NHTSA Complaint #10186524 — 2004 DODGE DAKOTA

ON 3/25, MY TRUCKS INSTRUMENT PANEL STARTED TO MALFUNCTION. ALL OF MY WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND MY ODOMETER QUIT WORKING. IT SAID "NO BUS". I CONTACTED SAVANNAH DODGE ABOUT THE ISSUE ON 3/26, 7:45 AM. AN APPOINTMENT FOR 2:00 WAS SCHEDULED. UPON DROPPING THE TRUCK OFF, I WAS TOLD THAT MY TRUCK WOULD BE DIAGNOSED AND READY FOR ME THE NEXT MORNING. MY RECEIPT ALSO STATES THAT THE PROMISED COMPLETION DATE WOULD BE 3/27. ON 3/27, I CALLED SAVANNAH DODGE AT 2:00 PM TO CHECK ON THE STATUS OF MY TRUCK. I WAS TOLD BY A SERVICE MEMBER THAT ** WAS OUT ON LUNCH AND THAT MY CALL WOULD BE RETURNED. MY CALL WAS NEVER RETURNED SO I CALLED BACK AT 3:00 P.M. ** TOLD ME THAT THEY WERE HAVING A MAJOR PROBLEM WITH THE WIRING OF MY STEREO SYSTEM. SHE ASKED WHEN IT WAS INSTALLED. I TOLD HER THAT IT WAS INSTALLED 1.5 YEARS AGO, AND SHE TOLD ME THAT THE PROBLEM WAS AFTERMARKET SPEAKER WIRES WERE SPLICED INTO A FACTORY WIRING HARNESS AND THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM THAT OCCURRED OVER TIME. SHE ALSO SAID THAT THE ONLY FIX WAS TO REPLACE IT WITH THE ORIGINAL FACTORY HARNESS. I THEN TOLD THEM TO GO AHEAD AND FINISH THE JOB AND I WOULD BE UP TO PICK IT UP THAT EVENING. THEY INFORMED ME THAT THIS WAS NOT AN OPTION. THEY HAD TO WAIT ON PARTS (NEW FACTORY HARNESS) TO ARRIVE AND IT WOULD BE AVAILABLE 3/28 (ONE DAY AFTER THE PROMISED DATE). AFTER RECEIVING THE TRUCK AND LOOKING AT THE BILL, IT STATES NO NEW WIRING HARNESS WAS USED AND THEY REWIRED THE AFTERMARKET WIRES. I CALLED AND QUESTIONED ** ABOUT THE ISSUE AND HE BECAME FURIOUS. HE TOLD ME THAT SAVANNAH DODGE WOULD NEVER SERVICE MY VEHICLE AGAIN AND I WOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO STEP ON THEIR PROPERTY AGAIN. AFTER DRIVING IN MY VEHICLE, THE WARNING LIGHTS ARE OFF, HOWEVER THERE ARE THREE NEW PROBLEMS. THE RADIO DOESN'T FUNCTION PROPERLY. ALSO, MY WINDSHIELD WIPERS DO NOT WORK AND WAS TOLD THEY WOULDN'T BE FIXED. ALSO, ALL OF MY SPARE FUSES ARE MISSING. THIS IS A THEFT ISSUE, AND ** DID IN FACT TELL ME OVER THE PHONE THAT THEY TOOK MY FUSES. *JB