About 8 months ago I purchased a 2003 dodge ram from Desert Dodge in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Dealer #43519). Amongst many of the overpriced options that I purchased was an option called the Quad Cab Value Group. The option code for this group is identified by Dodge as the ALE option.
The salesman convinced me to upgrade to the ALE Quad Cab Value Group option because of all the towing that I do. (The salesman name was John he is supposed to be a manager of some sort. To this day he has refused to give me his last name) The window sticker showed the ALE Quad Cab Value Group option. I was told that among other things included in this packaged option was a 3.92 rear axle ratio. I was told that this bigger gear would give me more towing power and an increased towing capacity by 1,000 pounds. Since I do a lot of towing this option made sense to me and I agreed to it.
About 7 months later upon routine service it was brought to my attention that I did not have the 3.92 rear axle as purchased.in fact I had a smaller 3.55 rear axle ratio. According to a printout from desert dodge (the dealership that sold me my truck) the ALE Quad Cab Value Group is supposed to be equipped with fog lamps, Keyless Entry, Front Shield, P265/70R17 tires, and most importantly a 3.92 Axle ratio. I verified this with a fax and phone call from the corporate dodge/Chrysler headquarters that my truck indeed should be equipped with the 3.92 gears.
When I contacted the corporate dodge customer assistant hotline and spoke to Theresa about my gear shortage. I was told that my truck should have the bigger 3.92 gears due to the ALE Quad Cab Value Group. I was also told that dodge mass produced the new dodge rams before they came up with the Quad Cab Value Group' and that many trucks have been sold with this package not having the correct gears which were advertised. They told me that the incorrect gears were due to what they called a factory shortage error. I was told that I should take my truck into the nearest dealer to get it fixed. I was told that the dealer will replace my incorrect gears with the correct ones. Theresa noted in my customer profile that I do indeed have the wrong gears. I was given a reference number in case any problem arised. I was told my local dealership would correct the situation as a sign of customer goodwill.'
After 3 weeks of getting the run-around from Desert Dodge I was finally told that they will not replace the gearing in my truck despite paying for that option. I was told (from the service manager) that the window sticker may say one thing and what is on the truck may be different. I was told that what really matters is what is on the dealers sales slip and not what is on the window sticker' (sounds like fraud to me). Despite the fact that I was paying for the option and it appearing on the window sticker. I was also told that in order to get the correct bigger gears I would had to specifically request the bigger gears at the time of purchase. (A $50 dollar option on a $34,000 truck). I would have gladly paid the $50 dollars if I was told this back when the truck was purchased. I was also told that because my window sticker didn't specifically come out and say that my truck had the 3.92 gears that they don't have to replace them. My window sticker it doesn't specifically say that I have the smaller 3.55 gears either.
I gave them all the reference numbers from the dodge corporation stating that the dealer was supposed to fix my gears. Desert Dodge told that their district rep Orlando Garcia told them that they could not fix their error. Now this is the same Orlando Garcia that I was working with earlier at another dealership and supposedly told this dealership to have me take my truck to Desert Dodge to get my gears fixed. I don't see why Mr. Garcia would tell Towbin Dodge one thing and Desert Dodge another. Someone is lying here.
In my personal opinion I think that Desert Dodge never contacted Mr. Garcia and that this reply was simply their standard we got your money and were not going to fix it' reply. I under stand that dealers lose money through honoring their warranties but I think they should stand by their products.
It angers me that Desert Dodge's window stickers can imply that a truck is equipped with certain options when indeed the truck is not equipped with those options. I think that this mis-information is extremely deceitful and tricks customers into thinking they are getting options that they are not. Who knows how many people are running around out there with incorrect gears from Desert Dodge? I know I would have never thought of crawling under the truck when purchasing it to make sure I was getting the correct gears. If a certain gearing is implied by the salesman and the window sticker to be included in a package why do I need to check?
I wonder how many more options on this truck from Desert Dodge that I'm paying for that I do not have. I find Desert Dodges sales practices to be very deceitful and error in the monetary favor of Desert Dodge. I also wish for a complete investigation of all window stickers to make sure no one else like me is deceived. It's sad to see that the days of honest car dealerships and the straightforward deal are long gone.
It's also sad to see that once the customer signs on the dotted line that all customer service ends.in the end I would like for Desert Dodge to just give me what I'm overpaying for. I'm tired of them saying oh well too bad there's nothing we can do about it. An insider from Desert Dodge (who wished to remain annonomous) told me that Desert Dodge is reciving alot of pressure from dodge/chrysler headquarters to fix my truck but apparently the corprate headquarters will not reinburse Desert Dodge for the parts or labor.
So basically desert dodge would have to eat the whole cost of the mix-up. Desert Dodge isnt ever going to fix my gears despite knowing they committed an mistake. The bottom line for desert dodge is that the almighty dollar rules over doing what is right.
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