Dealer Frustration

[2Shay]

Can anyone recommend a decent service dealership in the San Jose, CA area? My first experience with the Chrysler service department has me wanting to sell my 300C and buy a Toyota that doesn't ever require service!

Here is my story:

Bought my Midnight Blue 2005 300C with all options used from a private party. Car was 11.5 months old with 1,241 miles on it. Perfect shape no major issues.

Issue 1: Owner said car pulled slightly to right, might be tire pressure. After reading everything here, I decide to have dealer look at it per the TSB's.
Issue 2: Sirius radio shows Channel 184 with no signal. Previous owner said he didn't care about it and never tried to activate. On way home we call Sirius and try to activate, and are told that antenna is probably not connected, take to dealer.
Issue 3: After a week or two, passenger airbag light stays on.

I decide to take in car for 3K mile oil change. I choose a 5 Star dealer in San Jose and use the web to request an appointment. List all details of car and service needs. 3 days go by before getting a response saying someone will call me soon. End of day I get a call to schedule. Person asks again what type of service I need and I repeat everything that is on the web. Am told at this time there is an Anti freeze recall on vehicle and it will be done at same time. OK. Other than waiting 3 days for a response, dealership seems pleasant.

Dealership Day 1: (Tuesday)

I bring the car to the dealership for my 7:30AM appointment. Someone waves me right into the service bay and says they were waiting for me to arrive. Alright! This is going good. Then they start filling out a blank form with all of my information again. I tell them the list of stuff to work on a 3rd time and figure things are all set now. I mention to the service rep that the car pulling to the right seems to have a couple of TSB's out and should be checked. He tells me that unless the car is less than 12 months old, it is not covered and will cost $90. Car is 1year 8days old with 4K miles. I argue the point but agree to the alignment at $90. It has to be done. Service rep says car will be ready that afternoon and offers me a shuttle to work. OK, not bad, beats walking 1/2 mile to the bus stop...

At 2:30 I get a call from the service rep. States that he just found out a mechanic called in sick, so my car would not be ready. Offers to pay for a rental car for 1 day. I have been having second thoughts about the alignment after reading posts about "re-aligning" the centering of the steering wheel and figure if that is all they didn't do, I would skip it. I ask how much have they gotten done and am told, "Actually, we haven't started on it yet" WTF??? I make a 7:30 appointment and you don't realize until 2:30 you haven't got time to work on it at all today???? I express my dissatisfaction with the Service Director about the car sitting all day with nothing being done, as well as with the 1 year policy on alignment. He offers to go to bat on the alignment since the car has such low miles, but I would have to pay for it up front. He'll let me know if Chrysler covers it. I should have taken the car home that day, but I'm generally a pretty calm person and I know that sh#t happens sometimes. I get the rental, a stripped minivan, and say to myself, "It's only 1 day....Tomorrow will be better"

Dealership Day 2: (Wednesday)

I get a call from the dealership at about 2:00PM stating all is done with car except for Sirius radio. They are having problem diagnosing it and have called in a specialist. ??? They assure me the car will be ready today and will call me as soon as it is ready. I decide to go to the dealer at 4:30PM to check on things and return the minivan. As I pull up, I see a van with Stereo installation markings on the side pulling away. I think to myself, "Alright, will be back in my 300C tonight!" As I'm getting out of the rental, my cell phone rings. It is the service manager, He tells me that my car will not be ready until Friday, 2 more days! He informs me that my factory installed Sirius radio, does not have the correct wiring harness between the unit and dash. (How can you install the radio and not install the wiring harness?? Has Chrysler ever heard of Quality Control?) He has ordered the part and it will be in Friday morning. He offers to cover the rental car until Friday. I ask about taking the car and bringing it back on Friday. He tells me the dash and trunk are taken all apart and it will take more than an hour to put it back together. It's already 4:50PM so they couldn't do it. I begrudgingly agree to leave it until Friday. I ask, is there any chance that the part will not be in on Friday? "Oh, it shows it is in stock in Los Angeles and I have ordered it. It WILL be here on Friday." I go back to the rental company and ask to trade the minivan for something with a hood. I am given a gas swilling Dodge Durango. Key remote is broken, shift lever has a TOW/HAUL button that I accidentally hit every time I put it in drive...

Dealership day 4 (Friday):

Service Manager calls me about 10:00AM and tells me car is ready to pick up. However, Sirius radio is not working. They forgot to specify how to send the wiring harness and it got sent UPS ground and has not arrived. They put my car back together since the part probably will not arrive until Tuesday. I am happy to get my car back and at this point could care less if the Sirius radio ever works! I pay the $127.00 and wait for my car. They drive it up inside the dark bay and I see my filthy car waiting for me. It was clean when I dropped it off! I drive it outside, park it and drive the rental next door to return it. When I come back I decide to do the once around to check for dents, etc. I don't see any dents, but there is anti-freeze? or oil on the headlights, front of hood, and something sprayed and running down the side below the drivers side mirror. I drive it to the service entrance and bring it to the attention of the guy who drove the car out. He says "I can take it to the back and get it washed off for you if you want" I'm worried about what antifreeze or oil will do to the paint so I tell him that would be great. I wait about 10-15 minutes for him to bring it out. I check the lights and drivers side areas and they look clean, (car is in service bay so a bit hard to fully inspect, besides, by this time I am late for picking up my daughter from school) I notice that they didn't wash the whole car, just the front 1/3! I get in and drive home.

It's dark by the time I get home and park the car in the garage. I don't think anything more about it until I back it out of the garage the next day to work in the garage. On the center of the hood I notice a 12" arcing scratch in the paint. It's not a deep scratch, but it's there! I didn't notice it at the dealership when I picked it up, but I know it wasn't there when I dropped it off! Did he just pick a rag up off the ground and dry the car off with it??

The Service Director and probably the owner are going to hear an earful from me on Monday morning. I don't know if the scratch is something that can be buffed out, or if the hood will need repainting. At the very least, I think the dealership owes me a detailing to try to fix the scratch! I have never thought that a re-paint was the same color and quality as factory, and will probably not be happy with it being repainted. I would just as soon sell the car and buy a new one than drive one that was "patched up"

At this point I am so thoroughly disgusted with Chrysler that I want to sell the car and be done with them for good. On the other hand, I have really enjoyed driving this car for the 4 weeks that I have had it. Is this the normal type of service I can expect from a 5 Star Chrysler dealership? Do you have any recommendations as to what I should ask of the dealer regarding this set of problems. Can you recommend a dealership that takes pride in it's service department and will not allow this kind of stuff to happen?

Sorry for the long post, but I had to get this off my chest.

Thinking of selling....

Ken

[Dood]

You've obviously been to Normandin. I've had very similar service there. I hear the dealership in Sunnyvale has a good service dept as does the one in Fremont. Avoid Chris's in San Jose. Finally, why not try the dealer in Hollister?

Originally Posted by 2Shay

Can anyone recommend a decent service dealership in the San Jose, CA area? My first experience with the Chrysler service department has me wanting to sell my 300C and buy a Toyota that doesn't ever require service!

Here is my story:

Thinking of selling....

Ken

[2Shay]

Originally Posted by Dood

You've obviously been to Normandin. I've had very similar service there. I hear the dealership in Sunnyvale has a good service dept as does the one in Fremont. Avoid Chris's in San Jose. Finally, why not try the dealer in Hollister?

You got it right. I was going to take it to South County Chrysler in Gilroy, but it wasn't as convenient to drop it off and pick it up with my work being in San Jose. Now, if they are supposed to give up a rental when we bring in a car for service, it wouldn't be so bad. Guess I made a big mistake with taking it to Normandin! Also, the Chrysler dealership in Hollister closed down about 6-8 months ago.

Where do you take your car now?

Ken

[Meister]

...it'll be worth it all when these issues are resolved.

Let me first show you the other side of the spectrum: My 2005 C was built 13 months ago, has 18,000 miles on, and has not had a single issue. Not a failure of any kind, nor even a rattle or squeek. And I often drive in a very, shall we say, "spirited" manner. Oh, and the original tires are still on and would go another 10,000 miles or so if I choose to do so.

Now, to your issues: As you bought an '05 300C your car has a "better" warranty than the '06s have. Someone else can hopefully provide the details, 7/70 vs. 3/36 perhaps ?, and a copy of the enhanced customer care certificate that 2Shay can show the dealer if need be, but one thing for certain that came with the '05 C models is a *free* loaner or rental car each time you're in for maintenance, even if it's a simple oil change. (If you crash it's between you & your insurance company to arrange for a rental car.) So first off, the dealer *owes* you a car anytime yours is in the shop. It's not left up to dealer discretion, it's a contracted right of all '05 300C owners.

Secondly, the car's warranty is transferrable, including the enhanced care provisions. Be very careful here, however, as I've read that you, as the second owner only have 30 days to get this formally transferred into the DC data bank...if you don't you lose all or part of the warranty. Again, that is second-hand information gleaned from one of the LX forums, and I'm sure others here will comment on it, but I'd get with the records person at a good dealership immediately and insure that all paperwork, particularly warranty info, is ship shape as my very first order of business.

I've never read anything about a 12-month statute of limitations on correcting a C with the RH pull problem. Anyone else?

Just from what you've already told me I'd personally be scoping out other dealers in the neighborhood, and if your current dealer doesn't promptly improve greatly I'd switch.

So, the dealer always owes you a loaner when your car is in for maintenance, scheduled or otherwise, and get your warranty chiseled into DC stone soon.

Good luck and welcome aboard!

Great handle BTW, Ken.

[Dood]

Ken, I've not needed another service yet but I will try one or both of the ones I mentioned if need be. These really are great cars. Once you find a dealer that works for you, you'll be happy you kept the car.

Originally Posted by 2Shay

You got it right. I was going to take it to South County Chrysler in Gilroy, but it wasn't as convenient to drop it off and pick it up with my work being in San Jose. Now, if they are supposed to give up a rental when we bring in a car for service, it wouldn't be so bad. Guess I made a big mistake with taking it to Normandin! Also, the Chrysler dealership in Hollister closed down about 6-8 months ago.

Where do you take your car now?

Ken

[2Shay]

Thanks Meister!

Glad to hear that you have had good luck with your Chrysler!

I believe it is only the 7/70 powertrain warranty that needs to be transferred within 30 days of purchase. I have already worked with the finance office of the dealership on this. There is a $150 transfer fee. The 3/36 warranty does not require any transfer. I opted for the Maximum Care 5/70 extended warranty rather than transfer the 7/70 which the dealer told me only covers manufacturer defects, not wear or electronics. I was unaware of the "Enhanced Customer Care" coverage of the 2005 which provides a rental car.

Ken

[sorbs]

2Shay...you live in Hollister and you go to the "big lie" (or bay area to those of is who used to live there) to get service? Come on...you can't get good service at Starbucks let alone a DCX dealership.

Take it to a local dealer. Gilroy, down the street. You'll be much happier. Also check into a Dodge dealer if it is more convenient. Never had an issue there even with my Chrysler vehicles.

[Meister]

Originally Posted by 2Shay

...I was unaware of the "Enhanced Customer Care" coverage of the 2005 which provides a rental car...

It's called the Premium Care Plan and every owner of a 2005 (only) C is automatically awarded it. I posted the contract itself on the loaner car thread you just visited, here:

Loaner/rental while in for service

Suggest you print and keep a copy of the plan in your car for "educating" dealers who are cutting corners. I would also call the 800 number in the plan and file a complaint against any dealer who attempted to renig on the plan.

Good luck.

[joey]

Not sure how far you want to drive. I live in Fremont.

I have had extremely good experiences with the 5 star Chrysler dealer in Dublin.
When I first got my car I tried to arrange an appointment with the Fremont AutoWest Chrysler/Dodge dealer. It was a joke. Always put into voice mail.
No one called back, or if they did, it was a week later.
So I first starting going to Dublin.

Then I changed jobs and it was too far out of my way to go to Dublin, so I tried Fremont again. They also had recently graduated to 5 star.
Things were better at Fremont and I have taken my car there for regular oil changes and some warranty work. They were OK. Dublin is still my first choice though.

[2Shay]

Monday 10/10

I called the dealership and talked to the Service Director about the scratch on my hood. He apologized and said that it never should have happened. He said to bring the car in and they would take a look at it and take care of it. I asked if I could wait until I brought the car in for the Sirius radio problem and have all of the work done at the same time. He said that would be fine.

Tuesday 10/11

Service Manager calls me today about the Sirius radio problem. I am expecting a call to tell me the wiring harness that was ordered in in stock. He tells me that what they want to do is disconnect the car battery for 2-3 hours to "reset" the Sirius radio. (Also deleting all driver memory settings!) Their research has indicated the the Sirius radio will go into a sleep mode if not activated within 45 days. Huh?? I ask him what the story was last week about the car not having the right wiring harness installed. He tells me that was the diagnosis from the external stereo company that they called in to look at it. I asked him if the wiring harness they ordered was there, just in case it did need it. He told me that it wasn't in and they canceled it after getting this new information.

I am dropping the car off a 7:30am Wednesday for it's last ever visit to this dealership. (I am only bringing it back to have the hood scratch repaired, since I am doubtful that I would get another dealer to do the work under any kind of warranty) If they fix the radio great!, the car will leave the dealership on a "positive" negative note. If not, it will leave with a "double negative".

Now that I know a free rental car is provided for 2005 owners, I will be taking the car to a less convenient dealership, but with a hopefully better service department!

Keep your fingers crossed that a Jeep doesn't fall off of a lift onto my hood while they work on it tomorrow!

Ken