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Report: #303891

Complaint Review: Riverfront Chrysler/Jeep - North Aurora Illinois

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  • Reported By: Elburn Illinois
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
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  • Riverfront Chrysler/Jeep 200 Hansen Blvd North Aurora, Illinois U.S.A.

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1st off,
I am the proverbial rural little old school teacher. I take care of things that are precious to me and my PT Cruiser is one of those items. I purchased this car new and rely on it daily to get to work. My students depend on me to be there for them, and my car is an important part of making that happen.

I had this misfortune of having my radiator fail on my car. It started leaking and was requiring fluid to be added weekly. I scheduled a repair at Riverfront Chrysler/ Jeep because they did night repairs and it allowed me to get my car back promptly.

I also needed a new driving lamp switch, since I knew the switch was bad, I asked how much to replace it. I thought as long as the car was there, I would get both things fixed.

Anyway.
1st problem:
They replaced my radiator, then called me and told me I needed a switch for the driving lamp, which I told them upon dropping off the car. When they told me it was an additional $180.00 I declined. When I received my bill, I was charged $51.00 for diagnosis for a switch that I TOLD THEM was bad! That is very deceptive practice.

Now the good/bad part.
I picked up my car and had a friend follow me home for coffee, Just as we reached my driveway, water started running from under my car and steam was coming from under the hood. My friend opened the hood to see what was going on and the radiator hose suddenly blew off burning his arm and spilling all over my driveway and engine compartment.

Upon further inspection, he noticed that the mechanic never installed the radiator hose clamp! So now I have toxic fluid running down my driveway, my friends arm and hand have minor burns, and my car is not drivable. I promptly called Riverfront Chrysler and the service manager told me to put the hose back on and refill the radiator with my own antifreeze and bring the car back??
My friend re-installed the hose, put on the clamp and filled up the radiator. We then returned to the service center, they checked my friends work and told us everything was fine. Well, not exactly!

I had a terrible odor and a small amount of steam still coming from under the hood days later, I was told it was possibly spillage from when the hose came off, they told me it would only stink a day or so. At 1 week, It was still smelling pretty bad and I took it back for inspection. I was then told I needed another $450.00 repair because " THEY SAID" the water pump was now leaking. Well after my bad experience with the last repair I took the car to a local independent mechanic, he replaced another hose clamp and cured the problem. So, they once again tried to get me to buy an un-needed repair!

I waited 6 months before filing this report to be sure that I am correct. My car has not leaked a single drop of fluid since the hose clamp was replaced.

All for the bargain price of $760.79, a toxic fluid spill in my driveway, a dear friend with a burned arm and hand Plus several return trips, more diagnostic lies and A trip to see a real mechanic that replaced the clamp FREE!!

I would avoid Riverfront Chrysler/Jeep service department like the plague! They make work for themselves at the customers expense!

Sarasmiles
Elburn, Illinois
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 01/27/2008 08:16 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/riverfront-chryslerjeep/north-aurora-illinois-60542/riverfront-chryslerjeep-service-mistakes-false-diagnosis-personal-injury-deceptive-303891. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
8Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#8 General Comment

2013 Update

AUTHOR: G - ()

POSTED: Friday, April 26, 2013

Now, I have not responded since 2008 when I first posted here and I have a follow up.

Here it is 2013, and my water pump STILL DOES NOT leaked as suggested by the Chrysler tech & temporary manager.
Since the regular manager was on vacation at the time of the original incident I really do not feel he was the person to hold accountable. I would also suspect that the acting / temp service manager was doing nothing but covering his own butt.

The Tech there DID forget the clamp, the Temp Manager DID tell us to fix it or drive it back.
Then once we arrived his tech DID tell us the water pump was the source of the constant antifreeze odor.
In reality, the smell was from all the mess left behind when the un-clamped hose blew antifreeze everywhere. It was not a water pump issue which they wanted to charge me HUNDREDS of dollors for.

Well, all I can say is they did drop the ball  and lie here.

That Said,

I have had further service to my "other vehicle" at riverfront and was satisfied  with all of the work they did.
 End of story

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#7 Author of original report

Did You actually read my post?

AUTHOR: Sarasmiles - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Obviously you have little idea what goes on inside your repair facility in the evening hours at all times.

" sarasmiles claims when she noticed coolant leaking after the radiator replacement, she called the service manager. She never called the service manager (I would have remembered), and she stated we told her to repair the vehicle herself and 'bring it back to dealer'. I find that hard to believe, we do not do business like this! "

This was more than a leak sir, The upper radiator hose came completely off in my driveway because your " Mechanic" did not affix the hose clamp.

When I got home, I was leaving a trail of antifreeze, my boyfriend opened the hood, looked at it and pointed out to me they had not put the clamp on, Suddenly it popped off and splashed his arm & hand with hot antifreeze. This happened within 30 minutes of getting my car back on my way home from picking up the car.

We promptly called the service center, the manager asked if we could get the car back there, my boyfriend said he could put the hose back on, and refill it as soon as it cooled enough to do so.

We returned to you're dealership and your personal took the car back into the shop to further inspect the car. They said " everything looks good" and we were on our way.

Furthermore,
The car continued to smell of burning antifreeze for another week. We called and discussed this problem fearing they had failed to complete the job. They inspected the vehicle AGAIN.
Your Quote: " She states we told her the water pump was leaking. "
During the second inspection we were told the water pump was the source of the leak/smell by your employee.

At that point, we took the car to an independent mechanic. The independent found that it was actually another loose hose overlooked by your staff. To date, since the INDEPENDENT mechanic completed the repair your company failed in doing, the car has not leaked or used a drop.

Everything in my original post is indeed true! Including being charged $51.00 for a driving lamp diagnostic. WE TOLD the person writing up the service report what was wrong with the switch, it is a known PT cruiser Flaw. You can confirm this switch problem on any PT owners forum online, Even if Chrysler will not do the proper thing and recall, this is indeed a well documented failure. I asked for a PRICE QUOTE to replace the switch and instead got charged $51.00 for a diagnostic on an item I TOLD THEM WAS BAD!!
Obviously I am not going to post my VIN number and Phone Number in an open forum,
Sara Richter Elburn Il. Oh, and BTW, you guys can stop sending me oil change coupons, I would not trust you to wash my mirrors let alone touch my car with another tool.

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#6 UPDATE Employee

SARASMILES

AUTHOR: River Front Managment - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, April 10, 2008

response to sarasmiles,

I'm the Service Manager at RiverFront Chrysler/Jeep. I could not look up sarasmiles record, on her PT Cruiser. (without her name or VIN#)

sarasmiles claims when she noticed coolant leaking after the radiator replacment, she called the service manager. She never called the service manager (I would have remembered), and she stated we told her to repair the vehicle herself and "bring it back to dealer". I find that hard to believe, we do not do business like this! We take care of our customers at RiverFront C/J, our C.S.I. score is consistantly over 95 %.
If she had contacted me, I would have had the vehicle towed back to my dealership at no cost to the customer and would have fixed the coolant hose and retested the cooling system. She states her friend got burned when coolant hose blew off. Riverfront has never recieved a medical bill from this individual to this date.

She states we told her the water pump was leaking. This is a completly different component,and not easly seen, the front engine cover must be pulled off for visual inspection. It is most certainly possible that a seal on the water pump that was marginal at the time could have started leaking after a defective radiator was replaced and the cooling system came up to full pressure. I have the utmost confidence in our technician's ability to identify and repair sarasmiles' vehicle and would welcome a phone call from her at any time between 6:00 am - 11:30 pm Monday thru Friday, Sat. 8:00 - 2:00 pm., so we can clear up this issue.

I cannot look into this complaint without either the customers name or last 8 digits of the VIN #.

Thank you,
River front managment

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#5 Consumer Comment

If its not toxic, please have a glass on me.

AUTHOR: Robert - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, January 28, 2008

Patrick....If its not toxic, please have a glass on me.

Most brands of commercial antifreeze consist of 95 percent ethylene glycol. As little as 2 oz can kill a dog and as little as 1 teaspoon can kill a cat. It doesn't take much more to kill a human.

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#4 Consumer Comment

Not toxic

AUTHOR: Patrick - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, January 27, 2008

Anti-Freeze is not toxic and hasnt been for years.

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#3 Consumer Comment

Not toxic

AUTHOR: Patrick - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, January 27, 2008

Anti-Freeze is not toxic and hasnt been for years.

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#2 Consumer Comment

Not toxic

AUTHOR: Patrick - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, January 27, 2008

Anti-Freeze is not toxic and hasnt been for years.

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#1 Consumer Comment

Not toxic

AUTHOR: Patrick - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, January 27, 2008

Anti-Freeze is not toxic and hasnt been for years.

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