[Jacob L.]

I'm trying to see how fast other members are able to get service appointments at their local/preferred Dodge dealers and what you think is reasonable.

I am having a problem where my Durango is rebooting the electronics (instrument panel and infotainment system) and telling me that ACC and FCW are unavailable and to take it in for service. When I called last week, the earliest time I could get an appointment at my local Ames, Iowa dealer (Deery Brothers) was 10 days out. Today, it happened 6(!) times during my 7-minute commute to work. One of the times, the wipers started going on their own. I am left wondering what others things are going on that I cannot see - is my car flashing the headlights at others drivers, for example?... If the problems keep getting worse like this, soon I'll be driving a white clown-mobile down the road with lights, horn and sound system going off at full volume while the rear hatch keeps opening and closing :-]

So I called the dealer service dept. again to see if I could get it in earlier, and that was completely impossible. He even said that getting to my car on March 25., when I have my appointment, would be tough for them. I hate when people respond to a request for better/faster service by putting what they had already promised you into play as a way to get you to back down (He eventually confirmed that my appointment for the 25th is still good).

I have owned both Ford and Mercedes before and never had such long wait times at the dealer or at independent mechanics, for that matter. Is it just my local dealer's service department that is too small/understaffed (he claimed to have 5 techs assigned to warranty work) or is this also your experience?

Do dealers have a financial motivation for not doing warranty work very fast?...

Also, have any of you had these rebooting issues?

Thanks,

Jacob

Update:

Dealer finally looked at it and determined that it was my Power Control Module (PCM) that was bad and causing the alternator to put out too much power. This, in turn, made the electronics shut down to protect themselves. The tech wrote in the paperwork that while diagnosing they saw voltage spikes up to 17.5 volts.

They replaced the PCM and the alternator as a precaution and checked that the battery hadn't been damaged.

They also flashed several parts, including the transmission (whee, no more bogging down), the body control module, and the radio, and so on.

Funny enough, my entertainment system still says it is using firmware version 13.48.3. That sounds like a way old version to me as others report using version 14.xx. Guess I'll have to flash that myself.

 

[FINELINETOYS]

I'm trying to see how fast other members are able to get service appointments at their local/preferred Dodge dealers and what you think is reasonable.

I am having a problem where my Durango is rebooting the electronics (instrument panel and infotainment system) and telling me that ACC and FCW are unavailable and to take it in for service. When I called last week, the earliest time I could get an appointment at my local Ames, Iowa dealer (Deery Brothers) was 10 days out. Today, it happened 6(!) times during my 7-minute commute to work. One of the times, the wipers started going on their own. I am left wondering what others things are going on that I cannot see - is my car flashing the headlights at others drivers, for example?... If the problems keep getting worse like this, soon I'll be driving a white clown-mobile down the road with lights, horn and sound system going off at full volume while the rear hatch keeps opening and closing :-]

So I called the dealer service dept. again to see if I could get it in earlier, and that was completely impossible. He even said that getting to my car on March 25., when I have my appointment, would be tough for them. I hate when people respond to a request for better/faster service by putting what they had already promised you into play as a way to get you to back down (He eventually confirmed that my appointment for the 25th is still good).

I have owned both Ford and Mercedes before and never had such long wait times at the dealer or at independent mechanics, for that matter. Is it just my local dealer's service department that is too small/understaffed (he claimed to have 5 techs assigned to warranty work) or is this also your experience?

Do dealers have a financial motivation for not doing warranty work very fast?...

Also, have any of you had these rebooting issues?

Thanks,

Jacob

Small World!!!! The dealer in Houston told me 3+weeks out, my son lives in Waterloo Iowa and I just had Deery Bros do all my work while I was in town last week. Only 2 days out for wait. I was more than impressed with their service and speed getting me in and out. It might be worth the short drive to Waterloo. Great Service is Hard to find. I can get you service managers number/name if ya want!!!???

 

[fat tony]

here in my neck of the woods my wait time was a week. To get the airbag system checked and ordered. the parts wont come in until Friday so that means another trip next week. Good thing i get a loaner.
The problem here in San Francisco is that the nearest dealer is about 8 miles away. We don't have one in the city and the next one after that is 13 miles away.
the one closest to me has a small shop i think because it's the only dealer I've seen that shares the same land or sight with a GM dealer.

 

[Turborusty]

I am a Businesslink member and I can drive right in and get service if needed. Usually I make an appt. and it's typically the next day or two.



Turborusty

 

[Bryali]

I'm trying to see how fast other members are able to get service appointments at their local/preferred Dodge dealers and what you think is reasonable.

I am having a problem where my Durango is rebooting the electronics (instrument panel and infotainment system) and telling me that ACC and FCW are unavailable and to take it in for service. When I called last week, the earliest time I could get an appointment at my local Ames, Iowa dealer (Deery Brothers) was 10 days out. Today, it happened 6(!) times during my 7-minute commute to work. One of the times, the wipers started going on their own. I am left wondering what others things are going on that I cannot see - is my car flashing the headlights at others drivers, for example?... If the problems keep getting worse like this, soon I'll be driving a white clown-mobile down the road with lights, horn and sound system going off at full volume while the rear hatch keeps opening and closing :-]

So I called the dealer service dept. again to see if I could get it in earlier, and that was completely impossible. He even said that getting to my car on March 25., when I have my appointment, would be tough for them. I hate when people respond to a request for better/faster service by putting what they had already promised you into play as a way to get you to back down (He eventually confirmed that my appointment for the 25th is still good).

I have owned both Ford and Mercedes before and never had such long wait times at the dealer or at independent mechanics, for that matter. Is it just my local dealer's service department that is too small/understaffed (he claimed to have 5 techs assigned to warranty work) or is this also your experience?

Do dealers have a financial motivation for not doing warranty work very fast?...

Also, have any of you had these rebooting issues?

Thanks,

Jacob

I had the same issue with my '14, especially after it had rained and when humidity was high. I really think it had something to do with the FCW radar sensor thing in the lower grill getting "fogged up" from the rain on the road and the heat coming off the engine/radiator. It never happened when it was dry out but if I left it outside when it rained or if I pulled out of my garage after a summer storm, it would almost immediately trip that warning. I don't know of any DIY fixes but I eventually got an appointment at my local dealership (see below) and they ran a software flash (I can't remember or find the TSB right now) and the problem never happened again.

My local dealership typically has appointments 2 weeks out but they have been some of the rudest people I've ever met. There's a bigger dealership 45 minutes away and I've seriously considered going there just to avoid my local one. A new dealership is gettting built 5 minutes from where I work (about 30 minutes from home) so I'm really hoping their service center is better. A week or better for an appointment is annoying enough but it's even worse when a run-down, only-surviving-because-it's-the-only-thing-for-an-hour-dealership acts inconvenienced when a customer is asking for service.

As far as financial motivations: I guess Dodge stopped with their 5-Star dealership program sometime around 2010, but that was one of the best ways to hold a dealership accountable. If the dealership earned 5-Star status, they recieved all kinds of incentives and promotions that "regular" Dodge dealerships didn't. They got better inventory, their staff got upper-level training, etc. If the dealership got enough less-than-excellent reviews, they would lose their 5-Star status. It was a HUGE motivation for dealerships to take care of their customers from before the sale until well after the last service appointment.

 

[Jacob L.]

Small World!!!! The dealer in Houston told me 3+weeks out, my son lives in Waterloo Iowa and I just had Deery Bros do all my work while I was in town last week. Only 2 days out for wait. I was more than impressed with their service and speed getting me in and out. It might be worth the short drive to Waterloo. Great Service is Hard to find. I can get you service managers number/name if ya want!!!???

Glad to hear they do good work in Waterloo, but I won't have time to drive the two hours or so to get there. But thanks for the offer.

Hopefully the guys here in Ames are also good at what they do, even if it takes a while to get in.

 

[Jacob L.]

I had the same issue with my '14, especially after it had rained and when humidity was high. I really think it had something to do with the FCW radar sensor thing in the lower grill getting "fogged up" from the rain on the road and the heat coming off the engine/radiator. It never happened when it was dry out but if I left it outside when it rained or if I pulled out of my garage after a summer storm, it would almost immediately trip that warning. I don't know of any DIY fixes but I eventually got an appointment at my local dealership (see below) and they ran a software flash (I can't remember or find the TSB right now) and the problem never happened again.

My local dealership typically has appointments 2 weeks out but they have been some of the rudest people I've ever met. There's a bigger dealership 45 minutes away and I've seriously considered going there just to avoid my local one. A new dealership is gettting built 5 minutes from where I work (about 30 minutes from home) so I'm really hoping their service center is better. A week or better for an appointment is annoying enough but it's even worse when a run-down, only-surviving-because-it's-the-only-thing-for-an-hour-dealership acts inconvenienced when a customer is asking for service.

As far as financial motivations: I guess Dodge stopped with their 5-Star dealership program sometime around 2010, but that was one of the best ways to hold a dealership accountable. If the dealership earned 5-Star status, they recieved all kinds of incentives and promotions that "regular" Dodge dealerships didn't. They got better inventory, their staff got upper-level training, etc. If the dealership got enough less-than-excellent reviews, they would lose their 5-Star status. It was a HUGE motivation for dealerships to take care of their customers from before the sale until well after the last service appointment.

First time it happened with mine was also on a wet winter day a couple of weeks ago.

The issues today seem to be caused more by the electronics resetting and it isn't damp or wet outside.

They did mention a software flash being a solution when I called them the first time, so I hope that does it.

Sorry to hear about your crappy local dealer.

I am hoping this local dealership will be good to work with. The dealer I bought it from is 45 minutes away and I'd like to avoid having to go that far for service if I can.

 

[04Silverfox]

I called my local dealer Wednesday afternoon and had an appt for to drop it off Thursday night for Friday. I thiught that was pretty good.

 

[Citadel Brian]

I'm about 1.5-2 weeks out