Don’t buy from Chrysler – I should know, I am a New Chrysler Owner – and their systems suck. In the first week I have seen mechanical failures, diagnostic failures roadside assistance failures and customer care failures. I made a mistake in purchasing from Chrysler – you should not.
I bought a new 2018 Pacifica hybrid van from Chrysler late last week – within 100 miles and less than seventy two hours of ownership, I got to test Chrysler systems including customer care and roadside assistance and it has not been good.
First my check engine light came on in my brand new car. I immediately made an appointment to go to the dealer but when I stopped at the end of my driveway the emergency brakes came on and would not release, leaving me stranded. Repeated tries to clear the issue and consultation with the owners manual were of no help. I called the dealer and he said I had to call Chrysler roadside assistance because the dealer couldn’t make the call -- some sort of “rule’. But they did send up a mechanic to look at vehicle, before I called roadside assistance as, apparently, they haven’t had the best luck with roadside assistance.
The mechanic couldn’t figure it out either. When he tried to plug into computer diagnostics that wouldn’t work. So I now had what I see as two systems failures (engine and brakes) and one diagnostics failure on my third day of ownership. Sure not what I would expect from a quality product.
So I called roadside assistance, and now I understand why the dealer might have been hesitant. After talking to them and explaining that all my other vehicles were trapped at my house as the broken down Chrysler was blocking the head of the driveway and immovable, I was told they would dispatch someone immediately. Before hanging up though I asked where this person would be coming form. Turns out they were dispatching someone 250 miles away in order to do a two mile tow from my house to the dealership.
I pointed out the absurdity of that and asked that they call the dealer – I even furnished the phone number and the name of the person to talk to. The roadside assistance person promised she would call them right away. I asked if she needed for me to call them first, was told no need for me to call them because she promised she would. I hung and nonetheless called and alerted the dealer to expect the call.
Half an hour later I get a call from a towing service that in good weather is literally 1.5 hours away by road. Roadside assistance never called the dealer (I checked) and when I pointed out to the tow company the stupidity of this three hour round trip to provide a two mile tow service, they say yeah, but they get paid and would be to me about two hours later that evening.
I canceled my meetings for the afternoon because I couldn’t get out of my driveway and went into my house, to wait. Half an hour later I get a second call from the tow service which explained that up where they are in Lake Placid it is snowing so they wouldn’t be coming until the next day. Maybe late morning. Screw that, I have a life to live. I cancelled the service and got the car to the dealer myself later that night
I then called Chrysler customer care because I was pissed, and I received lots of apologies and assurances from Customer Care that they would be on it. Turns out that doesn’t mean much either. While the dealership got the car back to me late the next day (failures of a computer module I am told – we will see), but that is it. I received no call from Chrysler despite promises I would. Roadside assistance called and left a message saying they wanted to talk, but didn’t leave a call back number. Just told me to call.
So I did call. After bunches of prompts and a five minute wait to talk to roadside assistance, I got to a nice woman who, despite being given my “case number” , knew nothing about the problem. She also couldn’t tell me who had called asking me to call back, as they apparently had not tracked it. She did the apologies she was trained to do, and offered to put me on the line with a supervisor. I said yes I want the supervisor. I was put on hold. After five minutes on hold with no further contact (I timed it) I hung up.
I then called Chrysler Customer care again (Chrysler Case Number 33190153)
and explained all the above. I am a disappointed customer. and have many reasons to be disappointed. The Car care person couldn’t do anything but I was asked if I wanted a follow up. (Gee, there is a thought) I said yes. I also said if I didn’t receive a call in another 24 hours I would simply post my concerns everywhere I could think of, as that is the only way I could handle it my way. She said she understood and they would get back to me. We will see……
So if you are reading this it is because they failed again. They have lots of process with numbers to call. But their product failed; their roadside assistance failed and their customer service failed. They have trained all their people to say “I am sorry” really well; but seem to think that is a substitute for quality products and services. After spending nearly 50k I just expect more.
I bought a new 2018 Pacifica hybrid van from Chrysler late last week – within 100 miles and less than seventy two hours of ownership, I got to test Chrysler systems including customer care and roadside assistance and it has not been good.
First my check engine light came on in my brand new car. I immediately made an appointment to go to the dealer but when I stopped at the end of my driveway the emergency brakes came on and would not release, leaving me stranded. Repeated tries to clear the issue and consultation with the owners manual were of no help. I called the dealer and he said I had to call Chrysler roadside assistance because the dealer couldn’t make the call -- some sort of “rule’. But they did send up a mechanic to look at vehicle, before I called roadside assistance as, apparently, they haven’t had the best luck with roadside assistance.
The mechanic couldn’t figure it out either. When he tried to plug into computer diagnostics that wouldn’t work. So I now had what I see as two systems failures (engine and brakes) and one diagnostics failure on my third day of ownership. Sure not what I would expect from a quality product.
So I called roadside assistance, and now I understand why the dealer might have been hesitant. After talking to them and explaining that all my other vehicles were trapped at my house as the broken down Chrysler was blocking the head of the driveway and immovable, I was told they would dispatch someone immediately. Before hanging up though I asked where this person would be coming form. Turns out they were dispatching someone 250 miles away in order to do a two mile tow from my house to the dealership.
I pointed out the absurdity of that and asked that they call the dealer – I even furnished the phone number and the name of the person to talk to. The roadside assistance person promised she would call them right away. I asked if she needed for me to call them first, was told no need for me to call them because she promised she would. I hung and nonetheless called and alerted the dealer to expect the call.
Half an hour later I get a call from a towing service that in good weather is literally 1.5 hours away by road. Roadside assistance never called the dealer (I checked) and when I pointed out to the tow company the stupidity of this three hour round trip to provide a two mile tow service, they say yeah, but they get paid and would be to me about two hours later that evening.
I canceled my meetings for the afternoon because I couldn’t get out of my driveway and went into my house, to wait. Half an hour later I get a second call from the tow service which explained that up where they are in Lake Placid it is snowing so they wouldn’t be coming until the next day. Maybe late morning. Screw that, I have a life to live. I cancelled the service and got the car to the dealer myself later that night
I then called Chrysler customer care because I was pissed, and I received lots of apologies and assurances from Customer Care that they would be on it. Turns out that doesn’t mean much either. While the dealership got the car back to me late the next day (failures of a computer module I am told – we will see), but that is it. I received no call from Chrysler despite promises I would. Roadside assistance called and left a message saying they wanted to talk, but didn’t leave a call back number. Just told me to call.
So I did call. After bunches of prompts and a five minute wait to talk to roadside assistance, I got to a nice woman who, despite being given my “case number” , knew nothing about the problem. She also couldn’t tell me who had called asking me to call back, as they apparently had not tracked it. She did the apologies she was trained to do, and offered to put me on the line with a supervisor. I said yes I want the supervisor. I was put on hold. After five minutes on hold with no further contact (I timed it) I hung up.
I then called Chrysler Customer care again (Chrysler Case Number 33190153)
and explained all the above. I am a disappointed customer. and have many reasons to be disappointed. The Car care person couldn’t do anything but I was asked if I wanted a follow up. (Gee, there is a thought) I said yes. I also said if I didn’t receive a call in another 24 hours I would simply post my concerns everywhere I could think of, as that is the only way I could handle it my way. She said she understood and they would get back to me. We will see……
So if you are reading this it is because they failed again. They have lots of process with numbers to call. But their product failed; their roadside assistance failed and their customer service failed. They have trained all their people to say “I am sorry” really well; but seem to think that is a substitute for quality products and services. After spending nearly 50k I just expect more.