Lithia Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Tri-Cities

Do not bring your car here to be serviced! They had our car for an entire month ("fixing" a known mechanical issue that was covered under warranty). During this month, I asked them repeatedly to also look into an issue we were having with our back-up sensors and by the end of the month they told me that they didn't get a change to look at the sensors!
Two weeks after getting the car back from Lithia my car died again and was towed to a different Dodge dealership who then informed me that there were missing bolts on the transmission, the engine mount bolts were dangerously loose, most of the ground wires were not grounded, there was a broken wire under the hood, and many of the wires were pinched behind the engine mount brackets and that was just what was visible on the outside of the engine (who knows what is wrong with inside of the engine, they did a complete engine swap)!!
I promptly called and left messages for both the store manager ([redacted]) and the service manager ([redacted]). I finally received a phone call from [redacted] two business days later (this is a very common theme with [redacted] the service manager... He is incapable of calling you back the same business day, even when it is due to their malpractice and incompetence that I was calling him in the first place...). I am still dealing with this issue, but now have been escalated to Dodge/Chrystler's hands. Hopefully, they can get the car fixed properly this time.
In closing, I was trying to tell [redacted] the Service Manager that I was very displeased with how he and Lithia dealt with this issue (I wasn't cussing or being belligerent) and that I hoped that he would learn from this issue, but he wouldn't let me finish what I was saying and hung up on me. Poor customer service all around from Lithia. Stay as far away as you can from this company.

Review: I had brought my car to Lithia to get it fixed for a part that no one else was abel to get done. We paid for the full service and got our car back to find out that lights where turning on the dash. We proceded to take the car back the same day and the service person said that he could not look at my car because he didnt know if we had done something to the car and that if we wanted the car looked at we had to pay again after paying 1,000 dollars. I spoke to the manager and he advice me to bring the car back I because my car was not turning on that this point. We took it back they made the car turn on and gave it back to us, the whole time I had to call and ask what was going on because no one would call me. We took the car home and had the same problem , I called Lithia back and Byron was the one I spoke with he told me that his service guy was not going to be in till monday and for me to do what I wanted. he is rude and ones this issue is fixed I will never go to Lithia again, my car has been brought to them 3 times for the same issue and it has not been fixed, I keep having to pay out of pocket to get my car on a tow truck for the same issue and my car is not working.Desired Settlement: for getting my car towed for the issue that they didnt fix

Business

Response:

I am responding to an email received from you dated 09/18/2013. The email is in regards to a complaint made by a Maria [redacted] in regards to some service work done to her 2008 [redacted].

Here is what I know from our end. Our service department thought they had the 08 [redacted] repaired for a no start problem. After getting her car back she had problems starting it again. We asked her if she could get it into us and she said yes she could. Upon arrival it started just fine. We started the vehicle a minimum of 50 times with no issues. It is very hard to fix a problem if you cannot duplicate the issue. Ms. [redacted] came back in to pick up her vehicle, started it herself, and drove off only to have the problem reoccur. Ms. [redacted] was understandably not happy after again not being able to start her vehicle. I am thinking from here it could have been handled differently. We then told her to get her car into us again and we would again attempt to fix it. We should have taken the time to just call a tow truck ourselves and asked to have it brought to us. So maybe that is what she means by having to pay more. But we did not and would not ask her to pay more for work that did not fix the issue without knowing what the real problem was.

The vehicle was delivered back to Ms. [redacted] today and we believe the vehicle has been repaired correctly. Ms. [redacted] was only charged for her initial visit. We did not and have not asked her to pay more anywhere along the way. We offered to pay for any tow bills she may have in regards to getting the vehicle to our shop. We apologized to her for her inconvenience and our inability to fix her vehicle correctly the first time. Perhaps Ms. [redacted] will have a different take on using us again. I believe Ms. [redacted] left here feeling we made things right.

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention.

Review: In July of 2014 I brought my vehicle, a 2012 Jeep Patriot I purchased while on Active Duty in the U.S. Army. The vehicle was making an odd noise in the power train area and I turned it over to the dealer, Lithia Dodge of the Tri Cities, for diagnostic. Lithia contended that the issue was with the clutch but, my clutch was working without any problems that I could detect. Lithia did however replace a "slave cylinder" under manufacturers warranty but would not replace the clutch because it was passed the 12,000 Mile/12 month warranty period. At this time my jeep only had 28,000 miles on it.

After several months I finally decided to take the vehicle to the local Firestone outlet in Pasco Wa. Firestone also concluded that there was some inordinate wear on the clutch and recommended replacement. I authorized replacement for the clutch kit which cost approximately $1300 to repair. When I received the vehicle back, I noted that the "noise" that had been present before the clutch kit replacement was still present so I took the vehicle back to Firestone. They recommended that I take the vehicle to a transmission specialist as they did not have the appropriate machinery to diagnose a transmission problem.

I took the vehicle back to Lithia in Kennewick and advised that I had replaced the clutch per their recommendations but the "noise" the vehicle was making was still persistent. Lithia got as far as draining the transmission fluid and ceased working on the vehicle because they said there was "the wrong fluid" in the transmission and they would not be able to submit the vehicle for warranty repair.

Firestone contends that they used a universal synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid product called "Versa Trans" to "top off" my transmission after they replaced the clutch kit. Lithia states that this fluid is not authorized under the terms of the warranty and thus voids my Power Train warranty. The warranty states that the "recommended" fluid to use is Mopar ATF+4 or a "licensed" equivalent.

Under the terms of the Magnuson/Moss Warranty Act of 1975, a Warrantor cannot specify a "brand name" tie in when determining what parts or fluids should be used. The warrantor must demonstrate that the use of an aftermarket part or "compatible" fluid was directly responsible for the damage caused to the product, i.e. the vehicle.

Lithia has declined to perform warranty repairs on my vehicle even though they have not satisfactorily demonstrated that the use of Versa Trans was responsible for the damage to my transmission. Lithia is also not accepting that all of the documentation available shows that Versa Trans is compatible with the OEM specifications on the ATF+4 products they recommend. Service documentation from both Litha and Firestone clearly show that the problems with the vehicle were present both before and after Firestone performed any work yet Lithia refuses to accept this as evidence that the addition of less than 1 qt. of Versa Trans was responsible for the failure of my transmission.Desired Settlement: I want Tri Cities Lithia Chrysler Dodge Ram Jeep of Kennewick to conclusively prove that the Versa Trans product is 'incompatible" with ATF+4 as the recommended fluid and was the direct cause of the failure in my transmission. If they cannot adequately prove that the Versa Trans was responsible for the transmission damage then I want them to repair my vehicle under warranty.