Chrysler and Refurbished Radios

[rant]So we bought a new Jeep two months ago and we recently discovered the CD player didn't work. Brought it to the dealer to have it replaced and when I got home I noticed the display is all scratched and cloudy as if the unit is used. I called the service manager this morning and he indicated that even though the invoice says "new", it's Chrysler's policy (actually their radio provider's policy) to provide a refurbished unit. :blink: So now we have this crappy looking radio in a brand new Jeep with 3,000 miles. The service manager was very nice and he's going to look at it and try to get it replaced with a different unit. I still think it's pretty shady that a manufacturer would replace a defective part on a new vehicle that never worked with a refurb and call it new.[/rant]

Yep, that is so not right. You should get a brand new one. No questions. Pay all that money and get a used radio cause the new product was faulty.
I can't even believe they tried that crapola.

You gotta stay on them.

Tell me one computer hardware company that DOESN'T do this.

I've returned PDAs, Hard Drives, Video cards that have been inoperative out of box, only to be replaced with refurbs. Most of the time these are units that customers returned but tested ok.

-Stephen

This sounds pretty bad...have you had a chance to look at your warranty? Does it specify that they can replace new parts with refurbished ones?

This sounds as bad as the insistence of auto insurance companies to only cover to the cost of aftermarket parts for collision repairs, even when the aftermarket parts are crap :angry:

hammer said:

This sounds pretty bad...have you had a chance to look at your warranty? Does it specify that they can replace new parts with refurbished ones?

Click to expand...

Good point. I haven't yet, but I'm guessing it's in there somewhere...

Something like a radio should not be replaced with a refurbished unit. Was the Jeep refurbished when you bought it? I think the answer is NO so why should you accept a refurbished unit in a NEW vehicle?

I can tell you from personal experience that Mercedes and Saturn put new units in for failed head units!

Tim

Does Connecticut have a lemon law? Does it apply to components of the vehicle?

I have used the lemon law and got a buyback on a vehicle in 2002. It is not as easy to do as it seems. I am a resident of CT but purchased the car in MA. My car was registered in CT, so I filed and had a case opened in CT until the case worker realized the car was purchased in MA. I had to file in MA, fortunately by activating a case from CT and having the manufacturer notified the manufacturer offered a buyback in October of 2002, using the calculation from the state of CT, which worked out to be an extra $100 or so for the final figure.

My problems with my car were severe and were not rectified after 3 attempts. It had to be proven that it was the exact same problem and that it posed a safety risk. The cost of each repair was approx $1500. That is not counting the other warranty issues the car was in for. At one time I estimated that there was about $6,000 of warranty repairs done in 14mths of ownership. Parts on newly designed cars are expensive if the components are not "parts bin" items. I even notified the NHTSA organization of a repeated failure of a component.

A defective radio would not qualify a car for a buyback.

My experience with the "Consumer Electronics" industry (computers, radio, TV, CD, DVD, stereo, etc...) is in the small print of the product warranty sheet tucked away in the packaging is their policy which is "REPLACEMENT may (really meaning WILL) consist of REFURBISHED PRODUCTS." Try to return for repair a product from any retail store with out their "STORE PROGRAM" and they refer you to the factory repair program, which includes you paying for one-way shipping, etc...

Keep working on the Service Manager. He wants your service business, he shouldn’t let a radio system get in the way. Good luck.

The service manager seems to be receptive to my complaint. It wouldn't bother me so much if the radio didn't "look" refurbished.

Greg,
I got my problem with Daimler/Chrysler and their warranty system all taken care of and even made a profit on it. :wink: