Me, Chrysler and the Lemon Law...
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Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Southern Calif.
Me, Chrysler and the Lemon Law...
Tough situation! I'm going through it right now. I bought my car on Aug. 28. On Aug 30. it was in the shop for a new ignition assembly (keys wouldn't turn in the ignition). At the dealer, the Chrysler Road Side Service tow guy crashed the front end of my car into the driveway & scratched the entire perimeter.
Soooooo... the ignition is VIN specific & had to come from the independent vendor in Germany (the dealer is not able to contact them, has to go through proper channels). My ignition assembly and steering column parts took 23 days to arrive & 3 days to fix. All the while, my car was sitting in the ready lane in the service department with a damaged front end (they wouldn't fix the body damage until it was under it's own power). The car finally went to the body shop. I sent it back 2 more times to get it right. They scratched the leather on my steering wheel. Back again for a new air bag. One more time back for the scratches & touch up. All total = over 40 days.
I researched the Lemon Law. I qualified.
The first step after sending a letter to Chrysler documenting your problem is to participate in mediation or arbitration. Well..... as with many high end manufacturers, Chrysler doesn't participate in mediation. Your only recourse is a lawsuit or to go through a Zone Manager, which a referral to the zone manager has to be made through the service department. The consumer is not given their contact information. Keep in mind, calling Chrysler will get you no where as they tell you to contact the Zone Manager.
My service department called the Zone Manager and left messages for 12 days for him to call me. They mentioned to him that I should get a new car (per Lemon Law guidelines). I finally heard from the Zone Manager on the 13th day. The first sentence he spoke was "I'm ready to deal with your greed" (referring to the fact that I wanted a new car). I was floored by his comment! He said "I'm not buying back your car". After another insult & condescending remarks from him, I rattled off the Lemon Law guidelines verbatim and mentioned if I go to court, I could get 3 times the purchase price of the car for "Trouble Damages". He conceded that if I went to court I would win. He realized that I was informed. He started to back peddle & offered 3 months payments for my trouble. The cost of my insurance, time off of work, and trips to the dealer & car rental agency is more than 3 months payments.
At the end of the phone call he thanked me for handling the situation civilly. He said he usually has people cursing at him to get their problems solved. I stated that I was irate & offended by his remarks (but you attract more bees with honey than vinigar. I also knew that I wasn't going to be dealing with this guy anymore and anticipated going to the top).
Since there is no way to contact a manager of his, I am in the process of writing letters to Chrysler. It seems there are no checks and balances in their system. One point of contact (unreliable at that) doesn't prove to be a good system of problem resolution. It's such a shame. The car is perfect now. Their system is still flawed. The service guys are all on my side & know this guy is a tool. They say the person in this position usually lasts about a year. It's now a matter of principle. A customer shouldn't be at the mercy of being treated poorly by the only person who can solve their problem. Thanks for making it to the end of this post.
Soooooo... the ignition is VIN specific & had to come from the independent vendor in Germany (the dealer is not able to contact them, has to go through proper channels). My ignition assembly and steering column parts took 23 days to arrive & 3 days to fix. All the while, my car was sitting in the ready lane in the service department with a damaged front end (they wouldn't fix the body damage until it was under it's own power). The car finally went to the body shop. I sent it back 2 more times to get it right. They scratched the leather on my steering wheel. Back again for a new air bag. One more time back for the scratches & touch up. All total = over 40 days.
I researched the Lemon Law. I qualified.
The first step after sending a letter to Chrysler documenting your problem is to participate in mediation or arbitration. Well..... as with many high end manufacturers, Chrysler doesn't participate in mediation. Your only recourse is a lawsuit or to go through a Zone Manager, which a referral to the zone manager has to be made through the service department. The consumer is not given their contact information. Keep in mind, calling Chrysler will get you no where as they tell you to contact the Zone Manager.
My service department called the Zone Manager and left messages for 12 days for him to call me. They mentioned to him that I should get a new car (per Lemon Law guidelines). I finally heard from the Zone Manager on the 13th day. The first sentence he spoke was "I'm ready to deal with your greed" (referring to the fact that I wanted a new car). I was floored by his comment! He said "I'm not buying back your car". After another insult & condescending remarks from him, I rattled off the Lemon Law guidelines verbatim and mentioned if I go to court, I could get 3 times the purchase price of the car for "Trouble Damages". He conceded that if I went to court I would win. He realized that I was informed. He started to back peddle & offered 3 months payments for my trouble. The cost of my insurance, time off of work, and trips to the dealer & car rental agency is more than 3 months payments.
At the end of the phone call he thanked me for handling the situation civilly. He said he usually has people cursing at him to get their problems solved. I stated that I was irate & offended by his remarks (but you attract more bees with honey than vinigar. I also knew that I wasn't going to be dealing with this guy anymore and anticipated going to the top).
Since there is no way to contact a manager of his, I am in the process of writing letters to Chrysler. It seems there are no checks and balances in their system. One point of contact (unreliable at that) doesn't prove to be a good system of problem resolution. It's such a shame. The car is perfect now. Their system is still flawed. The service guys are all on my side & know this guy is a tool. They say the person in this position usually lasts about a year. It's now a matter of principle. A customer shouldn't be at the mercy of being treated poorly by the only person who can solve their problem. Thanks for making it to the end of this post.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,059
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From: Port Perry, Ontario
Re: Me, Chrysler and the Lemon Law...
Originally Posted by GoodEnough
Tough situation! I'm going through it right now. I bought my car on Aug. 28. On Aug 30. it was in the shop for a new ignition assembly (keys wouldn't turn in the ignition). At the dealer, the Chrysler Road Side Service tow guy crashed the front end of my car into the driveway & scratched the entire perimeter.
Soooooo... the ignition is VIN specific & had to come from the independent vendor in Germany (the dealer is not able to contact them, has to go through proper channels). My ignition assembly and steering column parts took 23 days to arrive & 3 days to fix. All the while, my car was sitting in the ready lane in the service department with a damaged front end (they wouldn't fix the body damage until it was under it's own power). The car finally went to the body shop. I sent it back 2 more times to get it right. They scratched the leather on my steering wheel. Back again for a new air bag. One more time back for the scratches & touch up. All total = over 40 days.
I researched the Lemon Law. I qualified.
The first step after sending a letter to Chrysler documenting your problem is to participate in mediation or arbitration. Well..... as with many high end manufacturers, Chrysler doesn't participate in mediation. Your only recourse is a lawsuit or to go through a Zone Manager, which a referral to the zone manager has to be made through the service department. The consumer is not given their contact information. Keep in mind, calling Chrysler will get you no where as they tell you to contact the Zone Manager.
My service department called the Zone Manager and left messages for 12 days for him to call me. They mentioned to him that I should get a new car (per Lemon Law guidelines). I finally heard from the Zone Manager on the 13th day. The first sentence he spoke was "I'm ready to deal with your greed" (referring to the fact that I wanted a new car). I was floored by his comment! He said "I'm not buying back your car". After another insult & condescending remarks from him, I rattled off the Lemon Law guidelines verbatim and mentioned if I go to court, I could get 3 times the purchase price of the car for "Trouble Damages". He conceded that if I went to court I would win. He realized that I was informed. He started to back peddle & offered 3 months payments for my trouble. The cost of my insurance, time off of work, and trips to the dealer & car rental agency is more than 3 months payments.
At the end of the phone call he thanked me for handling the situation civilly. He said he usually has people cursing at him to get their problems solved. I stated that I was irate & offended by his remarks (but you attract more bees with honey than vinigar. I also knew that I wasn't going to be dealing with this guy anymore and anticipated going to the top).
Since there is no way to contact a manager of his, I am in the process of writing letters to Chrysler. It seems there are no checks and balances in their system. One point of contact (unreliable at that) doesn't prove to be a good system of problem resolution. It's such a shame. The car is perfect now. Their system is still flawed. The service guys are all on my side & know this guy is a tool. They say the person in this position usually lasts about a year. It's now a matter of principle. A customer shouldn't be at the mercy of being treated poorly by the only person who can solve their problem. Thanks for making it to the end of this post.
Soooooo... the ignition is VIN specific & had to come from the independent vendor in Germany (the dealer is not able to contact them, has to go through proper channels). My ignition assembly and steering column parts took 23 days to arrive & 3 days to fix. All the while, my car was sitting in the ready lane in the service department with a damaged front end (they wouldn't fix the body damage until it was under it's own power). The car finally went to the body shop. I sent it back 2 more times to get it right. They scratched the leather on my steering wheel. Back again for a new air bag. One more time back for the scratches & touch up. All total = over 40 days.
I researched the Lemon Law. I qualified.
The first step after sending a letter to Chrysler documenting your problem is to participate in mediation or arbitration. Well..... as with many high end manufacturers, Chrysler doesn't participate in mediation. Your only recourse is a lawsuit or to go through a Zone Manager, which a referral to the zone manager has to be made through the service department. The consumer is not given their contact information. Keep in mind, calling Chrysler will get you no where as they tell you to contact the Zone Manager.
My service department called the Zone Manager and left messages for 12 days for him to call me. They mentioned to him that I should get a new car (per Lemon Law guidelines). I finally heard from the Zone Manager on the 13th day. The first sentence he spoke was "I'm ready to deal with your greed" (referring to the fact that I wanted a new car). I was floored by his comment! He said "I'm not buying back your car". After another insult & condescending remarks from him, I rattled off the Lemon Law guidelines verbatim and mentioned if I go to court, I could get 3 times the purchase price of the car for "Trouble Damages". He conceded that if I went to court I would win. He realized that I was informed. He started to back peddle & offered 3 months payments for my trouble. The cost of my insurance, time off of work, and trips to the dealer & car rental agency is more than 3 months payments.
At the end of the phone call he thanked me for handling the situation civilly. He said he usually has people cursing at him to get their problems solved. I stated that I was irate & offended by his remarks (but you attract more bees with honey than vinigar. I also knew that I wasn't going to be dealing with this guy anymore and anticipated going to the top).
Since there is no way to contact a manager of his, I am in the process of writing letters to Chrysler. It seems there are no checks and balances in their system. One point of contact (unreliable at that) doesn't prove to be a good system of problem resolution. It's such a shame. The car is perfect now. Their system is still flawed. The service guys are all on my side & know this guy is a tool. They say the person in this position usually lasts about a year. It's now a matter of principle. A customer shouldn't be at the mercy of being treated poorly by the only person who can solve their problem. Thanks for making it to the end of this post.
This is the second time I made it to the end of your post; is there an IronMan award or something. Why the second post?
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,028
Likes: 1
From: Michigan
Re: Me, Chrysler and the Lemon Law...
GoodEnough,
I think you handled that with much grace! That had to be hard to keep your cool. You say the car is perfect now, are you happy with it?
Somebody I know had a pick-up, I think it was one of those small dodge trucks. Turned out that it didn't have the towing capacity that it stated and after they had the truck for a year and 15Kmiles, they got a full refund for it. They weren't even towing anything with it, I guess it was something that Dodge came to them with and they had no idea about it before then. I can't imagine them getting ALL their money back after driving the truck for a whole year like that!
Some people just have all the luck and some don't.
I think you handled that with much grace! That had to be hard to keep your cool. You say the car is perfect now, are you happy with it?
Somebody I know had a pick-up, I think it was one of those small dodge trucks. Turned out that it didn't have the towing capacity that it stated and after they had the truck for a year and 15Kmiles, they got a full refund for it. They weren't even towing anything with it, I guess it was something that Dodge came to them with and they had no idea about it before then. I can't imagine them getting ALL their money back after driving the truck for a whole year like that!
Some people just have all the luck and some don't.
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