dealer says one thing chrysler says different who to call?

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Guest, Aug 20, 2004.

  1. Guest

    Guest Guest

    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
     
    Guest, Aug 20, 2004
    #1
  2. Guest

    SRG Guest

    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
     
    SRG, Aug 20, 2004
    #2
  3. 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.
     
    Stephen Nichols, Aug 20, 2004
    #3
  4. Ask Chrysler for a UPS tracking number.
     
    Alex Rodriguez, Aug 20, 2004
    #4
  5. Guest

    Guest Guest

    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
     
    Guest, Aug 20, 2004
    #5
  6. Guest

    Bill Putney Guest

    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")
     
    Bill Putney, Aug 21, 2004
    #6
  7. Guest

    Stephen Guest

    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
     
    Stephen, Aug 21, 2004
    #7
  8. 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
     
    Ted Mittelstaedt, Aug 21, 2004
    #8
  9. Guest

    Bill Putney Guest

    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")
     
    Bill Putney, Aug 21, 2004
    #9
  10. Guest

    Stephen Guest

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

    stephen
     
    Stephen, Aug 21, 2004
    #10
  11. They most certainly do. "Computer box, engine".
     
    Daniel J. Stern, Aug 21, 2004
    #11
  12. 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.
     
    Daniel J. Stern, Aug 21, 2004
    #12
  13. Guest

    Stephen Guest

    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
     
    Stephen, Aug 21, 2004
    #13
  14. Wrong. SBEC, ECU, ECM, PCM -- all mean the same thing.
     
    Daniel J. Stern, Aug 21, 2004
    #14
  15. Guest

    Bill Putney Guest

    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")
     
    Bill Putney, Aug 22, 2004
    #15
  16. Guest

    mic canic Guest

    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
     
    mic canic, Aug 22, 2004
    #16
  17. Guest

    mic canic Guest

    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
     
    mic canic, Aug 22, 2004
    #17
  18. Guest

    mic canic Guest

    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
     
    mic canic, Aug 22, 2004
    #18
  19. Guest

    Art Guest

    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.)
     
    Art, Aug 22, 2004
    #19
  20. Guest

    Stephen Guest

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

    stephen
     
    Stephen, Aug 23, 2004
    #20
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