Sort of...

About an hour after I told the "dealer" I'd given up hope of ever seeing the 2500 I ordered in September, they called to say the tractor trailer just rolled up with my truck on the back and I can pick it up that night! End of the nightmare and everyone is happy now right? wrong...

This order has been a nightmare from start to finish, and it isn't finished yet. First it was it delivered over a month late after being "lost" in Baltimore for six weeks. Turns out the folks running the distribution lot in Baltimore ran it out of fuel and sent it off to a local dealer to have the fuel system bled and get it running again. They forgot it was there. How do you forget something like that? It took the dealer almost two weeks of constant calling as in multiple calls every day to jog their memory. Compound this with the fact that the dealer was very unmotivated to worry about where my truck was without MY constant badgering, and you have a recipe for massive frustration. If I hadn't been on them CONSTANTLY, I firmly believe it would still be undelivered.

So you would think the arrival of the truck I ordered would calm some of that. Yes I thought I would start to feel better about the deal once I got to see the vehicle I'd been waiting for and watching the progress of for three months. wrong! First, I get another call after the one announcing it's arrival at the dealer saying "There was a chip in the windshield so we are putting a new windshield in it" HUH??? This vehicle hasn't even made it to the customer yet and it has already had two repairs? Not feeling too good about that, but figure the good feeling is still to come when I get to pick it up. wrong! I go to the dealer and as I am looking at the truck I start noticing things missing... no bug shield on the hood, wrong tires, light group is missing, no fog lights! no tow hooks! no skid plates!! the key is black instead of grey! arrgh! The chumps left off nearly every option I asked for!!

Now I'm furious and they are scared of losing the sale. So they offer me deep discounts which amount to about 1600 off of the invoice price of the vehicle that was delivered. Not a bad price, but I ordered those options for a reason. I want them!! So, they offer to add them on, but need a day or two to look up the prices. OK. So I go back to the dealer and they hand me a piece of paper with Mopar LIST prices on the missing items. Um, you want me to pay $1339 for missing options that should have cost me $864? And they aren't even doing it right! The only item in the light group they quoted was the auto dim mirror. What about the other pieces of the light group?? And the fog lights they want to use the add-on switch with the hole drilled in the dash. Why can't they just change the headlight switch and do it right? In fact, why can't they just take the missing items off one of the trucks the have in stock that isn't sold and waiting for a customer and be done with it!!?!?

I guess at this point the dealer doesn't care anymore and figures they can just sell the truck to someone else who will be happy with it as ordered, so their enthusiasm for making me happy is dwindling.

I'm kind of stuck at this point... The basic truck is OK, except for the two repairs, and the price is good. But it isn't what I asked for, and that feeling will plague me the whole time I own it. But on the other hand, I want to just be done with it. I don't want to continue trying to find another one, or ordering another. My patience is gone, and what was supposed to be a fun and happy experience has turned out to be nothing but stress and frustration. But if I do have to do it over, it will be through a Texas dealer, which I have already researched... not going to go through that delivery nightmare again!

Anyone have any thoughts on this situation? Realistically, what should I be able to ask the dealer to do for me in this situation?

Sorry this is so long! Thanks for sticking with it if you read this far!

Thanks!
Jim

 

Jim, I hate to hear bout your situation. That sucks. I'd tell that dealer to go take a flying leap. And then take my buisness to someone that is willing to help me. Remember, even at the discounted price your still linning that dealers pockets.

 

Jim,

Where are you located that you would order a truck from a dealer in Texas? If you want a no hassle order, let me know and I can give you the info on my dealer. They are located here in MD.

 

Yes the temptation is there, and is probably the right thing to do. But like I said, I can't go on... this needs to be over and soon. Too much time has been wasted, too much stress, too much frustration. It needs to end rather than begin anew, even if it would be from a dealer that is more pleasant to work with.

Are they really still making any money giving that much off of invoice?

If I do say no to the deal, they aren't going to get full price for it anyway... the night I went to pick it up they slapped a dealer tag on it and handed me the keys and said keep it until we get things figured out. Well, there still nothing signed and there is just over 500 miles on it now... they will have a tough time selling that as a new vehicle! heheh

Thanks,
Jim

 

I live in Delaware, but I have family in Texas, so it wouldn't be out of the question to fly out for a visit and drive back in a new truck. Plus, the logistics of delivery from Saltillo to the other side of the border make for fairly quick, drama-free deliveries of special orders.

I will never order another vehicle that involves shipping through Baltimore.

Thanks!
Jim

 

I would definitely walk out on this one. The only way they would be able to make this right for me in this situation would be to add all of the optional equipment at no cost. Then I would still want the deep discount off invoice. There are too many dealers surrounding me to be locked in on one particular vehicle. I would tell them to take a hike so fast that they wouldn't know what hit them. I purchased my truck from Heritage Dodge in Westminster, MD and they bent over backwards for me. They gave me a great deal and even transferred the truck down from PA.

 

Jim, i feel for you. i dont know how to respond LOGICLY Are you a patient man? cuz i`m not. If i were in your shoes, my Irish temper would have gotten the best of me and i would of walked away after using some choice words.

I understand what you say about the feeling your talking about, your making a big investment, and you want it to be right. Having ordered my truck, i know what its like, as you go through every option decing whats right for you. I couldn`t wait to pick it up and check out all the options i ordered.

If your not in a big rush for the truck, i would say try again with a different dealer.other wise you might have that guilty fealing driving a truck you settledon. plus as it was said before, why line the pockets of an incompetent dealer, that wasn`t looking out for YOUR best interest.

Just my 0.02

 

You won't be happy with this truck and you'll resent it down the road. Then you'll wind up ordering a new one and taking the hit on this one, even at the low price. Does the $1600 below invoice mean you'll get the $2500 off also for a total of $4100 below invoice? You didn't mention that.

Bottom line, for me, either way, is I'd walk away from this truck and this dealer and, as painful as it seems, start over new and get exactly what you want. When you pay this much for something, make a "custom order" and wait for it to arrive, it better be exactly what you want!

There's a dealer in Bartlett, OK who sells for invoice minus $316 minus any rebates and stuff. If I ever wind up ordering a vehicle and can't find a local dealer who's willing to work with me (and I'm not going to mess around with their crap too much), this is where I will call. Check out www.markroberts.com.

 

Yes, that is how it would work out. A good price, but by itself that isn't enough to make it feel good.

Guess I have to get in the frame of mind that allows me to let go of this and start over somewhere else, because I'm pretty confident this dealer isn't going to knock themselves out to please me on this.

Thanks,
Jim

 

Is it really "your truck"? With all the options missing, how is it better than any other truck you might find on the lot? Can't you just drive down the road and get another "not quite right" truck any time? Couldn't you have done that to start with?

I guess what I'm thinking is that there is no reason to settle for this specific truck. If you're ok without the options you wanted just take another one off another lot.

You wanted it a specific way, I'd call another dealer, or if these people seem helpful (they don't to me) give them the chance. Get a 600 out of it. It shouldn't take too much longer.

 

Like everyone else has already said, you won't be happy with this truck. It is not what you ordered. Goodluck with your desision Jim.

 

Jim, I was wondering if you have the "original" VIN # from the truck you ordered. If you do compare it to the # on the truck the dealer has.

You see I had ordered a truck on the 1st of Sept. and I followed it's progress. It was built and supposedly shipped. From their it seemed to be indefinetly held up in Newark NJ for "quality control". Crabjoe jumped on board to assist me and although it did seem that my truck was shipped, the reality was it never left Mexico.

I found out from another dealer that a whole bunch of trucks he had ordered were destroyed in a storm at the plant (more than likely while waiting in a lot to be shipped). I told my dealer this "storm" story and he had no comment.

Due to the fact that I had no wheels and no real answers I had my dealer find me a close match to what I ordered on a lot and I purchased it. I would have rather had my ordered truck but at the time all the EGR storys were flying around so I cut my losses.

Some time later I was at the dealer getting my block heater cord and the sale's manager said "you know, you were right on with that storm story. You order was destroyed along with many other trucks and we just got confirmation and a new VIN# for the replacement that is to be built".

I don't know if this applies to Jim's truck but he ordered around the same time as I.

 

Walk away from that deal (fiasco) and either find another truck on someone else's lot, or re-order. A year from now you will be glad that you did, rather than settling for a truck that isn't right. You will not have that smile that we all do when we fire up our babies. Every time you get in that truck you are going to get this bad taste in your mouth. And it will still cost you 30+ thousand dollars! I've "settled" before, and I've regreted it.

JMHO, FWIW

DeWain

 

Take your money and run. It is not the truck you ordered. Do business with a dealer that has more interest in his customers. This dealer did you a favor by showing his true colors BEFORE you bought the truck. JMHO

Casey

 

What a disaster! Tell 'em to kiss your backside, find a genuine dealer, get the pick-up you want, and live happily ever after. In the big picture, 6 months isn't all that long. Sorry dude.....Better days ahead.