Complaint Review: Doug Smith and United Dodge - American Fork Utah

To whom ever has had a warranty and received a "WARRANTY": 

I dont send this email out, but to try and help those who I care about and try and save you time and wasted money.  I would hope that for you benefit you would read the following only so that you think twice about warranties and the places that your vehicles are getting repaired.  I dont send the email out for your sympathy and apologize if that is the way it comes across.

I thought I would take the opportunity and share a clarification or an interpretation on Warranty or "WARRANTY." I anticipate that you will look at the length of the email and quickly close or delete it.  For your current or future situation, I would hope that you take the time to thoroughly read the following email.

In March 2007 I purchased a 2007 Dodge Mega Cab.  It was purchased in Las Vegas, Nevada at United Dodge off of Ann Road and 95.  The truck as you can imagine was extremely nice.  In addition to all the bells and whistles that a new truck comes with it also came from that dealer with a 6" lift, 37" tires with 20" rims.  It was gorgeous and I couldn't leave the lot unless I was driving home with it.  As you can guess that truck became mine after an hour or better of negotiations, but not before I had all my questions answered.  One of those to note for a later point in this email was will this warranty cover the same things with the aftermarket modifications made by the dealership.  As you can guess the dealer told me that it would, having been modified by a certified dealer.  For additional future reference this dealership has since closed down, due to the difficult economic times.

I didn't have many issues with the truck for the remainder of the 2007 and 2008 years.  In 2009 it was in the Doug Smith Dealership for the #3 injector repair (under warranty), a radiator ($700.00, not under warranty?), and a transmission issue.  The issue as described on the paper work was some gaskets had gone bad, transmission oil burnt, and "more metal shavings that we would normally like to see on a transmission with less than 70K miles on it."  That is was I was told when I went to pick it up.  This was under warranty and was repaired.  In March of 2010 it continued to have the same issues with the transmission so we returned it to the dealer.  Some of the same gasket issues were present again and the transmission oil again as described was darker than they normally like to see.

This time it was a bit different though.  The dealership called and said they can't proceed with warranty repair until it has been approved by the warranty company.  The warranty company arrived and test drove the truck and noted that the transmission would need a complete over haul.  Here is where it is going to get a bit sticky.  After a week at the dealership called me and let me know that the warranty company would not cover the transmission repair of $3200.00 because of the modifications made to the truck.  Again note that the modifications were done by a certified dealership not a third party or myself.  Doug Smith was the innocent by standard in this so I took matters into my own hands.  When I contacted the warranty company I was told it doesn't matter what the dealer sells or tells me, but the warranty company has the choice to warranty it or not?  How could that be?  Clearly the right hand (the warranty company) didn't know what the left hand (the dealership) was doing, and because of this I "get" to eat that additional cost.  In my conversation with the warranty company I mentioned that the dealership took the time to sell their "WARRANTY" only to find out that it was a warranty only to an extent!  It seemed to be more of a selective warranty, and the warranty company is the only deciding fact in the equation.

After I received this information I licked my wounds and went my way.  The problem in the transmission didn't go away so I took the truck for a second opinion to a local transmission shop.  After the review of the truck that took only a matter of hours, I received a call that stated the transmission would not have to be over hauled completely.  As stated by the dealer again I heard the transmission oil was darker than normal and some gaskets would need to be replaced.  The cost would be less than $1200.00?  What?  $2000.00 less than quoted and no need for a transmission over haul?

I send this email out for a couple of reasons.  The first is so that I can better understand what has transpired over the last couple of weeks so that I look at this from every direction rather than a snap shot reaction.  Secondly, so that when you go to buy a vehicle and a warranty you don't pay for a warranty and get a "WARRANTY" in return.  In the future make sure that you aren't sold or your money isn't taken for a warranty when you are expecting a "WARRANTY."  The last reason that I wanted to get this into an email is so that you look at the series of events and note that it is always worth a second opinion, it just might save you $2000.00 here and there.