Carson Dodge Chrysler - Carson City, Nevada

Visit Geno's Garage for Truck accessories.

www.carsondodge.com

I would like to tell our customers that should they have a problem with the dealership, I would appreciate an opportunity to talk to them. 98% of the time the problem can be solved and we have a happy customer.
Based on our own customer surveys approximately 70% of the time our customers rate their experience as excellent. 28% of the time Carson Dodge gets a "good", and 2% of the time things go wrong and we create an unhappy customer. No matter how good the dealership, mistakes happen. The number of mistakes and how those mistakes are handled separates the good from the bad.
Sincerely,    Steve Christian 775-883-2020    schristian[at]nvbell.net
19 Nov 2003

The most recent reports are at the top of the list; the oldest are at the bottom.

Sales=Excellent, Service=Don't Know, Parts=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=No, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
Excellent dealership. Went there looking for one specific vehicle, was shown it, but didn't care for it after all. Lousy weather that day but the salesman patiently showed us everything we asked to see (almost 40% of their lot!!). Prices were posted, salesman knowledgeable but not in
any way pushy. Drove 70 mikes to shop there and will drive there the next time I need to buy.
Submitted by: Withheld by request
Number of dealership visits=1, Last visit date=Jan 2008, Date report submitted: Apr 16 11:59:43 EDT 2008

Sales=Good, Service=Excellent, Parts=Excellent, bought there=Yes, scv_there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
No bad experiences. Provided a new loaner when repairs could not be completed the same day. Diesel truck class offered to customers at no charge. I have purchased two new vehicles and one used vehicle from this dealer. Great Dealership.
Submitted by: Mike Barry
Number of dealership visits=10, Last visit date=19 Nov. 2005, Date report submitted: Jan 15 14:42:38 EST 2006

Sales=Excellent, Service=Excellent, Parts=Excellent, bought there=Yes, scv_there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
I have had my dodge diesel serviced here. What an excellent job from write up (John M.) to Robert in parts - they are very knowledgeable about the product - they do a better job than Reno - they actually help the customers out than worry about the money
I'd rather travel the distance to Carson Dodge than go to Reno Dodge
Submitted by: Robert H.            wolfdog5210 [a] aol.com
Number of dealership visits=10, Last visit date=3/02/05, Date report submitted: Mar 14 15:54:01 EST 2005

Sales=Excellent, Service=Excellent, Parts=Don't Know, bought there=No, scv_there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
Stopped several times car hunting. The sales persons were always very quick and courteous. I called service and stopped by on the 30th Nov. They took my car in the next day and had me out by 11am. Best service I have ever experienced. My hat's off to them.
Submitted by: Vic Ventura      vicscars [a] asurfer.com
Number of dealership visits=4 or 5, Last visit date=1 DEC 04, Date report submitted: Dec 2 22:06:06 EST 2004

Sales=Don't Know, Service=Excellent, Parts=Excellent, bought there=No, scv_there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
After piss poor service experiences with the local Dale White dealership in Elko, NV I found Carson Dodge after numerous recommendations from Turbo Diesel Register members. In August 2003 Carson Dodge provided prompt and courteous service and a mechanic, Andrew Werner, to listen to me describe and show the problem in their shop bay at my truck without telling me it was my fault or making lame excuses. In January 2004 I visited them to look for an obscure part for my cab clearance lights and their parts guy went through a lot of extra effort to source this said part. I will make every effort to work with them in the future and I do recommend them to acquaintances. Another interesting thing is that a Carson Dodge employee is also a TDR member who write numerous articles in the TDR magazine and basically tells it how it is in terms of issues with his truck.
Number of dealership visits=2, Last visit date=January 2004, Date report submitted: Jan 25 19:03:11 EST 2004

Sales=Excellent, Service=Don't Know, Parts=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=No, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
After visiting three other Dodge dealers in search of a new truck, we happened to make contact with Charlie Gillies at Carson Dodge. I suppose it was the luck of who was free to answer the phone. In any case, he is the most professional and knowledgeable sales person I have encountered in many years.
After our initial phone call we drove over the mountain and met with Charlie and took a test drive. I had lots of questions which he either answered or quickly found the answer. I appreciated the fact that he never once pressured us to "buy today", but seemed genuinely interested in helping us find the information we needed to make a decision. Some may say it was an act, if so he did it very well.
Some weeks later he followed up with a phone call and we talked price. Of course, I paid more than I wanted too, but we arrived at a price that I think is fair to both of us. Thus far I would give their sales department and Charlie Gillies an "excellent" rating.
Jim Ripley
Number of dealership visits=3, Last visit date=12.31.2003, Date report submitted: Jan 18 10:38:58 EST 2004

Sales=Excellent, Service=Don't Know, Parts=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=No, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
Good experience with Jeff Brooks in sales. Straight deal, no surprises. Offered to pick me up at airport, do what was necessary to make things go smoothly. Would buy from him again.
Number of dealership visits=1, Last visit date=December, 2003, Date report submitted: Dec 4 12:26:02 EST 2003

Sales=Excellent, Service=Avoid, bought there=Yes, scv_there=Yes,
I bought my 2001 Dodge Ram from Carson Dodge and the salesman, Chuck Gillie (SP?) was top notch. After that it was all down hill. I had a single bad experience before I bought the 2001 with another Ram. They had lost the truck after servicing it and it took them nearly a half hour and four employees to find it on there back lot. My first experience with my 2001 was, believe it or not, the same. They managed to lose my new truck and once they found it, they couldn't find my keys. Five days later I discovered a dent in my passenger side door while washing my truck. It was in location that could not have been caused by a car door. After being all but being accused of lying to get free body work, the service manager, Ray Patane, agreed to look at the dent and upon seeing it agreed it could not have been a car door a reluctantly agreed to fix it. The body and paint work was only passable. Next, I took my truck in for a lube oil filter and upon inspection they reported my front brakes to be at 30 - 40%. Within two months and 8,000 miles I was metal to metal. 43000 miles to get to 30-40% and 8000 to burn the rest? I don't think so. I contacted Ray Patane and his response was less than courteous. He told me it wasn't his problem. Infuriated I contacted the general manager and he offered to do my brakes at cost and agreed the estimate on my brakes of 30-40% probably wasn't accurate. During the brake job they suggested my coolant be replaced. I agreed and within a month my truck had overheated. I incorrectly assumed it might have something to do with that (actually the cap was left loose during an inspection by someone else) and went to talk with Ray. My wife had my truck and was stranded. Did he offer to tow us and check it over? Did he offer any assistance or promise to fix my truck? No, he informed me after hearing my wife and kids were stranded with his product not working correctly that it was not his problem!! Even if he wasn't responsible an offer to get a tow truck to help me out would have been nice. I mean it is his product and his reputation. I would think the man would try to protect Dodge's reputation and keep his customers happy. The service department at Carson Dodge is worthless. Even the general manager told me he won't take his vehicles there. If my truck broke down in front of the dealership, I would pay to have it towed to another one! Customer service is nowhere to be found in the service department.
Dan McMartin
Number of dealership visits=6, Last visit date=August 12, 2003, Date report submitted: 12 Aug 2003 18:22:02

Sales=Excellent, Service=Excellent, bought there=Yes, scv_there=Yes,
I have bought 4 vehicles from the dealership. They have been excellent to deal with in both the sale and service departments. I would recommend the dealership to anyone.
jacryer<at>nvbell.net
Number of dealership visits=10+, Last visit date=may 10, 2003, Date report submitted: 20 Jun 2003 22:49

Sales=Good, Service=Poor, bought there=Yes, scv_there=Yes,
I bought a new 99 Ram 2500 and a used Plymouth Breeze from this
dealership in june of 99. The sales staff was very courteous and knowledgeable. As for their parts manager, and service department that is a different story. My truck had a pinion seal go out at about 20 thousand miles, and the used car had some other problems that they needed to repair, when I called about trying to get the repairs done the same day, first the service manager at the time told me that I had no idea that the rear pinion seal was leaking that it would have to be road oil or something like that, even though the oil level was going down and I had to add oil. When we talked about the car in at the same time, he said that there was no way that he would have any loaner vehicle for me to get around in carson city while they were working on them. Shuttle yes, but no loaner. The repair was to be done in about 5 hours, it was done on the truck, but not the car. I had hauled the car 300 miles on the promise that they would be done at the same time, and that all parts were in stock. Now I had to make a 600 mile extra round trip to pick up my car, and it was far enough apart so that I could not take it to another shop to get the repair done.
When it comes to Power upgrade for my Cummins in the 99 truck, I tried to purchase them from the dealership that I bought it from I was quoted 1375 dollars for a new ECM module for the engine. I thought that this was very high so I told the parts manager that I would like to check prices elsewhere before spending that amount. He was very rude and abusive about his prices being below what I would find elsewhere. I checked with another dealership in western montana and found the exact same part for 850 dollars from a dealership that I had never even set foot into before. When I read reports about how Carson Dodge is a leader in upgrades and service quality I have to laugh and think that if these people only knew how much more they were paying for the parts.
Number of dealership visits=5, Last visit date=08-15-01, Date report submitted: 01 May 2003 13:39

Sales=Don't Know, Service=Avoid,
Carson dodge has no such thing as customer service. They rebuilt the trans in my 2002 Dakota r/t, a week later it broke again. Rebuilt once again, but this time I went to dealer to check out problem. The trans builder wanted to fist fight in the shop, the service manger tried to tell me I needed to destroy the trans to get it replaced. Well I kinda got a bad attitude, but what do you expect when they are making your new car into a rebuild. Well I got it back and had some complaints. It shifts at the wrong rpm from 2nd to 3rd, has a vibration that was not there before, shifter is out of adj. and trans has a leak. When I called the service manager said he could not make me happy, and I was never to come back to the dealer again or I would be arrested for trespassing. Called cust. support and they basically said I was a liar. So I looked farther into my truck and found a whole new ball of wax. First they replaced the crank sensor because they broke it and never told me. I found a breather hose pulled off of the intake so it would suck in dirt or whatever got up there. Pulled trans pan and found all pan bolts stripped or very close. There was a broken elect. connector on valve body. The valve body was thrown down and a chunk is broken out of the side(nice internal leak). rear seal leaks. And then best of all they replaced my oil filter with a old beat up mohair oil filter that is almost completely plugged up with something(filter empty weights about 2-3lbs. Now I think their tech tried to sabotage my new truck. They say Carson dodge gets no complaints, but I read in the news paper that they always have unhappy customers. Funny how only the good ever gets talked about. What about the unhappy customer that still has to pay.
On top of all this, they say its normal for my truck to miss at an idle, they aligned the front end and I had to take it elsewhere to get it right. They just don't do anything they say their going to. Now I'm not allowed to go to dodge. How the hell can I get my truck fixed? do I have to pay someone else to do it? even though I have a 7year, 100,000mi warranty? its useless. The better bus. b. will love this. So think about it before you ever go to Carson city dodge Chrysler. I don't trust them. You shouldn't either.
Number of dealership visits=4, Last visit date=Sept. 6,2002, Date report submitted: 28 Sep 2002

the best example of a 5 star Dealer...  My last service experience with them was fast, done right the first time and the price was fair - from Manny Mantecon's Ram message board

Sales=Excellent, Service=Don't Know,
Carson Dodge is an excellent dealer.  I went there after going to Reno Dodge and was pleasantly surprised at how courteous and easy going they are.  The salesman was very knowledgeable and patient.  I have no BTDT on the service department, but have heard very good things.

Sales=Excellent, Service=Don't Know,
From the minute I entered this business, I was treated with respect. These people went out of there way to make my purchase comfortable. I wanted a 2000 Dodge Cummins, and that's what I got. And I got this vehicle for less than I had expected. The General Manager was a great guy, this was probably the best car experience I have ever had. Carson Dodge is the Best !!

Sales=Excellent, Service=Don't Know Very professional operation! Salesman did not waste my time and sold me my truck at a very fair price. They ordered the vehicle and kept me informed of the progress of the build and shipment. The truck was well prepped and the salesman did a very good job of showing me everything about it an the delivery day. I don’t know about service, but I highly recommend the dealership.

Added to another report - Reno Jeep, Carson Dodge, and Fallon Auto-mall are 5-star dealers, and are an absolute pleasure to deal with.

Sales=Excellent, Service=Excellent,
Very pleasant sales experience. Bought the truck through Costco, not hassle and a very fair price. I have used their service dept. twice now. The first time they made a mistake and failed to use my own oil, but they gave me a free oil change and were very nice. The second time they installed gauges for me. Their service rates are kind of high, but they really seem to know diesels. The best thing about this place is that they will "bomb" your truck without any threats of voiding your warrantee. They say that if a warrantee problem comes up, they just pass the cost on the aftermarket vendor. They install Banks and BD performance upgrades, K&N filters, and Amsoil products! It’s like having a speed shop for your dealer.

Dealership Rating:
	Good sales department, good service
	Fair sales, fair service
	Conflicting or not enough information
	Poor Service or Poor Sales Department
	Avoid like the plague!!
	Don't Know / No Experience

This page was edited on: November 21, 2008