dealer says one thing chrysler says different who to call?

What do you do when chrysler says one thing and the dealer says
something different? On 8/1 my jeep had to be towed to the dealer.
They determine it needs a pcm (power train computer module ?).
There are none in the country according to them. They order the
part. It is 8/20 and still no part. chrysler customer support
(that's a laugher) says the part was shipped to the dealer on 8/14.
The dealer says it was not. The dealer says they talked to ups and
ups was told to expect the part on 8/16 but they never got it. At this
point all chrysler customer nonsupport will say is part was shipped.
No longer their problem. Dealer/ups says part was not shipped
not their problem. I'm the one with the problem. I'v been having to
rent a car during all of this. Does anyone know of anyone else
as chrysler to contact?

snichols

 

Talk to another dealer, one who wants your future business. Dealer might
have used it for another customer,(who is waiting longer than you are now)
Or, are too busy now to install it.

When you say "Chrysler" is that the 800 number you are calling? I would
call the 800 number and ask to meet and/or speak to the area Chrysler
representative. Have him find a dealer, local to you, that will get you
your car back.

Good luck;
SRG

 

It is the 800 customer service number. I tried to get the name or
number of someone else to talk with but they said there is no one else
and would not give me any other number. I don't think it is the
dealer. It is a fairly reputable dealer. They appear to be trying
harder than chrysler to find out some info.

 

Ask Chrysler for a UPS tracking number.

 

I tried that. They say their system doesn't show any info about how
the parts are shipped from the distribution center. The dealer says
they
almost always get them via ups. Only large parts are shipped
different. The dealer says they talked to their ups contacts and ups
claims they have not seen the part yet.

stephen

 

If not under warranty, your only option may be to go elsewhere to order
the part and have the work done, i.e., you don't have much leverage,
legal or monetary. The bit about the part not being available presents
a dilemma. Perhaps try to find the PCM at www.car-part.com.

If this is a warranty repair, tell them that, since the issue is between
the dealer and Chrysler - that you are the innocent third party that is
being damaged by their inaction, you will order the part yourself (from
another dealer if necessary, or if not available new, from a salvage
source), and that after you have the repair done, you plan to sue the
appropriate party (dealer and/or Chrysler) in small claims court for
cost of parts and labor - oh - and that you plan to rent a car for your
use until you can have the repair completed, and that that cost will be
included in your suit. Hopefully you have some indication in writing
(sales ticket, work order, whatever) to support your future claim that
they are supposed to be fixing this problem.

Notify them ASAP in writing by return receipt request letter of your
intentions, stating that you will begin your process, starting with the
ordering of the part, on such and such a date (give them a reasonable
amount of time to respond) if they have not re-shipped the part with the
full intent of following thru with the repair. And don't bluff - do not
begin the process unless you are willing to carry it thru to the end if
necessary (but most likely it won't be necessary once they see that you
mean business and are not putting up with their b.s. any more). Worse
thing that will likely happen is that you take care of the repair on
your own and end up collecting all of your expenses in court. No judge
in his right mind will deny your claim if you present this in a credible
fashion - you can't be expected to let your vehicle sit unused while
idiots point fingers at each other, which is obviously what is
happening.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Yeah, I realized pretty quickly that I have no leverage. What really
supprised and upsets me is chrysler simply does not care. They
have done nothing to help. They refuse to provide any info other than
they claim the part was shipped. So it's no longer their problem. They
claim they have no control over the dealer. They have given every
indication that they really just don't care if I ever get my jeep
fixed. Which I don't really understand. It has an impact on how many
cars they sell. I will never buy another chrysler product. No one in
my family will ever buy another chrysler product. I will try to
convince as many of my friends and coworkers and I can to never buy a
chrysler product. I'm even thinking of putting up a web site to try to
convince as many people as I can not to buy chrysler products.

Which if the dealer is telling the truth going to another dealer
won't help.

I checked. They don't list it. According to the dealer it is somewhat
VIN number specific. Or maybe the programming inside is not common
across the part. Which is one of the reasons there are none in stock
they claim.

Unfortunately it is not a warenty repair.

stephen

 

This is bullshit. This is clearly the dealer's problem.

The dealer claims they ordered the part and it never came. Fine, they
should
immediately place another order for the part. If the first part was lost
then
it's between the dealer and Chrysler. if the first part shows up the dealer
can
either stock it and sell it to someone else eventually, or they can return
it to
Chrysler.

Dealers are supposed to be stocking parts anyway. What the hell is the
point of
having the dealer do the work anyway if every damn part they order from
Chrysler?
From Chrysler's point of view, Chrysler might as well just start contracting
with
private garages to do warranty work.

And the claim the part isn't available - that is bullshit also. It's the
oldest line in
the book. I've heard that line before plenty of times from dealers when I
called
into the parts counter to order some dealer-only part. Sometimes I then
walk
in and hang over the counter, and the parts guy "magically" finds the part
to
be available after all. Sometimes I call another dealer in the city and
they
magically find the part also. A number of times the problem has been
because
the factory changed part numbers and the parts guy on the phone didn't
bother
checking in the cross reference. Factories also often make part change
revisions
and will assign a new part number as well as a TSB or some such that tells
that
the old part is now replaced by the new part. Sometimes they will not
bother
relabling the old parts with the new numbers and for a while the computer
will
have both the new and the old numbers in it, and once the old number stock
is exhausted the parts guys claim the factory doesen't have the part
anymore.
I've caught dealer parts guys in this twice now - both times the parts guy
had
memorized the old number and didn't even look at a parts explosion, just
keyed
in the part number and announced it's unavailable. When I forced him to
pull
up the parts explosion and then pointed out the different part number on it
than
what he had memorized, magically that part was available.

It isn't. What you don't seem to understand is that this isn't your
problem.
It's the dealerships responsibility to get the part, not give you a boatload
of
excuses.

Yah, right. If you were a member of my family I'd tell you to butt-out of
the
relationship between the dealer and Chrysler and tell the dealer to try
ordering the part again, and if it gets lost a second time, I go to another
dealer. I would definitely not base my own vehicle choices just because
you are sticking your nose where it doesen't belong.

There is no law saying the dealer HAS to fix your car. They can refuse
to fix it and send you elsewhere. Or they can just string you along with
excuses until your clue phone rings and you go elsewhere. Usually the
second thing is what they do because it's harder to prove to the
automaker that a specific dealer is being a jerk.

When Chrysler signs up a car sales company as a dealership, they do what
due dilligence they can. But with the number of dealers they have signed up
it's inevitable that some of them are going to be bad apples.

What incentive does the dealer have to tell you the truth? If the truth
is that the part is easy to get, if they tell you this your going to go
elsewhere.

Your just not going to know either way unless you start calling around.

Then why are you wasting time with the dealership in the first place?

Dealership service departments really don't want to see old cars that
much. For starters the factory does obsolete parts on schedules, and so
an older car is the more the risk that it's going to need an obsolete part.
Which means the mechanic is going to have to go to a wrecker and get
a replacement of unknown history. The failure rates on these kinds of
replacements is much higher than just new parts, so the risk your going to
bring it back is a lot higher.

Secondly, the mechanics forget many of the speed tricks with cars that
are older and older, so the repair jobs have a much higher risk of exceeding
the quoted value.

Ted

 

Another thing you can do is find the part on the internet thru a dealer
that has a drill-down parts finder. One you can try is
www.mechanicsvilledodge.com. Go to the parts link, identify the year
and model of Jeep, and use the index to identify the part - the list
price and their discounted price will pop up indicating that they have
it or can get it. Price will probably be significantly cheaper than
thru your local dealer even after paying shipping. There are several
dealers who have such a drill-down part finder on their web site.

If that particular part does not show on the drill-down, then call them
at their toll-free number listed on their site (or use their e-mail
inquiry) - ask for internet sales to get the best price.

You could also go into a Jeep-specific forum and probably someone there
will be able to tell you the part number and can confrim that it is
indeed available.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

May be I'm missing something but I don't see jeep or cherokee listed
on the pull down for the model.

stephen

 

They most certainly do. "Computer box, engine".

 

Then why on earth did you take it to a *dealer* of all places, and why on
earth do you feel Chrysler has any obligation to do anything for you? It's
probable your PCM doesn't need replacement at all -- they seldom fail.

 

Well, when I looked at those they say ECU. If I'm understanding the
dealer correctly I need a PCM (powertrain control module). Based on my
limited knowledge those are different parts right ? I've also read
several other places that the PCM is vin number specific. Does that
mean it has to be programmed by chrysler and can come only from them?

stephen

 

Wrong. SBEC, ECU, ECM, PCM -- all mean the same thing.

 

Let's take www.mechanicsvilledodge.com as an example. From their home
page, hit the "PARTS" link. On the page that comes up, hit the "Go"
button on the box that says "Buy OE Parts On Line Today" with the
picture of the guy holding the giant spark plug. From there, select the
year and make (Jeep), and check "Collision" or "Mechanical" as
appropriate (in this case, check "Mechanical" - although I'm not sure
that makes any difference), after which a box will appear from which to
select model (i.e., Cherokee, Wrangler, etc.). Then you will get the
system/category/subcomponent-type drill-down. Other dealer's sites may
work differently, but usually they are very similar, and you can figure
it out. Each dealer has their own pricing structure although the
software that drives the selection menus appear to be the same from one
dealer to the next. Sometimes the organization of the components within
systems or categories is pretty stupid, but ususally you can find a
given component with a minute or two of experimenting, and sometimes the
nomenclature is ambiguous and you're not sure if you have the right part
or not. Again, you can always call the place during their normal
business hours and ask for internet parts sales - the fact that they
have that feature (vs. the simple e-mail inquiry form) on their web site
is usually a good indicator that their pricing is better than you will
find from your local dealer (or even the same dealer if you were to walk
in as a local yocal).

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

as a dealer tech we are seeing this more and more and it's getting worse
i ordered a tach for a covert. sebring and it was shipped from another dealer to
us and guess what it had been already installed and was no good so i reordered
another one and they showed have none in stock anywhere now the customer has to
wait another month or. so make dc pay for your rental

 

dc has a new parts system and it's called d to d, meaning the parts a
dealer now orders comes from another dealer before dc ships a part from the
wharehouse and this has turned the parts procees up side down
friggen germans

 

depending on year of vehicle the pcm has to be progamed now and it is vin
specific and if it has skim that has to be added so going to a salvage
yard is a thing of the past

 

That is even dumber than their strategy in 99 to take parts from new cars if
necessary. Couldn't believe it when they took apart a new 2000 300M to
replace the door panels in my 99 300M. Then they discovered the rear panels
didn't fit so they had to put them back on both cars and order ones for me.
(Speakers moved in 2000 rear panels.)

 

I would love to do that. But how? Who would I call?

stephen