Well, the bug bit me too. 15,500 miles on the clock. Just before 15k I started noticing a hard shut-off...like the motor wanted to keep running when I turned the key off (can I blame it? I want to keep running it too!!).
Had the 15k service done and, 500 miles later, I got the CEL. Took it in on Monday and the "service" advisor gave me a hassle about getting a rental vehicle. He finally decided that I had "one more left." So I got a rental for one day. He called me that afternoon and said it was fixed. I picked it up in a hurry. When I asked him what happened, he said, "It just threw a code. That can happen when it gets really hot." I looked at him incredulously and should have left it there and MADE them call Star techs, but I was in a hurry. So I took the truck and left.
Stopped at the grocery on the way home and, when I shut it off...shock surprise...hard shut-down.
CEL popped again before I made it home. I called him back and told him and he said, "You're out of free rentals." and I asked him if he really thought resetting the CEL on Monday was Hall's (the dealership name) concept of "fixing" a vehicle. He went to his manager and they okayed me for one more rental since I had just left.
So I dropped it off this morning and I got another rental. When I dropped it off I told him, "Okay, to restate the issue I noticed before the first CEL...the truck shuts off rough. I think this might be the EGR, so please check that."
He called me a couple hours later and said, "We figured out what's wrong! It's the EGR. I have one coming in from New Jersey. It won't be here until tomorrow." I told him that was fine, as long as it got fixed.
Then he went on to tell me that the rental was only good for one day...
(...yea, I paused for a moment too...)
I think I said something like, "Are you serious?" He, unfortunately, stated that he was, indeed, serious. "So I have to pay for a rental vehicle because you can't get a part to fix the truck that you sold to me less than a year ago? He, unfortunately, stated that I was, indeed, correct.
To his credit, he did give me a number at DC to call. 800.922.1997. After being on hold for a long time, I talked to Chris, who was a very nice guy. He gave me an address to send my rental receipt to to get reimbursed and asked me a lot about how I liked the CRD and what mileage I was getting. Cool, but what a pain in the butt. This should be a non-issue.
I love this truck. The first model year of anything this leading-edge has growing pains. I don't mind AT ALL going through those growing pains (especially for a truck that's as great as this one), but I DO EXPECT Daimler Chrysler to stand behind me as I alpha test their product. I explained this to Chris and he agreed with me completely. He was really amazed that the dealership was "not taking care of their customer's vehicles."
So my truck now has a corporate DC file number. Maybe things will get taken care of now.......
We'll see.