D
drery2
Guest
At the start of a cross country trip in my 2000 Dodge Ram 3500 and 11.5' camper I encountered a loss of power, a high exhaust temperature and low boost pressure indicating to me a loose turbo boost hose. I pulled into a Dodge dealer in Cottage Grove, OR to see if they could replace the hose for me. Me being a bittle hight chellenged as well as disable I was unable to do it myself. The service manager said he could get to it right away which he did. He returned a few minutes laster saying my fuel lift pump was bad. I told him I had done some minor modifications to the engine for saftey and longevity. He replied they could work around that, but when he returned a few minutes later he informed me Chrysler had voided my warranty and would not pay for replacing the lift pump and I would have to pay the $600.00 for replacing it. Since this was the start of a cross country trip I had no other choice but to pay.
Whiole I was still in the shop I contacted a shop I had done business with previously and they said there was a factory service bulletin out that on certain vehicles with certain VIN numbers the lift pump was to be replaced under warranty. I had them fax me a copy to the dealership and gave it to the service manager who said it didn't apply since my warranty had been voided because of the modifications I had done to the engine. The dealer had notified Dodge of the modifications since Warranty work doesn't pay as much as work for the general public.
After the pump was replaced I departed and found that there was not change in the problem so I returned to the dealer. He said to bring it back the following morning which I did. They had it about an hour and then told me they could not discover what the problem was, and had contacted the Cummin's engine shop in Eugene, Or.
At first they said I needed a new turbo which they didn't have in stock and could have in by the follwing Monday about noon.
We spent the weekend in their parking lot and the following Monday the mechanic that had said the turbo was the problem called in sick. Another mechanic said he would look at it. He didn't think it was the turbo. A few minutes later the mechanic came into the waiting room with the air filter in a box. A pack rat had built a nest in the air filter box shutting off air and the exhaust brake was sticking partially shut. These problems were corrected and $334.00 and I was on my way again.
I feel the lift pump should have been replaced under warranty especially since they were unable to diagnose the problem and sent me to another shop where I had to pay the extra $334.00 for correcting the problem.
My question is this. If I take this to a small claims court, can I get a refund on what I had to pay for the lift pump plus what the other shop charged for their diagnosis? Can I ge reimbursed for my time and expenses for the four extra days I had to stay waiting for the work to be done? Can I collect any punitive damages? Would I be better off filing this under a civil law suit?
Dewey Reynolds
Whiole I was still in the shop I contacted a shop I had done business with previously and they said there was a factory service bulletin out that on certain vehicles with certain VIN numbers the lift pump was to be replaced under warranty. I had them fax me a copy to the dealership and gave it to the service manager who said it didn't apply since my warranty had been voided because of the modifications I had done to the engine. The dealer had notified Dodge of the modifications since Warranty work doesn't pay as much as work for the general public.
After the pump was replaced I departed and found that there was not change in the problem so I returned to the dealer. He said to bring it back the following morning which I did. They had it about an hour and then told me they could not discover what the problem was, and had contacted the Cummin's engine shop in Eugene, Or.
At first they said I needed a new turbo which they didn't have in stock and could have in by the follwing Monday about noon.
We spent the weekend in their parking lot and the following Monday the mechanic that had said the turbo was the problem called in sick. Another mechanic said he would look at it. He didn't think it was the turbo. A few minutes later the mechanic came into the waiting room with the air filter in a box. A pack rat had built a nest in the air filter box shutting off air and the exhaust brake was sticking partially shut. These problems were corrected and $334.00 and I was on my way again.
I feel the lift pump should have been replaced under warranty especially since they were unable to diagnose the problem and sent me to another shop where I had to pay the extra $334.00 for correcting the problem.
My question is this. If I take this to a small claims court, can I get a refund on what I had to pay for the lift pump plus what the other shop charged for their diagnosis? Can I ge reimbursed for my time and expenses for the four extra days I had to stay waiting for the work to be done? Can I collect any punitive damages? Would I be better off filing this under a civil law suit?
Dewey Reynolds