Mopar Dealer Service Department - Am I Correct To Be Pissed Off???

[ocdart]

Please bear with me for a long post with all the details.
This is about my 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab:
If I don't have the AC running I usually drive around town with both drivers-side windows open for ventilation without too much wind circulation inside the cab.
Six days ago I was getting on the freeway so turned on the AC and hit the window controls to raise both windows. The front door window raises normally but the rear window only comes up about 20% and then I hear something snap and the window stops coming up. When I stop, I found I could manually pull the window up without any problem but gravity pulled it right back down. I could still hear the electric motor run if I clicked the window control button.
Not having any experience with electric window repair I decided to take my truck into the factory dealership close to my work.
I made an appointment online for early the next morning, took my truck in and dropped it off. The Service Advisor tells me they'll check it out and call me. They also tell me the "check it out" cost will be $185 but that will go toward the repair if I decide to go forward.
Mid-afternoon I get a call from the Service Advisor telling me, "...the cable that lifts the window snapped and we have to replace the complete assembly" and he quotes me over $900 for the repair. Oh yeah, and they don't have the parts, thought they could get them from another local dealership, sent their driver out, but the other dealerships computer records were incorrect and they didn't have them, also checked out aftermarket parts online without success so ordered the parts and they'll be in in 2-3 days.
So I wait four days without any communication from the dealer. I call about mid-morning but could only leave a voicemail message for the Service Advisor asking for a callback and an update on the repair parts. I waited a couple of hours without any reply.
I've been driving around now for five days with an open rear window and having to put a trash bag over the door whenever I park to plug the big open window hole from the weather.
Not wanting to go through the weekend like this I called around and found a local auto glass repair that quoted me $250 to come out to me and do the repair at my work. I told them what the dealership diagnosed but they're certain they can do the repair.
They come out and take close to two hours working in the parking lot but complete the repair.
Turns out the issue was caused by a "plastic cable guide block" that had worn and let the cable jump out of the track. The technician told me it's a very common problem on almost all brands of vehicles. He carries a bunch of the repair parts on his service truck.
So, am I correct in feeling like the dealership never even pulled the interior door panel to check out the actual repair entailed and just quoted me a huge price for parts and service that were not actually needed? I feel like I was about to get f**ked without even a movie or dinner first.
What say you FABO?
And who do I complain to?

 

[69L48Z27]

That’s why they’re called ‘stealerships’. You can always complain to us. No one else will listen.

 

[JackR]

Been there. There isn’t anyone to go to for any satisfaction. I have a dealer 5 minutes from me who has damaged my Jeep during routine service (needed a hood and fender painted) and several other incidents not unlike yours. Now I use a dealer 50 miles from my house when I need dealer work done. They are great. I thought that cable guide was your problem when I started reading your post. It is a common thing.

 

[Slap Stick]

I dunno what they say at FABO but here I say you are right to be upset.
I hope you haven't paid the diagnostic fee...and if you did and paid by credit card, contest it. It's obvious they did no diagnosis.
And maybe a talk with the service and general managers, and maybe even the owner is in order.
Glad you got it fixed.

 

[R413]

Yes you shall be pissed. And never go back. The whole problem is you have a 13 year old vehicle. They don’t give a **** about you or your car, they just want your money. And yes I did work at dealerships so I know this is true. I don’t like it one bit.

Those people with cars under warranty are who they cater to, because they want a good feedback survey from them.

Yes cancel your CC payment, they didn’t look in there very well. The owners of the place don’t care, that’s who sets the tone of the dealership, they know what they are doing.

 

[DeltaV]

The OP has every right to be livid.

 

[Jerry Hall]

Cancel any payment, start your complaint with the owner, and move on to the zone rep's and directly to Chrysler or whatever it's called this week. I call it fraud, not service.

 

[Takoctopus]

You have to do it yourself these days, very few people are trustworthy these days

 

[1967coronet]

I swap out window regulators from time to time in our shop.
Mid 2000s Gm stuff I can do with my eyes closed lol.
New regs with motor from our automotive we deal with run from $50.00 to $90.
1/2 to 3/4 hour install on most all.
Their check it out price should have covered the entire job.

 

[Don selleck]

never go to dealer unless its under warranty and then its a crap shoot took me three tries till I managed to find a pretty good one

 

[khryslerkid]

$60 part

My friend was quoted $400 to replace a front caliper on a 2017 Jeep Compass. I did it for $100.

 

[Durandal25]

 

[slimt]

I wouldnt deal with a dealership to fix anything. As for the dealership not pulling it apart. They know the insides of those. Its a common problem. You pretty much have to strip the complete door out.

 

[mpd659]

Same thing a Dodge dealer tried to do to me for my a/c on my 2005 Dodge Ram 2500. They told me it was $150.00 to look at it. I just needed a little Freon added. I ended up doing it myself for about $35.00. Your rear window regulator shouldn’t be too expensive to replace. If the part was $100 or $150.00 I would be surprised. It is a fairly simple replacement. The dealers are usually a rip off Good luck

Russ

 

[kiwigtx]

I feel like I was about to get f**ked without even a movie or dinner first.

Sorry to hear about that bad service on the rest of the story. Sounds like time to go and vent your spleen at the Dealer's Office....to the Service Manager. Tell him what was done by another 'Generic Service Technician' and for how cheap. Watch the prick wriggle and grimace.

 

[70chall440]

While it is hard to imagine, dealer service departments are staffed with "car people" at all, its just a revenue generating organization and nothing more. Half the "techs" that work on them only know what they read on the pad (digital manual) and have no real mechanical experience or aptitude whatsoever.

I took my 14 Ram 2500 in for a recall on the ABS module, said it had to be reflashed. I dropped it off and they called me about 3 hrs later. When I got to the truck every light in the dash stayed on (ABS, check engine, etc.) and none of the gauges worked. When I asked about it they told me it was because I had "oversize tires" on the truck so that the TPS's were not reading right.... In fact there was a brand new truck with aftermarket wheels/tires sitting in front of the building so I asked if all of it's lights were on in the dash?

I told him that the new ABS flash was written for the latest ECU program and that my truck was an early build so it would need a full ECU flash. He said that a tech would have to look at it but they were running out of the building at 4:59... Anyway the next day they called and said it was done and that they did have to reflash the ECU.

There is a lot more to this story but this is the gist of it. How could the "tech" drive it out to the parking lot with all of the lights on and say it was ready? Idiots.

 

[snakeyes]

That's why I fix my own when out of warranty

 

[ocdart]

I hope you haven't paid the diagnostic fee...and if you did and paid by credit card, contest it. It's obvious they did no diagnosis.
And maybe a talk with the service and general managers, and maybe even the owner is in order.
Glad you got it fixed.

There was no payment made.
When I went to pick up my truck I asked about the diagnostic fee pending receipt of the parts and the Service Advisor waved me off.

 

[Kern Dog]

What say you FABO?
And who do I complain to?

Hey there...First up, this is FBBO !
Secondly, I agree with whoever wrote that the dealerships are merely a business, not a charitable organization. They are not in business to make friends. I don't like their business model at all. They seem to aim toward the fences with every repair instead of being reasonably priced in the hopes that the customers will come back for future work.
My 2007 Ram A/C started failing at just shy of 280,000 miles. I had the truck in for the air bag recall and asked them to work up an estimate to fix the A/C. When I went to get the truck, there was nothing on the repair order about the estimate. I asked the service advisor and he shrugged...then threw out a bullshit number "$2800".
"$2800, really that much?" I asked.
"it needs everything."
******* jerkoff.....
I went to an independent shop and for $162, they just recharged the system.
2 years later I did have to replace the evaporator but it was still only $1500.

 

[747mopar]

I hate dealerships with a passion, they got me once, never again!

I had a blower making a rubbing noise, you could smell plastic melting.. logical explanation was the squirrel cage had somehow come in contact with the housing?? It was under warranty so I called, they said yeap.. as long as it's not a mouse nest it will be covered. I dropped it off and later got the call stating that I owed them X amount of dollars and how they had found a mouse nest.. BS! Mouse nest stink, don't make constant rubbing noises, sound like debris being chewed up, don't melt plastic and they blow crap out of the vents. I've never taken a car in since.