Who should I be mad at?

[Murgatroid]

Venting! Who should I be mad at, had a transmission that was shifting rough, waited two month for part to come in, after putting in part, discover transmission is shot. Fluid turned black and there was metal. Warranty company wanted me to authorize it to be torn down (this way if they decide not to cover, the cost of the tear down will be mine). Gladiator has been sitting at dealer since the 14th of August. Called Monday, told they were waiting on an open bay to tear it down. Today I call to get an update, I'm told the service department can't tear it down because they don't have the equipment so now the service manager is talking with the warranty company. Now I'm finding out from people that the transmission is not rebuildable and I'm wondering if the service department knew that they couldn't rebuild the transmission, why has my Jeep been sitting for over two weeks when they knew this day one.

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[Mr._Bill]

I'm guessing this is not a Mopar extended warranty?

The service department should have notified the warranty company, when they made the request for tear down, that the transmission cannot be rebuilt and the only option is replacement.

 

[Murgatroid]

I'm guessing this is not a Mopar extended warranty?

The service department should have notified the warranty company, when they made the request for tear down, that the transmission cannot be rebuilt and the only option is replacement.

Well I thought it was a Mopar extended, bought it with the Gladiator I ordered in 2019.

 

[sharpsicle]

It's a pickle that these 3rd party warranties put everyone in. They only authorize a specific repair type. If you don't follow their authorization, they won't cover it, any of it, so shops have to abide to the letter of the request. Based on that I wouldn't say it's necessarily anyone's fault. The shop likely knew this and wanted to first try and follow their guidance to ensure coverage. They then discovered they can't, and went back to them.

I suppose you could blame the shop, but then again they're at the warranty company's mercy as well. So that might be a bit unfair if really they were trying to help all along. Just so happens they're working inside a shitty system. Could blame the warranty company for being so stringent on following their instructions, but that's just how they work in order to avoid unnecessary and/or overpaid claims. Yes it's all about money, but it's a two-way CYA street also.

You're also assuming the service writer knew "on day one" that this wasn't doable. No evidence that's true though. As I said, he might have been doing and scheduling exactly as instructed.

There's a lot of caveats and "what-ifs" here. I'd be venting too. Just get it all out, and then get back to rolling with the punches. I wouldn't be mad at anyone so long as it keeps moving through the process.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Well I thought it was a Mopar extended, bought it with the Gladiator I ordered in 2019.

You would have to pull the paperwork and look at it. Some dealers sell third party instead of Mopar warranties. But the warranty company is the biggest problem, as their procedures are more generalized and don't account for specific model issues. The dealer should be able to work through the issues and get it repaired, but it will take some time.

 

[cranbiz]

Most dealers have a favorite warranty company and most are not Mopar. They make way more money on a 3rd party warranty than the Mopar. On my Grand Cherokee, the dealer pushed CNA and caved in when I said Mopar MaxCare or I was walking (and they had to match Tom Winkles price). On the JTR it was some other company (I believe it was Zurich) and I got a BS line that only the parts dept could sell it. Needless to say, they didn't sell me one and I'm probably going to buy a Mopar one from Tom.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Venting! Who should I be mad at, had a transmission that was shifting rough, waited two month for part to come in, after putting in part, discover transmission is shot. Fluid turned black and there was metal. Warranty company wanted me to authorize it to be torn down (this way if they decide not to cover, the cost of the tear down will be mine). Gladiator has been sitting at dealer since the 14th of August. Called Monday, told they were waiting on an open bay to tear it down. Today I call to get an update, I'm told the service department can't tear it down because they don't have the equipment so now the service manager is talking with the warranty company. Now I'm finding out from people that the transmission is not rebuildable and I'm wondering if the service department knew that they couldn't rebuild the transmission, why has my Jeep been sitting for over two weeks when they knew this day one.

Dealerships never rebuild or repair transmissions. That's a given. It takes special tools and training and there's no money in it. Jeep doesn't repair transmissions under warranty other than valve bodies. They replace them.
You'd have trouble finding any shop that does rebuilds on modern transmissions. A few do - but they'd better be trained and really good.
These are electronically controlled, and do require specialized equipment.

The DO have to diagnose and do forensics to figure out what happened and how bad it is - but they won't rebuild it.

There's no such thing as an extended warranty - they are service contracts, so it's up to the individual administrators. Even the "Jeep extended warranty" isn't - it's a service contract - with a lot of fine print.

 

[Charles 236]

The dealership has to follow the Stellantis guidelines for all factory warranty repairs, including transmissions. We still do rebuild a few transmissions (in the bigger trucks), but it is fewer every year. Although we have the information to diagnose and rebuild the ZF eight speed, we are not allowed to do any repair beyond replacing the valve body (first step to get a warranty replacement transmission authorization). Although we have the information and specifications to rebuild the ZF eight speed (which is not really highly complicated), we are not allowed to do so.

With that said, I would say that aftermarket "warranty" companies are more to blame. They like to use the phrase "point of failure", as in the component has to be "disassembled to the point of failure". Then they want to send an inspector to look and take pictures of the pieces and the entire vehicle so they can decide if it is worth fixing. Then, after an excessive amount of time, they may authorize a repair. For the ZF eight speed, this would be either a reman or new transmission, depending on availability.

 

[RK Racing]

Life is too short to be mad……… you should smoke two joints in the morning….. smoke two joints at night…… you should smoke two joints in the afternoon, and It will make you feel all right…….

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The dealership has to follow the Stellantis guidelines for all factory warranty repairs, including transmissions. We still do rebuild a few transmissions (in the bigger trucks), but it is fewer every year. Although we have the information to diagnose and rebuild the ZF eight speed, we are not allowed to do any repair beyond replacing the valve body (first step to get a warranty replacement transmission authorization). Although we have the information and specifications to rebuild the ZF eight speed (which is not really highly complicated), we are not allowed to do so.

With that said, I would say that aftermarket "warranty" companies are more to blame. They like to use the phrase "point of failure", as in the component has to be "disassembled to the point of failure". Then they want to send an inspector to look and take pictures of the pieces and the entire vehicle so they can decide if it is worth fixing. Then, after an excessive amount of time, they may authorize a repair. For the ZF eight speed, this would be either a reman or new transmission, depending on availability.

There's no way I'd trust most of the shops around here with such a transmission. For you they may not be "really highly complicated" but you are the exception, not the rule.
I might trust the shop I am using now, but for transmissions, while I was doing them, I saw too much stuff that scared me, and in the forums I've been involved with - yikes, I'd not let them even do a basic valve body rebuild or shift kit install.
I was fortunate - when my boss in the 1980s saw my work and reputation, he told me to give him a list of any tools needed and give him an idea for a transmission bench (one that only I used and was kept clean) He had a custom bench built with gutters on the side that sloped down and went into a channel that drained into a bucket at the end of the table. I could freely open up a transmission and not worry about the mess - and I has squeegees to push the fluid and crud to the side drains. Made it easy to keep things clean. I had a peg board with all sorts of clutch pack compressors and bushing removers and installers and other tools. (still have some of the Kent-Moore tools for the AMC transmissions which were Borg-Warner up through 71 and then TorqueFlite from 72 on
He literally stopped sending transmission work away.
But - I only trained on transmissions for cars and light trucks up through the 1980s, nothing later.
The guy they used to send transmission work to came into the shop where I worked one day and asked if I could take a break. He took me to his shop, said he wanted to retire, and offered to sell me his business. There's another opportunity I said thanks but no thanks, I' happy where I'm at to that one, too.
Ironically, his name was also Bill, so there'd have been no name change.

Anyway, all of that is to say I'm picky as heck and trust for someone to do something right doesn't come easily for me.

 

[Charles 236]

There's no way I'd trust most of the shops around here with such a transmission. For you they may not be "really highly complicated" but you are the exception, not the rule.
I might trust the shop I am using now, but for transmissions, while I was doing them, I saw too much stuff that scared me, and in the forums I've been involved with - yikes, I'd not let them even do a basic valve body rebuild or shift kit install.
I was fortunate - when my boss in the 1980s saw my work and reputation, he told me to give him a list of any tools needed and give him an idea for a transmission bench (one that only I used and was kept clean) He had a custom bench built with gutters on the side that sloped down and went into a channel that drained into a bucket at the end of the table. I could freely open up a transmission and not worry about the mess - and I has squeegees to push the fluid and crud to the side drains. Made it easy to keep things clean. I had a peg board with all sorts of clutch pack compressors and bushing removers and installers and other tools. (still have some of the Kent-Moore tools for the AMC transmissions which were Borg-Warner up through 71 and then TorqueFlite from 72 on
He literally stopped sending transmission work away.
But - I only trained on transmissions for cars and light trucks up through the 1980s, nothing later.
The guy they used to send transmission work to came into the shop where I worked one day and asked if I could take a break. He took me to his shop, said he wanted to retire, and offered to sell me his business. There's another opportunity I said thanks but no thanks, I' happy where I'm at to that one, too.
Ironically, his name was also Bill, so there'd have been no name change.

Anyway, all of that is to say I'm picky as heck and trust for someone to do something right doesn't come easily for me.

I understand about trusting someone else to do a job correctly. I still work part time so that I don't have to trust my vehicle maintenance and if necessary, repairs, to anyone else. It is nice to make a bit of money also, but I don't have to count on it to pay the bills.

I have seen enough things done in a so-so fashion in different shops that I would be really picky if I had to choose a shop to do any work for me. But there is hope, I am training my successor now, maybe in another couple of years he will be ready to be the 3.6 specialist. Probably take him another 40 years or so to get to be the "Keeper of the Arcane Knowledge".

 

[Outback_Joe]

I would check with your State and see if they have a department or anyone that can handle this type of RIP OFF excuse me warrantee issue. We did, and think we still do, have a division in consumer affairs that can help with this type of issue. Your State should have someone that can tell you one way or the other. For me it's worth the time to do some research and make a few phone calls. You never know.

I really hope that you can get some help with this issue. When I bought my rig it was over 8K for the extended service contract. It was over 10 pages long and it had far to many weasel words in it for me. Weasel words like, "should" or "may" instead of "shall" or "will". You get the picture.....

 

[AstroZombie]

Venting! Who should I be mad at, had a transmission that was shifting rough, waited two month for part to come in, after putting in part, discover transmission is shot. Fluid turned black and there was metal. Warranty company wanted me to authorize it to be torn down (this way if they decide not to cover, the cost of the tear down will be mine). Gladiator has been sitting at dealer since the 14th of August. Called Monday, told they were waiting on an open bay to tear it down. Today I call to get an update, I'm told the service department can't tear it down because they don't have the equipment so now the service manager is talking with the warranty company. Now I'm finding out from people that the transmission is not rebuildable and I'm wondering if the service department knew that they couldn't rebuild the transmission, why has my Jeep been sitting for over two weeks when they knew this day one.

Be mad at the service department. Funny note: i have been waiting for a front left FOX shock to be replaced since January. Already replaced my tires. I have actually dropped it off a the deal 3 times when they told me they had the part. This last time, Oh we are sorry they sent us the wrong part. FFS!! The dealers a completely unreliable and literally OWN nothing. They take Master Classes in passing the BUCK.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Be mad at the service department. Funny note: i have been waiting for a front left FOX shock to be replaced since January. Already replaced my tires. I have actually dropped it off a the deal 3 times when they told me they had the part. This last time, Oh we are sorry they sent us the wrong part. FFS!! The dealers a completely unreliable and literally OWN nothing. They take Master Classes in passing the BUCK.

It's the warranty company that are the slow part - they insist shops do certain things, they investigate to prove whether or not to cover it, they insist the shop do a tear-down to find root cause etc. etc. They look for excuses or reasons to not cover certain things. They may even say they'll covers this but not that.
I'd say the dealer is only doing what that warranty company is insisting on them doing - the dealership wants to get paid and unless they do the exact thing the warranty company administrators insist on, then the dealer won't get paid - and go back on the customer for anything not covered.
I've been down this road before.
It's really tricky with major work like engines and transmissions. Dealerships don't often get into them unless a warranty company insists.
the warranty company can insist it be tore down then say it will be 2 weeks before they can visit and look things over, then they may make another request of the shop and delay things even longer.
If this was a non-warranty thing or a standard MOPAR warranty, it would be easier for the most part.

 

[kevman65]

Smurfs, be mad at smurfs.....

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