterday. Turned out that the person my Maxcare case was assigned to wasnt logged in so Crystal called Jack Powell Dodge and spoke with my service manager directly (would have loved to have been listening in on that call)

Crystal was also able to figure out that with Maxcare after my car is diagnosed for issues I have 5 days of car rental at $35 a day. Randy the Service Manager at Jack Powell said my warranty didnt allow for a rental. This was a half truth. I can have a rental but Jack Powell has to diagnose the car first to define repairs that need to occur. Basically Randy was likely planning to have my car sit on the lot for a couple of days before being diagnosed + didnt want to hassle with providing a rental.

 

I've called (left a msg)+ texted Randy the Service Manager at Jack Powell Dodge in Escondido asking that he contact Enterprise + setup a rental for me.

No response + it's been almost 3 hours.

General FYI when the dealer is doing warranty work to make things easier they contact car rental agencies pre-approving a customers rental. In this case all Randy is supposed to do is call Enterprise + confirm the rental. I can go down to Enterpeise myself + put everything on my own card but getting reimbursed might be difficult.

 

I hate these jerks.
Thinking back, it's probably been 6 years since I've had a service experience that wasn't a total cluster.

 

@DodgeCares are you able to help out on this one?

 

So, you're not going to believe this...

I just called Jack Powell Dodge in Escondido, CA was transferred to the Service Desk and transferred again to the Service manager assigned to my case. (Randy)

I said that I'd like assistance getting a rental car car because theyve had my car for 10 days. When I spoke with Mopar earlier this morning they said I was entitled to 5 days of rental at $35 per day. Randy clarified that rentals are only available if the car is under 100k + less than 7 years old. I said ok that's fine Crystal at Mopar didnt say that + if that's the case I can rent my own car.

Heres where you wont believe what happens next...

I said "Since I have you on the phone what is the status of my car?" Randy said "I'm just typing up the claim now so it can be submitted to Dodge" I almost fell off my chair. I said wait a minute you're just typing up my claim now? You've had my car for over 10 days. Randy said that his manager is helping him type it up because there were so many things wrong and it was over $4000. I said over $4000 that's not what you told me last week + you said that you submitted the claim last week.

After that I was dumbfounded + stopped listening to the excuses. The guy strait up lied to me multiple times.

Sigh...

 

No offense but did you expect anything different from this loser of a dealership?

 

Edit I am a moron and did not see vice-white response prior to posting.


I think they only get paid what Dodge says the time should take for warranty work. From what I understand, it goes like this. Say they are doing an oil pan under warranty. Dodge says 9.8 hours and xxx amount of supplies and parts. So if they are dealing with older vehicle and they have to fight with corrosion and possibly break something else, and the job takes 12.8 hours, tuff luck. That dealer only gets reimbursed for the allowed hours/supplies/parts. That combined with the fact they are not profiting from the mark up of parts. Non warranty work, YOU pay for the extra hours, collateral damage, and you are paying the dealers marked up price for OEM parts. This is what I have come to believe, let me know if I am wrong. Would love to have a tech or dealer guy jump in and educate us!

 

I live in Socal + my Durango has seen snow 3-4x since I bought it.

Rust and corrosion is not a concern.

At most you might need to spray some penetrating oil but an impact will take anything appart easily + it wont break off.

Dodges estimates for how long it takes to address will probably be pretty close to reality.

 

Just received word thatDodge Maxcare approved all dealer suggested repairs.

Now the Dealership has to order parts everything will likely get in by Mon/Tues next week.

In case anyone is still reading this thread. Dodge + Maxcare have been professional through this entire ordeal. I especially would like to thank Crystal who went above and beyond to help.

Jack Powell Dodge in Escondido + specifically Randy their Service Manager were aweful + kept my car on the lot for 10+ days before submitting paperwork to Dodge + lied directly to my face (and via text) about if they had sent the paperwork to Dodge 10 days after taking my car.

If Randy had just been honest about what was going on 90% of the issues could have been avoided. Unfortunately I have a feeling that he treats customers like this all the time + without repercussions.

 

Trying VERY hard to muster up my surprised look about this, but I just can't manage it. It's getting to the point that dealership service departments are a lot like politicians..........

SMH!

Don

 

Dont worry, the parts haven't even arrived yet. Theres still all kinds of ways Jack Powell can cause problems.

The actual mechanics generally have a good reputation at this dealership. Hopefully theyll be able to turn things around.

 

Glad to hear you are getting it resolved, @shadash. I've been very happy with the service I've gotten from the MaxCare folks, and fortunately, I've had a good dealer to work with over the years.

I did have one issue where the service guy was jerking me around 'waiting on parts' for a warranty repair, but after talking to the service manager, it got sorted out, and I was set up with a different rep in the service department. The new guy was the one who later worked through getting me the new Pentastar under warranty, and got approval to pay for a rental even though I was well beyond the limit in the MaxCare policy.