I purchased a 1996 Plymouth Voyager van in August 1999. The Cutter Dodge salesman persuaded me to also purchase the Powertrain Care Plus extended warranty, which he said was a "bumper to bumper warranty.in January I began experiencing problems with my van that shoul have been covered in my "bumper to bumper warranty. However, Cutter Dodge refused to repair it under the warranty. Let me explain...
In January of while performing my vehicle maintenance checks, I noticed sludge in the radiator and transmissions fluids. I had the engine flushed, the radiator replaced and the transmission oil and transmission gasket replaced (serviced). The van continued running ok.
On February 21 while I was driving, the van began losing power, smoking and the transmission was slipping. Luckily, I was near a Cutter Dodge dealership (Waipahu). I drove the van (barely making it there) to the dealership. I left the van there, expecting the problem to be taken care of because of the extended warranty that I had purchased. But a few days later, I received a call from Cutter Dodge... They told me that they could not get authorization from Daimler powertrain care plus extended warranty to repair my vehicle.
They told me that the transmission was contaminated with water from the radiator/oil cooler, and the radiator is not covered under the warranty. I explained that I had already replaced the radiator. They said that water got into the transmission because of my negligence. I furthered explained that I had noticed the faulty radiator and had the problem taken care of as soon as I noticed it. I told them that I check my vehicle daily to insure there is sufficient lubricants in both engine and transmission compartments and check the coolant level in the radiator. On top of that I had to pay $102.60 (diagnosis charges) for them to tell me that bullshit.
They told me that the water evidence in the transmission oil was the reason for a non-authorization. So I picked up my van and took it to Waipahu Transmission and had the transmission fluid flushed and serviced at a cost of $210.07. I was able to drive my van for another 60 miles, when the transmission began slipping again. I figured that all the water was flushed out of the system, so I called Cutter Dodge to make another appointment and attempt to have them repair the transmission, which they should have done in the first place. The earliest appointment I could get was May 21 (another month without my van).
On May 21, I had the van towed back to Cutter Dodge (Waipahu) at a cost of $75.00. A few days later, Cutter called me and informed me that there was still evidence of water in the transmission and they could not get authorization to repair the transmission again. This time I paid $49.50 (diagnosis charges) to be told the same thing again.
On May 21, I went to Cutter Dodge to have my van towed back home The tow truck driver inquired if I knew my van was smashed. My van had been smashed on the driver's side rear quarter panel and rear bumper (to include the tail light) and no one at Cutter Dodge said anything about it. When I confronted the service rep, He said someone had mentioned to him that they scraped the van, and he forgot to tell me...!!
Cutter said theycould replace my transmission for $2382.61. I located a shop (all Trans) which would replace my transmission for $1800.00. I am a single parent with 4 girls, and I am still paying for the van. I need my van and did not have that kind of money to get my van on the road again. I finally had to borrow the money, putting myself deeper into debt. I had to go with the cheapest quote and had the transmission replaced at All Trans.
I believe that the transmission should have benn replaced and covered under the extended warranty. The transmission uses the radiator as an oil cooler, and if the transmission oil cooler was seperate then I could have accepted thier refusal to cover under the warranty. But the transmission should be covered under the warranty especially if there is no exclusion for the radiator being an underlying cause. This is also a bad engineering design, and they continue to say that the radiator caused the damage. It's possible that the transmission (hot oil) caused damage to the radiator, resulting in damage to the transmission.
I consulted with a lawyer and have been advised to take them to small claims court. He believes that the Judge would side with me. But, I expect a large Corporation like theirs would rather take care of this matter without the possibility of negative publicity. I would like them to reimburst me $2237.17 the cost of repairing the transmission, servicing the transmission and towing my van, which should have been covered by the extended warranty in the first place!
Sandra
Ewa Beach, Hawaii
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