The problem with dealers and warranty repairs

brulaz wrote:

JALLEN4 wrote:

...
Do you really think some second rate factory engineer is going to know more about the process than the dealers who have their money invested?

In short, yes.

Your attempts to "shoot the messenger" don't help your credibility.

I have no idea whether you are who you say you are, or if what you say is true or not. Whereas transengineer has been expertly helping folks on various RAM forums with their transmission problems for years.

Besides, your claims that the current system of warranty repair cannot benefit the dealers is just implausible. Transengineer points out one weakness: poor quality warranty repair (like not following the instructions) leading to further warranty repairs, all paid for by RAM, and the profit going to the dealer.

My hope is that dealers do not deliberately play this system. But there is no $$ penalty to the dealership when their staff make mistakes for whatever reason (untrained, rushed, bad work ethic), as RAM pays the bills for warranty repair.

I have been on this forum for a long time and a number of people know exactly who I am.

Here is the problem with the argument from your muse. Every warranty claim by every Dodge dealer goes into the same system. There are around 2500 FMCA dealers currently that are making millions of warranty repairs annually. The manufacturer has to process every one of these for payment and all dealers have a Sales and Service agreement outlining their responsibilities to get paid.

The manufacturer, because of the tremendous volume and expense, converts all the variables in claims by every dealer to a common denominator. They can tell you to the penny which dealer spends more money per claim. They can tell you which dealer has too high an incidence of a particular claim and which area they exceed the group average in whether it be body, engine, electrical. etc. If a dealer does not read the bulletins and is spending more money than others on transmission repairs, for example, they will then start reviewing every claim coming from that dealer.

If the manufacturer determines that a particular dealer is spending too much on warranty repairs, they then will forward this information to their field people who will review it with the Service Manager of the facility and the Dealer or General Manager. If that does not cure the problem and reverse the trend, they will then send in an Audit Team. This team shows up with a list of hundreds of repair orders they want to see. They will review each repair order checking for any abnormalities. When the team leaves, they will sit down with the Dealer and 99% of the time issue a chargeback to the dealership of tens of thousands of dollars. I have seen the chargebacks exceed a half million dollars and personally was hit with one for $200,000.

What I describe is but a small microcosm of the warranty system of major manufacturers. Anyone with even a base understanding of the actual warranty reality would laugh at your guy's claims and assertions and be greatly offended. Sure there are dealers that cheat and or do a very poor job just like every other profession. In reality, pulling the wool over the manufacturers eyes does not last very long. You either do it their way or you do not long exist!