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Service dept. Screwed me


cburch0925

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I took my 2012 Dodge Journey into the dealership at about 5,000 miles. It was making a grinding noise in the front right wheel well when I went over bumps. The dealership admitted that there was a noise but it wasn't until almost 8,000 before they were convinced enough to do any work on the car. I brought the car back and they replaced the front struts and sway bar. The noise was still there but they said they had done all they they possibly could to eliminate the noise. Obviously not a dealership I will ever be going back to.

So around 10,500 miles I take my dodge to a different Dodge service Dept in the area. My front 2 tires are COMPLETELY BALD!!! The service dept looks at the tires and confirmed what I already knew... when they replaced my struts and sway bars they never aligned the tire, and they were REALLY out of alignment! They explained that the noise is is a fairly common problem and the bearing mounts need to be replaced. I agreed and they explained that the other dealership made a big mistake and they would order me new tires to be installed when replacing the mounts.

Later that afternoon they called and explained that the Chrysler rep he had spoke to about the tires had agreed to replace them but would charge me a $100 deductible (his words) per tire. I kindly explained that that would not happen and Chrysler had made a mistake that caused the tires to go bald. The manager agreed with me and said he would call the Rep back and explain my point of view. We're waiting for a call back from the rep when he returns on Tuesday. Now I'm left wondering if the manager is under the assumption that he will only be replacing 2 tires today instead of all 4 as this is a AWD vehicle.

My questions are:

Do I have a good arguement that all 4 tires should be replaced because this is an AWD vehicle? I've read online that different treads on an AWD vehicle can really cause major problems FAST.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=18 for example....

If the service rep is adamant that I pay a deductible, who should I call next. Any good Chrysler HQ numbers?

BOTTOM LINE: I'm not paying to replace tires because a dodge dealership forgot to allign my tires after doing front-end work....

Thank you for all the help.

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It is true that different size tires will damage an AWD system. But the key to remember here is the actual tire size itself. There is a significant difference between a 225/55/19 tire and a 235/55/19, for instance, as opposed to a new set of 225/55/19 tires vs. ones which are worn 4/32" less. The AWD system in your Journey can safely absorb those differences; they are considered normal over the course of the life of a set of tires. Ideally, tires should wear at the same rate; realistically, they often do not. New tires should always be installed in pairs on the front wheels. Roughly 95% of the engine's power is transmitted to the front wheels and approx. 5% to the rears under normal conditions. When slippage occurs, power transfers to the back in proportion to the demand and only while slippage is occuring, then the power returns to the front in normal proportions.

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Tires wear at different rates front to back. Fronts typically wear faster as they rub more when turning, or if you loose grip & spin the tires occasionally. That is why it is recommended to rotate the tires every 10k. Your new fronts will wear faster that the rears and will eventually 'catch up' to the wear on the rears. Just skip the next scheduled rotation to help them catch up. The only reason to be upset about not getting 4 tires is if they replaced the fronts with a different brand or tread pattern. I would definitely want 4 matching tires on there. If they are the same tire, don't worry about it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just wanted to let everyone know that I did get 4 brand new tires for my Journey. The dealership that replaced my struts did not align the tires afterwards. This is the biggest Dodge dealer North of Salt Lake City, you can fill in the blanks if you live near here. Anyways, the other dealership I took it to didn't even fight me on it because it was obvious that the Dodge dealer made a big mistake.

4 new tires, I'm happy!

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