I bought my truck there, recommended others. I am not a faithful user of their service dept but I have used them for certain needs. Convenience is the reason until now. I needed A/C work done and they told me my evaporator was bad. I dealt with Tom who has been there forever. A real nice guy. I got my $1300 estimate, knowing it was going to be expensive going in. Had the repairs done. All's well... Until my buddy also needs THE EXACT SAME EVAPORATOR but had some one else put it in to save himself a few dollars. I later compared part numbers and found that I paid more than DOUBLE for the exact same part than he paid from a local repair facility. After questioning the facility they said they bought the part from the New Smyrna parts dept. I got curious and called the service dept and asked for a quote for a repair, parts and labor. Then I called the parts dept direct and asked for a parts quote for the same repair I just called the other dept on. The parts price was exactly double. I contacted Chrysler to inquire. They gave me a website to look up all Chrysler part numbers and prices. It gives the retail price of any part you need.
Here's the kicker... When you call New Smyrna Chrysler for a part price sometimes it's doubled, sometimes it's a percentage over retail. I found I got the best prices from a girl named Debbie. The other woman that answers the phone gets real bitchy if you question pricing. Not a people person. I have since researched other service estimates and found not only do they charge double list price for parts when you have work done in their service dept but their labor is on a graduating scale according Jim. The more work you have done, the more you pay per hour!!! I asked to speak to the dept manager and got bounced around to a bunch of different people and ended up with Barb who put me on hold forever but did get me the manager. He told me Chrysler does not dictate to them and they can charge "whatever they want".
I'm done with them and more people should know these practices take place. The supposed "owner" is on TV quite a bit but if you try to contact him you end up being diverted to either Carol or Chris' voice mail. I wonder if he is just an advertising figure for the store. Either way, try for yourself. Call and get a few estimates. Compare prices with other dealers and www.mopar.com and you will be shocked. Profit is not a sin but gouging the public is.
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