Rotors might be gone, but check the pictures

[bramfrank]

Been there, done that. You will get nowhere.

Your best bet is to sue Chrysler and your servicing dealers in small claims court for the price of new tires (you'll have to actually buy the tires and sue after the fact). You will likely win, based on the photographic evidence.

You might mention your plan to do this when you are speaking with the supervisor.

[DodgeCACares]

Hi,

My apologies for resurrecting this thread but I reached out to Chrysler Canada Customer Support and I think I figured out why the service manager didn't give a crap. My vehicle was nearing 60k km and as such he probably just wanted to claim the "basic warranty exemption" on me.

Moment of ponder and such. My only recourse will be legal at this point, if Chrysler doesn't come clean and provides at least the parts for this. This issue was in place from 8000km.

I am waiting for a supervisor call, but I'm not holding my breath at this point.

Best,

Marius

Marius,

Please check your private messages, please let me know once you've sent over the requested information.

[Marius]

Marius,

Please check your private messages, please let me know once you've sent over the requested information.

Hi,

Message replied and provided all details. Comprehensive check up of all systems will be done this week to assess any possible damage and as soon as this file is complete I am going to present it corporate. I'm in the same line of business, CR, and I know how much emphasis we put on customer support when you and your dealers call us to improve the software we provide you. This is absolutely ridiculous that a service manager of a franchised entity allows himself to speak to customers like that.

This was not bought privately, this was a brand new Journey RT bought with 0 km on it.

I am making one more goodwill effort to solve this amicably after which I am pursuing my legal avenues.

You have my number, it's up to you guys to fix this or let me go after everything that I think it's fair.

Best,

Marius

[OhareFred]

Good for you. My dodge dealer general manager was supposed to call me back. That was weeks ago. I bet dodge trains their people to do that. Ignore them and they will go away. I hope you stick it to them. Chrysler corp doesn't know what customer service is. I'm STILL waiting for customer cares to answer my email for 10 days ago.

[DodgeCACares]

Hi,

Message replied and provided all details. Comprehensive check up of all systems will be done this week to assess any possible damage and as soon as this file is complete I am going to present it corporate. I'm in the same line of business, CR, and I know how much emphasis we put on customer support when you and your dealers call us to improve the software we provide you. This is absolutely ridiculous that a service manager of a franchised entity allows himself to speak to customers like that.

This was not bought privately, this was a brand new Journey RT bought with 0 km on it.

I am making one more goodwill effort to solve this amicably after which I am pursuing my legal avenues.

You have my number, it's up to you guys to fix this or let me go after everything that I think it's fair.

Best,

Marius

Marius,

Thank you for the information.

Your case has been escalated to the Senior Resolution Team for handling.

A comprehensive investigation will take place to determine the implications of all the issues brought forth.

[Lobitz68]

Good for you. My dodge dealer general manager was supposed to call me back. That was weeks ago. I bet dodge trains their people to do that. Ignore them and they will go away. I hope you stick it to them. Chrysler corp doesn't know what customer service is. I'm STILL waiting for customer cares to answer my email for 10 days ago.

Ha! Yeah, that makes sense... they probably train their dealers to give bad customer service.... I can't stop laughing about that. You a conspiracy theorist too? Ridiculous.

[Marius]

So here is a little update of what's going on...

Comprehensive inspection has been done and these are the results: Rotors are shut, front rotors have a .004" runout, to those with more technical knowledge apparently this is beyond severe and what's acceptable. Rear rotors same.

Now, there's a good new and a bad news, good news is that I found a Dodge dealership that is amazing, they've been thorough, professional ...all that one could ask for. Bad news is that corporate doesn't give a S***! I just got off the phone with them and their position is that they're not covering anything because I am out of warranty. So, whenever you have an issue, if you don't exacerbate the issue BEFORE the warranty runs out, apparently this is it, nothing gets done.

I've brought it up to the girl's attention that it's been signaled since under 10000 km and it's been an ongoing issue, her position was imovable, she refused to transfer me to a supervisor, she said Chrysler's decision is final. Well, I can't say I don't love my car, because I do. I cannot say I won't ever buy a car from them, because I know I will. But what I can say is that if lawsuit is what they want, lawsuit is what they will get. To be honest, I would have been satisfied with new rotors, the tires and the extra expenses I had covered. I guess in their imesurable wisdom, covering for lawyer fees and a new car is less than this.

OKied dokie, I'll have another check up done to a 3rd party professional site for an in depth look at whatever "else" we might find, then it's off to the lawyer's.

[onecrazyfoo4u]

That's why it's just easier to pay a couple hundred bucks and replace all 4 rotors/pads with a different (non-oem) parts. That's what many people on here do with excellent results. It saves you money and time from having to deal with stupid dealer shenanagins. Plus you're getting better parts. You get them replaced at the dealer you'll have the same problem in the future.

Replacing crap parts to begin with, with the same crap parts will only give you crap in the end.

[Marius]

That's why it's just easier to pay a couple hundred bucks and replace all 4 rotors/pads with a different (non-oem) parts. That's what many people on here do with excellent results. It saves you money and time from having to deal with stupid dealer shenanagins. Plus you're getting better parts. You get them replaced at the dealer you'll have the same problem in the future.

Replacing crap parts to begin with, with the same crap parts will only give you crap in the end.

But it's not just the rotors and pads, we're talking here of a new set of tires I needed to put on the car under 7000km. That's 2k right there for the new Michelins I chose (instead of factory Kumho Solus, which I thought were faulty).

Now, all the time I was told it was OK, the vibration is OK, the braking is OK. Can you imagine the amount of damage that rattling and movement might have caused until not to the hub assembly, shafts, suspension? I just paid 200$ on an allignment because it was messed up. And the previous dealership just "re-secured the bolt" and called it a day. It not so many words, they told me I should be glad it was free of charge. What the hell is this attitude, seriously!

[Marius]

Oh man, this is getting better and better, car's at the dealer for 4-5 days. Cylinder head fudged

[Lobitz68]

Oh man, this is getting better and better, car's at the dealer for 4-5 days. Cylinder head fudged

Care to elaborate for the sake of others? What was going on? What was the failure exactly? You have the 3.6, right?

[Marius]

Care to elaborate for the sake of others? What was going on? What was the failure exactly? You have the 3.6, right?

OK, so last week I managed to follow up on the corporate case, went to a dealership that I researched here and their customer service is exemplary, I have to say that.

They did a comprehensive inspection of the car - including reseting the code for the misfire in cylinder 2 that had popped up from the week before. Other than that, as mentioned previously, the belt was found to be "aged" and weak, the rotors are bye-bye, and they needed to do a whole allignment to deal with the repercussions of the loosened bolt.

Soon as I had all the results, and 500+$ later, I called corporate to tell them the good news. The girl I got on the phone just shut me down and told me Chrysler's position is clear "we don't cover anything, you're out of warranty, if you have issues with what was not done take it to the dealer". Now, the 1st issue I have is with that statement she had, the 2nd issue is I'm in Vancouver, the dealer in question is in Victoria on Victoria island. The 3rd issue is that it's appalling Chrysler corporate don't have a fucking clue of Civil liability. It doesn't matter the dealerships are privately owned, they're selling your product and you as a "employer-provider" are responsible for their fuck ups.

I nicely mentioned to the girl -for the last time- "please put me through to a supervisor, or I'll have to consider my legal options". She said that it is my choice to do so.

So ...I just ordered a new set of EBC rotors and Yellowstuff pads. The car went back to the dealership for a belt change and further testing with the misfire in cylinder two. They switched the coil/sparkplugs from one to another and same misfire #2 error popped up. They identified it as cylinder head problem, keeping car in until Tuesday at least to open up and fix it.

Now, next step will be to accurately investigate the damage further: what I mean is I've driven all these years with a loose bolt (I know, the man in me wants to kick my ass myself), but I had trusted the PROFESSIONALS to take care of their stuff. I trust these new guys. After whatever other underlying damage might be found: wheel components (bearings, hub) or suspension, even worse AWD electronic gremlins or wear and tear, transmission? - did I mention the hard thud between 2-3 gears? which now makes me think they might be related to the fact ONE of the wheels was almost going bye bye while driving.

Anyway, I'm either getting my car fixed by Chrysler and my bills covered, or they'll hear from my lawyer. I have no qualms suing their arse on my own, let them pay for lawyer fees too, if fixing an underlying FACTORY issue is such a hassle for them.

Edited January 16, 2015 by Marius

[Marius]

I swear I am getting to the end of my patience.

Ordered all new EBC parts, and they sent the wrong stuff. Original front 13" diameter, they sent me fronts 11.9" diameter.

Seriously, some people do not deserve payday.

[2late4u]

I swear I am getting to the end of my patience.

Ordered all new EBC parts, and they sent the wrong stuff. Original front 13" diameter, they sent me fronts 11.9" diameter.

Seriously, some people do not deserve payday.

that is one reason i buy my parts from the local parts store so if they sell me the wrong stuff it can be fixed right away i know its a little cheaper over the internet. but id rather not have the mix up.. good luck on your journey......

[bramfrank]

Well, a couple of points, since the topic has become active again:

You can't REALLY blame the parts supplier for supplying the wrong size rotors and pads because Chrysler changed the dimensions midway through the model year - I suppose that if you are a DIY it is up to you to know this sort of thing in advance. I always include my VIN when ordering online parts, just in case. The good news is that apparently you can get the right parts from the supplier as a swap.

As to claiming rotors and brake components, Chrysler simply does not warrant these parts beyond 20,000 km - they never have.

But for the tire problem, considering that it was brought to their attention as soon as you discovered it, your claim should be valid - maybe . . . .

Usually small claims has a time limit (in Quebec it is three years) to file. However the question becomes one of 'who is liable?'

In this case you had a misdiagnosis at a dealer in an eastern province. It led to the premature wear of the tires. Chrysler, as a corporation did not deny the original service claim and their warranty does exclude consequential damage. So technically, they can hide behind that statement and claim that they did honour their warranty because they ultimately fixed the problem at no cost to you.

Certainly Chrysler COULD have replaced your tires as a goodwill measure in view of the abnormal circumstance, but it seems to me that your claim would be against the original dealer who failed to locate the undone bolt.

As to issues with the engine, I seem to recall that there was an issue with engine misfires in the early Pentastar engines and that there was some sort of unofficial goodwill repair program - here is one article on the topic:

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/dealers-repairing-chrysler-v6-engines-some-pentastars-need-new-cylinder-heads

There's a reason I suggest to people that they consider buying OEM extended warranties - these vehicles are complex, filled with expensive electronics and the dealers are not as savvy about diagnostics as they could be.

Good luck

[Marius]

Well, a couple of points, since the topic has become active again:

You can't REALLY blame the parts supplier for supplying the wrong size rotors and pads because Chrysler changed the dimensions midway through the model year - I suppose that if you are a DIY it is up to you to know this sort of thing in advance. I always include my VIN when ordering online parts, just in case. The good news is that apparently you can get the right parts from the supplier as a swap.

As to claiming rotors and brake components, Chrysler simply does not warrant these parts beyond 20,000 km - they never have.

But for the tire problem, considering that it was brought to their attention as soon as you discovered it, your claim should be valid - maybe . . . .

Usually small claims has a time limit (in Quebec it is three years) to file. However the question becomes one of 'who is liable?'

In this case you had a misdiagnosis at a dealer in an eastern province. It led to the premature wear of the tires. Chrysler, as a corporation did not deny the original service claim and their warranty does exclude consequential damage. So technically, they can hide behind that statement and claim that they did honour their warranty because they ultimately fixed the problem at no cost to you.

Certainly Chrysler COULD have replaced your tires as a goodwill measure in view of the abnormal circumstance, but it seems to me that your claim would be against the original dealer who failed to locate the undone bolt.

As to issues with the engine, I seem to recall that there was an issue with engine misfires in the early Pentastar engines and that there was some sort of unofficial goodwill repair program - here is one article on the topic:

http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/dealers-repairing-chrysler-v6-engines-some-pentastars-need-new-cylinder-heads

There's a reason I suggest to people that they consider buying OEM extended warranties - these vehicles are complex, filled with expensive electronics and the dealers are not as savvy about diagnostics as they could be.

Good luck

Hi Frank,

I agree wholeheartedly with everything that you are saying and I wouldn't feel one bit of discontent to the whole experience, HAD I NOT BROUGHT all this to their attention since 5000km on the car.

I am so, so sorry that I trusted them, lesson learned for the future though.

Yup, DIY muddle here and there. I knew previous year had smaller brakes, not this. My mistake there

[Marius]

Quick update, whomever is buying EBC brakes online (I got them at autopartswarehouse.com) check your dimensions first. My 2012 DJ RT came with big brakes and they sold me the SXT model

Big brakes front 13" diameter, rear 12.9" diameter. Spoke to several people at Autohouse and that's what got sent to them for the year, the problem though is that they have them listed as the RT hardware for all subsequent years 2013/14/15 etc

They're coming through with the refund, at least they're amazing in that response. Waste of time on my part though, I had opened both fronts and took off the old hardware before realizing they are the wrong size.

[Lobitz68]

Ouch... Always do a quick visual check before going through all of the work to remove them. A mistake one only makes once... Are they sending the correct brakes then, or don't they have them? Others on the forum have used EBC's without issue.

[bramfrank]

Hi Frank,

I agree wholeheartedly with everything that you are saying and I wouldn't feel one bit of discontent to the whole experience, HAD I NOT BROUGHT all this to their attention since 5000km on the car.

I am so, so sorry that I trusted them, lesson learned for the future though.

Yup, DIY muddle here and there. I knew previous year had smaller brakes, not this. My mistake there

I sympathise - and I believe you have the basis for a claim - but having been through this with them in the past I know that Chrysler does a miserable job of standing behind their customers - their point will likely be that your claim, if any is against the dealer that messed up . . . and their fallback position will be that their liability is solely for the original problem and that they don't accept responsibility for consequential damage.

You may eventually get a settlement, but they'll insist it is only a goodwill one.

Edited March 2, 2015 by bramfrank

[Marius]

Ouch... Always do a quick visual check before going through all of the work to remove them. A mistake one only makes once... Are they sending the correct brakes then, or don't they have them? Others on the forum have used EBC's without issue.

I wish they carried the big ones, they don't

I don't know how many have been through this like me, I chose them because I had bought as well parts for my CJ7 for them in the past and recently. Price was good, service good. It's just the hassle of going through the return/search and purchase again.

Plus, the 13"/12.9" I think are 100-150 US more everywhere else I could find them now.

[ChopRod]

Haven't been on here for awhile and surprised there are still so many problems listed with Journey brakes. Own a 2011 R/T thats been great at 41k mi. Researching the brake issue- I considered the upgrade to larger size rotors. Didn't want to pay new prices and couldn't find any used or take off. Original rotors were warped from rotating tires, deer ran into me etc and are cheap OEM. I went with the drilled and slotted rotors from drilledrotors . com in the stock sizing. Have had no issues the past year- premature wear, dust, warp or pads sticking to the rotors. Seems the calcium chloride and salt used in the rust belt will cause the pads to glue themselves on to the rotors. With stock solid rotors and not driving the vehicle for several days one winter- could hardly get out of the garage because they had stuck! Soon released with a little more throttle and patience, thank goodness. Has not happened with the new ones. Now many of you see the post on EBC the dangers of slotted rotors drilled wrong etc. Drilled rotors shouldn't be used for race cars etc but OK for street use IF they are done right. Many of you will differ on opinion regarding this but so far it has worked for me. Great driving vehicle but hate the 6-5 downshift!!! They should bring them all back for mandatory shift reprogramming!!! Not just Service Bulletins for certain models/yrs- mandatory across the board!!! Or Chrysler/Dodge show us how to retrofit and add the ECON button from the vans that controls shifting. OK another topic for another place.....