Dodge Warning

[stevem174]

I would like to warn everyone NOT to buy a Dodge. I have a Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab with less than 35,000 miles on it. Right now it is sitting at the dealership, as I am unable to drive it. It took 5 days to get into the dealer. Once at the dealership I was told the electronic throttle control has gone bad. They said it would be 7 - 10 days for the part to come in, but it will only take 45 min to fix. That has been over two weeks ago. The part has been ordered, however there is no ETA available on the part. I have called the corporate "customer service" They confirm the dealer has ordered the part, but they can not give me ay idea when they will be able to ship the part out.

Meanwhile, I am getting ready to watch a direct withdrawal from the checking account on a truck that I can't drive. The one ray of sunshine, is they said they may be able to reimburse me for up to 7 days of a rental car.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Arko]

I like Dodge, but I too had issues with an 07 Dakota. Front suspension began to wear out at 40K. It got me in such a hole I was forced to sell it at a loss.

Good luck!

[Eagleks]

Do you want to know why ???

The folks who make and sell the electronic modules, etc. won't deliver then with all that has gone on, in fear that they will not receive payment for them if dealers go bankrupt, broke, close, sold, or GM's bankruptcy, etc. So, many GM & Chrysler/Dodge related products..... the dealers are all having these issues. I had the same issue on a Jeep, and offerred to the dealer to tell them I would "prepay" for the part... however the dealer "pre-paid" them for the part and the part was in the next day.

If they aren't 'pre-paid' for the part, you may be in for a very long wait.

[jca1]

Chrysler has always had sucky customer service..they are like the Taurus of automobiles. I owned one Chrysler product...never again.

[ccman]

1998 Dakota. upper and lower ball joints 34000. New engine 37000. Fuel pump. Steering shaft. exhaust. 4x4 shifter guts went bad. drivers window up & down broke. You name it. I still have in the drive way for towing the boat but I don't use it much. The only reason it is there is it is paid for. Never again will I buy a Dodge. The worst vehicle I ever owened.

[Ram Rod]

128k miles 2002 Quad cab 4x4..............knock on wood.

[Bunny]

I will never buy another Chrysler/Jeep again, after all the lousy customer service and craptacular issues I've had, either. I do, however, adore my GM. Haven't tried Dodge yet, but I think my next truck is lookin' like it will be a Ford.

[Arko]

128k miles 2002 Quad cab 4x4..............knock on wood.

Guess we know how RAM Rod feels!

[rocky]

After having worked on all kinds of used autos , I would not own a Dodge /Chrysler product. None of the big 3 are great but Dodge seems the worst to me.

[Stetson]

It's hard to get service when companies are in bankruptcy.The only trucks I've owned are 6 nissan p/u and 2 ford trucks.Luckily,Ford decided they didn't need any money from the uncle as it would cause more trouble than what it's worth.
Nice advertising point which they haven't touched on.

[Double Naught Spy]

Sorry for your troubles. Chrysler family vehicles are some of the absolute worst vehicles when it comes to reliability. They offer some pretty snazzy packages, but those don't mean a thing when the vehicle won't run.

It isn't that folks should not buy them because the OP had problems. They should not buy them because they are crappy products - no offense to the OP's cause.

[Squawker]

Chrysler has always had sucky customer service..they are like the Taurus of automobiles. I owned one Chrysler product...never again.

The Taurus is a good car. I bought a used one a year ago (totalled my 1997 Firebird the previous August), and it has been great. No problems. I bought a new 1988 Chrystler Lebaron when I graduated PA school, and drove the heck out of it, putting 75,000 miles on it in 18 months. That was also a great car. Now, I wouldn't buy a car from any company in bankruptcy. Too much chance of a problem, as you have noticed. I also won't ever buy a car from Government Motors (GM).

[dralarms]

The Taurus is a good car. I bought a used one a year ago (totalled my 1997 Firebird the previous August), and it has been great. No problems. I bought a new 1988 Chrystler Lebaron when I graduated PA school, and drove the heck out of it, putting 75,000 miles on it in 18 months. That was also a great car. Now, I wouldn't buy a car from any company in bankruptcy. Too much chance of a problem, as you have noticed. I also won't ever buy a car from Government Motors (GM).

The reference was to Taurus firearms, not ford Taurus.

[jca1]

The reference was to Taurus firearms, not ford Taurus.

yep

[edr9x23super]

Thats funny; I've had 2 dodge pickups in the last 16 years; both 3/4 ton models, the first went almost 400,000 miles on the original motor (12 valve Cummins), only had to do the normal maintenance, except replaced front end parts at 250,000 miles. The second is a 2004 quad cab diesel with 121,000 miles on it (so far) the only thing I have done to it is normal maintenance. We also have had 3 chrysler town & country minivans, again, no problems except normal maintenance. 2 of the minivans went over 100,000 miles as well, the current one has 36,000 on it.

In contrast, my daughter has a 2002 Ford Taurus that has had the power steering pump, the starter & now the water pump require replacement as well as a serious wiring problem that was killing batteries on it until I rewired it correctly (I guess some factory workers still don't understand the concept of ground potential?).

My Cousin had a "King Ranch edition" 2003 Ford "Powerchoke" that he put less than 1500 miles on that made 4 trips back to the dealership because of injector problems. The last straw for him was trying to pull out of the dealership after it was towed back to san antonio from Corpus Christi, where it died again after having the entire fuel injection assembly replaced. That truck was $47,000.00; needless to say it took him 6 months of arbitration from that date, a ruined credit rating & a lawsuit to invoke the lemon law and set things right finally over a year later.

So my point is that they all fail, regardless of brand. Buying an American made vehicle these days is like a crap shoot. It largely depends on what kind of vehicle you buy, how far into the manufacturing process with a particular model they are into, and even what day of the week the vehicle was put together....

I research all of these factors by getting the vin numbers of the vehicle in question and digging. Your best bet is to get vehicles made between tuesday-thursday if possible, avoid monday or friday cars. Also avoid brand new models....they still need to work the kinks out of them, consumer reports is also a good benchmark for what to buy, subscribe to them when you get ready to buy a car or truck.

As for the OP, I would say stop making payments and get the bank involved, especially if this is your primary vehicle. Being the lienholder, the bank should have a vested interest in seeing that vehicle repaired and running.