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Okay, here is my brother's full write-up on the incident. I misunderstood him when we talked last and thought he only had 2k miles on the oil leak. It is clarified in his write-up.
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Our 2005 Jeep Liberty has been leaking oil since the last oil change. We didn't consider it a big problem because the dealership, Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Garner, NC, had told us previously that this was due to the drain plug not being tightened enough. Also, we were pinched for time and money as we recently were in the process of selling our house and moving to Georgia. We finally got around to taking our Jeep in for service at James Oneal Jeep in Bremen, Georgia. We were shocked when we were told the oil pan had been damaged from over tightening the drain plug and it would cost $1216 + 48.64 tax! We immediately called Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Garner, NC, and not only was the general manager, Barry Driver uncooperative, he was downright rude, and of course did not even offer to look at the Jeep.
Since we have owned our Jeep (2005), we have taken it to Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Garner, NC (Owned by Capital Automotive Group). At one point we took our Jeep in for a routine recall. Everything seemed fine for a while, then a few days later we attempted to activate the 4 wheel drive only to find the level merely flopped around in our hands! This was of course during the only snow we received in North Carolina! They had failed to reattach the cable to the transfer case! Even worse, they didn't tell us anything about the fact that we did NOT have 4 wheel drive. When we called Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep, we were told they did not have a part to enable them to reattach the 4 wheel drive lever. Fine, but they didn't say anything about it to us! That was pretty pathetic, but we didn't say anything about it at the time as the fixed the problem as soon as they got the part.
Another time we took it in for routine service to Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep, and we brought the Jeep home to find it leaking oil in the driveway. We took it back to them immediately, and they told us because the diesel engine is higher compression, the mechanic didn't tighten the drain plug tight enough. We took their word because the Jeep stopped leaking afterwards. We later found this to be a lie. The mechanic in Georgia told us that story didn't even make any sense to him. He also told us that this type of things happens, and it has happened to them; when it does they fix it "that would be like us crashing a customer's car and asking them to pay for it" Nathan, the service manager told us. He told us when this over tightening happens, they use a larger drain plug which rethreads the oil pan. So, what really happened to cause the first leak was an over tightening and subsequent "patch" with a larger drain plug. After the last routine oil change, the Jeep came home leaking AGAIN. We figured it was the loose drain plug thing again, so due to financial and time constraints, we did not rush back to the dealership. I am kind of glad we didn't because I am sure they would have tried to patch it up and lie to us again to avoid fixing the more expensive oil pan.
After we moved to Georgia and got settled, we finally got around to taking the Jeep in for service at James Oneal Jeep in Bremen, GA, which is when we found out about the incredible damage the Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep had caused. James Oneal told us about the process of first patching the oil pan with a larger drain plug, but they told us that was not possible because "it is so tore up". This indicates that Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep had already performed this patch and lied to our faces about it. The next time, they over tightened the now larger drain plug and caused irreversible damage resulting in the need for a new oil pan of $1265. Of course, we called Capital Jeep right away.
At first, the service manager, David Hand appeared to be cooperative. He called James Oneal Jeep to discuss, and we thought he was going to help us. Then, he changed his tune after speaking with the general manager Barry Driver. They argued that it had been more than 5000 miles since our last oil change and that anything could have happened in the meantime. They also argued that it couldn't have been them that did the damage or it "would have been leaking the whole time"; I told them that it HAS been leaking the whole time.... that's the main reason we took it in for service at James Oneal Jeep. They also insuated that the damage could have been caused by something else or even by James Oneal Jeep. However, James Oneal Jeep told us "the only way that type of damage could happen is by over tightening the drain plug". Also, they verified the last oil change sticker on the car was from Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep.
We spoke to Barry Driver, the general manage at Capital Jeep, and he was not only not helpful but extremely rude, especially to customer that have done ALL of their service at his dealership! Frustrated we weren't getting anywhere with him, we asked for his boss. He told us he was it. After challenging his reply and discovering they are owned by a corporation, he would not divulge the name of the corporation, which means he has something to hide. We found by other means the corporation is Capital Automotive Group headed by Tim Michael of Capital Ford. We attempted to contact Mr. Michael; we left a message for him explaining what happened. Instead of him calling us back we received a call from Barry Driver who referenced the message and told us "Mr. Michael has the same opinion that I do." Really? So, I guess that means that you won't only get a damaged car that the dealer won't pay for at Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Garner, NC, but anyone who goes to the following dealerships is at risk of being lied to, having their vehicle damaged, and taken advantage of at.
Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Garner, NC
Capital Ford in Raleigh, NC
Capital Lincoln Mercury in Cary, NC
Capital Mazda in Cary, NC
About 20 other dealerships in the Carolinas and Virginia
And by the owners of Capital Automotive Group, Tim Michael, Chester Michael, and Hubert Park.
Clearly, Capital Jeep in Garner, NC damaged our Jeep and now refuses to help us with it. This may be ok for someone who has thousands of dollars laying around, but $1265 is a lot of money for us which we can’t afford. That does not include the amount of whatever damage has been done to the engine in the meantime, lost work time for dealing with this, and oil stains on our driveway. This amount, which they are clearly responsible for would be nothing for them to take care of a long time customer. But, they didn’t, and they won’t. Beware beware beware when dealing with any of these dealerships!!!
We expected some support from Chrysler in Auburn Hills, but they simply filed a complaint against Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep, refused to pay any money. They told us the oil pan is covered on a 7 year / 70,000 mile manufacturer warranty, but it would not help us because this was a “workmanship issue”. I argued that this is in fact a manufacturer defect because how can you call it proper manufacturing if an oil pan is stripped twice by a trained Jeep mechanic? I drove a Ford Escort for 11 years, and an uncountable number of oil changes, and NEVER had an oil pan drain plug hole strip! So, we got nowhere with Jeep, and they don’t really seem to care how their dealerships rob and lie to their customers.
We talked to some civil lawyers about suing Capital Jeep and Capital Automotive Group, but the lawyers told us $1265 wouldn’t be worth their time, and we should go to small claims court. I’m sure we would win hands down in small claims court, but we now live in Georgia making court visits in North Carolina impossible.
So all we can do is tell as many people as we can. Don’t do business with Capital Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Garner, NC or any other dealership owned by Captial Automotive Group. They do not value you as a customer. They do NOT deserve a 5 star rating from Chrysler. They will damage your hard earned vehicle, and they will lie and cover it up, and when found out they will not fix it.
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