Southfork Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram - Service Center

A nightmare experience On 7/17/19 I drove less than two miles to Southfork Jeep from my home after my vehicle gave me a warning light that my engine was overheating. Upon On 7/17/19 I drove less than two miles to Southfork Jeep from my home after my vehicle gave me a warning light that my engine was overheating. Upon arrival I was assigned to Jose for assistance. I explained to him what had happened. He then popped the hood on my car. At that time we both noticed that the cap on my radiator fluid was off and I had no fluid. The lid was upside down and laying on another part of the vehicle. He asked me if anyone had already looked at my vehicle or recently worked on it. I explained to him at that time that the last person to be under the hood of my car was Take 5 Oil Change when I last got my oil changed. (May 15, 2019). He stated that he did not think I could have driven that long with the cap off my car with no issues. I explained to him that I had absolutely no issues with the vehicle prior to the warning light coming on. Jose told me that they would run a diagnostic but it would probably be Friday (this was Wednesday) before they could look at it. So my husband loaded up my kids and came and picked me up. On Friday morning 7/19/19 I had a death in my close family. I called up to the dealership about 8:30am to try and get an update because I may need my vehicle during funeral arrangements, etc. When I called Jose was not available so I left a message. When he later returned my call he stated that they had not looked at my vehicle yet, but it was up next so they should know something by lunch. At 3pm I still had not heard anything from anyone so I called and was told Jose was busy. At 4:30 he still had not called me back so my husband called him. At that time he states that they can not find anything wrong with my vehicle. They can't find any leaks, they replaced the fluids, and have seen no other issues. But they just wanted to be sure nothing else was wrong so I didn't drive off in it and something else happen. He told my husband they would let us know something by Saturday. We heard nothing on Saturday. On Monday 7/22/19 at 4pm I still had not heard anything. So on my way to the funeral home for my family members arrangements I call Jose. He says that my engine failed compression test and so now I need a new engine. He stated that it is covered under my power train warranty, but Chrysler will want to see maintenance records before they agree to pay for it. I explained to him that I was driving out of town for the funeral and would not be able to get him the records until Wednesday morning. He stated that they were still running more tests on the engine to determine cause of failure. Wednesday 7/24/19. I bring the print out from Take 5 Oil Change showing the dates and mileage at my oil changes. I give it to Jose and he states that he will submit to Chrysler, and we will know something in 24-48 hours. I asked him what else they may request or why it would possibly be denied and he stated that we would just have to wait and see. I stated that if there was anything else I needed to get today would be good because I was off from work. He stated that he would submit what I gave him. I heard nothing else from him Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Friday 7/26/19 at 4:30pm I call Jose. At that time he states that he does not want to submit what I gave him to Chrysler because it does not have enough information on it. He stated he needs more detail about what was done at each visit to my vehicle. I asked him why I was just now hearing this as I could have gotten him that on Wednesday and he provided no response. At this time I was out of town and would be unable to get the information until Monday. Monday 7/29/19 my husband went to Take 5 Oil Change and got the correct print outs from each visit. He took them in person to Jose at the dealership. Jose tells my husband that he will submit the paperwork, then once its approved they will order the parts and get it fixed in a couple of days. Tuesday we heard nothing. Wednesday we heard nothing. Wednesday 7/31/19 at 4pm I call again. Jose says he just got word that they declined my request to pay for repair with warranty. He stated that the reason was because I had gone too many miles between oil changes. He said that was it. I asked him if there was anyone else I could speak to and he gave me the number to the Chrysler corporate office. I immediately hung up and Called Chrysler. I am told that I will be assigned a case manager and someone will call me within 48 hours. Thursday 8/1/19 Tamara from Chrysler corporate calls me. She says that she is the case manager and they are upholding the decision to not pay for repair based on time between oil changes and she proceeded to say that the owners manual says that under no circumstances should you go more than 10k miles between oil changes. I did not have my print out of service record with me so I did not argue. I asked her if the sensor in the car for oil changes comes on based on mileage or oil level and she stated that she did not know. Thursday 8/1/19. After speaking to Chrysler I drove up to the dealership and asked Jose to see my print out from Take 5 oil change. He gave me a copy and upon review I show him that I never went 10k between oil changes. He says he understands and that he will get his manager. At this point I am introduced and brought to the office of Henry Pimentel. I proceed to argue my case about the oil changes and Henry says its 7500 miles. I tell him that that is not what the corporate office stated and that is not what the owners manual states. At that point he stated to me that I was choosing the wrong battle. He said that didn't matter because that is not why my claim was being denied. He stated that it was being denied because upon my arrival the cap was off my radiatior fluid. Therefore Chrysler would not take responsibility for damage or repair. I then tell him that that is not what the corporate office said and that his employee Jose had never once mentioned that to me as part of the concern in the two weeks we had been waiting. I also told Henry that no one has ever given me a cost of repair or estimate. No one has offered me a loaner car or rental or any assistance at all. His employee Jose never calls when he says he will and is never available. He then gave me a sheet of paper that had an estimated repair cost of almost 10k. Henry tells me that my best bet is to go after the oil change place because it is their fault for leaving the cap off. Henry called Take 5 Oil change while I was in his office. For part of the conversation he had me on speaker and for part of the call he took me off speaker. He explained the situation to the manager there and stated that they needed to pay for repair. The manager at Take 5 was not confirming or denying, but stated that he would call me back. When I left the dealership I call Chrysler office back. I speak to a manager and she admits their mistake about the oil changes. She stated that I was told the wrong information and my oil changes were timely. However, when I mentioned the information to her about it being denied because of the cap being left off she had no idea. She put me on hold for 30 minutes and then came back and said they had to uphold what the dealership employees were telling them but they had never previously communicated that information. I asked if I had any recourse in this matter and she stated no. I spent the next several days going back and forth with Take 5 Oil Change who refused to assist or accept responsibility. The manager at Take 5, Keith stated that when he went out to look at my vehicle at the dealership he was also told that my claim was being denied because of Oil Changes. On 8/5/19 I filed a claim with my insurance, Progressive. On 8/5/19 I posted the above review on this website. On 8/6/19 I received a telephone call from manager Henry Pimentel at the dealership. He stated that the owner of the dealership Mr. Godwin called him regarding the review I posted on the website. He is on vacation so he did not call himself. However, he has stated that I need to take the review down or change it to 5 stars stating that Mr. Godwin would call me. If I do not remove or change the review they will no longer be willing to assist me in getting my vehicle repaired or resolved with Take 5. I told Henry that I felt this was very wrong and I did not agree with this. He repeated either take it down or change it and he will be more than happy to help you on several occasions. I asked him if anything I said was untrue and he did not answer the question. I told him that I was not blaming him for what was wrong with my vehicle and I know that no repairs have even been done. However, the customer service and communication has been horrible and that was fact. He stated that was my opinion, but they still do not want a 1 star review and the owner takes that personally. I asked if I could speak to owner prior to changing or removing my review and he stated that no I could not and that he would be out until Monday. He stated that he was not forcing me to do anything but telling me my options. I told him this was wrong. He stated that the owner would be unwilling to even speak to me if I did not take the review down. I removed the review from the website. 8/12/19 I received a telephone call from Chris Godwin, Owner of Dealership Mr. Godwin did not apologize for anything and maintains that his guys are not at fault for anything except not returning phone calls timely. He did not deny stating that he had his employee call me and tell me to take my review down. In fact at one point he stated “this is part of me helping you for taking your review down.” He stated that I would win a lawsuit against Take 5 and needed to pursue that. He stated that I needed to send them a demand letter. He even stated that he would help me write it. When discussing the warranty declining to pay he stated that at first they did not even tell them about the cap being off, but then they did tell them in hopes that they would then pay for it. He stated that they didn’t lie, but they omitted the information because they are trying to help the customer. He stated that they are understaffed and overworked but still maintain great numbers and revenue and have the best prices for repairs. He stated that I could trade my car in for something else and he would try to help me get in a new car. He kept saying “I know you don’t understand” but this is why this happened, and this is why this happened. When I told him how I felt, he never really apologized just kept talking about how great his business is. He also stated that yes the price on the paper was for the insurance or if Take 5 was going to pay (although he stated $8600 and the paper said almost $10k). He then stated that if I as the customer was going to pay they would try to work with me as much as they could on the price, but he never did give me a price. He gave me his cell phone number. My vehicle remained at Southfork Jeep for 10 weeks. I was told that I may be charged a storage fee for my vehicle being there so long. The only thing Mr. Godwin did to "help me" was send a video of when I arrived at dealership and my cap was off to the insurance. However, the video would not even load. He stated that they would not charge me for this even though they had to pay for it. I did not request the video in the first place. He also offered to give me 5k for my car to go towards a new one, even though he knew I still owed 10k on my car. I was never offered a rental or loaner car. I was told I needed to file a lawsuit against Take 5 Oil Change, but then Jose told my insurance company that there was no way I could have driven that long with the cap being off. If that was true, then how would I win a lawsuit against the oil change company? And even if I did file a lawsuit, how would that help me get a vehicle. Finally after 10 long weeks, my insurance company totaled out my vehicle. The insurance adjuster called me on a Monday night 9/23 to give me the news and told me to go the next morning to gather my belongings from my vehicle. On 9/24/19 I went to dealership. Jose was there and I told him I needed to get my personal belongings including my children's two car seats. He stated that the insurance people had come and towed the vehicle the day before. I asked why they didn't call me knowing all my stuff was still in there. He replied stating "well the guy said if you had any stuff you could call them and arrange to go get it." I called my insurance adjuster who stated that they are supposed to notify me and get my permission before allowing anyone to tow my vehicle. But yet again, nothing. So I had to drive 90 minutes to north Houston the following morning to an auction yard to retrieve my items. Shortly after leaving the auction yard I received an automated text on my phone asking how my service at Southfork has been. No phone call, no follow up, no apologies, nothing. This has been the most stressful and horrible experience that I hope no one else ever has to endure. More