Horror Stories: Not Buying Local

[Gee-pah]

Hey Everyone:

As a dealer can turn down doing your service, particularly if you didn't buy there-- or the repair pays lousy--like some warranty work.....

does anyone have major regret not buying locally, particularly those who live in well populated areas where at least a handful of dealers are within reasonable reach?....

..because local dealers turned down servicing them?...

I haven't heard any regret stories about saving $ buying from far away like this but was wondering if any of you have some.

I've got to think that FCA, need be, might get involved and "coax" a local dealer to be more receptive to servicing you need be.

Thanks

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[Maverick909]

Actually I worried about this myself when I bought out of state. I’ll be honest my local dealer hasn’t given me any grief with the first warranty I took it in for.. no complaints at all. Either way fca has to do the work either way. But if you’re cool with your service department you shouldn’t have any issues

 

[BillG]

Why not call your local dealers and let them assume you are moving or new to the area and ask about service? Those responses should let you know where they stand, and help you make the decision where to purchase.

 

[aldo98229]

I am in this very situation. I moved from California to Washington: earlier this year the only Jeep dealer in town, which is 2 miles from my house, refused warranty work on my Jeep because I hadn’t bought it there. I was forced to drive 25 miles to the next closest dealer.

That’s their prerogative.

A month ago I bought a new JLU Sahara; since then I have spent about $2,000 in Mopar accessories on things like headliners, LED headlights, slush mats, splash guards, wheel locks, sill guards, emblems, etc. I actively avoided my nearby dealer. In the next few months I plan to buy another $3,000 worth of Mopar steel bumpers and Katzkin leather seats; they ain’t getting one cent from me.

That’s my prerogative.

No regrets.

 

[KnG818]

I am in this very situation. I moved from California to Washington: earlier this year the only Jeep dealer in town, which is 2 miles from my house, refused warranty work on my Jeep because I hadn’t bought it there. I was forced to drive 25 miles to the next closest dealer.

That’s their prerogative.

A month ago I bought a new JLU Sahara, and since then have spent about $2,000 in Mopar accessories on things like headliners, LED headlights, slush mats, splash guards, wheel locks, sill guards, emblems, etc. I actively avoided my nearby dealer. In the next few months I plan to buy another $3,000 worth of Mopar steel bumpers and Katzkin leather seats; they ain’t getting one cent from me.

That’s my prerogative.

No regrets.

Call the FCA and let them know about that dealer...they will rip them the biggest a$$hole for refusing to service your Jeep(we are talking warranty work).

They are an "authorized" Jeep dealership.

As a franchisee(I'm 99.99% certain) they cannot refuse to service your Jeep. They have rules and regulations to abide by.

However, they can prioritize scheduling customers that did purchase from there ahead of you eventually pushing you away. Either way I wouldn't go to a dealer that has such poor service like that.

I would def rat em' out for refusing. They deserve it.

 

[aldo98229]

Call the FCA and let them know about that dealer...they will rip them the biggest a$$hole for refusing to service your Jeep(we are talking warranty work).

They are an "authorized" Jeep dealership.

As a franchisee(I'm 99.99% certain) they cannot refuse to service your Jeep. They have rules and regulations to abide by.

However, they can prioritize scheduling customers that did purchase from there ahead of you eventually pushing you away. Either way I wouldn't go to a dealer that has such poor service like that.

I would def rat em' out for refusing. They deserve it.

They didn’t come outright and refused service. But they walked around my JKU and made an issue of every single mod I had on it. Never mind that they were all dealer-installed Mopar accessories, or that the mods had nothing to do with the reason I was there.

After a ridiculous 15 minute interrogation, I simply drove off. Left a scathing online review —they already had a shitty 2.5 stars anyway, and I go out of my way to warn people not to buy from them. This is a small city, so the word gets out.

Yeah. If I didn’t have that other dealer 25 miles away, I may have taken it up with FCA. That other dealer has a Fiat franchise and has been taking good care of my Abarth Spider.

 

[Formattc]

They are not legally allowed to refuse warranty work but you have to weigh the pros and cons of forcing the issue. I'm not sure I'd trust the repairs after I'd forced them to do it. I sued a manufacturer for breach of warranty for this very thing but the 3/36 warranty was up just after I got the settlement so I didn't have to worry about their being assholes about it. I would definitely call Jeep and tell them what happened and ask them for a dealership in your area who will do your warranty work.
I'm casting a wide net for my '20 JLUR for the best deal. I've done some fishing and the difference can be as much as $5000-$6000.

 

[oceanblue2019]

I am in this very situation. I moved from California to Washington: earlier this year the only Jeep dealer in town, which is 2 miles from my house, refused warranty work on my Jeep because I hadn’t bought it there. I was forced to drive 25 miles to the next closest dealer.

That’s their prerogative.

A month ago I bought a new JLU Sahara; since then I have spent about $2,000 in Mopar accessories on things like headliners, LED headlights, slush mats, splash guards, wheel locks, sill guards, emblems, etc. I actively avoided my nearby dealer. In the next few months I plan to buy another $3,000 worth of Mopar steel bumpers and Katzkin leather seats; they ain’t getting one cent from me.

That’s my prerogative.

No regrets.

Dealerships are a type of franchise in most cases, except in some rare ones where they are corporate owned. Tesla is one example but some others do it as well.

You should do as you stated and spend your money elsewhere but also report them to FCA. A dealer can reserve or prioritize their own customers but can not deny service to vehicles purchased elsewhere. There have been some cases where they lost their franchise due to this.

In my prior dealings with Audi it was serious business to also ensure the customers rated the service experience 5 out of 5 as it meant extra comps and allocations to the dealerships that scored well. I doubt FCA runs this way.

 

[aldo98229]

It is official: Jeep dealers suck! CDJRF are at the bottom of the customer service rankings, and have been for years.

I have owned Chrysler products for 30 years. The dealer experience was never stellar, but it’s gotten consistently worse since Fiat took over.

I work in consumer research: one of Marchionne’s first actions after taking over was to cancel the customer satisfaction surveys. In his infinite wisdom, “consumers will reward good dealers and punish bad ones.”

Since then FCA has reinstated customer satisfaction surveys, but 10 years later, FCA dealers consistently hover at the bottom of the industry rankings.

 

[BXFXJeep]

Last time I spoke to FCA about a 5 star crappy dealer, FCA said they can't do anything.

 

[No1ramsfan]

So glad my Dad has been a salesman/service advisor at my dealer for many many years. Sounds like there's a lot of shitty ones.

 

[KnG818]

Last time I spoke to FCA about a 5 star crappy dealer, FCA said they can't do anything.

Last time a service dept treated me like crap, I tied off the service desk to my hitch and took it home with me.

....just sayn

 

[DesertRat]

Last time a service dept treated me like crap, I tied off the service desk to my hitch and took it home with me.

....just sayn

Were you over GVWR or hitch rating? Asking for a friend.

 

[Jennalee]

Chrysler in Los Angeles on Figueroa straight up told my sister they couldn’t service her car there because she didn’t buy it there. It is still under warranty it’s a Dodge Challenger.

 

[BXFXJeep]

Dealership are sort of useful parasites to the auto industry, there are a few articles about dealerships ownership and why auto manufacturers cannot own their own dealership etc.

Might explain why the manufacturers did not bail out some dealerships in the last financial crisis and how some dealerships are simply high volume low margin with the best deals.

Tesla cannot open stores in certain states because it's outright against the law or something to that effect.

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