The Ultimate Insult from Dodge

If you have read my previous post you know that I am currently dealing with a royal screw job from Dodge about replacing my engine on my truck. I have explored all avenues that I can think of and I have been rejected at most attempts so far. There are still a few avenues remaining under review and these reviews could take several months to resolve. So, I decided to bite the big bullet and pay for the engine replacement. Yes, it is a lot of money and a waste of money as far as I am concerned, but I need my truck back, if only to trade it in on something else, a non-Chrysler vehicle.

Today, the local service rep called me. “I am sorry but there are no engines available and there may not be an engine available for a while.” I guess a lot more people than I realized have the same problem. But I was told, “For $500 more I can have the next available engine.”

So, I asked the Service Rep how long to wait for the engine. They said based on the current back orders it could be a month or so. But, they have an alternative. They can get me an engine from an auto-parts store, a replacement engine for my truck, but it will not be an official Mopar engine, which means it will not be a Chrysler engine for the same price. This “other” engine is probably the same engine that Mopar sells but the company that builds the engines sold this engine on the open market, not through Chrysler. Same engine but sold elsewhere.

“What does that do for my extended warranty?” I asked. Well, the motor portion would be voided with this third party engine. But, I would get a 3 year, 100,000 mile parts warranty and a 50% labor warranty for the same period from the selling auto-parts store. In other words, if I get this auto-parts store engine and put it in my truck, for the same price of a factory engine, and it goes south in two weeks and needs to be replaced, which could be $2,000 in labor, I would be stuck with a $1,000 repair bill! That could happen. My current extended warranty with Chrysler would be a charge of $100 total.

I then started to ask around about how this engine would affect any possible trade in value. The dealer replacing the engine said, “You will have the engine warranty from the auto-parts store which can be passed to the new owner.” Another dealer said, “It would not be a factory engine thus lowering the trade in value, regardless of warranty left on the engine from the auto-parts store.” I then asked the Dodge rep if I traded this truck in could the new purchaser get factory extended warranty on this truck with the third party engine. He quickly said, “Nope.”

After evaluating all my alternatives the best alternative is to wait for the replacement engine from Chrysler. That would give me the best trade-in value and not cost any additional except the time waiting for the engine to arrive. So, I am left waiting for a replacement engine from the factory and I could wait until 2007 until my engine arrives.

I guess I better start smiling since I am getting a royal screw job.

Dodge Sucks