Chevalier Chrysler

Monday, November 15, 2004
I dropped my van off this morning at Chevalier Chrysler. I have to admit that I was not too confident that they were actually going to put much effort into my vehicle or actually resolve any of the issues. However, I tried to remain optimistic. This is a completely different dealership and, as I've been told, maybe "they will approach the problems from a different angle".

Well, to make a long story short... They claim that they were unable to find any problems. They took it for a quick test drive and did not witness the heater or interior lights turn on. They examined the light switch and the heater controls and did not see anything out of the ordinary. The engine seems to be running fine to them. I don't know how that is possible. They did not hear any noise from the left sliding door. I am also completely shocked that this is possible. And, because it was not cold enough outside, they were unable to test the front defrost, and therefore did not look into the issues with it.

By the time I arrived to pick up my van, the service manager had left for the day. I will certainly have to call him tomorrow to question their findings. It is impossible that the engine is running normally. It is also impossible that they could not hear noise from the left sliding door. And, while they may not have witnessed the interior light turn on by itself, there is a documented report from MacIVER Dodge indicating that a technician there witnessed this. Why would they not look into this further? I wonder if they actually even looked at my van, or if they just left it parked on their lot all day - as MacIVER Dodge did on Oct 29.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004
I called Art, the service manager at Chevalier Chrysler. He stood by the service report from yesterday. They were unable to find any of the problems that I described. He personally listened to the engine and felt that it was running just fine. He also personally listened for road noise from the left sliding door and said that he heard nothing out of the ordinary. This is absolutely impossible! I'm not too shocked though. As we've learned before, denial of the problem seems to be the first step in Daimler Chrysler's service process.

Art indicated that they checked the switch for the left interior lights and that they checked the controls on the heater. They did not find anything out of the ordinary. And, because they did not witness these problems occur, they did not investigate further. Even though there is a documented report from MacIVER Dodge of the interior light turning on by itself, Chevalier could not investigate further because they did not witness it. Apparently they need to see it happen so that they can troubleshoot it. When I asked why they did not look at the wiring, Art's response was "There are miles of wire in there. We can't just pull it all apart". But, if that's where the problem lies (which we all know it does), then you have to pull it apart to fix it. Am I the only one that this makes sense to?

I asked Art if I can call him the next time one of these problems occurs so that he can send someone out to troubleshoot it. His response was "depends on the circumstances". So, that's just a nice way of saying no. "No Brad, it depends on the circumstances". Well, I just went out to my van to grab my owner's manual so that I could look up some info for the next paragraph and... guess what? The left interior light was on! It's 10:30pm. Art, do you want to come troubleshoot?

I asked Art more about the heater problems (turning on by itself, switching to A/C). He basically told me that the problem is that I should not be turning the heater off. It is designed so that I set the temperature I want and leave it on all the time. But, what if the vehicle is at a comfortable temperature and I don't want air blowing on me? Anyway, I checked the owner's manual and on page 227 it has a whole paragraph about the "Power Button". Apparently, it is supposed to allow me to turn the entire ventilation system off. Wow! What a concept! You might want to read that paragraph Art.

So, what am I to do now? I have MacIVER Dodge telling me that they are unable to repair my vehicle (so, obviously, they agree that there are ongoing problems) and I have Chevalier Chrysler telling me that there are no problems or that they cannot troubleshoot them. Well, I asked Art what I should do now. Am I expected to just keep driving this van for the next 2.5 years of my lease with these problems? His answer... "Yes!"

It looks like we're back where we were at the beginning of November - stuck with an 18 month old van, riddled with problems, and no one willing to take ownership and fix them. The last two weeks have not been a complete loss though. We have accomplished A LOT. See the list below.

• We have had over 150,000 visitors to this web site to read our story. What is even more amazing is that the average time each visitor is spending on the site is over 25 minutes.
• Not only are people reading this site, it is making them mad and it is affecting their vehicle purchase decisions.
• I have had 82 people e-mail me and "specifically" state that they will never again purchase a Daimler Chrysler product.
• I have made contact with numerous media outlets who are very interested in my story. I will not reveal any names yet because nothing has been 100% confirmed.
• And one more detail... I wanted to build up to this one. This site is listed in the 2005 Lemon Aid New Car Guide. Phil Edmonston, the author of the Lemon Aid Car Guide books, has been a TREMENDOUS help. His new book should be in stores within a few weeks. Go and buy it! If you are looking to purchase a car, new or used, his books are an amazing resource. You can visit his web site as well - www.lemonaidcars.com.

Index

Previous  |  Next