mrb321us

I recently took my Dodge Ram into the dealership for a lube and oil change. When I crawled underneath afterwards I discovered the grease fittings had not been touched. They were still coated with road grime. I had the same experience the time before with another Portland-area dealer. My dealer has Five Stars and is a past president of the national Dodge Dealers Association. If this is the quality of service Dodge is dishing out, from now on I'll only visit a dealership for warranty work. Perhaps if auto dealership service departments were regulated similar to the aircraft service industry standards would be higher.

5/16/03 UPDATE: When I didn't hear back from Timberline Dodge after sending Gen. Mgr. Alex Laws a letter about this, I called DC customer service to complain. They called him while I held and reported to me that he was looking into the situation. Six days after I sent my letter he mailed me a reply stating Timberline had a service dept. "quality control problem," and he was taking the necessary action to correct it. I thought his response was too slow (he should have called me immediately after receiving the letter), but I was impressed by the fact DC called the dealership while I was still on the phone. Perhaps this is a taste of the type of excellent service Mercedes Benz customers receive. I wonder if Ford or GM would contact a dealer about a complaint on the spot like that. From now on I will crawl underneath and double check when getting my rig greased and oiled to make sure the job was done right.

DEZLPWR

You my friend, are learning.... Your 96 is still under warranty? ??? If so, I would stay away from the dealer except for as you say, the warranty work. <br><br>My truck has never seen the dealer since I bought it used 2 years ago and found out that my warranty was voided.... 8) I have never looked back! ;D ;D<br><br>If anything ever does happen to it, Piers will be doing the work on it.

Dieseldude4x4

Standing at nearly 124000 miles, four years and four months and never been back to the dealer.

richard

The local dealer here has only seen my truck once for the throttle linkage recall. Let's just say that someone forgot to tighten the rod ends properly. The following day I was towing my skidsteer home from a job and the linkage rod loosened up, turned over, and the throttle was stuck at about 2200 rpm.Not what you want to see coming down an offramp with a combined weight of about 17000 lbs. Needless to say,I ended up in the grass and almost had to go home and change my shorts. Our prestigious 5 star dealer got a royal reaming for that one and I vowed never to go there again.

NWDave

[quote author=mrb321us link=board=10;threadid=14496;start=0#136079 date=1052372976]<br>I recently took my Dodge Ram into the dealership for a lube and oil change. When I crawled underneath afterwards I discovered the grease fittings had not been touched. [/quote]<br><br>You did of course, call back to the Dealer and speak to someone high up in staff about the lack of task completion? The dealer deserves the opportunity to correct the situation. If he/she doesn't, then you have every right to black list them. Ya gotta remember, oil change/lube tech's are essentially trainees and not all are detail oriented. <br><br>~JusttryingtobefairhereDave<br><br>P.S. I like to do my own oil changes and lubes, cheaper in the long run.

DeaconWayne

I had the same type experience at Wally-World when I wasn't able to do my own oil/filter/lube (my previous truck). They did the service and I stood by in their waiting room watching. When they finished and I paid for the job and asked if they greased it, too. The cashier called out to the shop and asked the kid if he did, indeed, grease my truck and he told the cashier that he did. I then went out and looked under the front at the grease fittings. Untouched and still covered with road grime. I went back and asked the service manager to come with me and I showed him the paperwork and the grease fittings. He greased everything and then he began reaming the kid who claimed to have greased everything. <br><br>I don't mind paying for what I get, but I want to get what I pay for.<br><br>DW<br>

Luke S

Thanks JusttryingtobefairhereDave

tlea7

I'll be the first to complain when I get bad service, but I feel it only fair to point out good. Last week I took truck to dealer to get front alloy wheel looked at as it has been corroding for a while. (thought it was road salt) Service adviser immediately sent out tech to look at it and found caliper had a leak. Seeing it was a safety issue, he had the part shipped overnight and had me in 1st thing in morning. (he actually wanted me to leave truck but I felt ok taking it home) When I got there they had a rental car (free) waiting for me to use even though they only needed it for 2 hours. It was done on time and they have new front wheel on order and are going to clean up other wheels when it gets here. Wish everone could always have experience like mine as its the way it should always be.<br>Tim

mrb321us

Of course my 96 is out of warranty. What I ment was I would never take a truck back to that dealership for anything other than warranty work. My point is a 5 Star rating is supposed to mean that such dealers provide the best service possible, and I have proof -- at least in the case of my dealer -- that's not the case. I wrote a letter to the dealer principal about this, but so far no reply. Dealerships are very sensitive when they know DC might contact you for an opinion about dealer service, but this only applies to warranty work. For non warranty work it seems this dealer could care less. The reason I go back for Lube/Oil/Filter is because I got a lifetime card for this service. Now it seems they are trying to cut back on the service without telling the customer.

matthopp

I purchased my truck from a 5 Star dealer last summer and they were extremely helpful. When searching for a vehicle, i didnt look for a 5 Star Dealer, I looked for my truck and they gave me a terrific price. I have only taken it back to the for the additional accessories and for the first free oil change. They have been a superb dealer, but I dont think they are your typical dealer. They do go out of there way to help their customers. I will drive over 100 miles if I have to have warranty work done rather than going to the numerous ones around Houston. They will be the only dealer who touches my truck.

DieselDaze

I have had some bad experiences at a dealership as well. However, I caution against thinking all dealers are this way.<br><br>It wasnt too long ago, there was THIS post on here.<br><br>Rich.

Jonesey

I have yet to find a service department that gives a squat about these trucks. It is just another truck to their flunkies not a $40,000 plus investment as it is to us. I am on my second CTD. I have had the hood dented on my last truck while in for repair, dirt all over the carpet and seats. Current truck while in for CO2 recall dirt on carpet and tire damaged on the lift arm when they pulled in or out. I didn't notice it until at home in the driveway. It had red paint the same color as the lift on the sidewall abrasion. The tire now has two dots over the I in Goodrich. I didn't even take it back because they would just deny doing it. You just can not trust any dealer to take care of your truck. &gt;

spots

2 words for shoddy dealer service-Flat Rate.<br>Get rid of this system and the service quality will go up. The dealership owners will make less tho. They are the ones fighting it. I agree give a blast if the service was crap, but praise if it is good also.

Redleg

Another trick to watch for is to put a dab of grease on the fitting in hard to reach areas. Check the hidden fittings occasionally. They'll do the tie rods and ignore the others as well.

mic646

The local dealer here used to be a five star dealer. Now they are not. I wonder if bad service had anything to do with it. &gt; Someone once told me that the dealers have to pay to be a five star.