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Report: #4252

Complaint Review: Town & Country Jeep & Auto Nation Inc - Seattle Washington

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  • Reported By: Tempe Arizona
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  • Town & Country Jeep & Auto Nation Inc 140th & aurora Seattle, Washington U.S.A.

Town & Country Jeep in Seattle Washington & Auto Nation Inc Fort Lauderdale Florida Rip-off to consumers *REBUTTAL ..we were being more than fair *UPDATE

*0: badbusinessbureau.com Auto Buyer advocate Stick Bogart

*0: Town & Country did split the cost

*0: we had our technician verify the needed repairs and proceed as authorized

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I took my 1996 Plymouth Voyager Van purchase from Town & Country Chrysler Jeep Inc, on 140th & aurora in Seattle, back to this dealership for repairs and maintenance. This Van has a side ways engine in it that has to be removed to replace the problem. There were know other problems with the van except the water pump was leaking and problem with a bad order, fuel fumes.

I requested the service department to run and check all recalls on this year, make, and model of the van. Per the service report given they did. Two and half weeks later the van starts shutting off on the highway and did not restart. The state patrol took me to work and I called the dealership about the problem. They recommend I have the van tolled in at my expense and I did. They check the van and stated they could not duplicate the problem I described. The diagnosis the problem as the battery. So
I consented to have the battery replaced. I paid for the towing and battery repair costs. One week later the van shuts off on the freeway again.I Repeated the same scenario that I did last time. The van was towed into the dealership. The dealership kept the car for a week only to tell me they could not find the problem. At this point I'm paying a car note for a car that can't be fixed, renting a rental car, paying for towing and additional repair charges.

I explained this to this dealership and they just wanted me and my car problem to go elsewhere. I file a customer complaint with Daimler Chrysler on them. Customer Service called them and recommended I take the van else where. I called the Puget Sound Chrysler dealership and they were reluctant, advise me to take it back to the Town & Country. I contacted the Dodge dealership in Burien Wash, and they did not want to touch it. So for the whole month of 10/00 and 11/00, I trying find a dealership who would find the problem and fix it. Paying another car note, renting a car and mounting car expenses to get the van fixed.

On the week before Xmas, Puget Sound agreed to look at the car, they diagnosis the problem as the catalytic converter. They stated they were able to get the van to duplicate the problem. I agreed to pay the towing and repair of $759.00. I picked the van on Xmas weekend on a Friday evening. After driving on the highway for est. of 25 minutes the van shuts off again, same problem. I had recently acquired AAA emergency road service and called them to tow the car off the freeway. They could not get to rightly but would within 24 hrs. standard time a vehicle can be left on the highway. Within 4 hours the state partrol had the van impounded. It costed another $238.00, to get the van back a the whole day Saturday.

I called the dealership and they suggested there must some other problem and were worried that something had cause the catalytic converter to become demaged. It was clear to me I was being giving the roundaround, being lied to and getting ripped off. With the original Repair cost of almost of $1100.00. Two car notes at 389.47 for 10/00 and 11/00, new car repair $759.00 and $238.00. I wanted my money back and to be compensated for these dealership fail to stand behind the workmanship and the misdiagnosis of the problem. They refuse to refund any of my money and offered to do more work on the van for an additional charge.

I stop payment on the last car repair and towing expense. I contacted the Zone Representative of Daimler Chrysler and reported the problem. I have been trying to get in contact with Chris Paypus the store general manager for Town & Country and he will not return my phone calles. I spoke with the Service Department on several occasions and they keep passing the buck onto the sales department.

I've reported the problem to the National Transportation And Safety Adm. They advise me that there several recalls on this particular van for the fuel system and engine problem. This van has been cited for several major defective manufacture components. I told the dealership at this point I wanted out of the van and I wanted them to compensate by helping me get out of the van or give my money spent back.

There best offer has been to charge me a large down payment and to tack the negative equity from this van onto the new car loan. I rejected the offer as totally unacceptable. They take know ownership and out to make the buck.

I called Auto Nation Inc. the owner of the dealership and spoke to a customer representative name Brad and he basically took the same position. In the mean time the van in labeled unfixable, I'm paying a car note, renting a car to go to work, and stuck with this defected product of Chysler's own creation.

I see know other recourse but to take this whole organization to court. If you have any recommedations let me know they would be appreciated.

stephanie Jenkins

iW-Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 14:42:45 -0800

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 01/20/2001 12:00 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/town-country-jeep-auto-nation-inc/seattle-washington/town-country-jeep-in-seattle-washington-auto-nation-inc-fort-lauderdale-florida-rip-4252. 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
3Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#3 0

badbusinessbureau.com Auto Buyer advocate Stick Bogart

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Sunday, February 25, 2001

To anyone that owns a used car with high mileage
You must remember cars with high mileage will have some problems that will be related to the mileage. No car repair shop can stop this. If you like to buy used cars and keep them for long periods of time, you need to start thinking about buying Honda, Nissan or a Toyota. The american made cars with high mileage DO NOT hold up for long.

from Stick Bogart
Auto Buyer advocate

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#2 0

Town & Country did split the cost

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Sunday, February 25, 2001

Subject: 1996 Plymouth Voyager Repairs

Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 11:12:48 -0800

To: badbusinessbureau.com



Dear Ed,



I wanted to put closure to Mrs. Jenkins complaint regarding our dealership Town & Country Chrysler/Jeep.



Mrs. Jenkins did pick up her vehicle last week and I believe the car is no longer dying and leaving her stranded, Town & Country did split the cost of her rental car bill with her after her insurance company paid what they authorized to cover.



I sincerely hope that Mrs. Jenkins vehicle does not cause her anymore problems in the near future, there were some additional recommendations by our technician that she indicated she would have fixed when it was more affordable, again I do believe at this time you can close her concerns regarding her vehicle and our dealership.



Russ N McDuffie



rmcduffie@handtech.com>



Sincerely,





Russ McDuffie

Service & Parts Director

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#1 0

we had our technician verify the needed repairs and proceed as authorized

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Thursday, February 08, 2001

From: "Russ N McDuffie" rmcduffie@handtech.com



Relationship to company: Service & Parts director at Town & Country Chrysler/Jeep



To: info@RipOffReport.com>

Subject: 1996 Plymouth Voyager Repairs.

Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 23:29:52 -0800



REBUTTAL:



My name is Russ McDuffie and I am the Service & Parts director at Town & Country Chrysler/Jeep and would like to respond to the e-mail that Mrs. Jenkins has written regarding repairs to her 1996 Plymouth Voyager. Mrs. Jenkins first brought her van in for repairs on October 3rd 2000 @ 85,281 miles, she stated that the water pump and belt needed replaced, we had our technician verify the needed repairs and proceed as authorized, we also performed some routine maintenance at this appointment including 2 factory recalls. The factory recalls were #8251 radiator fan relay and recall #845 fuel tank lock rings, both were done as instructed by the Chrysler Corporation, Mrs. Jenkins feels that the fuel tank lock rings should have included the replacement of the fuel pump module, however we can only replace the parts that are included in the recall and that part is not, we do have copies of both recalls if needed.



The van was then towed back to our dealership on October 30th, 2000 @ 87,022 miles with the customer stating "car died and would not restart" again we had our technician inspect the van, we were unable to perform any diagnostics because we first needed to replace the battery, we were authorized to replace the battery and continued on testing the performance of the van, the van never did die or not start once the battery was replaced, we did not charge any labor for diagnostics or the installation of the battery, customer paid for towing and the costs of a new battery for a 6yr old van with 85,000 miles.



Mrs. Jenkins again picked up the van and drove back home to south Seattle, again the van was towed to our dealership on November 11th 2000 @ 87,230 mileswith the customer stating again "car died while driving" our technician went out to the vehicle and the van started right up, it was apparent to us that we were dealing with a very intermittent problem and the customer and the dealership were frustrated at this time. Again we performed some tests, there were no fault codes stored in the on board computer, we started and drove the vehicle several times for several days and again could not confirm and dying or no start condition, we advised the Mrs. Jenkins of this and advised her we could have a technician drive the vehicle home for a few days in an effort to duplicate their concern, they chose to pick-up the vehicle



Again the vehicle showed up at our dealership on January 24th 2001 @ 87,678 miles, apparently the Jenkins drove the vehicle to our dealership after another instance when it died on them, they wanted out of the vehicle and were looking to trade it in, they were unable to reach any financial agreements with our sales staff and chose to leave the vehicle with out contacting anyone in the service department, they also chose to get themselves a rental car for alternate transportation. It should be noted at this point the vehicle had died at some point and time and Mr. Jenkins called our dealership, we were informed that he was very close to Puget Sound Chrysler by his home, we advised he have the car taken there and if there were any charges associated with the repairs we performed (water pump,timing belt,routine maintenance) to call us and we would take care of charges. We never received a phone call from the Jenkins or the Puget Sound Dealership. We were informed that Puget Sound replaced the catalytic converter and muffler by the Jenkins at this last visit, again this did NOT fix the intermittent problem with their van.



I finally received a-mail from Mrs. Jenkins and read what she thought of our dealership, I understood her frustration and called her to see if we could some how make one last attempt to fix her van, I should note my service advisor had called a couple weeks earlier offering to help as well, she refused at that time. Mrs. Jenkins listened to me as I explained who I was and what I hoped to accomplish in repairing their vehicle, I also indicated that I did not feel any previous repairs were causing this current problem, that it indeed sounded like a bad fuel pump to me, she authorized our dealership to drive the vehicle home and attempt diagnosis, I did indicate there would be no charge for diagnosis and if the fuel pump needed replaced as a "goodwill" based on their frustration Town & Country would pay for repairs, the introduced her to Larry Johnson senior technician and foreman of our "Silver" team.



Larry explained he would drive vehicle home with a manual test gauge on the fuel rail to check fuel pressure if the car was to die, Mrs. Jenkins agreed, I will mention I also agreed to look at current rental charges and felt we would participate in those again as a "goodwill" gesture. Larry went to drive vehicle and it was out of gas he got gas and realized the brakes were unsafe to drive the car home, he called Mrs. Jenkins who authorized new front brakes as well as a ISA motor that was bad and a induction service, there are also fault codes now for multiple misfires that could be fuel injectors or plug wires, Mrs. Jenkins she did not have the money at this time to fix those items, but for us to please note them, she also asked Larry if I was going to deduct from the brake repair charges for her rental car, again Larry reiterated I would look at current rental charges and decide at that point how much Town & Country would participate.



Larry drove the vehicle home with no problem until the next morning when it died on the freeway (finally) and as we thought the fuel pressure dropped drastically and the van needed to be towed, as we agreed Town & Country paid for all diagnostics and fuel pump module repairs apprx $600.00, we felt we were being more than fair. When Mr. Jenkins came to pick up the vehicle he was very condescending and short with me and felt we should pay for all rental charges and towing costs to repairs this vehicle, I told him that just wasn't fair and given the history of the car and the fact we were dealing with a intermittent problem we were being MORE than fair, he disagreed and left the vehicle, and I believe he is still in a rental car, at his expense.



Please fell free to call me if you have any questions or would like to review the history of repairs or the Chrysler recalls, I may be reached at 206-365-3530.



Sincerely,





Russ McDuffie



iW2-8

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