Complaint Review: Bessemer Chrysler Jeep Dodge - Bessemer Alabama

A friend of mine purchased a rubicon jeep from bessemer chrysler jeep dodge. On the way home, about 25 miles from the dealership, the ESP light came on. The dealership was closing that saturday evening on june 6th, so he waited until monday to contact the service dept about the problem. Also that same weekend, he decided to shift the jeep into 4wd to make sure everything worked properly. Upon attempting to do so, the transfer case got stuck in neutral, so the vehicle would not move, fortunately it was sitting in his driveway.He called me to come over to take a look to see what happened. After looking under the jeep, I saw that a small plastic bushing/keeper had fallen out of the cable end where it is attached to the transfer case linkage. No big deal we thought. When he contacted the dealership on monday, he drove the jeep back to have it repaired. They told him that they would repair the problems if he would bring it back later. He went back the next day and they said that the bushing was ordered and that it would be at the dealership the next day. He waited 3 days to make sure it had enough time to get there and went back. They said the part still had not arrived and that they would go ahead and repair the other problem. They installed a spring module to correct the problem with the ESP light. 40 miles down the road, the ESP light came on again. He then took the jeep to another dealer for repair. They refused to do any repairs because all the nuts under the jeep had wrench marks on them. They took him to the repair bay with the jeep on the rack and showed him the wrench marks all over the suspension componants. They stated that someone had put a lift kit on the jeep or had attempted to, and now the jeeps front end was misaligned. By this time the front tires were showing wear. The service manager at this dealership in tuscaloosa al contacted Darrin Larson, who is now the service manager at bcjd of bessemer to let him know what they had found. When I contacted him, he stated the he was a man of his word, and that he would look at the jeep again, and form his own opinion of what was wrong. Another trip to bcjd proved to be useless also. Darrin Larson told the owner that the warranty would not cover the repairs needed because the nuts in fact did have wrench marks. We asked him how the factory would have tightened the nuts with leaving wrench marks. He said it was because they used a impact socket and a torque wrench. Any idiot knows that a impact sock is just a standard six point socket with thicker sides. He also stated that bcjd did not touch this jeep, and they did not alter it anyway to cause these defects, and someone else did, so they could not be responsible for the repairs. The jeep was purchased on june 6, 2009 with 16 inch tires, steel wheels and no lift. All rubicons should have 17 inch tires, aluminum wheels, and I think a 1.5 inch lift. The rubicon now looks like a wrangler x. Putting all this info together and questioning other members of the staff at the dealership, we have learned that the jeep had an aftermarket lift with large tires installed , and these items where in fact removed at this dealership. They also have a picture of the jeep on the front door with the items installed. Beware of this dealership. I have learned to be careful when someone has to tell me that they are a man of their word.

I will listen carefully and form my own opinion, you dont have to try to convince me. At the last visit to the dealership, Darrin was posed with the question, "so your telling me that when someone buys a vehicle from this dealership, that it has no warranty, and is sold as is?"and he stated "this jeep will not be repaired under warranty, and you do whatever you need to do!" The date is now 07/11/09. The jeep has less than 2000 miles on it, and the front tires are starting to show the wire.

Jim

COKER, Alabama

U.S.A.