Hate Dealers

[Hopper]

My daughter saved up and was ready to get out of my TJ and buy her own Jk. We found a good one. 2018 clean carfax with 74,000 miles. Certified pre owned at Dodge Chrysler Jeep with bumber to bumper waranty 3000miles or 3 months. I told her I would purchase an extended warranty 3yr/36000 drivetrain since I was so proud of her saving and cashing out on her Jeep. One day after purchase check engine pops up. Code P0128 low coolant temp. Dropped it off at the dealer to fix. They call me back and say it was the battery so we gave you a one. I laughed and said thats weird, I thought it was low coolant temp code. He mumbled a bit and said this is what the tech found, said the thermostat was opening and shutting fine so just the battery. Picked up, skeptical as all get out, and of course next day check engine light. A part of me wants to change the thermostat and burp the system but a big part of me wants them to honor ther Damn warranty. So I'm taking it back.
Rant over for know.

 

[Anybodyhome]

Had the same issue few years back. The t-stat is likely stuck open and the coolant is flowing at start-up, not allowing the engine to reach normal operating temp.

Let us know how long it takes the dealer to figure it out.

 

[Hopper]

Had the same issue few years back. The t-stat is likely stuck open and the coolant is flowing at start-up, not allowing the engine to reach normal operating temp.

Let us know how long it takes the dealer to figure it out.

I hear you. That was the 1st thing I brought up to them. We will be having a longer talk tomorrow when I drop it off although they dont listen cause you know I'm not a master mechanic and all.

 

[Chris]

I hope every dealer goes out of business. There's nothing worse than dealing with car dealerships. It's an old, antiquated, and outdated model that desperately needs to change.

 

[tJKrider]

I hope every dealer goes out of business. There's nothing worse than dealing with car dealerships. It's an old, antiquated, and outdated model that desperately needs to change.

The fact that dealers are independent and not part of the OEM is a huge problem. It separates the responsibility and not in favor of the customer. I agree that this model is way outdated. In the age of electronic info, the customer can find the same info as the dealer, and many times knows more. You can configure the exact vehicle you want online, so why does a salesperson have to replicate that? Ridiculous.

Things get even worse in the service and warranty area. Again, two different goals from a dealer and OEM perspective. The customer is usually left trying to play middle man between the two with no real leverage.

Anyone had to deal with this situation in the RV world? It's even worse!

 

[Chris]

The fact that dealers are independent and not part of the OEM is a huge problem. It separates the responsibility and not in favor of the customer. I agree that this model is way outdated. In the age of electronic info, the customer can find the same info as the dealer, and many times knows more. You can configure the exact vehicle you want online, so why does a salesperson have to replicate that? Ridiculous.

Things get even worse in the service and warranty area. Again, two different goals from a dealer and OEM perspective. The customer is usually left trying to play middle man between the two with no real leverage.

Anyone had to deal with this situation in the RV world? It's even worse!

Teslas way of doing it is IMHO the right way.

I agree with everything you said. We live in an age where I can buy anything online. Why can't I buy a car online and have it delivered to me (I can with Tesla)?

Why do I have to go down to a dealership and sit in some sleazeballs office while he tries to sell me a bunch of crap I don't need and negotiate numbers with me that I don't care to negotiate?

The dealerships should indeed be part of the OEM, I agree.

I've never had a single good experience at a car dealership which is why I always buy used.

I keep hearing about RV World experiences. Is it really that bad?

 

[Danarch]

My son needed a new (used) car a few months ago. I am in my late 50’s. I was appalled when we went. Two different dealerships each pulled the same garbage. Advertise a car for “X” then when they come out they have “required” add of paint protection, interior protection, some other thing raised the cost of the car by $3K. Then options for tire and rim insurance, windshield insurance blah blah blah the lost just went on. Kid was looking at me like a deer on the headlights. I told him “Son you do what you want but dad wouldn’t pay for any of that stuff but it’s up to you” then turned to salesman and said “you advertise a car for “X” and then claim there is “required” add-ons that raise the price by $2,500-$3000 is false advertisement in my opinion and deceptive. I am willing to tell my son to pair fair value for the car and that is it, but it’s up to him”. Ended up notating any of that, they increased the amount of the trade in etc. Of course we had to walk out the door for that happen. My poor kid wood have been robbed blind.

As far as Camping World mixed bag. Bought a used a-frame from them. We also left that one on the love for a month so so and saw they dropped the price. When they sent me a final price it I clicked some stupid “trailer ready camping package” they explained it was for this and and that blah blah. Now didn’t pay it either.

 

[tJKrider]

I keep hearing about RV World experiences. Is it really that bad?

Yeah pretty bad, my experience was between Bish's RV and Winnebago. Now, I'll say that the purchasing experience was good and I got what I think was a pretty good price.

Service/warranty, however, was a total hassle. I had it in after our first trip to have the black tank dump valve repaired. Got it back 3 mos later after waiting for Winnebago to approve the warranty repair. This put us into January and I had to drive it back 2 hrs on salted roads. I wasn't pleased. The following Spring when I de-winterized and took another trip I noticed that several plumbing joints were leaking. Back in it went. Winnebago initially denied the claim saying it was out of warranty. When I provided my paperwork it turned out to be the fault of the dealer not submitting it. I spoke to the dealer, got that cleared up, and verified with the service manager that they were recommending a warranty repair. Winnebago denied the claim. I went back and forth with the dealer and with Winnebago for months and had to darn near force Winnebago to even speak with the dealer. I suggested that we arrange a meeting at the dealer with a service rep to walk through the logic and come to agreement when we were all looking at the same thing. They refused, saying that their dealers are their " eyes and ears". Well, the dealer recommended a warranty repair you morons.

I swear their system was setup intentionally to frustrate the customer so they will just give up. They were probably shocked that I kept pushing and filed an exception with Winnebago, which they denied as well without any further consult with me or the dealer.

Bish's also left our bathroom vent open with the fan running. When I went to pick it up the batteries were deader than dead. Switch was still on so it was clear what happened.

I've since taken the stance that I'll take on any repairs I can with the RV. Much like the auto industry, good service techs are in short supply and long waits measured in months are commonplace.

 

[Chris]

Yeah pretty bad, my experience was between Bish's RV and Winnebago. Now, I'll say that the purchasing experience was good and I got what I think was a pretty good price.

Service/warranty, however, was a total hassle. I had it in after our first trip to have the black tank dump valve repaired. Got it back 3 mos later after waiting for Winnebago to approve the warranty repair. This put us into January and I had to drive it back 2 hrs on salted roads. I wasn't pleased. The following Spring when I de-winterized and took another trip I noticed that several plumbing joints were leaking. Back in it went. Winnebago initially denied the claim saying it was out of warranty. When I provided my paperwork it turned out to be the fault of the dealer not submitting it. I spoke to the dealer, got that cleared up, and verified with the service manager that they were recommending a warranty repair. Winnebago denied the claim. I went back and forth with the dealer and with Winnebago for months and had to darn near force Winnebago to even speak with the dealer. I suggested that we arrange a meeting at the dealer with a service rep to walk through the logic and come to agreement when we were all looking at the same thing. They refused, saying that their dealers are their " eyes and ears". Well, the dealer recommended a warranty repair you morons.

I swear their system was setup intentionally to frustrate the customer so they will just give up. They were probably shocked that I kept pushing and filed an exception with Winnebago, which they denied as well without any further consult with me or the dealer.

Bish's also left our bathroom vent open with the fan running. When I went to pick it up the batteries were deader than dead. Switch was still on so it was clear what happened.

I've since taken the stance that I'll take on any repairs I can with the RV. Much like the auto industry, good service techs are in short supply and long waits measured in months are commonplace.

Damn, that's rough! I've bought RVs before but only used ones so no warranty obviously.

Like you, I've just gotten in the habit of doing my own repairs. These days it's really damn hard to find good techs and I don't trust anyone working on my vehicles other than myself. Sure, there's certain things I won't touch (i.e. rebuilding a transmission), but for general maintenance and anything I can do, I'll do it myself.

Again, the dealership model is a joke. I see no point in buying new anymore either. I've heard these sorts of horror stories quite often as well from people who buy new JLUs.