I'm guessing this is the correct forum to post this in. Moderators, feel free to move if you need to and I apologize in advance if it's wrongly placed.

Now for the scoop!

I went to the dealer Friday (9/9/11) to get the oil changed on my 2009 Rubicon Unlimited. It's the same dealer that has done all but one scheduled oil changes since the Jeep was purchased new. (was on vacation and needed one done while on the road) I pull up to the service drive, get out, hand the key to the service writer, and he hands me a "work release contract" like usual. But this time, the contract is a Xerox copy of an original with this little statement already conveniently copied on there. I literally blurted out WTF! I don't usually voice profanities in public places but come on! I'm a simple firefighter, but I've been in the military. I don't sign anything without at least speed-reading it first. Especially handwritten stuff.
Anyway, my response obviously puts the service writer on the aggrivated defense and he responds with a terse, WHAT?! Which was the wrong thing to do in my book. But regardless, I rewind a notch or two and calmly explain with that written on there, I'm not signing it. He, still trying to keep it escalated, bull-headedly refuses to do my oil change. By that time the service manager understands I'm not going away with these results, gets a fresh contract and walks over for me to sign. They insisted that Chrysler is behind this action. I'm not sure if that is fact or not. Regardless, having bought one of the last Jeeps with the lifetime drivetrain service contracts, the potential for loosing a lot of money by signing that was genuine. And I'm not the only one that this is happening to. On each of the service writer's desks was a large stack of identical contracts and they were handing them out for people to sign like cheap flyers.



In case you have a hard time reading the photo...
verbatim>

CLIENT UNDERSTANDS THAT THERE ARE OTHER PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE ITEMS THAT ARE REQUIRED BY TIME OR MILEAGE. THESE ITEMS ARE REQUIRED TO KEEP YOUR WARRANTY IN AFFECT FOR THOSE COMPONENTS. CLIENT WAS OFFERED TO COMPLETE & DECLINED.
X_____________________

 

Did they offer that to you or did they just try to get you to sign it so further on down the road they could screw you out of your money? If they didnt mention anything about other services I would call the BBB. I dont know why they would have a huge stack of them on hand except for trying to get people out of their warranty. Sounds waaaaay to fishy for me. Id be careful around them from now on.

 

You definately are getting the same feelings I had about it. And yes there were other people that had already signed it and were looking a little panicked.

 

I have the same lifetime power train and they usually try to get me to sign one of those. Only thing is my best friend is a tech at the dealership and he does the work for me w/o getting the service writer involved ( he makes the ticket and does the work). I have heard that they will try to get you to sign documents that basically say that there will be exclusions to your warranty or you sign your way out of it. Long story short they do not want these warranties out there bc they have to fix everything and they don't carry them anymore. It does depend on the dealership, but until corporate steps in and makes this mandatory, they will hassle you about any work unless you sign. Total BS considering the amount of
Money we spent for something that they are trying to get out of.

 

If I had to pinpoint what they were attempting to do, I'd have to say it was a serious use of deception to cheat a mass amount of people. They even went as far as looking up my vin to check if I had performed all the maintenence intervals there or if there was a record of it in their computer. Then they claimed that since they didn't have a record of certain things that it hadn't been done. I'm sorry but, I can spray silicon on rubber seals myself. I can also change coolant, air cleaners, diff oil etc myself too. Hell, my YJ has very few Jeep parts left on it after all the work I personally have done on it. Rebuild standard trannys, Dana 300s, set up gears, you name it, I can do it. So I don't need the dealer to charge me 5 times the normal cost to do piss-ant busy work. I choose to have my oil changed there because Chrysler still sends me a coupon for a $21 oil change every three months and I don't think it's worth the hassle of recycling oil myself for that cost.

 

Might help if you dropped the name of the specific dealer here (if its ok with the forum rules?) so that other people who go to them can be extra careful.

 

I went through the rules. As I can tell, as long as it's not a link to their site, it should be ok. It's Allen Samuels Jeep/Chrysler. They are a very large auto group that deals Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Chevrolet, Hyundai, and Mercedes through 14 dealerships.

 

The one in Arlington? Holy hell I was getting ready to purchase my JK from them. Thanks for the heads up, thats not going to happen now.

 

sounds like this is more of an issue with the old lifetime warranty than a newer warranty. I have a 08 with the lifetime powertrain too and I'm feeling less and less like it will even matter if something goes wrong.

the jeep has been my favorite rig i've owned so far to date yet its the only vehicle where i do not trust the dealership... sad to say but i don't even like going there for an oil change...

 

You might be onto something there. They definately don't treat me like I'm welcome around there anymore. I get the feeling Chrysler under-estimated how long Jeep people hang onto their Wranglers. And, how we aren't the most naive group of vehicle owners out there. It's like they can "feel" that I am going to drive this one until the wheels fall off and then, make 'em put some more on and do it again.