WhiteUCF

The wife has a '12 Wrangler that we use for winter and offroad shenanigans. About a month ago, it threw a P0302 - misfire in cylinder two. Cool, needs plugs, might need a coil, no biggie. I perform all repairs myself since I've been in a garage/shop since I was a child and am an electrical specialist, certified by VW. I've been trained by rednecks to VW master technicians over the past 20 years. So, I installed new plugs, sent the wife down the road and the code came back. Fine, swapped the coil from cylinder one to cylinder two, code came back. Alright, swapped injectors between one and two. Code came back. Well, in this case, we have a compression issue, which was my first thought but figured I'd at least cross my t's and dot my i's. Google told me it's a known issue in the '12 & '13 models and that this code typically means dodge used the wrong valvetrain/head and would replace it under warranty. Sweet, my wife made an appointment and dropped the jeep off. She got the call today, after three weeks of waiting, that the Jeep was ready to go but it would cost $127 for the three spark plugs. The problem is, no one ever called to ask approval for installation of new spark plugs. I'm not upset about $127, I'm upset things were done without my wife's (or my) approval. I intend to call them tomorrow to ask for all of the old spark plugs, mainly for proof they were changed, but I can read plugs like I read English. If they tossed the plugs, what recourse do I have in this situation? Why would I pay for something that I couldn't confirm needed replacing? Has anyone dealt with this kind of thing before?

Thanks for reading!

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

you got warranty work on an 8 yr old vehicle?

LeX2K

Is there a spot on the repair form where you tick to request the old parts? Many dealerships have this. I suspect you'll end up talking to a wall trying to get the dealership to do anything that's been my experience. Best recourse is do a Yelp or similar review that is how you keep these places honest. And let them know you'll be doing this.

WhiteUCF

Sure did. Dodge extended the warranty until 2/20/2020 for this issue. It's supposedly a $4,000 repair and plagued enough vehicles to warrant the extension. I'm not upset with $127, I can write it off, but my wife being taken advantage of doesn't sit too well.

Lexus2000, My wife recieved absolutely zero documentation other than loaner vehicle paperwork. No estimations on further repairs, no documentation on parts needing to be replaced whatsoever. She manages the paperwork side of our companies and keeps EVERYTHING (literally, nothing is discarded, she just says there's a file for it...) She would have it if she recieved it. I will gladly write a review..

LeX2K

Keeps companies mostly honest. Did your wife sign anything when the vehicle was dropped off? Is no then the dealer has no way to make you pay.

WhiteUCF

Not a single thing to do with the repair was signed. No one had a clue when they would receive the new head. She called once a week. As of yesterday, no one knew what was going on. Today, it's fixed and we owe them for spark plugs that had less than 20 miles on them? I've never dealt with a dealership before for repairs. I've worked for them as a technician but never as a service writer.

The crazy part is, the VW dealership I worked for recently added this Dodge/Jeep dealership and it's 75ft away. When I was at VW, we did anything we could to help the customer. It was an odd practice for a dealership. Occasionally they allowed us to do side work in the shop for their customers to save them money and put money in our pockets. It kept people coming back and it worked. We'd have car shows and do APR tunes at discounted rates. We even enjoyed having customers stand outside of the bay to watch us work. They learned that way and we would gladly show them what we were doing. It built trust. It was the best dealership anyone could've worked for. Now it's gone down the drain with new management. Can't keep employees and now I'm seeing what looks to be some shady business going on.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

if it's a warranty repair and the DEALER chose to install plugs without telling you, i say it's covered under the warranty.

Och

iTrader: (3)

I had warranty done on my 2012 BMW done recently, and the dealer called me suggesting replacing a few parts that were prone to fail. I didn't have to pay any labor since these parts were taken off in the process, just the cost of new parts, but they did call me and got my signed approval before hand.

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

Agreed w bitkahuna that it sounds like it should've been covered somewhat.

I think they should've asked. Wouldn't make a big scene about it since you got a major repair for "free" with a 3-week loaner, but I would still ask about it for ****s and giggles.

I think $150 would be my personal limit,. If you told me they charged your wife $200, i would join you on the picket line.

I purposely got ripped off on my brake fluid change at the dealer for $200 since I was so thankful that they were changing all my interior panels no questions asked.

LeX2K

The amount doesn't matter the repair was not agreed to.

tex2670

Why did it take 3 weeks for the dealer to replace 3 spark plugs?

tex2670

Let's be honest here, though. If OP would have told them "Go ahead and replace those spark plugs", it's only right that he pay the charge. I think OP should call the service manager and complain that this took 3 weeks, and how come no one called to give a status check and diagnosis in 3 weeks--that's pretty unprofessional. Maybe the manager takes care of the charge. But I, personally, wouldn't call up and say "I'm not paying because I never authorized" if I knew that I would have told them to do the work. But that's just me.

WhiteUCF

I figured they'd be a part of the process but after doing some research last night, it seems dodge has tried to con people out of all sorts of things related to this repair. One person mentioned dodge wanting them to pay for everything other than the actual head, internals, and labor. They were trying to get them to pay for the head gasket, plugs, a new coil, etc.

The repair may have been major but it's dodge's problem. I didn't bolt a holset hx35 to it and rev it to the moon. It's a 100% stock engine with 70ish thousand miles that is driven only a few times a week. I still can't figure out what dodge did wrong. Some say it's the entire head that's wrong, some say it's the wrong valve springs.

I guess we'll find out how it goes here in a little while. She's heading to the dealership soon.

mmarshall

Not that unusual. The 8-year-exension on Wrangers by FCA for that specific issue is one example. Another was the 8/80 warranty-extension by Subaru on certain-model-year 2.5L non-turbo head-gaskets, if a special factory-coolant-conditioner was used....that extension covered my former Outback, though I did not have the HG problem. Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Kia, and (as you know) Genesis covers drivetrains up to 10/100 for the vehicle's original owner and a transfer to one's immediate family.