I have an older Dodge truck (1994 4 wheel drive) that caught fire on me the other day under the steering wheel in the panel. My son took the panel off and a wire had burned. It is a safety recall problem and I took it to a dealership. They replaced the ignition switch and the wiring harness. Now they want me to pay instead of deal with Chrysler about it. It was fixed the first time when it was first recalled and this is a second time. I called the Chrysler Recall Center and they told me to tell them to call them and they would tell them to send them the paper work on that. This dealership don't seem to want to do it but said they would. They want me to pay the 325.00 for the repair.

The brakes went almost out on me the same day also, so I have a brake problem to. The ABS and brake light both came on and the peddler went nearly to the floor before it would stop. They took all four wheels off to find the problem and they broke two of the things that holds the wheels on and they are charging me 100.00 dollars to replace them and for labor. That is not right! They also are charging me 250.00 just for taking the wheels off to find the problem. Labor they said. Then they want 465.00 to fix the brakes and another problem on the front wheel. I told them I don't want to put that much money in an older vehicle. So I told them to just put it back to gether and I'll take it home. They still want me to pay the 250.00 and 175.00 for the things that broke, and something else they said they had to do and the 325.00 if Chrysler won't pay it. So I take my truck home and its not fixed and I can't drive it and still have to pay this dealership all this money. I feel like I'm being taken and I'm angry.

I have notified the Dodge customer service on line through e-mail and I'm going to call them Monday at 1-800-992-1997. This is outrageous to have to pay that much money, (750.00) and still not have your vehicle fixed.

Do any of you know anything else I can do about this grossly overcharge?

A second round with a safety recall item you will have to hash that out with Chysler and Dealer. Who did the first round? If your son did more than just look that screws up that problem.

What broke with taking off the wheels? You should be able to take a wheel off if only to put on a spare so what gives there? I can see a charge for checking out your brakes and things can break just in the looking but usually would be a lug nut/stud problem or perhaps some locking thing for the wheel for theft deterance and you might own that problem.

I understand your frustation. When working on cars myself (retired) if I got to a spot where something was likely to break just to take a look then I would call the owner and advise that this is out of the norms and ask what the owner wants to do - BEFORE GOING FURTHER.

What broke and why?

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
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http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/

I think they are called "studs" that holds the wheel on to the truck. One was rusted they said and one something else. They broke them and want me to pay for replacing them. That is not going to happen. I don't have "stupid" wrote across my forehead.

My son only started the truck up and it caught fire. He never touched anything. He was only going to see if he could see anything wrong. He never had a chance to look at anything once it caught fire.

Chrysler told me they would take care of the second recall problem. This dealership people are rip offs!

Ok: The Chysler line uses a pressed in stud and a nut (lug) to hold on wheels. When the stud breakes off which is either from being way overtightened at some point or corroded you can remove the hub and replace one on most applications. If more than that the hub should go. If they just up and broke them all they are stupid. When you have a problem with these you take your time and do everything NOT to break them. They can get so bad that the only way to fix this is to replace them and that can cost some bucks. You would have been stuck anywhere or at any place that had to remove that wheel if they were justifyably stuck/rusted.

Now: Who is at fault with something like that? Stuff happens. Vehicles should be made such that those things don't corrode to that state but I wasn't in charge. Vehicles that get wheels rotated and brakes inspected routinely don't usually have a problem. If it happens to one lug the tech should stop and figure out the risk of breaking more and you should be consulted about the expense. That's a communication problem.

The recall should work out fine. I was worried that if your son (could have been anyone) messed with it than it could raise questions about the cause of the problem or that it was made worse.

A problem with recall and warranty work at dealers is that the pay for those jobs is usually rock bottom as agreed upon by the manufacturer or a warranty company and they don't fare too well with cut rate compensation so they try to get things done as cost effectively as possible. THIS IS THEIR PROBLEM NOT YOURS THE CUSTOMER! If they try to wiggle out of it at your expense that's just bad protocol or YES - a plain rip-off. That needs to be addressed with management or owner's in charge no matter where something like that may happen.

That part is common to any business and how they treat customers. Wish you luck,

T
Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest Boston - USA
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http://www.autoacsystems.com/tomgreenleaf/