South Point Dodge Guaranteed extended warranty contract covered major engine/transmission repair Austin Texas

While on the way to Mexico to visit family on Christmas day, my 2003 Dodge Ram Quad Cab overheated and left my sisters, niece and I stranded on the side of IH35 about 60-65 miles from the Mexican border (Laredo, TX). After trying to get road assistance from on-going traffic, my sister decided to call roadside assistance to send a tow truck to tow us in to Laredo, TX where I'd leave the truck @ a friend's home while we rented a vehicle to drive into Mexico.

On Wednesday, December 26th after getting into Mexico, the first thing I did was contact a Dodge service shop in Laredo, TX (Paul Young Dodge) to have them tow in the truck to analyze the damage & inform me of what needed to be done to fix my truck. Once the service shop figured out what was wrong with the truck, the radiator & fan clutch were repaired, BUT not until Saturday morning, December 29th which is when i returned to Laredo, TX and drove back to Austin.

On the way to Austin, the truck was off/on overheating but not to the point that it did when it left me and my family stranded on IH 35. Along the way I grew concerned that the truck would again breakdown on me so I had another of my brothers who also went w/me to Mexico follow behind in case i got stranded on the highway again. From Laredo all the way into Austin, the truck made a metal-to-metal knocking nose that alarmed me so I decided to take it back in to the dealer in Austin, South Point Dodge to have them analyze that noise to tell me what the problem may now be.

Since it was the New Year's holiday weekend, the earliest I could take the truck in was a day or two after the New Year holiday. As I pulled up to the service shop, the adviser right away informed me without even opening up the hood to inspect the truck that the metal-to-metal noise was more than likely the engine heads that had been damaged while the truck overheated on me the previous week. I followed the adviser's advice and left the truck @ the South Point Dodge Service shop to have them look at it and tell me what the problem was that was causing the metal-to-metal noise.

After the truck remained with the dealer for a good number of days I finally got a call from the service shop to inform me the noise was indeed the engine which may need to be worked on or completely repaired. The service adviser asked if I had an extended warranty which I proceeded to inform him that I did. Once the adviser looked into what the extended warranty would cover, I then got a call from the shop informing me the warranty contract I had ***would not*** cover any engine or transmission repair! Based on the quotes the adviser researched and looked into, the repair would range between $3,500-8,000 to work on or completely replace the engine!

The repair costs plus the outstanding balance on the truck is much higher than the appraisal my bank gave me about 2months earlier before all this happened ($10,800)! After almost passing out at the quotes I was given, I contacted the Service Manager directly, Mr. Watson, to explain to him the dilemma I was going through and that I wouldn't pay this exorbitant amount of money to repair the engine on the truck because I was guaranteed the engine this type of work would be covered by the extended warranty plan I was sold in 2002 when I purchased the vehicle!

A day or two after speaking w/the service advisers, Mr. Watson called and confirmed that the warranty plan I was sold DID NOT cover any engine and transmission damage. Mr. Watson then provided me the 800 # for the extended warranty company and they too told me nothing major in the truck would be covered other than small vehicle parts, for example the radiator, serpentine belts, and similar items like these. Even the supervisor I spoke with at the warranty company was appalled that I was misled to believe I was covered for 7 years or 100,000 miles with the extended warranty plan I was sold by the salesman back in 2002 when I purchased the truck.

Once I was told the same information by the Service Manager @ Southpoint Dodge, Mr. Watson and by the supervisor @ the warranty company, they both suggested i speak w/Mr. Scott Deadman, the Sales Manager @ the dealership to see how he could help in the matter.

When I was given Mr. Deadman's information, I proceeded to contact him to explain what had happened and that I needed the extended warranty contract honored like I was promised by the salesman that sold me the truck back in 2002. I never knew I'd run into more roadblocks but I did! When I called the phone # I was given and the secretary/receptionist answered, she refused to put me through to speak to Mr. Deadman and was "screening" my problem as if she would decide if my complaint warranted Mr. Deadman's attention! I had also left a few messages for Mr. Deadman to contact me to explain to him personally the problems/dilemma I was going through and still no return calls!!! I provided the secretary my phone numbers to get a return call from the Sales Manager and after about a week, he finally called.

Once I was speaking w/Mr. Deadman about all that had happened in the past 2 1/2 weeks or so, he informed me that South Point Dodge WOULD NOT HONOR what I was promised by his salesman back in 2002 even though the case may have been that I was misled to believe that everything would be fine for 7 years or 100,000 miles.

I went on to explain to Mr. Deadman that back when I bought the truck in 2002,
I was aware of my high debt to income ratio and would have been considered a high risk consumer which is something the salesperson would have taken advantage of by NOT CLEARLY informing me what the extended warranty contract would or wouldn't cover and continued on to sell it to me! I explained to Mr. Deadman that the salesperson's goal was to make a sale for the company, make a commission by selling me into a highly financed vehicle with high monthly payments and not worry about me understanding what I was getting into!

After going through all this again with Mr. Deadman, he said he could "work" with me by either splitting the repair costs in 1/2 or consider trading in the truck for another vehicle, which more than likely have a high interest rate and monthly payments! I tried to explain to Mr. Deadman that the repair and outstanding balance on the truck would not be a good option to consider because he well knew I would get NOTHING for the trade-in because of all it would cost to fix the truck. All the while I spoke to Mr. Deadman, he repeated over and over again that he and his company could not be held accountable for the sales practices of one of his own salespeople and WOULD NOT HONOR the extended warranty I was promised would cover EVERYTHING and now have found out it doesn't. When I told Mr. Deadman that I've been throwing money down the drain on the extended warranty to cover something it didn't he hungup on me and since haven't heard from South Point Dodge.

Going through this horrendous experience with South Point Dodge has opened my eyes to NOT do business with them or similar types of businesses that take advantage of consumers that may have a less than perfect credit when it comes to purchasing any of their products.

I have a pending complaint that I filed with the local Better Business Bureau and they STILL HAVEN'T heard back from South Point Dodge. I also have another complaint with Paul Young Dodge in Laredo, TX who may also have a BIG PART in the manner the repair was done to the truck which may have only made the engine matters worse or maybe even caused it. Because of all the problems I'm having in not having a means of transportation, I'm having to get a rental car almost every weekend, and all the funds I'm spending on these services could go to the monthly payments of the truck which I was due to pay completely off by July of 2008. Now, since I've fallen behind on the monthly payments, I'm also risking having the vehicle REPOd!

Mr. ****
Austin, Texas
U.S.A.



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