On Sept 29th at aroun 12:30 pm, my wife, kids and myself showed up and Maroone Dodge and inquired about the 2008 Durango's. We were interested because of there Warranty and 0 % financing options. Since we were already a Chrysler customer we were going to be eligible for lease loyalty and early turn in incentives to stay with them. We were 8 days aways from being eligible for the early turn in incentive so we had no intention of purchasing that day. After informing us that in order to get 0 % financing we needed to get it today. We were still waiving and wanted to sleep on it after asking for almost an hour for the keys back to our van we left for dinner (by now it is around 6:30pm). We went for dinner and discussed everything the sales guy and his boss over:
- Early lease termination fee $333 (We had them sign a worksheet that we owed nothing out right on our existing van, they agree to pay the remainder of the lease $1332)
- We could have the showroom model for the same price as the one we test drove, with the possible exception that the rims and tires would not be able to be included.
- 0 % financing, % 4000 cash incentives ($3000 & $1000 lease loyalty)
We returned around 8pm and said it sounded good. We took the showroom model for a quick test drive. And returned to have it cleaned up. We noticed one of the door handles where broken and they agreed to fix it. We also informed them the sound was not working. Finally around 11:30pm we were on our way.
After returning to the dealership Sunday and again Monday we asked about the 3 day / 150 return policy which both our sales guy and his boss denied existed. Even though we had plenty of time to watch there in store promo on there displays all day on Saturday. All in all we returned 6 times in the first 5 days of owning the vehicle.
On Oct 13 I began the next leg of this on going trauma. We were noticing really bad mileage so I returned to the dealership for help.initially they checked the computer and applied an update to the computer. I was told to ignore the dash computer for mileage as it is notoriously wrong. The tech told me to calculate it manually by filling my tank and reseting the trip odometer and then on next fill up calculate the average mpg by dividing the gallons used against the mileage.
Two weeks later I returned as I was still getting under 10/mpg (6-9). He took my info and called Chrysler/Dodge. He called me back the next day and said he was sorry but all they told him was "It's a Hemi, expect to get 8-10/mpg." Now this was far from what it was rated on the sticker (15/City 20/Highway with a 3 mile variance). Since I based my purchase on this info along with what other owners get. I was shocked. I requested the manager and asked for them to either find a problem causing the poor mileage or refund my money as it wasn't what I paid for. This is when they started playing the blame game and said it was the Governments fault for making them put the sticker on the care, then they said it was the gas stations fault for mixing ethanol with the gas to save money, and that is more then likely my fault for "gunning it". I was furious. But there service director was gonna call there "Support Center" and check on it himself and that he'd get back with 24 to 48 hrs either way.
I waited a week before going back to the dealership (Saturday) as the director never return my calls. Again I asked for a refund because they didn't seem to be able to do there job and sold me a vehicle not meeting spec. He insisted he would call me back on Monday. Never called and I had to go in. Over the next we or so I returned ever several days because no one would return my calls, went they finally took my vehicle for a day to test drive it they claimed I was getting 19 highway and 16 city based on the over head computer and 33 mile test drive. Again I was furious as they kept telling me not to trust the overhead computer. I immedialy went to the General sales manager and asked for a refund and offered to pay any mileage I used which I believed was a fair offer, he said he could definitely trade it in. I almost lost it, I told him I was not taking a loss on a vehicle I only owned for less then 6 weeks and they sold me that didn't meet the agreed upon specs. He then wanted to return me over to the service department to get it looked at. At this point I said screw this and that I was getting a lawyer to get this resolved. He promptly gave me his card so I didn't get his name wrong.
I consulted a lawyer and he said I should try and resolve it up the chain of responsibly first. While I was trying to find the next person to goto I received a letter from Chrysler financial stating I owed them for the remainder of my lease and that I had 9 days to pay before it went to collections. This was the day before thanksgiving and I again returned to the dealership to get a copy of the worksheet they earlier refused to give me, but they denied all of the deal and said that they gave me everything they were legally required to give.
I managed to get a hold of one of Maroone's VP's and he called the dealerships owner who promptly called me. After explaining the problems he said he needed to review my file and would call me back (heard that one before). He actually returned my call later that evening. He said he found the sales worksheet outlining the lease payout but said it stated I would pay the $1332 and they would pay the $333, now considering they previously insisted this paper never existed and the fact it was hand written and could easily been altered after the fact since they have the only copy. I wasn't impressed. I asked him if they offered the 3 day / 150 mile return policy and he said of course. So I requested since I asked for it within that time frame they should honor it. I even said I would still be willing to pay for mileage used. But he insisted it wasn't possible becasue it was time sensitive and that there are licensing and registrations fees thaty can't be recouped. Again I told him my lawyer said I did have a case if I choose to pursue it, but I was trying to come to a fair understanding. Consider all the problems and lies.
So at this point I'm waiting for him to return my call about them failing to pay off my lease. My account was placed into collections and my credit is now affected by this. These guys are criminals and need to be avoided at all costs.
John
Weston, Florida
U.S.A.
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