SMCBUILDERSINC
Enthusiast
NEWS FLASH, SAVANNAH DODGE IS THE WORST EXCUSE FOR A 5 STAR DEALERSHIP THAT IVE EVER SEEN. IVE SEEN TOILETS THAT ARE MORE HOSPITIBLE THEN THIS PLACE.
1/07/02 I traveled to south Fl. to purchase my 99 rt/10 with 10000 miles on the clock. The car was great except for the 2 rips in the factory soft top. It turns out that the tears are directly on top of a plastic piece on both sides that connects to the support arms. So the tears are basically right above the screws where you would attach the arms to the header when inside the car. You could clearly determine that the only reason this top was ripping was b/c the wind would make the canvas vibrate and move while rubbing on this plastic pieces on both sides. So the dealer, which wasnt a dodge dealer, said to take it up the road to the Pompano Dodge dealership which had a viper tech there to inspect the top for warranty issues before I finished the purchase. So I showed the problem to the service manager and he said,"no problem, its clearly a warranty issue and b/c you are within the 3yr 36k mile warranty, any 5 star Dodge dealership will resolve this issue for you." So I asked that he put this in writting and sign it so when I returned home to Hilton Head Island S.C. I could show it to the nearest dealership which was Savannah Dodge. I felt great at that point.
I returned home and made the appointment with Savannah Dodge. I brought in the car and showed the tears to the service lady and she made note of them and I left the dealership. Ten minutes later I get the call, Mr. C, we can not warranty the top, its not a warranty issue, so my temperature begins to boil as I turn around and head back to that crappy dealership. I asked to speak to the service manager and he takes a look at the car while im standing there. He begins to tell me that he can't make the call as to the problem being warranty or not. He says that trim parts on the Viper are a sensitive issue and he would need his district manager who is the regional dodge ****o## to come over and look at the problem. So I showed him the piece of paper that the other Dodge dealership had wrote on stating that is was clearly a warranty issue. He says that this piece of paper means nothing to him, but he would have the district guy take a look. I felt o.k. at that point.
Two days later I get the call and the service lady tells me that the tears are not going to be covered under the warranty and good luck getting it covered. So I called the 800 number to customer service and explained everything. He says I have bad news for you, the service manager at Savannah Dodge told the factory service rep that the tears where caused by improper folding of the top. Therefore, the factory district whatever he is guy never even saw the car. He made a ruling based upon the service managers opinion. This drove me up the wall. The customer service manager continued to tell me that theres nothing he can do b/c once the factory service manager rules on something theres no overturning it. Then he tells me that b/c I'm not the original owner that its gonna be real hard to get this issue resolved. Sounds like they frown upon the reselling of used vipers, what a bunch of ****. He finished with one statement: If that other dealership said that they would warranty the top then go there. This is a 5 star company telling me to go pound salt. I cant believe that this is how they treat their customers. What a **** joke. This is their highest line of cars that they produce, you would think that they would be there to support their customers.
I called the Pompano dealership and the service manager couldn't believe that Savanah Dodge was treating me this way, as was the company. He said he would speak to his manager about it.
So I'm stuck, I have a ripped top and no support. Who ever heard of a top ripping in 3 years and only 10k miles or road use. That's inferior quality in its sharpest form. Do you think Ferrari would treat you in this way? Absolutely not.... I've had better experiences with Cadillac and Lexus. They know how to treat customers. Savannah Dodge needs to get their **** together. This is clearly misrepresentation of their products and I'm not going to role over on this.
If anyone can help with info on a better dealership and has direct contact info please let me know. I could use all the help I can get.
1/07/02 I traveled to south Fl. to purchase my 99 rt/10 with 10000 miles on the clock. The car was great except for the 2 rips in the factory soft top. It turns out that the tears are directly on top of a plastic piece on both sides that connects to the support arms. So the tears are basically right above the screws where you would attach the arms to the header when inside the car. You could clearly determine that the only reason this top was ripping was b/c the wind would make the canvas vibrate and move while rubbing on this plastic pieces on both sides. So the dealer, which wasnt a dodge dealer, said to take it up the road to the Pompano Dodge dealership which had a viper tech there to inspect the top for warranty issues before I finished the purchase. So I showed the problem to the service manager and he said,"no problem, its clearly a warranty issue and b/c you are within the 3yr 36k mile warranty, any 5 star Dodge dealership will resolve this issue for you." So I asked that he put this in writting and sign it so when I returned home to Hilton Head Island S.C. I could show it to the nearest dealership which was Savannah Dodge. I felt great at that point.
I returned home and made the appointment with Savannah Dodge. I brought in the car and showed the tears to the service lady and she made note of them and I left the dealership. Ten minutes later I get the call, Mr. C, we can not warranty the top, its not a warranty issue, so my temperature begins to boil as I turn around and head back to that crappy dealership. I asked to speak to the service manager and he takes a look at the car while im standing there. He begins to tell me that he can't make the call as to the problem being warranty or not. He says that trim parts on the Viper are a sensitive issue and he would need his district manager who is the regional dodge ****o## to come over and look at the problem. So I showed him the piece of paper that the other Dodge dealership had wrote on stating that is was clearly a warranty issue. He says that this piece of paper means nothing to him, but he would have the district guy take a look. I felt o.k. at that point.
Two days later I get the call and the service lady tells me that the tears are not going to be covered under the warranty and good luck getting it covered. So I called the 800 number to customer service and explained everything. He says I have bad news for you, the service manager at Savannah Dodge told the factory service rep that the tears where caused by improper folding of the top. Therefore, the factory district whatever he is guy never even saw the car. He made a ruling based upon the service managers opinion. This drove me up the wall. The customer service manager continued to tell me that theres nothing he can do b/c once the factory service manager rules on something theres no overturning it. Then he tells me that b/c I'm not the original owner that its gonna be real hard to get this issue resolved. Sounds like they frown upon the reselling of used vipers, what a bunch of ****. He finished with one statement: If that other dealership said that they would warranty the top then go there. This is a 5 star company telling me to go pound salt. I cant believe that this is how they treat their customers. What a **** joke. This is their highest line of cars that they produce, you would think that they would be there to support their customers.
I called the Pompano dealership and the service manager couldn't believe that Savanah Dodge was treating me this way, as was the company. He said he would speak to his manager about it.
So I'm stuck, I have a ripped top and no support. Who ever heard of a top ripping in 3 years and only 10k miles or road use. That's inferior quality in its sharpest form. Do you think Ferrari would treat you in this way? Absolutely not.... I've had better experiences with Cadillac and Lexus. They know how to treat customers. Savannah Dodge needs to get their **** together. This is clearly misrepresentation of their products and I'm not going to role over on this.
If anyone can help with info on a better dealership and has direct contact info please let me know. I could use all the help I can get.
