It all started August 8th when I took my 1999 Ram CTD 2500 in to get a hard hot start problem fixed (ECM reflash I thought). The truck was running good when I took it in, but that problem was annoying. I later got a call telling me that my 8 month old lift pump was bad so a new in-tank retrofit system would fix my problem. The next day I got a call telling me my thousand dollar job was done, but my problem wasn't fixed. They then tell me I will need a new VP 44 for another $2585 plus tax, and that will do the trick. This is when I decided to put up a fight. I started with the service manager telling him I would not pay the $1000 for service performed to fix my problem that didn't fix my problem. This led me to the general manager who gave me the same song and dance. He said that the technician told me that there may be other things wrong with my truck so there was no guarantee the LP replacement would fix my problem. My reply was who in their right mind would pay $1000 to have investigative work done on the truck, this was supposed to fix my problem. If I was told a LP "May or may not" fix my problem, I would have replaced it myself for nothing since the old one was still warrantied. He then tried to tell me that there is no way to test an injector pump without first replacing the LP and I told him I thought he was wrong. After speaking to some local diesel specialists and another five star Dodge mechanic I was informed that it is possible to test the IP without a new LP and there should have been death codes from the computer anyway. My next call went to the National Headquarters for this particular dealership explaining the situation. They assured me they would look into the problem and within the hour I was back dealing with the local customer representative. She had no idea what was going on so I told the story to the fifth person now and she said she would look into it. She told me they were waiting to hear what the Regional Manager had to say. I then called the regional manager myself and he had no idea what was going on. I told him the story and his response was. "So let me get this straight, they did work that you authorized and it didn't work so now you regret it and you are mad." His arrogance and sarcastic tone threw me off guard but I kept my cool. He gave me the run around and told me he would look into it and let me know something in 2 or 3 days. I was upset now because I felt that he was going to drag his feet and he was not going to help me at all. Now I wanted to call Daimler Chrysler and try the "Thomas" approach. I told them that according to the Warranty Manual my IP was covered under the Cummins Diesel Engine Limited Warranty. If section 2.6 on page 12 is interpreted like it is written the 5 yr/100 miles "BEGINS ant the END of the 3/36 Basic warranty." They passed me to a couple of different people and finally told me that DC was not going to help me and my "out of warranty claim" had been denied. Not knowing what to say next because my brain was now in vulgarity vapor lock I just hung up the phone to collect my thoughts. After speaking to an attorney I feel that I have a case and I am not going to spot the pursuit. If anyone has any suggestions that would aid in a good outcome please let me know. Thanks

Eric

 

Just get all the facts to your attorney ASAP and turn him loose.

I

hate

dealerships.

 

Just got off the phone with DC for the second time and they told me that since my claim had already been denied they can no longer discuss the matter. When I asked to speak with the person who denied the claim or the supervisor I was not allowed to speak with anyone else. I then asked for a written denial so I could have it as reference to persue other measures and I was told this was not possible. Dodge makes great diesel trucks and this problem with customer service is really starting to open my eyes.
Eric

 

Holy crow... Sorry to hear about your troubles... I hope that you get a little gool luck out of it.

mad

 

I lost my IP at 65K. Denied by dealer and by DC. I also asked for a written denial of warranty and was snidely told my copy of the warranty was the denial. I would like to pursue too but can't get any farther on the phone with DC. They didn't respond or offer any sympathy when I told them this was the kind of issue which would stop me from buying another CTD. Furthermore they said they were not aware of any issues with the VP-44.

 

The "Thomas" approach was to let the D/C Customer Service personnel tell me to "go pound sand" and then to go after the servicing dealer. I have no idea where you are located, but California makes it real easy to sue in Small Claims Court. Prior to filing suit, I wrote a to-the-point demand letter. The demand letter plus a face-to-face meeting with the repairing dealership owner got the ball rolling for me. Fortunately I never had to sue.

The dealer was aware that I was right and that I would sue. The dealer was the one that put pressure on D/C, not me. A demand letter is where I would go next. Perhaps it will be enough to turn things around.

One thing that the dealer told me after he gave me the news that D/C would issue a refund check was that if I had been a jerk he would never have helped me. I was friendly & courteous, but firm in my position that there was no way to interpret the Cummins Diesel Engine Limited Warranty other than the simple English wording in the Warranty Information Booklet.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Thomas for the info. At no point have I become boligerant or vulger, just stern. Like I said before, when I get that feeling my brain goes into vulgarity vapor lock and I end my conversations there. The dealership still has my vehicle because I didn't want to pay for a thousand dollar retrofit lift pump that didn't fix the problem I took it in for. I have not authorized them to replace the injector pump at this point. Luckily my wifes uncle is an attorney and he is giving me solid legal advice whenever something new comes up. He has now volunteered to step in and write a demand letter. My question is if I haven't authorized the dealer to install a new IP who should get the demand letter? Thanks

Eric

 

I'm certainly not an attorney but that sounds like a question for the wife's uncle!

 

thats awesome. i finally have a new saying to fire off when im so mad i dont know what to start yelling. i hope everything works out for you. it amazes me how some of the customer service people can be such fools
brett

 

one thing that worked for me was I sued the owner of the Dealer personally... you can go to the local hall of records and find the owner.. have the sheriff deliver the subpoena. The owner called me and told me I was suing the wrong person I should be suing the dealer.. said sorry fix the truck or I see YOU as the owner in court.. truck was fixed under warranty 3 days later..

Gerry

 

Listen to this one I called my ds to make sure that my clutch master was coverd under extended warranty they said yes so I take the truck in the tech calls and tells me that was the problem and it would be 480$ I ask him about my warranty he puts me on hold when he comes back to me he said it is coverd they fix it then call and tell me it wasent coverd I fought with s manager and he would not help me at all it finely took the owners son getting involved to fix my problem what a joke 35000$ trucks and they treat us like crooks.

 

Yup, this is a good move. Nothing like hitting the person in charge. Likely will result in a positive ending exactly as above. I know who owns the dealership that I use and wouldn't hesitate to bring such an egregious breach of warranty to his attention. For that matter, you can pick any Dodge dealer as long as they refuse to fix the VP44. Some sage advice from previous posts on this subject is to shop around a bit. Take it to a couple of Dodge dealers and see what they say, then pick your target.

 

Sue the dealer and ask for the old parts. Don't sue Dodge because they likely have lawyers sitting on their booties waiting for something to do - and they can't repair it anyways. The dealer is the only one that can replace the VP44 and get reimbursed from Dodge/Cummins (unless like GM they contract out to private service firms to do factory warranty repairs - I found a Goodyear shop that was authorized to do GM warranty work in San Antonio).

I'm not a lawyer either, but this Cummins warranty sounds like a BIG disconnect between Dodge and Cummins on who eats the cost of the "extended warranty". Bottom line is Dodge - their truck, their warranty booklet in their manufactured product. I'm going to guess that Cummins never signed any agreement with Chrysler to cover this so-called extended warranty.

 

I bought my truck used and the warranty was non-transferable so when my IP went at 89,000 the dealership quoted me $4,200 with labor and I said, "Wow, you know my warranty is up and I never, repeat, never have to see your service people again. Hmmm."
Then I called a friend of mine who is a good diesel mechanic. His shop did the job for $1,000 dollars less and is reputable and honest. Diesel shops service people that depend on their rigs for a living. They can't be small time crooks like car dealerships if they want to stay in business. Good luck with the warranty chase, we are all pulling for you.

 

Dealers are Crooks, Dodge Dealers are Bigger Crooks...

I would rate the big three
Dodge worst,
than Ford, ( close behind )
and GM probably the best of the three.

If I had to buy new, I would buy a GM, just for that reason...