Complaint Review: Fiat Chrysler America

In July of this year, 2015, NHTSA announced that it would be forcing FCA (Fiat Chrysler America) to buy back, at the customer's option, certain Dodge trucks due to defective parts in the drive train. My 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 was one of the trucks affected by this recall/buyback campaign. 3 options were given in a recall notice sent out by FCA-have it repaired, sell it back to them, or trade it in on another FCA vehicle with additional incentives. I chose option 2, the buyback.

The letter sent out by FCA stated that I could go to my local dealer and they would handle the buyback process. This letter also stated that owners would be paid fair market value plus an additional 10%-but the letter didn't specify 10% of what. I drove to my local dealer and was promptly told by a salesman that they aren't participating in the buyback, they are only handling trade ins. I told him about the letter and he checked with his sales manager, who confirmed that they aren't buying trucks back. 

I called FCA "customer service" and was told that as all dealers are independently owned, they cannot be forced to participate. ALL dealers are independently owned so in theory, none of them have to participate. 

I spoke with 7 different people throughout the course of that day and was hung up on twice. I was told several conflicting stories, among those being that they will pay retail price, fair market value, or trade in value. The fraudulent part of this is that they aren't abiding by the Consent Decree that NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and FCA agreed to. The decree specifies that they are to pay the original purchase price, minus reasonable depreciation, plus 10% of the original purchase price..Not 10% of the retail or trade in value. Someone needs to step in and make them follow the agreement they signed, or they'll continue ripping off the customer.