As many of you know, I had the infamous LBJ failure about a month ago. Dealership replaced no charge as I was covered under the Recall (which had been performed already!). To give the complete history:
October '05- I put my new Revo's on and had the dealership align the front end with the new tires mounted.
June '06- Everythings good until the Left front LBJ seperates, leaving my wife stranded. Dealership replaces both LBJ's and the right front wheel. *Remember that they aligned it only 8 mos. earlier and did not detect any problems with the LBJs.
July '06- So, I take a trip up to Michigan 2 weeks ago (met up w/Spowers to do some horse trading) and notice that it's pulling to the left, not drastic, but a very deliberate right input is needed to keep her straight on the nice, flat highway. When I get home, I inspect the tires and note that they are definitely wearing in a chop or saw tooth on the outside of both fronts. Call the dealership early that week, explain the situation to the service manager, ask if it was aligned when LBJ's replaced (no clear response) and ask to have it checked out.
Well, I went to my appointment yesterday (yes, 1 1/5 weeks wait
) and they inform me that no, it wasn't aligned when the LBJ's were replaced
, with not one, but two service managers informing me that since the ball joints are fixed, and none of the settings on the tierods were changed, it will always be OK to replace ball joints and not do an alignment. They then proceed to tell me that it's probably just my tires, and rotating them will correct it. I insist on them checking the alignment as I had no problems up until the failure. 2 hours later, they say the alignment checked OK, and they rotated the tires, for which they will only charge me the rotation fee of $23
To which I responded "So, even though you aligned it 8 mos. ago, and replaced the LBJ's since then, I get to pay for a simple tire rotation that may very well help with the pulling, but I seriously doubt will stop the uneven wear condition". The service manager ignored my statement and actually asked me if I knew that most roads are crowned, and that is probably the pulling effect I was detecting in the first place
Now, I may not look like the smartest guy in the world, but at this point I'm light years ahead of this guy. I bit my tongue at this point and reviewed my bill, which the service tech clearly indicated that the uneven wear was definitely present on my tires, but there is no indication the vehicle was ever put on the alignment rack and they never really address the tire issue.
So for 2 hrs of my time and $23 all I have to show for it is I got my tires rotated and the full expectation that I will have to find a reputable front end shop very soon so I can document my dealers ineptness.
I will be starting my phone call/letter writing campaign to Chrysler today. Add on to this that I never did hear from them as to who was paying me back for the towing fee when the LBJ failed
and I am now more than just a little peaved.
The only things I can say for sure is that I now know that:
1) the dealership knows nothing about front end repairs (replace LBJs and not check the alignmnent?)
2) They don't stand behind their work (no guarantee on earlier alignment).
So, yes, this is probably my last new DCX product. I don't intend to sell it, especially since I get free LBJs for the life of the vehicle, but they have done nothing to make me want to stay a loyal customer. Free LBJs are great, but how about not having to worry about them at all, and having a service dartment that will stand behind their work?
My rant, thanks for listening,
Matt
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
I probably should.
I'm very paranoid about front end maintenence.
