Anyone thinking of buying Dodge..........check this first

yep. i have had three. the first was a 1500 gasser. it pinged like hell but ran super. no other warranty problems.

next was an '01 2500 diesel. never had a warranty issue with that one.

now i have an '03 3500 diesel. best of the bunch. had the tach stop working, it was a bad sending unit. big deal. no other warranty problems.

all have been automatics. i have towed with all of them. no warranty problems so far with the tranny's.

of course, i keep up on the maintenance. keep the oil and filter changed every 3 to 5,000 miles (3 on the old ones, have gone as far as

5 on the new one but its heavy duty oil change cycle is listed at 7500 miles), fuel filters every 7500 miles and have kept the tranny serviced. pretty cheap insurance. i also keep a decent coat of wax on the paint. a lot of the problems that i see and read about come on from poor upkeep or bombing. outside of that, the didge have a tremendous repair record.
Reply to
the guy
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Not only does Dodge sell junk........they are killing people Latest Gen3 Unlatching Claims Two Lives DaimlerChrysler Denies Safety Problems DaimlerChrysler has started a vigorous public relations campaign to deny safety problems with the Gen3 seat belt buckle. Furthermore, they have begun issuing a statement to the media that the GEN3 "passes all federal safety standards." But federal regulations require that seat belt buckles "be designed to minimize the possibility of accidental release," and the Gen-3 buckle does not minimize the possibility of accidental release

Two women were killed and a child seriously injured in a roll-over accident Dec. 28, 2002, near Beeville, Texas. This brings the total number of deaths to 17 and serious injuries to 27 in accidents in which Gen3 buckles are believed to have unlatched.

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Reply to
justme

No double standard about it. Mechanical things have problems, whether it be in a timely manner or not. The issue is whether or not the manufacturer deals with those problems in a timely and correct manner. According to the OP, the dealer DID address his issues while the truck was under warranty.

Correct, BUT, the issue is STILL the service rendered, not the problem. When you build a million of something, there will be problems of some sort within that million. Thus, its not about whether or not there is a problem, but how that problem is addressed.

The dealer is DC's warranty representative. If the dealer scored on a warranty problem, so did DC.

Dealer acts as representitive of DC, DC retains lead.

So did mine. But unless I miss my guess, the roof is on TOP of the truck, and not on the underside. Regardless, both trucks SHOULD have had the roof looked at for paint problems, as it IS part of the dealer prep process.

Dealer acts as DC representitive, DC retains score.

I assume then, that the dealer had a crystal ball, and looked up this trucks VIN to find that out? How could a dealer KNOW that it would have multiple problems, particularly when the problems are all unrelated, except for owner handling?

Yeah, everything that goes wrong on a vehicle is a substandard part, as far as you are concerned. However, if it were actually true that all parts were substandard, all of these trucks would be falling apart, and thats just not true. BTW, I'm still waiting for you to prove that just ONE of these things you've called "substandard" is in fact, substandard.

LOL, electronic parts fail at any interval, this is why electronic parts bought at a parts store are non returnable. Your proof is lacking.

Yup. Which is why I asked what the OP's definition of leaking was and suggested that it might be normal.

Wrong. They advertise by name those componants, and the standard is "buyer beware."

You are assuming that it was broken when new, and that was never mentioned. Therefore, I made the safe assumption, and figured it had been used. A safe assumption about your common sense would indicate that you didn't use it on this occasion.

Yet more reasonsing that indicates the belts were somehow fouled, not defective. Your still work, why don't his?

Rust IS corrosion. However, aluminum will form a surface oxidation that protects the rest of the aluminum. Trans pans will alst far longer than the vehicle panels, so rust, corrosion, whatever you wish to call it, I doubt it "rusted out".

Which is why it has a warranty, that was admitted to have been honored.

LOL, hardly. Funny part is, when I did finally launch the truck 4' into the air, nothing broke.

Reply to
Max Dodge

No, DC fixed the problem. Dealer only supplies the labor and was authorized and paid by DC.

DC fixed the problem. See above.

Reply to
miles

DC also caused the problem so in that case it would be DC -1 then DC +1 which = DC 0

Ditto and the point is not what DC fixes, but the level of quality that caused it to begin with.

Reply to
TBone

YES

YES

DID NOT HAPPEN TO ME

Mine was erratic , only operating at high speeds.

yes

I do not see a lot of alternatives to buying a code reader... other that stopping by places like autozone that offer you free code reading (hoping to sell you parts).

i
Reply to
Ignoramus7020

Make up your mind. 1st you say DC -1, now you say DC +/- 1? Can't you stick to your same train of thought rather than just bounce around to suit your argument?

True except according to JDPowers and Edmunds Dodge for at least the past 2 years has had higher reliability in almost all areas. A few areas were equal to Ford and Chevy for 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks. Even if the Big 3 are about equal what sets them apart is how they handle problems that do occur. DC scores well as they fixed the problems.

Reply to
miles

What about us with heated cloth seats and vibrating..... Oh never mind.

-- Ken

Reply to
Nosey

You know what I like about philosophical discussions like this?

Everyone is wrong.

Reply to
High Sierra

These rankings don't mean shit. There are so many different rankings and polls out there. Each one you read says they have a list of what's the best vehicle. I take all of them with a grain of salt.

Bob

Reply to
Bob M

Very true.

Reply to
TBone

This would only be completely valid if it happened to all vehicles and it simply doesn't. Proven mechanical things have problems when things are not assembled properly, substandard parts are use in their assembly, and / or when they simply wear out and this last reason is directly affected by the first two.

No, it is not. I don't care how many times they are willing to fix it if it shouldn't have happened in the first place.

While true, it is also a matter of HOW MANY problems occur with a individual vehicle and over what period of time regardless of how they are addressed. Many of the problems that he experienced simply should not have happened at all within the time frame he gave such as the pealing paint, failed trans linkage, and Y pipe failure which indicate a problem with QC and the parts being used.

Yea, but DC also scored a negative for it happening in the first place so their combined score is still ZERO.

And still gets a negative for the failure, combined score for DC is still zero.

Did they not wash your truck? If they did, then they were probably standing in the bed to wash the roof and could easily see it if they bothered to look.. What makes you think that they pay any more attention to the underside which is even more difficult to look at?

And that is my point. They should have but didn't, even though the problem was obvious. If they didn't bother to see the obvious, what makes you think that they will notice anything else? Crawling under the truck is no easier than looking at the top of it and I would say that a defective part on the shift linkage is not all that obvious to begin with after all, the linkage had to work to get the truck off of the carrier to begin with.

DC also cause of failure with defective parts, score canceled.

Why would the dealer say what he did? It would be better to instill confidence in the buyer, not give warnings. I would suspect that this dealer was getting many of this particular vehicles in for excessive warranty work and figured that this would just be another one and he appeared to be right.

substandard

LOL, not really. But when a particular part is difficult if not impossible to abuse such as a Y pipe, what other cause of pre-mature failure could there be?

LOL, that is where standards and QC come into the picture. You all or nothing mentality really doesn't help you here. I never said that ALL of the parts used were substandard, just an increasing number of them probably due to cost and QC.

Actually, you need to prove otherwise. I have asked a number of times exactly how the customer could have caused the failures and you have yet to come up with a single reason. Instead, all you say is that sometimes this happens which is complete bullshit. Everything happens for a reason and if you cannot come up with a customer related reason, then it has to be the part or assembly itself which indicates a substandard part. I await you proof otherwise.

LOL, I used to work in an auto-parts store and an electronic supply that is not why they are not returnable.

Sorry Max, but that term is used to protect people from low-life salesman and second rate businesses. If you have a reputation to maintain, you simply don't resell junk. I can usually tell the quality of an auto-parts store by the quality of the tools that they sell. Garbage tools usually indicate cheap second rate parts as well. Are you saying by buyer beware that DC and it's dealers are low-life scumbags that people need to be wary of?

No, I said that it may be a defective part and even defective parts can work for a little while, they just can't hold up to the daily demands expected from them for any period of time.

But all it was is an assumption. Not all defective or substandard parts fail on the first use as demonstrated by the shift linkage.

Because mine were built with high quality components to deal with what was expected of them, his possibly were not or they were simply defective. If they are so easily fouled, then they are a substandard part not up to dealing with what is expected of them. I still can't figure out why you go out of your way to make my points for me.

Rust is a SPECIFIC form of corrosion and does not apply to all metals.

That is not always true and depends on both the quality and thickness of the metal and the conditions it is exposed too.

I am not arguing with you on this point. Since I haven't seen it, I have no way to know if it did or didn't but if the pan were too thin in some areas for whatever reason or the material was contaminated, it could fail due to corrosion in a thin or contaminated spot which would once again make it a defective part. Sounds like another possible QC issue too me.

Warranty or not, the customer still has to deal with the loss of the vehicle while it is being repaired. Did the dealer give him a free loaner car while this one was being repaired over and over again?

4' into the air huh, sounds like abuse to me :-) although that is not the point. The point is that if he were complaining about front end problems like you were, that could be attributed to customer abuse unless it was happening to a large number of vehicles like in the case of the ball joints on this vehicle. Most of his actual problems would be hard to blame on abuse as the parts involved are not easily subjected to abuse which leads to problems with the parts themselves and the high number of failures in a relatively short period of time doesn't say much for the quality of this vehicle.
Reply to
TBone

You have had bad luck, sack up, quit whining, cut your losses, sell your POS Dodge, and buy a Ford. Be Happy!

I have a 92 diesel with AT with almost 200k miles on it. Most of those miles were towing a load right up close to the weight limit. To call this truck a workhorse is a misnomer, this thing is a Mule. It pulls and makes it seem easy.

make round trip at least twice a year. We pull it at 55 in Ca.(towing speed limit)and 65 in Az. We wave hi/bye to a lot of trucks either in low and slow, or parked on the side with the hood up. None of them are Cummins Dodges.

At 120k the rear main seal started leaking. I saw this as a fluke and so did the dealer. Sometimes 'Shit Happens', but more often when you climb into a Dodge truck you 'Make Shit Happen'. When the seal went SWMBO wanted a new blue dually truck until she saw the price. Missing all the comforts is easier to take after you see the new price. After that, she decided that we should wear out the 92 first. And that is not an easy thing to do if you keep them maintained properly.

The new ones are awesome inside, a daughter has a blue hemi with every bell and whistle and commutes in it. She says it intimidates almost everything on the road and its size and weight makes her safer. The downside is: you don't get into it, you have to climb into it. I tell her she needs a set of power steps, she tells me to "climb old man, you need the execcise."

I had rather be under my Dodge with tools in hand than be driving a Ford or Chevy. I think that that is the sentiment of most people here. My grandpa started the Dodge trend in our family (he had a 36 PU for 20 years and sold it for more than he paid) and there has never been anything to change our minds. Our dodges have always out performed the other brands that are just now trying to play catch-up.

So call your truck a lemon, call it a POS, piss and moan. Sell your POS Dodge, cut your losses. Life is too short to stay all worked up over your past Dodge problems. Try something else, however,I suspect that your troubles will follow you no matter what you drive. So try the the others, then you may be wishing for your Dodge back.

JRC

Reply to
JRC

so, it is expected that there be perfection in all things? whats your excuse then?

Reply to
the guy

I didn't say that but there has to be a limit on the number of failures over a given period of time and this seems to be a bit excessive. Just because they are willing to correct it doesn't make the number of failures over a short period of time acceptable. If your Ram had problems every few months that required it to be back at the dealer for repairs that could take days to complete I believe that you would have a very different attitude.

I don't have one and never claimed to be perfect, what about you?

Reply to
TBone

That sum's up my feeling as well.

Roy

Reply to
Roy

It doesn't? There are PERFECT machines out there? EVERY stinking one has NO defects? Find me one that proves this point you are desperate to make. Make sure its fasirly complex like a motor vehicle, weighs at least 2000lbs, and goes at least 50MPH, or moves more than 10 tons.

Exactly, thats why a warranty is offered.

PROOF?

No, wear is directly affected by amount of use. It is INdirectly affected by the other two.

I suggest then, that you not buy anything with paint on it, lest you get the one that didn't work out perfectly.

Yup, and that number of problems is addressed in the lemon laws.

Or owner abuse. So far, you've yet to prove your point (QC), while my point is that the failure could have happened for reasons other than manufacturer defect. Yet, while the manufacturer may not have been at fault, they STILL came through on warranty items.

Well then, according to your logic, you are assuming the dealer has another brand for sale on the lot.

Not at all. I worked for a small Chrysler Dealer in the mid 80's . I prepped all of the LeBaron coupes they had at the time, and I was required to put 10 miles on each one. Further, if you look at Fritz's site, I think he has the dealer prep process listed there, including the 10 mile req. Also, my truck had exactly 10 miles on it when delivered to me.

Which proves nothing except that the dealer didn't follow proceedure on your truck. It has nothing to do with a test drive, and is merely your attempt to use an irrelevant item to prove a point you cannot make. My truck ALSO had scratches in the roof paint, but they DID test drive it per the required prep process.

Because two different people do the prep work.

Because any mechanical object takes time to work hte bugs out. Its the truth, even if its a poor PR move.

Well, when ya sell a lot of one thing, and cover the warranty, its likely you'll get a lot of them on warranty work. Thats just he way it is, nothing terrible about it.

Um, owner abuse, I mentioned that, didn't I?

You claimed substandard parts in regard to shift linkage, y pipe, paint, and almost anything else mentioned. Yet no where do I see huge numbers of trucks sitting at dealers because of y pipes, paint, or shift linkage. Face it, the three mentioned look distinctly like someone took the truck offroad, and worked it a bit, and expected DC to repair it after getting hung up on a rock. Figure it out!! trans linkage, y pipe, "rusted out" trans pan, paint peeled off a bumper. Then we have the threats and juvenile demeanor displayed by the OP. This reads like a kid took dads truck off road, and scrambled to the dealer when he got in a jam.

Nope. You made the statement, now back it up. This is your typical BS spin. You claim something, and have no proof. Hell, you even as much as admitted the guy was stretching things a bit.

Abuse. Abuse. Abuse. Look at the problems, and as I said, the only thing that ties them together is the owner/driver.

I've provided more than enough to substanciate my claim that abuse is a possibility. Meanwhile, you've made a definite claim of substandard parts. I won't wait for you to bring proof, because as usual, you won't.

I have deleted at least two more claims of low QC which you did not address, and I find to be pointless in addressing again until you provide proof. Claiming that another car has functioning equipment does not prove the quality or lack thereof in the failed part/vehicle.

It damn sure was, and it was a stupid move that, now past, I will gladly claim for bragging rights.

Or the steering boxes.

Unless he high centered the truck in the area of the trans linkage and y pipe......

Reply to
Max Dodge

Same here

Reply to
Max Dodge

Amen!

Mike

Reply to
Mike Simmons

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