Covingtonpike Dodge - Memphis, TN

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Sales=Excellent, Service=Don't Know, Parts=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=No, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
Wanted to say that I bought a new Dodge truck, my first new anything, here on 8/28/04 and can not say enough good things about the experience. Stan Hawkins was my salesman and I highly recommend him. I live about 2 hours from the dealership so after speaking with Stan and finding the truck I wanted he took my information and had everything ready for me when I got there. I spent no more that one hour at the dealership from the time I walked in until I drove away with my new truck. I contacted Stan again on 1/28/05 and discussed buying an 05 with an automatic. We could not get right on the numbers but that was no fault of Stan's. I would tell anyone who wants a new Dodge to go see this guy.
Submitted by: Shane Brown       sdbrown1[a]yahoo.com
Number of dealership visits=3, Last visit date=1/28/05, Date report submitted: Jan 28 22:04:18 EST 2005

Sales=Don't Know, Service=Poor, Parts=Don't Know, bought there=No, scv_there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=No,
I've had my 03 4.7L 5SP Man. Dakota in the shop 4 times for tranny problems. For starters the shift horn keeps coming lose from the top of the tranny. It pukes lube all over the place and the shifter rotates is how I can tell it's come lose again. Worse, it often refuses to go into gear or takes several attempts before it will go into gear or grinds when going into gear or waits several seconds for the RPM's to drop before going into gear. The dealer says they can't duplicate the problem and is refusing to address the issue. I called Daimler @ 800-992-1997 and was told "If the dealer can't duplicate the problem there's nothing we can do".
Daimler let the dealer know I had called and now the dealer has an attitude. I've told them I won't take the truck back until they fix the problem. The tech called this morning and said it's normal for it to take a second or two between gears on this truck! I told him if that's so I don't want the truck. Either have my truck in proper working condition or have a refund check waiting when I get there this afternoon.
They are even trying to say it was a different problem each of the 4 times I had it in. When I disagreed they read me my descriptions: "Hard to shift"  "Slow Shifts"  "Sometimes grinds going into gear"  "Doesn't shift well at higher RPM's" "See? 4 different problems", they said.
I get to Dodge about 5:40. Find the service manager who turns me over to some other guy who kept saying his name real fast and I never got it. Tall guy, very short hair. Anyway. He brings the truck around and I notice the spare tire is swinging. It's not cranked all the way up for some reason and it was when I dropped it off. I'm sure because I checked after the body shop swapped the tires around for me.
I crank the tire back up, get in and off we go. The guy was a real stone face. Had nothing to say most of the drive. I tried to start a conversation, but no matter what I said all I got was a grunt in response. I run the RPMs a little high a couple of times as we pull out onto Covington Pike headed South, but there's too much traffic and I can't really wind it up. It shifts fine. We stop at the light at 240 behind traffic. I still wind it up a little, 3500RPM or so between gears, and it shifts fine all the way to Macon. We make the left at that light and turn away from the traffic.
Now we've got some room I wind it up pretty good from 2nd to 3rd, 4500 RPM or so. It shifts fine. I brake back down, down-shift into 2nd and wind it up again. This time it totally balks when I try to go into 3rd. "There it is", I say. We're approaching a curve so, I brake down to about 35 and make the first right to turn around and go back the way we came. "That was a nice clear stretch of road", I say as I turn around. 'Let's go back that way and I'll go through 'em again". Stone face still has nothing to say.
Traffic clears and I make the left back out onto Macon. Nice and easy until I get through the curve. Still in second I wind up the RPM's when the road straightens and once again it just totally bounces off of 3rd. I bring the shifter back to neutral and try to go in again. Again and the next time I hear "grrrrrriiinnnnnnndddddd"! Back down to second and Stoneface says, "You've got to go back to second". Up to third and it goes in this time. "Yeah, but I shouldn't have to go "back down to second" when I'm trying to go up to third". "Yeah', says Stoneface.
We get caught behind traffic at the light at Covington Pike. "If I keep going straight will I regret it"?, I ask. Stoneface looks confused. "Does it turn into a neighborhood or get twisty"? "Oh. Just turn here and head back towards the shop."
On the way up Covington Pike I still wind it up just a little, 3000-3500 RPM and it refuses to go into 4th! "You do it", I say to Stoneface. He just looks at me. "You put your hand on there and do it", I say. He can't get it in either until he goes all the way back to 3rd and then into 4th. "And that wasn't under hard acceleration or high RPM", I say. He's stone-faced.
We get back to the shop and he's practically frantic trying to find Marty. His legs are long enough so I had to trot to keep up with his walk. "I'm sorry, what was your name"?, I ask and start to pull a piece of paper out of my wallet. He gets to one of the service desks and quickly presses the phone to his ear saying something about "Where's the Service manager"?. Before he figures out how to page him, he walks up and asks Stoneface how it went. I let him talk for a minute. I have to admit I don't remember much of what he said in detail because I began to get angry. I do remember he said something about me driving like I was drag racing. I pointed out that the transmission was failing to shift at the times you most need it to quickly shift, under load or under high acceleration. "You don't want to be hunting for a gear when you're pulling onto the interstate and some 18 wheeler is coming up behind you", I said. The Service manager said something about abuse. He said something about the clutch being out of warranty. He said something about he makes his money off of selling trucks and since I didn't buy mine there I should take it somewhere else for service.
I asked him if he was going to fix my truck. He said I would have to sign something saying that if it was because of abuse I would have to pay for the repair. Asked him what constituted abuse. He said it could be as simple as the clutch being a little burned. He said the clutch was no longer under warranty anyway. He said if the clutch had been hot that could cause the whole problem and if that was what it was I would have to pay for the repair. He said if I didn't like his decision I should take the truck somewhere else. He emphasized repeatedly that it would be his decision whether or not the problem was due to abuse and if he decided it was because of abuse I would have to pay for any problems they found. After the way Stoneface had gone on and on about how the way I drove it was probably the problem I'm supposed to leave my truck with this guy who's practically telling me I'm writing him a blank check? I told him keep the truck and let me know when he'd have my buy-back check ready. I turned and started to walk away. He yelled after me, "If you leave it hear I'll call the impound lot. I turn to look and he tells one of his employees to call the impound lot. Stoneface still has the keys. I walk towards him. "Give it to me", I say. He holds out the keys. I take them, get in my truck and leave.
This morning I call Daimler. They called the dealer and called me back. The dealer told them the problem was that I was trying to shift without depressing the clutch!! What, so now I'm stupid? They also said that I was no longer welcome at their dealership and to tell me to not come back. The only suggestion Daimler had was to try another dealer. I'm at my wit's end. Anybody got a better idea? I've had it to 2 dealers for a total of 4 times and all Daimler can say is try another dealer!!
The dealership is Covington Pike Dodge in Memphis, TN. 901-371-9200. The truck has approx. 9500 miles on it as of today. It's had tranny problems since day 1.
When I got it home I discovered the clutch reservoir was hanging by it's line. It had never been mounted to the firewall. The indents where there should have been holes to mount the reservoir had never even been drilled. The tranny was covered in gear lube because the shift horn had never been tightened down to the top of the tranny. I reported the shift difficulties from the time I took it back for these problems. Although the shift horn is now tight and the clutch reservoir mounted, as you know from above, the shift problem has yet to be fixed. The service manager's name is Marty Kellum.
After their being unable to duplicate the problem over 4 attempts and saying there was nothing wrong with my truck, I went there and drove it with the tech. I was able to demonstrate the problem within 1/2 mile. They still wouldn't fix it and, instead of admitting they were wrong, they now agree there is a problem, but say I caused it!! Outrageous!!!!
Submitted by: Withheld by request
Number of dealership visits=2, Last visit date=10/01/2003, Date report submitted: Aug 6 17:16:01 EDT 2004

Sales=Don't Know, Service=Fair, bought there=No, scv_there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
I admittedly have an unusual truck. 2003 Dakota 4.7L 5sp 3.90 posi rear. I took the truck to this dealership because of my bad experience with the one who sold it to me. The problems were that the clutch fluid reservoir was not mounted to anything and the transmission was slinging grease like nobody's business. The service manager told me when I arrived he had NEVER seen a stick in a Dakota and that he didn't know where the reservoir should mount. He did however allow me to use his factory service manual and watched while I found the answer (turns out the mounting holes had never been drilled so the reservoir had been hanging by its hose since it left the factory). When I first discovered the tranny leak it was just a drop where the yoke enters the rear of the tranny. The service manager told me there should be NO leaking anywhere. When I dropped the truck off I spoke to the mechanic. He said that drop should be there. We crawled under the truck so I could show him what I meant and discovered the leak had gotten much worse (Turns out the bolts that hold the shifter horn on were not properly torqued down by the factory). So, they've never seen a 5-speed stick and they think if you have one it should leak! They were at least friendly and polite if not knowledgeable.
Number of dealership visits=4, Last visit date=08/05/2004, Date report submitted: Oct 10 11:05:54 EDT 2003

Sales=Excellent, Service=Excellent,
I hate shopping at car dealerships, so I decided to check the Internet. I sent out several inquiries to dealerships, but Covington Pike Dodge was the only dealership that not only responded to my request by e-mail but also by a phone call. I researched their web-site and found it to be very easy to navigate. They gave me a price, over the Internet on a sale priced Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab, and when I came in for a test drive they had 2 rows of sale priced trucks in virtually every color. That really impressed me because my Salesman, David Craig who was also the Internet Manager didn't try to get me in the door just to switch me to a more expensive truck, but actually let me pick out the color. I have never had a more pleasant experience at a dealership. The Internet Salesman who helped me was honest, helpful and made me feel like my business was important. I have since brought my truck in for an oil change, and that was handled great. Jason Butler the Service Advisor helped me. I applied for financing on-line, and was approved before I ever got to the dealership. I highly recommend Covington Pike Dodge, and especially David Craig the Internet Manager. I will be buying all my vehicles from him. Awesome!!
Date report submitted: 21 May 2002

Sales=Avoid, Service=Avoid,
On the week of Nov 6 2000, received invitation to come buy a dodge - called and gave infor to sales rep on phone - 2 days later on the 9th said we were preapproved for up to 500.00 per month - Nov. 11th bought stratus took all orig papers for them. signed title to trade in and signed contract took new car home that sat night - 5 days later in Nov. 15 2000 they stole car from our driveway and when cops stopped them they had repo papers - got away with it - broke the ftc law, repo law, fraud. advert pre appr loan, theft of prop, trespassing, left us with no transportation, and many other laws were broken - got away with it - last week I received another invitation from the saying we were pre approved for a loan - I DON'T WANT TO EVEN CONSIDER THAT LIE AND NIGHTMARE AGAIN-DODGE CORP WON'T EVEN HELP US I HAVE CALLED MANY TIMES WITH NO HELP WHAT SO EVER

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!!
	No Experience / Don't Know

This page was edited on: February 21, 2007