Lustine Chrysler Jeep Ram horrible experience (Rant)

[InvertedLogic]

Sounds like a crappy experience for sure. I'm wondering why you thought it was a good idea to use a dealership for aftermarket parts, mount and balance wheels/tires, and calibrating the tire size?

For $125 and 5min (instead of 4 weeks...) of your time you could have calibrated it yourself https://www.aev-conversions.com/product/procal-snap/

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[JohnAinVA]

JD Power ranks luxury and non-luxury separately, under the premise that the higher prices ought to come with a higher level of service. But apparently no one has told FCA this.

Here’s the ranking of luxury dealers. Infiniti is 4th from the top.

Lexus dealers have been in the top 1 or 2 consistently for 30+ years.

My takeaways: Glad to see Cadillac up there....I'm surprised Volvo didn't rank higher...Wish I could afford a Porsche!!

 

[Rob7181]

The saga continues with Lustine and Mopar Customer Service!

Jeep Cares,
Maybe you can help with this, since you say reach out to you. Now, Amy the customer care rep with Mopar, Chrysler Jeep Ram has now started ignoring emails. She asked for proof of payment for February, which we provided immediately. We then asked for confirmation of receipt twice and we get crickets.

 

[viper88]

My takeaways: Glad to see Cadillac up there....I'm surprised Volvo didn't rank higher...Wish I could afford a Porsche!!

You would be surprised. There is some pricing overlap between a new Porsche and a new loaded Wrangler. There is a lot of pricing overlap if you would consider a nice used Porsche.

Many Porsche owners are VERY particular and baby their cars. A lot of flawless garage queens. Many don't get driven much. It's a shame because they really are one of the best driving experiences in the world. There are a lot of really nice second hand Porsches with Certified Preowned Extended Warranties if you ever want one.

 

[viper88]

Wow.....good info. I have bought a Mini and that was a pretty good, painless experience. I've heard Infiniti is suppose to be excellent....

Brand Loyalty for Jeep was a non-issue because historically there was nothing like a Wrangler. Consumers had to put up with whatever the parent company of Jeep would serve. That level of Quality Control and Customer Service became kind of a backhanded joke sometimes referred to as a "Jeep Thing" when owners were willing to or forced to look the other way. The question for FCA now is how long do they think consumers will put up with this? in this day and age of internet forums and transparency? With potential competitors like the Bronco and Defender?

Everyone knows and understands cars are complicated and getting even more so. Some will have problems more than others, that's just a fact. It's how the customer is treated AFTER the sale by the dealership and Brand that matters. For the most part consumers are understanding. Most will forgive sub-par quality if they are treated properly at the dealer and fairly by the car company.

FCA can learn something from MINI. Both FCA products and MINI are at the bottom of the heap for Quality Control. Yet MINI still tops a Customer Service survey where FCA is at the bottom. MINI knows they could do better quality wise and tries to regain customer loyalty with superior Customer Service.

I am a perfect example. I owed 3 different MINI Cooper S models. ALL were sub-par quality wise. Why did I keep buying them? MINI made up for it with truly great customer service. I would honestly consider another MINI if they made something that sparked my interest.

I also LOVE Wranglers. In the past I have put up with truly sub-par reliability and poor customer service because there was nothing like a Wrangler. Plus Wranglers historically have had exceptional resale. My first was a '97 TJ Sport. That TJ was by far the most unreliable vehicle I have ever owned. Why did I put up with it and love it so much? Back then there was nothing like it. And it had great resale value. Thankfully my '15 JK was a LOT more reliable. I did not have to deal with crappy dealers other then during routine oil changes. The JK had great resale. I own a '19 JLR now and it's by far and away my best Wrangler yet. Only trips to the dealer are for routine maintenance like oil changes, tire rotations, and the steering dampener recall. 2 trips to 2 different dealers total. I am 50% on my dealer service. One was truly great the other not so much. Would I look forward to another Wrangler in the future? Absolutely, I am a push over! lol. However not all customers are.

Customer loyalty is hard to regain if lost. FCA needs to wake up. They need to raise initial Quality and institute a realistic program to hold dealers accountable if they are consistently providing poor customer service. I fear a lot of newer Wrangler customers are not as loyal and would drop FCA products as soon as a Wrangler substitute were available. Many might drop FCA products even if nothing similar was available.

 

[Cbacon]

Hi everyone,
We are terribly sorry to hear about the unsatisfying service that has come from this dealership. Please know that for future services, our team is available for additional support during your visit. Feel free to send us a private message with any future questions or concerns when working with your dealer.

Kathryn
JeepCares

Make the dealership give him some money back. Somehow make it right for him. Jeep Cares always seems to show up after the fact.

 

[Rob7181]

Make the dealership give him some money back. Somehow make it right for him. Jeep Cares always seems to show up after the fact.

Cbacon,
Thank you. I have yet to hear back from customer service and I have never heard a peep from anyone from the dealership. I would have felt a ton better, even if I had heard from the GM and he said hey, we feel bad and we want to make it right. How about a couple of oil changes. What would that have cost them $100?
I waited over week before i posted anything here and am just truly frustrated with how everything went down.

 

[viper88]

Make the dealership give him some money back. Somehow make it right for him. Jeep Cares always seems to show up after the fact.

Unfortunately OP's issue sounds like it's with the independent dealer and not FCA.

 

[viper88]

Cbacon,
Thank you. I have yet to hear back from customer service and I have never heard a peep from anyone from the dealership. I would have felt a ton better, even if I had heard from the GM and he said hey, we feel bad and we want to make it right. How about a couple of oil changes. What would that have cost them $100?
I waited over week before i posted anything here and am just truly frustrated with how everything went down.

I would write a letter or email the service writer who you worked with, and CC everyone up through the service manager, general manager, owner. Hopefully it's not the dealerships culture. The owner should reply back. They are the problem if they do not reply back.

 

[Rob7181]

I would be happy with the receptionist at the dealership or Mike Manley himself. There is no excuse for them to have my Jeep for 6 out of the first 10 weeks I owned it.

The reason I had the lift, wheels and tires done at the dealership, my wife wanted it done and covered under warranty if we were to have a problem down the road.

 

[aldo98229]

I would be happy with the receptionist at the dealership or Mike Manley himself. There is no excuse for them to have my Jeep for 6 out of the first 10 weeks I owned it.

The reason I had the lift, wheels and tires done at the dealership, my wife wanted it done and covered under warranty if we were to have a problem down the road.

I learned long ago that the more you ask a dealer to deviate from its standard process, the greater the chances for screwups.

Dealers have got to be one of the worst possible places to get wheels and tires.

I know, live and learn, right...

Good luck.

 

[Notorious]

...we get crickets.

Your experience is no doubt frustrating and it really sucks to hear that you had to experience the hard way why sometimes some people and processes in dealerships just plain stink. For your specific issue, @InvertedLogic made all valid points in his post above.

So Rob7181, what is the outcome that you are now seeking from Jeep and the dealership and how realistic/attainable is that outcome?

If you ask me, I feel like you’ve already generously invested/wasted enough of your time and mental capacity in basking in anguish with this issue and have devoted more time and energy than you ever really needed to, to beat what you’re discovering is a dead horse.

I hate to tell you that you can never get the time you spent waiting back. I hate to tell you that it sounds like people at that dealership just pussyfooted around, couldn’t offer you a solution and most likely will never offer you the resolution that you are seeking. No doubt, what you experienced SUCKED.

I think it’s time to cut your losses, chalk up your awful ordeal as a terrible lesson learned, free up your mind and move on. I think you’ll agree with me that you have better, happier and more important things to focus on in your life than to dwell on this one awful and shitty customer experience. Best wishes dude - I do really feel bad for you.

 

[viper88]

I would be happy with the receptionist at the dealership or Mike Manley himself. There is no excuse for them to have my Jeep for 6 out of the first 10 weeks I owned it.

The reason I had the lift, wheels and tires done at the dealership, my wife wanted it done and covered under warranty if we were to have a problem down the road.

What do you want from the Dealer at this point? Is all the work done now?

Credit card company might help if you used one. Did you pay with a credit card or was the lift, wheel, tires part of the vehicle sale and financing?

As far as warranty, you need to triple check and get documents in writing. What kind of warranty did you and your wife want? Do you have something in writing stating the lift, wheels, tires are under warranty? What kind of warranty? Who is the underwriter for the warranty? Is it the Mopar Max Care Warranty or a worthless third party warranty? Or are you assuming those items are covered under the standared 36 month/36K mile bumper to bumper? Or the Certified Pre Own warranty?

I think the Mopar Max Care Extended Warranty has a EXTRA provision or coverage for factory Mopar lifts IF you buy the ADDITIONAL coverage. They also offer additional wheel and tire warranties that only covers damage to the wheels, tires, TPS. It is a Road Hazard not a defect warranty.

You might end up in a Catch-22? There is language in the Max Care Warranty that states larger wheel and tires can void coverage.

It's probably safe to say you will not be taking your Wrangler back to this dealer if you need warranty work down the road. Good luck with this.

 

[viper88]

The saga continues with Lustine and Mopar Customer Service!

Jeep Cares,
Maybe you can help with this, since you say reach out to you. Now, Amy the customer care rep with Mopar, Chrysler Jeep Ram has now started ignoring emails. She asked for proof of payment for February, which we provided immediately. We then asked for confirmation of receipt twice and we get crickets.

I just saw this. FCA asked for proof of monthly payment. FCA "might" make a month or two of your payments. Not saying they will do this in your case but I know they have done this for customers who have had major inconveniences. It's possible FCA is trying to gather facts from the dealer and the dealer is slow providing those facts?

 

[rallydefault]

My dealership has mostly been very good, and when I wanted to swap my suspensions, they admitted it wasn't really something they like doing and they would have to charge me a lot, so they work with a jeep-dedicated private garage that handles lots of that stuff for much cheaper and they do an excellent job. I found it refreshing when they were upfront with me about it, and they even called the other garage to give them the heads-up that I'd be calling.

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