Dealership Problem

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RogerK

RogerK

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I wasn't sure where to put this so please bear with me.

We had a situation with a dealership I want to run by everyone and get an opinion. My Step-Daughter bought a 2013 Dodge Dart SXT with MultiAir Turbo 1.4L engine. She has approx 23,000 miles on the car and has done all of her regular maintenance with the dealer she bought the car from as they offer free oil changes every 3,000 miles.

She had an oil change done on Friday. She picked up the car after dark and drove the one mile from the dealership home. She got up and left for work before dawn and drove the 18 miles to work. She was about 1/2 mile from work when the ” low oil pressure light” came on then the” low oil light” came on.

The car stalled, but she was able to restart it and drive to the parking lot. There was a puddle of oil under the car at her job. There was a puddle of oil in our driveway and there was a puddle of oil where her car was parked at the dealership. You can follow the trail of oil from the dealership to our house and then from our house heading towards the highway.

After the car got towed to the dealership they found the “O” ring was slit and pinched from the factory and that was the cause of the leak. It’s a cartridge type filter, not a screw on canister. The dealership drained the remaining oil, replaced the filter and topped up the oil.

They say it’s all set, that it sounds fine and that there is no issues. If something does happen the 100,000 mile power train warranty will cover it. I told them I wanted the filter and o ring as well as an oil sample. The O ring is split like it was pulled apart, not pinched. The oil sample looks like molasses and smells like there is gas in the oil, not a little, a lot.

The dealership has indicated they are done with this issue. That they feel the car is OK and don’t seem willing to do anything else. I think because the car was run so low on oil and since it stalled and restarted they should have tried to warranty the engine. I know she should have pulled over when the lights came on but there was not a safe place to pull over.

I’d like some opinions. Is what the dealership did to rectify the situation acceptable or should they have replaced the engine.
 
I work for a dodge dealership and never saw a bad I ring many forgetting to install it.I would have a 3ed party check the car and see what they say.
 
Well I would say they are "within their rights". BUT I would sure as heck make sure it is documented on their file/system as well as in Father Fiats system.
There "might" not be any issues, but if there is, you want it documented.
Maybe extend the warranty another 20k?
I would make a call in to Head office for sure!
 
I meant to add, they should have inspected the oil filter before installing! Any oil changes I do Im inspecting and filling the filter before putting it on.

Oh take pics of the puddles at the dealership too.
 
I think they should have handled it better for sure. I also know Chrysler warranty will not cover items not bad at time. Dealers are required to do digital imaging for any motor or trans repair. I think dealer should have at least signed something stating that if there is a failure within a certain time frame they would cover any deductible or rental needed.
 
4spdragtop said:
Well I would say they are "within their rights". BUT I would sure as heck make sure it is documented on their file/system as well as in Father Fiats system.
There "might" not be any issues, but if there is, you want it documented.
Maybe extend the warranty another 20k?
I would make a call in to Head office for sure!
Click to expand...

X2 Make sure you start a file and get and keep things in printed form and yes, I would contact Customer service in writing. Although it seems ok now it could have shortened the life of the engine. If you keep the car for a few years I would trade it before the warranty expires. tmm
 
I took pictures of all the places the oil had leaked and showed the General Manager the photos. The documentation they gave never mentioned the tow or that they performed the oil change. Their documentation reads as follows.

" A cust states, did oil change, drain plug loose, no oil in vehicle.

09 found oring on oil filter was defected (split) replace oil and fileter and ran vehicle no noise hear for motor
302 kroc, ed lic#: 6142

Yes I copied it exactly with all the typos.
 
Talk to the dealership owner. Explain that wont sleep well for worry about your daughter and her car, and you have discussed this with your attorney.
Best outcome is a super sweet deal on a new one and they can take their chances with that one under their pre owned vehicle program.
 
Take car to another Dealership, explain to the service manager what happened and that you wish to talk to a regional supervisor ( or that what they were called years ago) and explain what happened and that a new car ran out of oil is unacceptable and see what they offer you. At the least they should put everything in writing and extend your powertrain warranty. Pictures would help your case. The oil trail will still be on the ground where she drove it off. If they put additives in you oil to thicken it up I would have this second dealership change it while you wait. I'd almost bet the engine is going to have what I call the "death rattle" when you crank it up cold. all this can't hurt, what the original dealership is hoping is that this will all go away. The manufacture is not going to warranty this engine if the dealer/mechanic is at fault. Just my 2 cents
 
Here in Colorado we have dealt with the dealer license board if you want a dealer to pay attention call the DLB dealers can only have so many complaints of this type.
Remember most dealers are franchises and have to answer to a higher power than the owner.
 
If I'm correct in understanding that the car has a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty? The car only has 23,000 miles on it now? That leaves 77,000 miles for the problem, if any to rear its ugly head. You have documentation already. Continue servicing it as you have, with the same dealer if there hasn't been any issues if you feel comfortable enough to do so. If not continue with another dealer so independant shops can't be blamed for causing it.
Does she really plan on keeping the car for 100k miles, or will she trade it in before that? If there's damage you'll see a problem long before 100k. After that it would probably **** the bed on its own anyway. So if she's not gonna drive it that long don't lose sleep over it if it aint smoking or knocking.
IMO it sounds like they did a little CYA about the o-ring failure. But honestly, I don't see where they ducked any responsibility beyond that. I don't think there are many techs that wouldn't try to CYA if the same thing happened to them out there. Mistakes do happen. If they cover it (under warranty) IF there's ever a problem then that's the best you can ask for. If not then start making calls. As long as you have the invoice form both visits & they should be dated w/ mileage then you have enough documentation.
I've been in the business over 30 years. Starting a big **** storm over it, as some suggest at this point isn't going to do anything but risk a bad relationship between you, the dealer & possibly you & the factory(in this case Dodge, or Fiat or who ever owns them next if there is a problem down the road). You're gonna need them both if there is ever a problem. I wouldn't expect them to cover anything beyond 100,000 miles on it though.
The good news is there had to be enough oil in it to get as far as she did before the low oil light & oil pressure lights came on(20+ miles). So even though it was leaking she still had some oil pressure in it, so there may not be any damage.

I hope it is ok & she has many miles of happy motoring left in it. Good luck.
 
Call Father Fiat while standing in the dealership. If and when **** hits the fan, you dont want the fingers pointed in several directions.
What you posted from the dealership with typos doesnt sound like they are owning up to anything. CYA(cover your arse)
 
I say you need better documentation. The issue is NOT whether the car fails within warrantee, as it's reasonable to expect an engine to last far beyond 100K in this day and age. I'd want documentation, a signed admission from the dealer detailing their eff-up in case of future trouble

Pictures of puddles, or talking to other dealerships is not proof of a thing.

This might be worth talking to a lawyer, so far as I'm concerned, and at the price of these cars nowadays.
 
As Always I'm getting some great advice here.

I called Chrysler Customer Support to ask their opinion or to speak to a regional manager. The guy listened to my concerns, and asked what was our expectation and I told him. He put me on hold and came back stating the engine is covered by the 100k warranty so if anything does happen it will be covered. Also by calling and telling him what happened they opened a case file for her car so in the future if something happens they will have the report in the case to refer to.

The point made to keep bringing it to the same dealer for its future oil changes makes sense so they cannot claim anyone else serviced the car and caused the damage. I will ask the dealership to provide better documentation of the incident for our records.

I worked in dealerships years ago for Honda and Nissan ( Stop Laughing) and things were handled differently. Of course That was 4 owners ago for Chrysler.
 
Maybe insist they have an oil analisis made with the oil they drain out on the next change. Also take a bit out for your own testing before you bring it in. Any funny noises have them document it in writing.
 
Even though it is your car as far as the warranty goes the car still belongs to Chrysler. I was the shop foreman of a Dodge dealer for nearly 30 yrs and trust me they wont fix anything unless its broken . Its unfortunate that the incident occured but you also must accept some of the responsibility for driving it 18 miles with no oil in it . I think its gonne be hard to convince a zone rep the there was no safe place to pull over and turn off the car . I think the most you can hope for in this is a deal on a new car ( maybe ) .
 
When I worked for a Caterpillar Dealership, we offered oil analysis at our Lab at head office. It was like $10....maybe contact a Cat dealer see if they offer it in your neck of the woods??
 
mopar jimmie said:
Even though it is your car as far as the warranty goes the car still belongs to Chrysler. I was the shop foreman of a Dodge dealer for nearly 30 yrs and trust me they wont fix anything unless its broken . Its unfortunate that the incident occured but you also must accept some of the responsibility for driving it 18 miles with no oil in it . I think its gonne be hard to convince a zone rep the there was no safe place to pull over and turn off the car . I think the most you can hope for in this is a deal on a new car ( maybe ) .
Click to expand...

Really! Tell me how is his daughter or anyone for that fact going to know their car is leaking oil as they are driving? Is it to much to expect a dealership to perform a oil change properly?
 
mopar jimmie said:
Even though it is your car as far as the warranty goes the car still belongs to Chrysler. I was the shop foreman of a Dodge dealer for nearly 30 yrs and trust me they wont fix anything unless its broken . Its unfortunate that the incident occured but you also must accept some of the responsibility for driving it 18 miles with no oil in it . I think its gonne be hard to convince a zone rep the there was no safe place to pull over and turn off the car . I think the most you can hope for in this is a deal on a new car ( maybe ) .
Click to expand...

Unfortunate yes, but she didn't know there wasn't any oil in it until 18 miles later when the lights came on. Its the dealership/ technicians responsibility to make sure all is well when a car is moved out of the shop and ready for customer pickup. The customer should not feel like they need to double check the work performed by the technician.

Yes, accidents happen. We all have made mistakes with customers cars, overlooked something. Maybe cutting corners to get that extra hour of flat rate time, but if you make a mistake own it.
 
x2
rogerk said:
unfortunate yes, but she didn't know there wasn't any oil in it until 18 miles later when the lights came on. Its the dealership/ technicians responsibility to make sure all is well when a car is moved out of the shop and ready for customer pickup. The customer should not feel like they need to double check the work performed by the technician.

Yes, accidents happen. We all have made mistakes with customers cars, overlooked something. Maybe cutting corners to get that extra hour of flat rate time, but if you make a mistake own it.
Click to expand...
 
Drain the oil in a pan start the engine let it fry and put the oil back in it-Done deal and don't worry about your daughter being stranded somewhere,The dealership doesn't care about you or any of it's customers period,They are concerned with bottom line profit it sucks but that is the world we live in today,You let us know if a regional manager get's a hold of you-good luck they hide and deal with service managers NOT customers.keep us posted-steve
 
oh and bye the way the Darts are 60 month 0 % interest right now cause they are not selling
 
Calm down.
The shut off on oil pressure is about 10 psi.
Had it happen on a 99 grand chrokee but it was a faulty oil pressure sensor.
If the engine did not have enough oil to run it shuts off.
Document everything, make sure they clean the mess up under the car and run it.
Modern electronics shut the engines off for over temp/low oil pressure on all chrysler vehicles since about 2000.
 
RogerK said:
As Always I'm getting some great advice here.

I called Chrysler Customer Support to ask their opinion or to speak to a regional manager. The guy listened to my concerns, and asked what was our expectation and I told him. He put me on hold and came back stating the engine is covered by the 100k warranty so if anything does happen it will be covered. Also by calling and telling him what happened they opened a case file for her car so in the future if something happens they will have the report in the case to refer to.

The point made to keep bringing it to the same dealer for its future oil changes makes sense so they cannot claim anyone else serviced the car and caused the damage. I will ask the dealership to provide better documentation of the incident for our records.

I worked in dealerships years ago for Honda and Nissan ( Stop Laughing) and things were handled differently. Of course That was 4 owners ago for Chrysler.
Click to expand...
You handled it the right way!

Don't be ashamed of working in a Honda or Nissan dealer. They are great cars! All of the money I spent working on my Mopars came from working on Hondas!
 
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