Don Davis Dodge, not reputable
I swore off of Dodge products for over two decades, because I was screwed so many times by Dodge dealers refusing to make repairs "under warranty” on my ’86 Dodge.
Fast forward 20 years, my son and I purchase a "Certified" Pre-Owned 2005 Magnum (paid a premium for this) that comes with a warranty. Two months into ownership the oil sending unit starts acting up. I run by Auto Zone to pull the codes, and it states that we have a defective sending unit. However, because it's "under warranty" I choose to take it to the nearest dealer, Don Davis in Arlington (not the dealer I purchased the car from), and confirmed with them that the warranty was in-place, I told them I had already confirmed the switch was bad, but wanted verification that oil pressure was fine. They then called and told me that the sending unit wasn’t covered, and that our throttle body was gummed up, thus the cause of the check engine light and oil light to come on, and they wanted $340.00 to fix it.
They must think I'm stupid! I already told them the sending unit was defective, and the car has no idle issues, so I'm certain the throttle body has no issues. When I confront them, they back off the throttle body repair and say it will be $240 to replace the sending unit. So I tell them, I'll just pick up the car, and they charged me $92.00 as a diagnostic fee! It is apparent to me that Dodge's "Certified" warranty is really just a way to entice us to bring the car to the dealer for repair, and a fleecing.
Ninety two dollars to tell me what I already knew and they couldn’t even confirm that my oil pressure is OK without further expense. So I’m left wondering why Dodge, which makes fine cars, is going broke? Could it be their dealership’s business practices? I’ve purchased new cars from Don Davis Dealerships in the past, but never again. To make matters worse I call Grapevine Dodge, where we bought this car, and they said there should be no diagnostic charge when you bring a car in for warranty repair, even if the dealership determines the repair won’t be covered.
End of rant.
