my letter to chrysler-any comments?

[rentalrick]

Saturday, February 21, 2004

Chrylser Canada
Chrysler US
Chrysler TampaBay District Manager
Suncoast Chrysler 399.9423 Fax



Dear Sirs:

I am a Canadian that drove to Florida. The 10th of February I took the van to Suncoast Chrysler, Seminole to have the transmission serviced. It had "clunked" two days previous going into Drive. While in the service bay something failed, the coolant and transmission fluids mixed and were boiling out of the dipstick for the transmission.

It was diagnosed on the spot as the transmission cooler having failed. The estimate for a new radiator, flushes, etc. to get the van to a point it could be determined if the transmission itself had been damaged was $875. I thought this was a good thing to try since the failure just occured and the van hadnt been driven. Late on the 12th I was notified the transmission would have to be replaced. The van would not accelerate, the mechanic was lucky to get back to the lot from the test drive.

I was having trouble believing any of this. The van had given no indication of any trouble. I contacted both Chrysler Canada and US who would do nothing.
I wanted to know if Suncoast should have known that the transmission was junk as soon the fluids mixed, again no help, it was between me and the dealer.

Between the 12th and the 19th many numbers were kicked around, no two ever the same. Late on the 19th it was obvious Suncoast was trying to run a numbers game on me; inflating one price, lowering another, additions, deletiions, coupons, tomfoolery. At this point I'd had enough and contacted Chuck, the Service "Director". The original estimate at $875 was too high for whatever reason but since I had agreed and signed the work order he tried to manipulate the numbers so that the invoice remained that amount. The charges I would not agree to was for second flushes - $230.

Chuck told me that after the van failed the test drive, all the fluids were flushed again. Chucky would also have me believe he was offended when i took the Lord's name in vain saying "goddam" during our conversation; as he's trying to cheat me.

There is transmission fluid in the new radiator, Suncoast says its no problem and of course Chrysler cannot tell me if I should be concerned about it. The independent transmission shop I have towed the van to is going to try to get it out, at my expense. The only replacement transmission that makes any sense purchasing is a Chrysler remanufactured and its on national backorder, between 2 and 4 week delivery.

As bad as Suncoast is, the real culprit here is CHRYSLER. Every Chrysler person involved in this has tried to turn it around to where I should have bought an extended warranty. Wrong answer. I seriously considered scrapping the van at 35,581 miles and flying home but for a number of reasons I must drive. The repair bill is outrageous and it can't be done any cheaper. I will be persuing a Small Claims action to recover when I get home. This letter is going to be posted everywhere that i can find to post. I'm getting a price on vinyl lettering and LEMONS for the van so i can advertise Chryslers "great products and service".

[sandwich]

some ideas.

first off, don't belittle them. You want them on their side, and they want you on their side too. They want to make you happy, and if they don't, and something is truly fishy, your lawyer will MAKE THEM make you happy.

secondly, you may want to give more background on yourself. As an avid mountain biker, we often make fun of warranty claims where the rider was "JRA- Just riding along" when his bike broke. This is very rarely the case. So explain yourself a little bit. "I was on my way to an extremely important convention in florida...blah blah" "As i was driving along at about 70 mph" "I always take care of the car, making sure fluid levels are proper, and never abuse the van"

Also, you may want to describe your problem more accurately. The dipstick on my honda is just a thin piece of metal with a hole in it. Not much can leak out of it, but maybe the dipstick hole instead (or whatever the technical term is).


***
Ah...i see now you have probably already sent the letter and are just trying to spread this letter around to get other people on your side...well, I hope you actually become a member of this board instead of just bitching on it. I'm very sorry about your problem, anyways, and this is why I try to do all of my own work. I stopped this post halfway through, so if you have not actually sent this letter out, I have more pointers, but I won't waste my time if that's not the case.

-A

[rentalrick]

actually the letter hasn't been sent yet. i've requested fax #'s from them. chryslers email servers are down. they must build servers too.

dont belittle them? mountain bike riding? a little bit about myself? is your reply a form letter? i dont get any of it.

that is an accurate description of events to date.

[sandwich]

i'm just trying to make comments that will help you get your point across and get them on your side. If you say "hey chrysler, you suck ass at making cars, can you please fix mine by the way?" they are far less likely to help you.

A lot of times in mountain biking, shit breaks. People don't always seem to understand that things don't USUALLY break under normal conditions. Usually they do something stupid that causes the bike to break and then claim they were JRA. If you tell chrysler that you did NOT do anything stupid, but rather the failure was literally a problem with their manufacturing, they are more likely to help you. This is also why I say to tell them more about your story. If I were to read your letter, it doesn't fully tell me what happened. Your car broke...ok...you got shitty service...ok...some jackasses are trying to screw you over....alright. I just suggest that you tell them the details of your problem so they can understand better.

I'm just trying to see it from their point of view. If i worked there and got this letter, what would I think?

[rentalrick]

tell me what you dont understand from my letter. those are the events, diagnoses and results. what needs more explanation?

[sandwich]

It's not so much that I don't understand what happened to you and your car, it's just that...it's not a very good story, I guess.

What kind of van was it?

You say they kicked numbers back and forth, what did they look like? Was it just one guy? What was his name?

Did suncoast make any offer to replace the tranny?

These are just a couple of things I would expect to see. I'm no lawyer, so I don't know if including anything would affect your small claims case. If it were my business, and I recieved that letter, it would have a significantly smaller impact than if the facts were laid out in front of me. Again, I don't mean to antagonize, I just think that if you said something like, "My 2003 Chrysler MWOEFWEBNGBI Van developed a strange noise between 2nd and 3rd, so I took it into the Suncoast on 69 Wicked cool Street in Pantsyvania, PU 069420. Roger Hooptypants inspected the vehicle and said (exactly what you said) so I agreed." Follow with the series of events, and then "When I was told I needed a new transmission, the price given to me was ___, the next time, it was ___. They gave no explanation of the price switching and it appeared as though they were trying to twist the facts so I would have to pay more. They also flushed the fluids a second time without my notification, and then expected me to pay $230, which I did not agree to."

A story like that just gives me a better Idea of the facts. After re-reading your story a few times, I'm still not exactly sure what happened. Did they try to mess with the price of the new tranny? Or the cost of the install? Or was the original 875 too much?

I would also leave out the part about the goddamn...nobody really needs to know about that, I think :D

Again, I would refrain from using terms like "they screwed me" and "so i can advertise your GREAT service and products" just because it sounds unprofessional and actually a little childish. If I were writing it, I would want to make it a formal complaint. You may want to emphasize getting your lawyer involved too. If they really were trying to screw you, the bad publicity would RUIN they're business. If the case did actually pass and was ruled in your favor....i might accidentally "slip" the information to a local news station. They love scandals....

[NoOne]

RICK, I have been where you are, a few years ago I bought a used 1996 Plymouth Voyager, in the 4 years I owned it (lease to own type program) the tranny was serviced 3 times, replaced 4 times, last time was just after warranty expired. In case you think your case is unique, Chrysler has had huge issues with their 3 and 4 speed auto transmissions dating from 1996 to 2002 (maybe longer, but these yrs I'm 100% sure of).

In order to get the last tranny replaced I had to contact a lawyer who charged me $175 to write up a letter of intent stating I would be pursueing legal action IE: small claims court(<$10,000), I was contacted by the dealership - (Chrysler customer service wanted no part of the situation, and washed their hands of the affair saying it was a dealership issue) - dealership basically told me I would be wasting my time and theirs by going through small claims and offered me something of a discount on the repair work, I told them that I had nothing to lose and would let the courts decide whether I was wasting my time.

Long story short, I made a small website describing the problems with my van, and distributing flyers anonymously(in fear of libel) stating the problems I had with the van, and dealership and the address of my website (over 600 visitors in 5 weeks). I placed these flyers on EVERY Chrysler minivan I came across, on weekends I would place over 100 in mall parking lots. I'm not sure if the dealership caught wind of my actions but closer to court date they decided to cover all repair costs ... I figured I had them "on the ropes" and stood my ground until they also agreed to reimburse ALL rental car charges, which at this time had been for over 6 weeks.

It was a frustrating ordeal and it took all my self control not to go "apeshit" everytime I spoke with the owner of the dealership. Chrysler will have to come out with something really special to win me back as a customer, which is a shame as I am a huge Chrysler musclecar fanatic having owned 9 of them over the years, just not the same company it once was.

I wish you all the luck in getting things resolved, do your homework on recalls for tranny problems a good place to start is www.lemonaidcars.com (http://www.lemonaidcars.com) searching the 'net will bring up a nightmare of problems with Chrysler minivans - be prepared to get immensely frustrated, but stand firm and take legal action if necessary.

I hope I've been of some help.

[rentalrick]

sandwich - i know where u r coming from. its not a good story. its directed at the district manager for chrysler. i've found the internet isnt a good place to communicate detail. at first i thought you may be a baloney sandwich (hehe) but i see you were just airing your views and i appreciate your time.

noone-thanks for your time too. i'm in the "apeshit" phase. i am going to proceed with a small claims action when i get home (if i get home). its liberal in canada - judges dont like to see lawyers or big corps there and the best thing is it costs $35 ($25 usd).