I took possession of my new 2005 300C on April, 27, 2004. If you are not aware, the 2005 300C is a brand new design. That should have been my first red flag. You might say the 300C is Chrysler's "Flag Ship" car. The "C" version means it has the HEMI. I resisted my initial fears and said "What the heck"..... with the way Chrysler is touting this, it has to have been well tested and thought through. I was so naive......
Upon possession, I immediately noticed a pull to the right on the steering. I knew there was a pending TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) on this and thought it was a simple and minor fix. That is where my saga begins.
On May 31, 2004, I took the car in to have the front end aligned to see if they could fix this pull without the kit. David (the Service Director) said it might be better to just wait on the kit and just do it all at once. Good advise, I agreed with him. SO I drove it home to sit in my garage. I did NOT want to drive the car unless I had to until this problem was taken care of. The TSB kit was on backorder.... That should have been my second red flag.
THE KIT ARRIVED!! June 8, 2004 was the date. They kept it all day and called me to come pick it up. YES! I took it down the road and.......not fixed. I turned around and let David have it back. Hopefully, it just needed some more adjusting.
June 9, 2004 was another day the kept it all day. David (bless his heart) was really trying to get this car fixed. They tried to adjust it more. No dice. It was still pulling to the right. He said he was at a loss at this point and didn't know what to do next. He had two different technicians spend all day on it but was unable to get it right. He had another idea, however. He wanted to take it to an independent service center just to make sure their alignment machine was not out of spec. That was going to happen the next day so I let them keep the car yet again.
David called me the next day. I answered the phone with "I have my fingers crossed" his reply was....."uncross them, it didn't work". OK, so they couldn't fix it.
At this point we started talking about a buyback from Chrysler. I told him I would be OK with that or a different 300C (optioned like mine and the same color) that did not have this problem. Agreed. He would get the ball rolling in that direction.
After two days (keep in mind they still have the car) I called back to check the status of my situation. My answer was that the regional rep. was notified and would be at the dealership in "the next day or two". He had to be the one to make a decision. I got a call back later that day and David informed me that the RM (Regional Manager) wanted them to take the car to another dealership to see if they could fix it. WOW! After two mechanics from the original dealership could not fix it and then an independent service center could not fix it, what could another dealership do? Oh well, I agreed that it was part of the process even if I did not agree that it was reasonable.
So, they took the car to another dealership in town on June 14, 2004. I waited for the call.... Finally at the end of the day, David called me and said the car was back. The other dealership stated they "thought" it was OK but wanted me to drive it. I asked David if he drove it yet (he knows the problem and what needs to be fixed) and he said no but would drive it the next day to make SURE it was fixed before I came to get it.
On June 15, 2004 he called me back and said it was still pulling to the right. OK. Enough is enough. I want a resolution to this ongoing nightmare. David agreed and said that I would have a definitive answer no later than The 17th or 18th of June from his DM. OK, I thought, at least this is all over and resolution is at hand.....NOT!
I got a call this morning (June 18th) from the DM. He informed me that he wanted YET ANOTHER mechanic to look at it. Get this..... the mechanic is not local. He will not be able to be here until June 24, 2004.
After all the above people at all the above locations and after all the time they have fooled around with the car, how can this new mechanic fix the car? Is the Chrysler dealership's mechanics not up to par on their training? Is this new mechanic more knowledgeable than the other mechanics?
I will post this on all the 300C boards, so maybe I can get some resolution as I am aware Chrysler monitors this and other 300C boards. The squeaky wheel gets the grease :wink:
Upon possession, I immediately noticed a pull to the right on the steering. I knew there was a pending TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) on this and thought it was a simple and minor fix. That is where my saga begins.
On May 31, 2004, I took the car in to have the front end aligned to see if they could fix this pull without the kit. David (the Service Director) said it might be better to just wait on the kit and just do it all at once. Good advise, I agreed with him. SO I drove it home to sit in my garage. I did NOT want to drive the car unless I had to until this problem was taken care of. The TSB kit was on backorder.... That should have been my second red flag.
THE KIT ARRIVED!! June 8, 2004 was the date. They kept it all day and called me to come pick it up. YES! I took it down the road and.......not fixed. I turned around and let David have it back. Hopefully, it just needed some more adjusting.
June 9, 2004 was another day the kept it all day. David (bless his heart) was really trying to get this car fixed. They tried to adjust it more. No dice. It was still pulling to the right. He said he was at a loss at this point and didn't know what to do next. He had two different technicians spend all day on it but was unable to get it right. He had another idea, however. He wanted to take it to an independent service center just to make sure their alignment machine was not out of spec. That was going to happen the next day so I let them keep the car yet again.
David called me the next day. I answered the phone with "I have my fingers crossed" his reply was....."uncross them, it didn't work". OK, so they couldn't fix it.
At this point we started talking about a buyback from Chrysler. I told him I would be OK with that or a different 300C (optioned like mine and the same color) that did not have this problem. Agreed. He would get the ball rolling in that direction.
After two days (keep in mind they still have the car) I called back to check the status of my situation. My answer was that the regional rep. was notified and would be at the dealership in "the next day or two". He had to be the one to make a decision. I got a call back later that day and David informed me that the RM (Regional Manager) wanted them to take the car to another dealership to see if they could fix it. WOW! After two mechanics from the original dealership could not fix it and then an independent service center could not fix it, what could another dealership do? Oh well, I agreed that it was part of the process even if I did not agree that it was reasonable.
So, they took the car to another dealership in town on June 14, 2004. I waited for the call.... Finally at the end of the day, David called me and said the car was back. The other dealership stated they "thought" it was OK but wanted me to drive it. I asked David if he drove it yet (he knows the problem and what needs to be fixed) and he said no but would drive it the next day to make SURE it was fixed before I came to get it.
On June 15, 2004 he called me back and said it was still pulling to the right. OK. Enough is enough. I want a resolution to this ongoing nightmare. David agreed and said that I would have a definitive answer no later than The 17th or 18th of June from his DM. OK, I thought, at least this is all over and resolution is at hand.....NOT!
I got a call this morning (June 18th) from the DM. He informed me that he wanted YET ANOTHER mechanic to look at it. Get this..... the mechanic is not local. He will not be able to be here until June 24, 2004.
After all the above people at all the above locations and after all the time they have fooled around with the car, how can this new mechanic fix the car? Is the Chrysler dealership's mechanics not up to par on their training? Is this new mechanic more knowledgeable than the other mechanics?
I will post this on all the 300C boards, so maybe I can get some resolution as I am aware Chrysler monitors this and other 300C boards. The squeaky wheel gets the grease :wink: