Worst Service Department

[Rick4570]

Background: i have purchased 10 new vehicles in my lifetime (Jeep Wrangler being the 10th). Never an issue with service....until now. My first Jeep and I love it. Upon purchase I went ahead and purchased what they call "CarDoc". It covers all my service work until 60,000 miles or 5 years. This includes oil changes, tire rotations, cabin filter, air filter, brake pad replacement, rotor turned or replaced, fuel system treatment, a discount on Mopar parts and gear, and a bunch of other stuff. The catch here is that my dealership is the only one authorized within 200 miles to do the work. So far so good. Until......

Bring it in for the first oil change and tire rotation. The tech over torqued the oil filter housing (3.6 engine). I knew this right away because when I picked it up I could see stress marks on the plastic nut (white marks where the plastic was stressed). When I pointed this out the service manager was a real jerk. I insisted he loosen it up a bit as it look overtightened. He finally agreed and came back with a wrench and when he tried to remove it the plastic nut stripped. Well......two hours later they finally get it off. One of the techs said they had to finally break it and use big channel locks to get it off. When I got home I noticed the tires were not rotated (they have numbers on them from the factory).

Yesterday.......I bring it in for the second oil change and tire rotation. I sat in the waiting room for 2.5 hours waiting....even though I had an appontment. Nobody bothered to come out and tell me what the delay was. Finally, they finish. The porter hands me my keys and when I get in the Jeep I notice the tailgate is not shut all the way (why are they opening the tailgate????) I close it and pull out in the parking lot to check things over. Open the hood and there is oil all over the engine. There were even oil drops on the fender. Just sloppy work...they could have at least wiped up the oil. I check the tires......not properly rotated. They just moved the front to the rear and rear to the front. The front right should have gone to left rear and front left to right rear (change tire direction). These idiots don't even know the proper tire rotation. I then checked the lug nuts with my torque wrench (130 ft/lbs). Every one turned a tad more than a quarter turn telling me they didn't even torque them right, way too loose.

Then when getting back into the Jeep, I notice a stain on the seat. Not sure what it is, but kinda looks like an oil drop! I am trying to get out of this "CarDoc" nightmare and get a refund. So far they say it is not refundable. I don't feel like I can trust this dealership!

With all the other service departments I dealt with in the past, I always got an email after service work to fill out a survey on the work done. This dealership does not do that.....obviously they do not want to do better or hear any criticism.

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[Martial Fartist]

My JLUR is currently at a body shop since during an oil change (wave) the dealer decided to place something on the fender and drag it off putting some pretty gnarly scratches in it.

Each of my wave changes I’ve had to give them back the keys and rotate in the 5th even after they said they did. Only reason im not crazy mad about that is because new wheels are in the plan’s anyway

The common opinion in the forum is to avoid the dealer. I just wanted to use my free oil changes and look where that got me. I’ll be finding a different dealer for issues in the future but oil and rotations will be done by myself.

 

[Rick4570]

If you do the oil and rotations yourself, will that void your warranty if any engine issues come up down the road?

 

[Blacktip]

Bad luck!. Minimum wage workers without any training are hired to do all simple maintenance jobs. I have never gotten anything done at the dealer other than state inspection for my Vette. One time, while I was getting state inspection, I decided to have them do oil change. I told the Forman that I am taking the car to the track, so please make sure it is done right.... I was at the bay watching, and I saw the guy just hand tighten the oil filter and never torqued the oil drain nut. When I asked him to torque it to the spec. He didn't have a torque wrench at his bay nor knew the torque values.

I hate going to car dealers, and I do all maintenance on household vehicles myself.

 

[Blacktip]

If you do the oil and rotations yourself, will that void your warranty if any engine issues come up down the road?

Absolutely not. Keep receipts of all fluid purchases. You can do maintenance yourself or got it done anywhere you desire without voiding your warranty. It is your right as a consumer.

 

[Ang1Sgt]

Rick, From what I have seen, as long as you document things, use the proper oil, proper filters and do the tire rotations you should not have an issue. I document it with receipts, and in a glove box note book that I keep. I also use the JEEP app on my phone to have a secondary documentation that I can pull up and see/show the dealer.

 

[aldo98229]

Hmmm...all I can say is “Welcome to the Jeep dealer experience...!”

Unfortunately, everything you describe sounds too familiar to anyone who owns a Jeep.

You sound very particular about your Jeep, who touches it and what they do to it. That in itself is going to clash with the sloppy work most Jeep dealers do. That’s the sad reality.

I have owned vehicles for 30+ years; by choice, I have always serviced them at the dealership while they were under warranty. Unfortunately, dealers vary greatly in their level of competence and their customer service, so I avoided being tied down to any particular one, just in case I had to go find another dealer. Which has happened more often than I cared.

Another thing I learned is that there are things I want to double check, like make sure they changed the oil, and others I rather not, like how much torque they applied to the filter. If I were to check every little thing they do, I’d go insane. And I don’t even bother anymore taking my Jeeps to the dealer for tire rotations. That’s an exercise in futility.

The only advise I can give you is: try to regain your freedom of movement of taking your Jeep to whatever dealer you want. Yes, they will refuse to refund your money back, so I’d keep pushing. Depending what state you live in, the bottom line is it might unlawful for them to refuse to refund money for services that they haven’t yet rendered.

Good luck.

 

[aldo98229]

And just because a picture is worth a thousand words...

 

[Roky]

I’d rather list the best, as it is a lot shorter list, and it can be counted on one hand…………..?

 

[Northernlites]

If you do the oil and rotations yourself, will that void your warranty if any engine issues come up down the road?

As long as the oil and filter meet the specifications from the manufacturer, the warranties can't be voided. Unless you really have a lowlife dealer.

 

[Steph1]

OK, I'll play...

1-Had the factory tow hitch and wiring installed by the dealer as a purchase agreement. they had all the interior molding off to route the cabling, but reassembled it wrong. I had the undo and redo the moldings assembly.

2- At one point, they changed both batteries. while trying to address the same symptoms reoccuring, I decided to check it out myself. I found that when they did the job, they switched the N2 and N3 hard fuses, which is almost impossible to do since the connectors are shaped differently.... it had to be done on purpose or with total carelesness !!!

3- They repaired the rear defrost connection twice, changed the whole backglass the third time and attempted to re-glue the connection on the new glass 3 times. Upon their last fix attempt, I tried to operate the defrost for the first time that following day, I smelled burning and the backglass literally exploded. Same noise as a 12 gauge shotgun!!! believe it or not, they denied replacement, saying that this had nothing to do with their fix on the day before !!!

4- I have lifetime oil changes.... last time they did it, upon a pre-trip inspection, I checked the oil and found it high on the dipstick.... did a search and found that the techs often put 6 quarts of oil instead of 5 which is the appropriate amount on the JK 3.6 V6. So I drained a quart, checked the oil, still high..... So I said EFFF it, I drained the rest of the oil and measured 6.5 quarts. So they had put 7.5 quarts of oil in my Jeep that requires 5!!!!

That was the last time they saw me. They can shove their lifetime free oil change up where I think and will never see me again.

After hearing a few similar stories from that dealership, I must say that I now seriously doubt that they purposely sabotage vehicles to create futur work.... That's a big statement, but I sincerely believe it.

 

[No IFS]

2.5 hours plus driving ? Here’s a tip never let the dealer do a oil change and tire rotation. I could have that done before you even got to the dealer. The 3.6 is the easiest oil change I’ve ever done on any vehicle. And you don’t even have to jack up the thing. Tire rotation very basic.

 

[Wheelin Matt]

Yes unfortunately most dealership service departments have poorly skilled technicians working on your beauty. I do all my own work possible, and I’ll take it to a reputable off-road shop before the dealership if possible.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

I would have insisted on speaking directly to the store manger / owner long before now to voice your concerns with their lack of professionalism.

They need to step up and at least do a full detail on your rig. Compensation for the issues would be nice as well.

Typically I do my own work in order to avoid these issues. Warranty work is my only reason for seeing a dealer. If I can’t do it myself I have 2 indie shops in my area that I trust.

 

[Rick4570]

To top it all off, I think they may have over filled the oil too, although with the cable dipstick it is so hard to see a reading when the oil is so new and clear. It is definitely at least a quarter inch above the cross hatch on the cable.

I have a call and an email in to the Manager, no reply as of yet.

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