Thought I would update this post. Long story extremely condensed, I’ve done everything I possibly can for a year to have my 2021 Challenger HCWB repaired. At around 600 miles I noticed a bottom end rattle at operating temperature when rpm’s decrease from 1300 to idle in park, neutral, and when downshifted. Video taken in Nov. 2021
2021 challenger hellcat rattling on deceleration
——First visit was Dec. 13 2021 replicated the noise for the service writer and told him noise is at the engine. Dec. 14 he said he didn’t have an update, and I responded with the YouTube video of the noise. I received a video inspection of exhaust on Dec. 15 saying everything looks good. I contacted service writer and told him it is not exhaust rattle and asked him to watch the video. He said he had it pulled up on his computer and see if techs could make any changes to their diagnostics. He responded on Friday Dec. 17 and asked if I could come in on Monday to ride with tech to help him hear it. Told him could hear it best while in park. They drove my car every morning and went through about a quarter tank of gas in 20 miles, confirmed by Uconnect. I went to dealer immediately and produced the noise for the tech and was told “you have plenty of warranty to drive until it’s broke or noise is worse” then on my repair order wrote “ 1 - Cause/Action to Take
GENERAL - test drove and found no noise intially but after further
inspection was able to hear a slight noise.
1-- Correction/Action Taken
Continued to test vehicle and inspect but noise seems to have gone
away as of now. Customer to return if noise returns”. Did not agree with the gone away statement so I contacted the service manager on Dec. 27 2021 and sent him video of noise and told him it never went away. Dec. 28 2021 he asked for my vin and said he would look into my concern. Called him multiple times and left voicemails, called service writer also. On Jan. 11 2022 service manager asked if I would like to bring it in and have him listen to it live, I said yes I would like to get it fixed before it gets worse. He became totally unresponsive for months. On June 21 2022 I sent him another email stating my frustrations with not contacting me, that the noise is worse, and I want it documented. I also called a sales rep and had him drop a note for service manager to contact me. Service manager sent email on June 22 2022 and said “when would be a good time to for you to stop by and let me listen to the noise and evaluate the concern so i can get this taken care of for you?” I took it in so he could inspect on June 23 2022. After hearing it in person he agreed there is a problem. I told him I wanted it documented and to start a star case. He took pics of mileage and vin and said he would document it, look into it further, contact dodge, and to contact him if I didn’t here from him by Monday June 27 2022. I sent emails on June 28, July 6, July 18, and called multiple times leaving voicemails and asking for documentation every time. He became unresponsive again, and refused to provide me with documentation. He finally emailed me back on July 18 2022 and said intake manifold would have to be removed to inspect the ocv for debris. I called him and asked if we could locate the noise first and asked why pull the ocv, he said he believed it was a problem with the mds, which my car does not have. Then after weeks of trying to get an appointment, unresponsive calls, and trying to wrap my head around the fact that his diagnosis was based on frequent failures with mds that my car doesn’t have, I contacted customer care to open a case on Aug.31 2022. On Aug. 31 2022 I received an email stating “ I can understand the dissatisfaction that you feel, given the unresolved rattling noise you have with your vehicle. I want to guarantee that we take the appropriate steps to ensure your concerns are addressed, and ultimately resolved as best as possible.
Based on the information provided in your email, I am going to forward your case to our Case Specialist department for their attention and response.
Escalating your situation to a Case Specialist will provide the dealership and yourself with an individual who will review your concerns, then assist you and the dealership in exhausting all available resources to have issue addressed and resolved.” Sep. 1 2022 I received an email from my case manager asking me to reply. I replied by email on Sep. 6 2022 and called left voice mail with no response to either. I replied again by email on Sep. 15 2022, and called left a voicemail. Got an email after I left voicemail stating” I received your message. My name is —— and I am your case manager for Jeep. Unfortunately your phone number is not in your case information so I am contacting you by email for now until we can update that. What is the situation that you are needing assistance with? Feel free to contact me back at the number below or by replying to this email.” On Sep. 16 2022 I called spoke to case manager and said I’ve sent multiple emails with no reponse, she said there was a problem with email responses. We discussed my case and all the problems I had with previous dealer, including not providing me with documentation from visits. She gave me reference to a different dealer for repairs and said to have service manager contact her with the diagnosis. After phone call On Sep. 16 got an email stating “ This is —— with Jeep just making sure we clear up everything to make things the way they should be. If you need to contact me directly you can reply to this email as well as calling the number and the extension below.” Reply email did not work. Got an email on Sep. 21 2022 stating “ This is —— with Jeep writing to follow up with you on how everything with your vehicle is going. Have you gotten a diagnosis on your vehicle yet? If so please forward that or call us back at the number below.. If you have sent an email in return I have not receieved them due to technical issues and you can email me at —“ some random
[email protected]. I began replying to random
[email protected] and called left voicemail with service manager at different dealer on Sep. 21 2022. Service manager called me back and we discussed my case and made an appointment to see him on Oct. 5 2022. Case manager contacted me about a reimbursement for rental vehicle that I did not have, case manager stated someone impersonating my wife using my name sent in documentation for rental reimbursement. I immediately asked about fraud and insisted that the woman she named was not my wife. Case manager said she would contact corporate resources for investigation. We emailed back and forth for a while, her to me and me to random email she insisted I send to, over missing documentation from visits with first dealer. On Oct. 5 2022 I took my vehicle for scheduled appointment with the service manager. Upon arrival I was told that the service manager had called in sick. So The service rep. brought a technician out to listen to my car. The technician was very persistent that the noise was normal valvetrain noise, the service rep would document it as such, and I should bring the car back if it throws a code. After a long conversation and my persistence that the noise was not normal and louder from underneath, away from the valvetrain, he offered to lift the car and inspect the noise from underneath. I reproduced the noise while he and multiple technicians tried to pinpoint it. Tech diagnosed as loose and stripped torque converter bolts. Repair order said — “Inspected and found rattle from underneath vehicle, used stethoscope to pin point noise in bellhousing, removed inspection plate and found torque converter bolts stripped
and backed out, parts ordered eta 2 weeks out.” “Unrealized 6509361AA :BOLT: NONE
Unrealized RL261592AA :CONVERTER: TORQUE RL Unrealized UL261592AA
:REM: CONVERTER KIT: Core UL
Unrealized 4752455AC :FLEXPLATE: TORQUE CONVERT475 Installed 6503465 :BOLT: HEX HEAD LOCK Installed 68529433AA
GASKET: EXHAUST”. They told me to baby the car home, don’t drive it, and bring it back when parts arrive, as they didn’t have any where to store my car. I emailed my case manager on Oct. 6 2022 to the random email with the diagnosis and description of the visit. On Oct 6 2022 I received an email stating “ This is —— with Jeep. I am here to let you know that we have escalated your case yo our corporate resources and once we receive a response we will be notifying you.” On Oct. 7, Oct. 11, Oct. 21, and Nov. 1, I was asked about rental reimbursement still. On Oct. 21 2022 I received an email asking for documentation for car payment reimbursement for vehicle being being unusable, and an email stating “ I am expediting your part your first ETA will be sometime next week and it is subject to change until we have a firm UPS tracking #.” I sent documentation for payment reimbursement on Oct. 26 2022 and asked for an update on the escalation of my case to corporate resources. No response. On Nov. 2 2022 case manager offered an auto appearance care plus plan, described in great detail, when I accepted she applied a totally different and worthless paint less dent repair plan to my vehicle. On Nov. 8 2022 I received a phone call from dealer stating “ just calling to let you know that I finally got your torque converter and the related parts here if you wanna give us a call”. After contacting them I was shocked to find out I could not make an appointment for repair until Nov. 21 2022. On Nov. 20 2022 I “babied my car in” for repair and received a phone call on Nov. 23 2022 stating “there was nothing wrong with parts noise is still there believe it is rod knock.” Repair order stated “Replaced torque converter due to knock noise heard just off idle, noise loudest in bellhousing. Noise still present after converter and flywheel replacement and fluid fill and test drive, believe noise to be rod knock.” When picking vehicle up I asked service manager to see the parts that were replaced but was denied. We had a long conversation about next phase of repair. He then told me “I could not make an appointment to repair the rod knock because they’re too busy for a large tear down job and the amount of time it takes to get approval for engine replacement takes too long, about two to three months, and that they would contact me when they had time to repair.” I sent an email to case manager and expressed my frustration and asked for a replacement vehicle. I received a reply email stating my case had been closed. I then called customer care and talked to my case manager on Nov. 28 2022 who stated my case had accidentally been closed and that I would have to open another case. I asked about the documentation for payment reimbursement and was told I would be reimbursed after vehicle is repaired. She asked why I could not make an appointment for repair and I referred her to the dealership. She contacted the dealership and got the same response I received, too busy for large tear down job, takes too long. I then requested to speak to my case managers supervisor. On Nov. 29 2022 I received a call from the supervisor and explained everything to him, and referred him to dealership over not being able to make an appointment. I also asked about getting a replacement vehicle and Ohio lemon law stating consumer has the option of buyback or new replacement vehicle. He said he would look into it contact corporate resources and call me back in two days. He did not contact me back ever. On Dec. 3 2022 I sent an email to Tim Kuniskis as a desperate plea for help. On Dec. 3 2022 I received a response from Mike MacDonald stating “ Tim Kuniskis received and read your email and asked me to look into this further. We apologize for the problems you’re having with your 2021 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. I will give you a call on Monday to get some additional information in order to determine our next steps. Please let me know if you have any additional questions/concerns in the meantime.” He called me on Dec. 5 2022 and we discussed my case and he assured me he could help me get my vehicle repaired, expedite parts, that there would be compensation when repairs were finished, and that he would contact the service manager to start the repair process. He said he would call me back in a week. He did not call me back. I have called and left voicemails nearly every day since that one week was up. I have sent emails to Mike MacDonald on Dec. 14 asking for a response, sent pictures of damage to my transmission pan that was bent when converter was replaced, and to please replace my vehicle or put me in touch with someone who can, on Dec. 18 begging for him to not become unresponsive and to help me get my vehicle replaced, Jan. 3 2023 copied him in an email to service manager showing damage to transmission pan and begging to be able to make an appointment for repair. Mike MacDonald never responded. Service manager responded and said he would have transmission pan replaced and made an appointment for me to drop vehicle off on Jan. 9 2023 to tear engine down for diagnosis. On Jan. 11 2023 I received a phone call from dealer stating they would be starting on my car, and that they were late getting started because job before mine went sideways. On Jan. 17 3:23 pm I received a phone call from dealer stating “pick up tube was bent and smashed against sump in oil pan. Chrysler requested that top end be torn down and look for metal.” I requested pictures be sent to my email. On Jan. 18 12:36 pm I received a call from dealer stating “metal was found in oil control valve now removing heads per star case and engineering request to find where metal is coming from.” On Jan. 19 I sent email to service manager and Mike MacDonald of video of noise I recorded on Nov. 2021 and Dec. 2022 for star case record and that star case should reflect that the problem was first presented to a dealer on first visit 12-13-2021. Then I sent an email showing tsb to replace engine if metal debris is found on oil control valve On Jan. 19 service manager contacted me and said “Chrysler usually replaces engines when ocv has metal debris and that the engine was assembled incorrectly. That is the only way to explain the bent pickup tube and smashed pan at the sump. Chrysler is still asking to disassemble more of the engine and that they will be dropping the engine and cross member.” On Jan. 20 2023 I received pictures of ocv and bent pick up tube and bent oil pan. On Jan. 25 2023 I contacted service manager who stated “engine is totally apart one piston was loose and found that cylinder is out of round and out of speck, still waiting for a response from Chrysler for engine replacement. Nothing left to take apart.”
Mike MacDonald has not contacted me back yet. I have never experienced such blatant acts of deceptive and unfair practices. If anyone can help me with this I would greatly appreciate it
@DodgeCares , or if you know someone higher up who can make things happen, or if this could actually be seen by Tim Kuniskis, everything I’ve ever read about him seems legit.
Here are the pics of bent pick up tube, bent oil pan sump, bent transmission pan, tsb for ocv, and link to videos of noise. As you can tell in videos the noise got worse and who knows what kind of damage was done with restricted oiling. Feel free to comment on videos on you tube and share with anybody you may think can help or spread the word.
youtube.com
youtube.com
