I always have my car serviced at the recommended intervals and was within 1 mile of my next recommended oil change mileage while shopping in Rockville MD. I decided to stop by DARCARS Jeep to get an oil change.
My car passed all tests with flying colors according to the service department's 16 point check-up sheet. After the oil change I went to start my car and it would not start at all. The lights would not come on at all so I thought the technician must have done something to drain the battery. I walked back to the service counter to have the technician check out the problem. I was told by the technician that I probably had a bad battery and was asked if I wanted to purchase a new one. I told them I purchased my battery a year ago and had not had any problems with it until after the oil change on that day. I asked the tech to give me a jump start and he did.
The car started up and I jumped in and drove away. I got about 1 mile from the dealership when my check gauges light came on and I notice that my battery power gauge was all the way to the right which was abnormal.
I drove back to the dealership, explained the problem and showed the check gauge light and the battery indicator then explained what had occurred.
Darcars told me that an oil change could not possibly cause this type of problem. I explained that my car was in perfect condition when I brought it to DARCARS Jeep that day and that something done during the oil change must have caused the issue. The tech argued that this was not the case and the battery indicator issue was due to the jump start given minutes earlier. I requested that the technician double-check all he had done during the oil change to make sure things were completed correctly. Darcars agreed and had the technician take the car in the back for more service.
The tech came back 10 minutes later and said that my battery was fine but I needed a new alternator. The cost of the alternator service was 750 dollars. I told the tech again that my car was in perfect condition when I brought it in but he insisted that these problems show up suddenly. I asked him to put his estimate in writing.
As he was typing this up was said that they could actually give me a refurbished alternator service for about 450 dollars. I asked if it was safe to drive the car until I decided to get the repair done and the tech said yes. I got into my car and drove directly to a local auto service center near my house.
I decided that I wanted the whole oil change done again. When I got to the auto service center parking lot and turned my car off, it would not turn back on again. I was very upset because what if my car had shut off on the highway or I was stranded somewhere?
At the auto service center the tech went under the hood and within 30 seconds he asked me to start the car and it started right up. He took the car to do the oil change again and run diagnostics. The car passed all diagnostic tests and has driven normally ever since.
The oil change was not completed properly at Darcars Jeep and had to be redone at NTB on the same day.
The fact that my car was not operating properly after the oil change and could have caused long term damage seemed to be of little concern to DARCARS. Also, in addition to the lack of basic quality control on the oil change I left with a written estimate for a 450 unnecessary repair.
My expectation was that the DARCARS Jeep would actually try to locate and correct the cause of my problem instead of ignoring the basic facts and wildly speculating about the problem. I did not expect to receive a recommendation for an unnecessary repair in lieu of having someone successfully complete the basic service I requested. Darcars did not actually show any concern about my safety in driving the vehicle away from the dealership although I was told it was safe to do so.
When I asked for refund they refused think they did nothing wrong.
Do not patronize darcars jeep for service
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