My car broke down two weeks ago. It is caused by a faulty sensor in the door latch. The faulty sensor causes the car’s computer to think that someone is attempting to open the driver’s side door, so it rolls the window down by half an inch. Continuously. Until the battery dies. To keep the battery from being drained, I had to disconnect the battery every time I parked it.
I called Dodge, and they told me that even though this a problem that they know about, my car is out of warranty, and they would not cover the repair. A big “screw you” from the manufacturer, it makes me feel like they are scamming people by hiding defects in the car.
After contacting three different repair shops, I was told by all three that the only place that the car can be repaired is the dealer. Nice racket, huh?
So, I brought the car to the dealer’s service department, and told the mechanic what I thought the problem was, and even provided a copy of a technical service bulletin that was issued by Dodge, describing the issue. He didn’t believe me, and had to investigate it himself. I sat at the dealer for 3 hours, after which he told me that he fixed the problem, and didn’t even charge me.
Only he didn’t fix the problem. As soon as I came near the car, the window rolled down and back up. I went and got the tech, and showed him the problem. He said that he would have to keep the car all day in order to troubleshoot. I again explained what I thought the problem was. He told me that he would call Dodge.
A week later, he still has the car. Dodge has confirmed what I was telling the mechanic all along: the sensor in the door latch is bad. It is supposed to be fixed today, at a cost of $330. My car has been out of commission for two weeks now. Two weeks of getting rides to work from others.
This is the last Dodge, and probably the last American car I will ever buy. I am going to trade this thing is before I have more problems. It is obvious to me that Dodge is practicing planned obsolescence by designing cars that barely make it through the warranty period. I cannot have an unreliable $45,000 car. I think I am going to begin shopping for an SUV. One with a long warranty, and not an American model.
Sorry, American car makers: You make shitty cars. Until you make a quality product at an affordable price, I will NOT be buying American.
(The problem is that you are paying forklift drivers $100,000 a year. All of the money spent on your cars is going to labor, and not into making a quality product.)