Harold Jankowiak

Review of Suburban Chrysler Jeep Dodge

Avoid this service department at all cost! I took...

Avoid this service department at all cost! I took my vehicle in for an oil change at the recommendation of a friend who works at FCA, since I was told dealers will usually flash the computer with new software updates when you visit. I doubt this dealer did that based on my experience, which is detailed below. Based on how much they tried to up sell me on unnecessary services, I won't ever purchase a new vehicle from the Suburban Collection or let them service a vehicle. Judging on the attempted up sell, I'm sure they are paying their service advisors a commission.

The service advisor said my Jeep was out of warranty, but I could get "extended protection" if I did the required maintenance before 50,000 miles. I was told my vehicle was overdue for a break fluid change, coolant change, fuel system cleaning, trans fluid change, and 4x4 service. I look at him and asked why I need 4x4 service when I don't have a 4x4, my Jeep is FWD. He said "oh". When I asked for more information about the "extended protection" he was vague and said I would be covered at any Chrysler/Jeep dealer worldwide. This whole time he made it seem, by being vague, that the "extended protection" was an extension of my warranty by Chrysler, but in fact, it's some aftermarket guarantee offered by a company called BG. BG is the company selling the dealer the fluid additives and cleaners they use for these "recommended services". I later consulted my Jeep owners manual and looked at what Jeep says I should do by 48,000 miles and none of the services I was told were overdue are actually needed. In fact, Jeep says not to change the coolant until 10 years or 150,000 miles! I asked for a list of the services needed and the cost, so he wrote it down on a blank piece of paper, but didn't get me a chance to take a picture of the cost The coolant was $240 and the fuel system cleaning was $152, I don't remember the others, but they were over $100 each. When I hesitated on the costs of the services, he said I should at least do the fuel system cleaning for $152 and it will pay for itself because "it increases fuel mileage by 6-7 miles per gallon on average". Of course this is a total lie since my Jeep is rated at 19 mpg city and 25 highway with a combined mpg of 22. I get 22-23 combined mpg already. There is no way for $152 I can get a 27-31% increase in mpg! If that was possible, everyone would be lined up to get their fuel systems cleaned, since they would save 27-31% on their annual fuel bill.

I was told service would take an hour and it was about 45 minutes. I was taken up to the register. I was told my bill was $33, I asked the nice young lady at the register if they put their Semi-Synthetic oil in my car, because I was told it would be $55. She looked at the paperwork and said no, I needed to talk to the advisor. I asked him and he looked at the paperwork and said they didn't do it, but he would have them "top add it". Now this gets into the other part of the story, when I came in and asked for an oil change with Semi-Synthetic oil, I was told they don't offer it and they use standard oil and then add an additive which makes it a Semi-Synthetic, but of course after i looked up the additive, I found out it was another BG product that doesn't magically turn regular oil into Semi-Synthetic oil. I was so sure they were going to overfill my oil that I checked it on the way out just to be sure they didn't mess anything up and I actually considered going to a quick oil change shop to get another oil change just to know things were done properly and I actually got the Semi-Synthetic oil I had requested. It's pretty bad when I feel I can trust a quick oil change shop more than the dealer!

When I looked at the paperwork, he never did write down the cost of the services I was "overdue on", but he did write the list down. The best part is that he was still insisting I needed 4x4 service when I don't own a 4x4! See attached image.

This dealer doesn't care about the customer, they just are about screwing you out of your money.