posted 02-15-2005 04:26 PM         

With all due respect, let me give you a dealers perspective, DC has some of the brightest engineers in the country working for them, and a majority of the technicians have barely finished high school. I am not knocking the technicians, some are extremely bright, and many have found fixes for abnormalities before the engineers at chrysler. I can send my guys to all of the chrysler training, but it is absolutely impossible to cover all malfunctions. Especially since it sounds like your case involved a casting problem (?????). I do not make any excuses for any dealership that is not willing to listen to the customer's complaint and assist will all tools at hand. As for the loaner, there are several dealerships that just do not offer a loaner car, period. There are not any provisions in a vehicles warranty that cover the costs of a loaner vehicle (I belive there is an exception with the pacifica?). It is the manufactures choice to pay or not pay for a loaner vehicle (but usually for unique situations or parts on national backorder). I myself, have 5 in loaner service and try to accommodate as best as I can, but I am not a rental company. Many smaller dealerships run this way. Please understand that I am not standing on a soap box, just trying to explain a different perspective. As for the comments that DC will do absolutely nothing, they are pretty correct. We are left to hang out to dry many times. Once the Germans "took over" this once great company has changed drastically. Some for the better (German quality) and some for the worse (layoffs,downsizing, etc.). Hopefully, dbudner, your problems are rectified, please don't loose faith in your local chrysler dealer or others.

posted 02-15-2005 05:46 PM         

I am the second owner of my kat and when i asked my local dealer about the flaking of the rims his comment was "if you had bought your car here, we would have replaced them". What kind of a reply is that? Using that logic i guess if i purchased a vehicle from them in Missouri and drove it to say Chicago, would another dealer work on it or not?

My wife's 2002 Trailblazer has over 60,000 miles on it and we were blowing out taillight bulbs. A dealer replaced both taillight assemblies at NO CHARGE! And, this was at a dealership where we didn't purchase the vehicle.

My wife would like a new PT Convertible but after hearing one war story after another i am very hesitant.

I still think the wheels should be replaced by DC.

Dad always told me " never buy a car in the first model year" to give them time to work out the bugs.. i went against this when i bought the convertible because I loved it so much , i took the chance...

posted 02-15-2005 06:04 PM         

quote:

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Originally posted by halicat:
the first year in service for them...

Dad always told me " never buy a car in the first model year" to give them time to work out the bugs..

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I bought a very early PT, no problems at all. The reviews about a year later said it was the best build quality that Chrysler ever produced. Don't know that the old wisdom applies anymore.

-GRROWL

posted 02-15-2005 11:51 PM         

Also keep in mind that the dealerships are independent businesses and that not all dealers are good. If they refuse to address your problems that is not DC's fault.

Let's not blame everything on DC. We've heard enough stories here about the bad experiences owners have had with the dealer experience.

I've been driving AMC/Chrysler/DC vehicles for over 26 years. I had a Concord Limited, several Jeeps, LeBaron Convertible, 4 PT Cruisers, 2 Prowlers, Dodge Ram Indy Truck and I can honestly say that I have never had any problems with any of them (not counting all company cars we've driven. Most of them were never even in a dealership for anything. Our family car now is a new Hemi Durango and we love it.

posted 02-16-2005 10:10 AM         

My extended warranty has been a joke as my local service departments can't fix the problems... or for that matter, refrain from damaging other parts or causing new problems. I regret purchasing the extended warranty now as it would have been more to my advantage to fix items myself or pay a skilled mechanic to fix things.

Absolutely love the car... Chrysler's "customer service" is an oxymoron.
------------------
Rich W
2001 Silver Cat

posted 02-16-2005 10:17 AM         

For the most part, any dealer will assist any owner under warranty (again, for the most part). We have all agreed to this in our dealer agreement. Problems occur once you a vehicle is out of warranty. The dealer has a little flyaway, but we are all tracked on the amount of $ we spend on out of warranty adjustments. So in LONE RANGER'S case, being the second owner and out of warranty, the dealer is hesitant to assist with a $1,300 repair that will go against his our of warranty dollars for a vehicle they did not sell. It does not matter if dc approves the goodwill or not, it is still added to the dealers goodwill amount. If a dealer abuses the amount of goodwill, then they will not be able to use it at all without contacting their rep. So all of those "good customers" who purchased from that dealer are out of luck. This is why dealers are hesitant to assist individuals who did not purchase the vehicle from them. Why take the chance of having your goodwill shut off. As for the wheels, chrysler is pretty steadfast with the warranty is the warranty 3 years/36,000 miles. After this period they can not go back on the manufacture of the wheels. Recalls are issued if there is a known product problem out of the warranty for safety related items.

Wil C Keener (any relation to the old service manger at the dodge store in Uniontown- Jeff Keener- great guy?). The reason that most of the dc reps are mechanically challenged (as you put- morons) is that chrysler requires that all factory representatives have a 4 year college degree. It is very difficult to find individuals that are technically inclined (and not top paying engineers) who want to be factory reps. I have know most of the reps in the union town area over the years (myself included, many years ago) and you assessment is fairly correct. A great guy to know in the area is Rich Travelina who worked for volvo then amc then chrysler (very technically oriented). He just left dc in November to open a motorcycle shop in uniontown. I belive it is a Kawasaki dealership. Get to know him, he is very knowledgeable guy and always willing to help.
Final thought, CJ is correct, dealerships are independent business. And much like people, there are good ones and not so good ones. I would strongly recommend once you do find a good one, stick with them. There is a common thread from what I have read that building a strong relationship with a dealer correlates to a satisfied customer. From the dealers perspective, there is very little loyalty in the car business anymore. Develop a relationship and it should be smooth sailing (or maybe I should have said Kat motoring).