belgianmagic

Hey, I Have the same problem... the dealer I bought my truck from, in Haverhill ,mass is a 5 STAR 'car' dealer ...
I took my truck in for its first service ,and HAVE NOT BEEN Back

If you own a Cummins Dodge , you need to try to find a 'Business Link' dealership...They work with you on things...besides ALL the privileges ...you break down the give you the SAME or Larger size Truck till yours is fixed...head of the line privileges ... you pull in un announced... you get the NEXT bay... they are customer oriented they WANT your RETURN business...

so I go to Manchester (about 30 miles) instead of the town next door...

Look for 'Business Link' in your area
I AM a Business Link Customer...and life is GOOD !

CD in NM

I really get what you are saying about the poor service or maybe incompetent service. I bought my truck from a dealer that is about 3-1/2 hours away from my home. My local dealership is 45 mins travel time. They are a GM and Dodge dealership combined. I have been there a total of 4 times and hope I have NO reason to go there again. They have a NEW service guy, totally full of hot air, real BS'er, knows nothing about anything. I am not sure if they even have a Dodge tech as all the guys run around in the Mr Goodwrench attire. Supposedly they have done a couple flashes on my truck, but no stickers anywhere, just stated on my invoices. They have cleared the P0191 code a couple times.

Last time I was there to have the security module installed, I asked them to grease the dreaded driveline zirc fitting, I watched the guy search and search for the fish-eye, finally he gave up and told the service writer there WAS NO FITTING!!! I have greased that thing myself several times. So, when I got home I did it. They are really incompetent. I am AFRAID to have them do much of anything and I hope I never have anything big come along that needs taken care of by them. It is truly a dilemma. I have several FREE oil changes and never plan to use them at this point.

I also print out stuff and take it with me. They look at it like it's something from another planet, written in a foreign language, totally frustrating. I wonder how many $$$'s are added to the pricing to cover the warranty? Maybe we all should request a refund of that amount? Maybe we GOT the refund when they knocked a couple bucks off at purchase time? That would be the ONLY explination for all the hastle and poor service.

I hope whatever company buys the Chrysler Group off DC take a moment of their time and figures out how to re-gain customer satisfaction and deliver some REAL service. Prior to this truck, I have always had Fords. The Ford dealership I delt with not only did top-notch service but they even washed and vacc'd the truck at NO charge with every service, even oil changes. Their curteous service was most appreciated and probably was what had me buying from them, truck after truck for 40 years. I truly love the Cummins engine, but if Ford were to straighten out their engine problems I'd be back to Ford in an instant. I have been considering getting the cab up that Ford offers with the Cummins and being done with DC when it is time to replace this truck.

CD

MikesCTD

CD in NM I agree with you, whoever buys Chrysler from DC better figure out how to re-gain customer satisfaction and deliver some REAL service. I guess I've been lucky so far. The local Dodge dealer has been good about discussing issues with me about my truck. They can tell I'm knowledgable about the TSB's and warranty issues on my 04.5 CTD. When I went in to have them replace the door seals and told them about the white smoke/MPG reflash I had the TSB number so they knew exactly what I wanted done and they were aware of this TSB. They took good care of me and my truck. I agree that the stealerships can't be trusted all the time and charge too much. Thank all you DTR folks for all the great info I've obtained here. Without this and a couple other cummins diesel forums I'd be in the dark. I've always bought either Ford or Chevy trucks (gassers), this is my first Dodge. Checked all 3 out when looking for a diesel (researched for a year) and found that the CTD is the best. Thnx again to all you guys out there in DTR land!

CD in NM

Hey Mike.

I did a lot of research before buying this truck, I had driven a couple and was very pleased with the performance level. This IS my first diesel too. That is what prompted me into all the research. What I did not know, or what was not really being discussed, was the dealership in my area and their service abilities. I knew a couple people who had bought GM from them and the reports were good. I did not know anyone with a new Dodge that i could ask about service. I had to go the 3-1/2 hour trip to buy my truck because they would not do a dealer swap to bring it in. They only had automatic on the lot and worked real hard to talk me out of a 6-speed. I do a lot of towing and already knew that I had to have a 6-speed in the mountains where I live OR I would be going with a billet build in no time. This site provided me with ALL I needed to know regarding the automatics, and I just did not want to go there.

I really like the combination of the Cummins and the G-56 tranny, so it was a no-brainer about buying a Dodge, what I did not know was how really poor the local service would be regarding the warranty. I guess I have to hope I do not need anything major and that all will be well and good with my truck and I won't need something big down the line. I did keep my old Ford truck, and if need be I can put the Dodge on my GN flatbed and take it wherever to get something done right. Just a real shame that I would have to think that way after such a big price tag that should include a dealership competent enough to fulfill the warranty.

CD

belgianmagic

Where do you find the 'TSB's that pertain to a respective truck ??

JohnInNH

The 3 Dodge "5 Star" dealers in my area are all incompetent. The horror stories of there incompetence are to long to go into. Just a few quick ones.

Why when doing a fuel filter replacement would a dealer break 2 injector lines? In for the hood latch TSB and Throttle linkage Safety Recall which they charged me for!
---------------------

"Fixed throttle linkage and lubed" On way home peddle stays down truck at 70 mph.... On my inspection the rusted return spring was rusted through (supposed to be replaced that day with new different Throttle TSP kit of new springs) and bone dry .. no oil or lube at all... no signs of any work (reason I brought it in was throttle is not returning to idle)
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Watched as they drove a CTD into the shop in gear using the starter motor rrrrr rrrrr rrrrr Wonder how hot that starter was doing that. "we do that all the time" when reported to the Service manager"
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Changed my oil w/o me asking (I had just changed it that AM!) they flushed my new synthetic oil and cummins MicroGlas filter. Charged me $50 for that privilege... even an oil disposal fee. 30 miles on the 13 quarts of mobile one diesel oil.

Just a few...

belgianmagic

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr.../tsbsearch.cfm

I just found it...COOL !

grantx5

So, I go to the website noted above and look for my truck, 7 TSBs. I then put in a 2005 Ford SuperDuty and guess what, 82 TSBs. Glad I bought the Dodge.

carpenterje

You know it is real sad that the dealers and mechanics have no clue what is going on when TSB's come up. I know in the Naval Aviation, we have Technical Directives that come out on a weekly basis and are throughly screened, and whatever applies to our type equipment, it get's done. Maybe the auto industry should get on board with some type of system so they aren't the ones looking like the idiots. Heck, we do there job for them and they look at you, like said before, your from another planet.

MikesCTD

For TSB's and Recalls here is a good site:
http://www.dodgeforum.com/recalls-and-tsbs/browse.htm

CD in NM

The bottom line to all of this stuff is real simple, fill out the service questionnaire EVERY time you are at a dealership for anything. Send it in to DC directly, it's worth the stamp alone. I not only sent in the questionnaires, but I also wrote letters to accompany it with full explinations regarding why I filled out things the way I did. Ultimately, I got a phone call from DC, they WERE very interested in what I had to say and why. I also was charged for TSB work AND charged for the re-setting of the TPIM to accommodate my trailer electrical needs. I find that to be utterly and completely unreasonable and am now looking into getting whatever is necessary to do the programming myself. I guess it is all a learning lesson, one that many are having to do. You can bet I will be much more discriminate about the purchase of my nest truck, will make sure I get things in writing regarding warranty work and followup adjustments. The next manufacturer will have to jummp through hoops to get my business because I am real tired of the 3-ring circus.

CD

Greenhornet1986

Dont want to hijack the thread, but concerning TSB's, I have a question. Do you have to pay anything to have these done, or is it covered under warranty, or how does it work? I dont have the 70k mile warranty on mine, only thing left is the 100k mile engine warranty(didnt transfer the 70k mile warranty over). I would like to get the lower deal weather strip done, but dont want to pay for it. There are also a few more TSB's that may apply to my truck, I looked through them last night.

butchb

This site has the best TSB info that I have found! They have what looks like the actual Bulletins from Dodge.

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/index.html

MikesCTD

I forgot about this site. I actually got alot of TSB info from there before going to the dealer for warranty work.

dadwolf2

Sounds like you've been to my dealer!!