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Stellantis Deceptive Business Practices

Smokey1985

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Has anyone been lied to or mislead by Stellantis when dealing with a warranty issue?
I’ll try to make this post as short as possible since it is a long story. I have a 2016 Ram 1500 ecodiesel. Loved the truck until they reprogrammed it to comply with emission standards. Stellantis letter indicated reprogramming would not effect power of fuel mileage (1st lie). Lost power and 5 mpg in mileage. Several recalls, numerous trips to the dealership for repairs (EGR cooler, turbo replacement, fuel problems, intake seals, sensors). Currently have 77,000 on it with a check engine light the dealer can’t fix, a fuel rail recall with no parts available, an extended warranty (10 years and 130,000 miles) which appears to be worthless. Took 6 weeks to get the turbo replaced.
Fast forward through all my complaints and conversations with Stellantis customer service, in August 2022, they offered me employee discount (5% under invoice) on a new truck. I agreed and planned to order a 2023 Ram 2500 Laramie trim. Customer service advised me not to place the order until Stellantis announce the discount “certificates” for 2023. I received a call on December 9, 2022 saying certificates were available. On December 14, 2022 (today) Stellantis advised they would only approve a 1% discount.
Needless to say, I am furious for being strung along the last few months after I threatened to hire an attorney to force a buy-back. My 1500 will be back at the dealership on Monday for god knows how long until they provided another temporary fix. Looking for any comments or information to provide to my attorney.
 

H3LZSN1P3R

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Has anyone been lied to or mislead by Stellantis when dealing with a warranty issue?
I’ll try to make this post as short as possible since it is a long story. I have a 2016 Ram 1500 ecodiesel. Loved the truck until they reprogrammed it to comply with emission standards. Stellantis letter indicated reprogramming would not effect power of fuel mileage (1st lie). Lost power and 5 mpg in mileage. Several recalls, numerous trips to the dealership for repairs (EGR cooler, turbo replacement, fuel problems, intake seals, sensors). Currently have 77,000 on it with a check engine light the dealer can’t fix, a fuel rail recall with no parts available, an extended warranty (10 years and 130,000 miles) which appears to be worthless. Took 6 weeks to get the turbo replaced.
Fast forward through all my complaints and conversations with Stellantis customer service, in August 2022, they offered me employee discount (5% under invoice) on a new truck. I agreed and planned to order a 2023 Ram 2500 Laramie trim. Customer service advised me not to place the order until Stellantis announce the discount “certificates” for 2023. I received a call on December 9, 2022 saying certificates were available. On December 14, 2022 (today) Stellantis advised they would only approve a 1% discount.
Needless to say, I am furious for being strung along the last few months after I threatened to hire an attorney to force a buy-back. My 1500 will be back at the dealership on Monday for god knows how long until they provided another temporary fix. Looking for any comments or information to provide to my attorney.
You waited way to long to order a new truck that sounds like your problem not theirs.
 

jsalbre

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1% below invoice is employee pricing. It’s also affiliate pricing, which anyone can get. There are also multiple dealers on this forum that will sell you a truck for 4-6% under invoice every day.

If they were talking about a deal with you and then you later mentioned lawyers, then that’s where you shot yourself in the foot. They’re not going to go out of their way for you anymore.
 

Smokey1985

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1% below invoice is employee pricing. It’s also affiliate pricing, which anyone can get. There are also multiple dealers on this forum that will sell you a truck for 4-6% under invoice every day.

If they were talking about a deal with you and then you later mentioned lawyers, then that’s where you shot yourself in the foot. They’re not going to go out of their way for you anymore.
They never did go out of their way. I’ll have to look for one of those dealers you speak of. Most dealers around here are MSRP or higher. I assume prices will come down once they catch up from COVID backlog but I need a reliable truck asap. The bottom line of my lengthy complaint is, Stellantis will not buy back a vehicle they can’t fix and it’s under warranty.
 

Brutal_HO

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TinGoatTravelers

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You sound disappointed and frustrated. Understandable. Now, no offense to lawyers here - but getting to that stage means you need to rethink. The ONLY party that wins when lawyers get involved is lawyers. And you’ll spend years of your life being bitter, not to mention dollars out of your bank account - and whether you like Stellantis or not, their resources are infinitely greater than yours and they can “court you out”.

If you believe Stellantis is dishonest, you may be better off with a different brand. Even if you get 10% off (which you won’t) do you really think you’ll be happy driving around in a truck built by a corporation you don’t trust?

Trying to be pragmatic - If you need a truck asap - search for inventory near you - even if you have to pay a premium for a Ford or Chevy, there will be something on the lot that suits your needs and you won’t have to look back. Look for something 1-2 years old even - deals can be had. Hell I’d love to have a pre-DEF diesel (but I shelled out for a brand new Hemi).

Everyone’s mileage varies - do what works best for you. Good luck!
 

MtnRider

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I honestly don't see where they have been "deceptive" to you? I think you will be fighting an uphill battle if you lawyer up. Getting parts is an issue for just about everything right now and I'm not sure how that will stand up in court given the supply chain issues across the board?

You might be better off cutting your loss's and getting another truck from one of the dealers that is offering 4-5% below invoice?

.
 

Smokey1985

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You sound disappointed and frustrated. Understandable. Now, no offense to lawyers here - but getting to that stage means you need to rethink. The ONLY party that wins when lawyers get involved is lawyers. And you’ll spend years of your life being bitter, not to mention dollars out of your bank account - and whether you like Stellantis or not, their resources are infinitely greater than yours and they can “court you out”.

If you believe Stellantis is dishonest, you may be better off with a different brand. Even if you get 10% off (which you won’t) do you really think you’ll be happy driving around in a truck built by a corporation you don’t trust?

Trying to be pragmatic - If you need a truck asap - search for inventory near you - even if you have to pay a premium for a Ford or Chevy, there will be something on the lot that suits your needs and you won’t have to look back. Look for something 1-2 years old even - deals can be had. Hell I’d love to have a pre-DEF diesel (but I shelled out for a brand new Hemi).

Everyone’s mileage varies - do what works best for you. Good luck!
I agree with you 100%. I don’t like lawyers and didn’t mention one until they changed their offer after waiting 4 months. I had already sent my order for a 2023 to the dealer and asked them to hold off until the promised certificate was issued. I felt that retaining a lawyer was my last option. Like I said, the story is much longer than what I wrote but the bottom line right now is there is a problem (dealer said there is oil in the intake manifold and they don’t know what’s causing it) so they can’t fix it. The issues began with the emissions reprogramming when truck was 2 yrs old with 30,000 miles. I was understanding of some problems because thing break and there is a supply chain problem. I continued to work with customer service for 3 years to try to resolve the issues but when you add up all the problems and the truck is under warranty, they should stand by their product. I like the ride and style of the Ram but guess I have to move on.
Thanks for talking me off the ledge!
 

Smokey1985

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I honestly don't see where they have been "deceptive" to you? I think you will be fighting an uphill battle if you lawyer up. Getting parts is an issue for just about everything right now and I'm not sure how that will stand up in court given the supply chain issues across the board?

You might be better off cutting your loss's and getting another truck from one of the dealers that is offering 4-5% below invoice?

.
The deception I refer to is #1- the emission reprogramming had a major effect on fuel mileage and power; #2- being told they would offer an employee discount on a new truck (5% under invoice) and after a 4 month wait being told they would only offer 1%. I agree, court would be an uphill battle but sometimes the giants see this as such a minor problem they don’t want to waste their time. I appreciate the leads on dealers offering the same deal and plan to follow up on that.
 

Crusty old shellback

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Lemon lawyers are a dime a dozen. But they do work if you have a legitimate issue, which it sounds like you do.

I had to get one to go against Pontiac and get my money back. Dealer screwed up the motor on a warranty fix of a known issue. Then I had to get another dealer to figure out what the issue was. And kept going in circles with the GM rep about fixing the issue they didn't want to acknowledge.

Pontiac agreed on the buyback once I got the lawyer. But they deducted money for the mileage on the car. Then the lawyer got his cut.
But I got rid of the car and payment and still got a few bucks in my pocket.

GM started offering me discounts on a new GM etc, etc. I told them even if they gave me one for free, I'd burn it to the ground.

Never buy another GM product as long as I live after the way i was treated.

But lemon lawyers have a purpose and can work.
 

IndyRamMega

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You waited way to long to order a new truck that sounds like your problem not theirs.
they told him to wait until...so he did and then they changed what they said and its his problem? comical....you and the dealer need a lesson in customer service....
 

H3LZSN1P3R

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they told him to wait until...so he did and then they changed what they said and its his problem? comical....you and the dealer need a lesson in customer service....
The dealer told him to wait not FCA… im sure their offer had an expiry date 4 months is a little ridiculous.
 

Smokey1985

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Thank you. I reached out to them today
 

Smokey1985

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The dealer told him to wait not FCA… im sure their offer had an expiry date 4 months is a little ridiculous.
Let me clarify. FCA said to wait. The certificates for 2023 models were not yet released. The customer service person kept in touch telling me it should be soon. On December 9th she called to say certificates were approved for all models. She submitted a synopsis of my case with 5% recommendation and upper management only approved a “friends and family” 1% discount. After trusting them for 4 months and agreeing to wait, they screwed me. It’s not a lot of money but the principal of being deceived and constantly strug along. Issues started at 30,000 miles 3 years ago and the truck has spent at least two months in the shop. I was working 500 miles from home and needed a reliable vehicle. When the EGR cooler went in February 2020 with 36,000 miles and there were no parts available, I froze my ass off driving it 1,000 miles round trip and had to stop twice each way at gas stations to buy gallons of coolant. Like I said, long story with many problems and NO support.
 

Smokey1985

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The dealer told him to wait not FCA… im sure their offer had an expiry date 4 months is a little ridiculous.
Let me clarify. FCA said to wait. The certificates for 2023 models were not yet released. The customer service person kept in touch telling me it should be soon. On December 9th she called to say certificates were approved for all models. She submitted a synopsis of my case with 5% recommendation and upper management only approved a “friends and family” 1% discount. After trusting them for 4 months and agreeing to wait, they screwed me. It’s not a lot of money but the principal of being deceived and constantly strug along. Issues started at 30,000 miles 3 years ago and the truck has spent at least two months in the shop. I was working 500 miles from home and needed a reliable vehicle. When the EGR cooler went in February 2020 with 36,000 miles and there were no parts available, I froze my ass off driving it 1,000 miles round trip and had to stop twice each way at gas stations to buy gallons of coolant. Like I said, long story with many problems and NO support. N
 

H3LZSN1P3R

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Let me clarify. FCA said to wait. The certificates for 2023 models were not yet released. The customer service person kept in touch telling me it should be soon. On December 9th she called to say certificates were approved for all models. She submitted a synopsis of my case with 5% recommendation and upper management only approved a “friends and family” 1% discount. After trusting them for 4 months and agreeing to wait, they screwed me. It’s not a lot of money but the principal of being deceived and constantly strug along. Issues started at 30,000 miles 3 years ago and the truck has spent at least two months in the shop. I was working 500 miles from home and needed a reliable vehicle. When the EGR cooler went in February 2020 with 36,000 miles and there were no parts available, I froze my ass off driving it 1,000 miles round trip and had to stop twice each way at gas stations to buy gallons of coolant. Like I said, long story with many problems and NO support. N
Well if thats the case they are screwing you or they are including the discounted % as part if the sales incentive program
 

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