Autoland Chrysler Jeep Dodge Inc

Review: purchased a brand new 2013 [redacted] Minivan in June of 2013. We have brought it in for routine service at Autloland's Service center since. We recently brought it in on Tuesday June 22 for routine service and because we recently experienced a scary incident while driving in a light rain. The van slid into the next lane and did not handle well. After inpecting the tires we noticed that the front two tires are bald on the outer edges and appear to be prematurely worn. The van has about 17,000 and is about 13 months old. The shop told us that we needed two new tires for about $500 dollars. We told the mechanic that the tires were under warranty becasue the van only had 17,000 miles on it. The mechanic asked a supervisor that emphatically denied that the tires were covered under warranty. I have never had a vehicle taht nedded new tires after a little over a year. The shop said atha tit was due to the harsh winter new jersey experienced. I believe that this excuse is nonsense. My other car made it through the same winter with its tires unscathed. After doing soem research, I have found out taht [redacted] have been experiencing problems with premature tire wear for severl years now. It is my strong opinion that Autoland is very aware of this and is dong its best to avoid its obligation to replace this defective tires. This is a huge safety issue that is going to lead to someone being hurt or killed becasue Autoland and [redacted] are hiding their head in the sand. Furthermore, Autoland is benefitting from this defect by charging customers to replace their tires after a short time. The are profitting by charging their customers to replace the tires with tires that they know will again wear prematurely and have to be replaced once more. At this rate, I will have to replace the tires on this leased van two more times before the lease expires. This is ludicrous.Desired Settlement: Autoland and [redacted] also have to come clean and deal with this tire issue. A tire that is suposedly rated for the vehicle it is being placed on should not wear after 17,000 miles under no circumstance. Replacing my tires with a set of the same defective tires will only kick the can down the road and still put me and my family at risk every time we travel. I have placed a complaint with the NHTSA and with a few automotive blogs that deal with vehicle safety. I believe that this is a major safety issue and will not rest until this is addressed.

Business

Response:

Dear Sirs;Please be advised that the dealership has attempted to contact the customer & left messages on July 26th, 28th & 31st in reference to the email recieved on the 2013 [redacted]. The dealership advised that we woudl like to review the matter with the customer. When the dealership did not hear back we sent an email on July 31st to the customer advising that we have not heard from them & would like to have them contact us as soon as possible. We provided the customer several telephone numbers & an email address that they may contact us forth with. We look forward to hearing from them so that we can address this matter promptly.

Review: Our 2008 Toyota Hybrid Highlander SUV with only 44K miles has received all 5K mile service checkups at an authorized dealership (most recently, just 4 weeks ago). We had no indication of problems until the SUV died while driving. We had it towed to Autoland because it was the closest authorized Toyota dealership to where the car died. They supposedly ran diagnostics ($133) and claimed that all 6 ignition coils, 2 AF oxygen sensors, & 6 spark plugs need to be replaced ($2654.95, plus tax!). We asked how such extensive damage could happen given how recently our SUV was declared to be in excellent health. We also asked for alternatives to doing the entire $2K+ repair job. And we asked for a breakdown of charges. All our questions were met with vague and evasive answers (except for the $2654.95 price tag which remained absolute). We then contacted our usual authorized dealership, our local auto repair shop, and Toyota itself, all of whom opined that the circumstances sounded "highly unusual". We then decided to have the SUV towed to our usual authorized dealership for a second opinion. At this point, the manager and salesperson really pressed the "hard sell," with multiple entreaties to my wife and I, culminating in Autoland actually holding our SUV hostage. They refused to release it to the tow truck driver we hired ($125, plus tax), claiming we had to first pay the diagnostics charge. And to make it even more difficult, they refused to accept a credit card over the phone. When we threatened to call the police, they were suddenly able to accept credit card payment with a faxed authorization form. Meanwhile, the tow truck driver was waiting by, accruing waiting charges. When our usual authorized dealer finally had an opportunity to run diagnostics, they determined that only 1 ignition coil needs to be replaced and they suggested replacing the spark plugs at a total charge of $774. Clearly, Autoland was inflating the amount of work that needed to be done.Desired Settlement: Full apology and a refund of the diagnostics charge ($133) and our towing expenses ($125, plus TBD waiting charges)

Business

Response:

Please be advised that our dealership has contacted Mr. [redacted] via telephone regarding this concern & reviewed the situation regarding his visit to our service facility.

First & foremost please be advised that we apologized to him for any miscommunication which occurred. Our goal is to try & provide the best service experience possible. During our conversation we explained our diagnostic position regarding the

2008 Toyota Highlander. In the interest of our commitment to customer satisfaction we have issued a full credit of $133.70 to Mr. [redacted]s credit card for the diagnostic fee incurred during this visit. Please be advised that this refund represents

full & final settlement of all funds collected by the dealership. Attached is a copy of the refund issued. Based on the information provided & actions taken we respectfully request that you close your file on this matter "Complaint Resolved"

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly at ###-###-####. Thank you in advance for your assistance in updating & closing the file on this matter.

Sincerely,

Paula Guthner

Customer Relationship Manager

DMT Automotive,Inc.

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