Carvana Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of San Diego — Attraction in San Diego

I dropped off my 2015 Jeep Patriot on October 5, 2023 due to a small ticking noise. I have been a customer here since I purchased my vehicle brand new off the lot April 12, 2015. I took my car here for every maintenance issue, every problem. EVERY TIME. The first few years were great. My service tech was Liz and she was fantastic. Once she left, the good service ended and the problems began. This last time was the absolute worst experience I have ever had.

The dealership had my vehicle for months. Literal months. In the first month I had over 30 phone calls, texts and emails that went unanswered by Paul Correia. These are all documented and I informed the service manager Gabriel Ceballas. Gabe apologized but the behavior from the dept continued.

After 2 months of no status, Paul calls me and tells me that that MOPAR warranty claim was DENIED. I immediately went to the dealership to try to understand why, when I clearly had followed all protocols with the maintenance of my vehicle. I spoke to Gabe and he looked up my vehicle and tells me that there has not even been an MOPAR inspection at this point and he did not know why I was told that. Paul calls me from literally the other side of a glass wall-meaning he can clearly see me in Gabes office-to tell me that the MOPAR inspector was on his way to inspect my vehicle! The inspector shows up and Paul puts me and the inspector on the spot by saying oh this is the customer. I explained that I was not there to question the inspector, but to try to glean any information on what is going on with my car and why the tech will not respond to my inquiries.

Approximately a week later, after I had to contact MOPAR because the dealership refused to respond to me, I was told that the warranty was going to be paying out my vehicle and I would receive a check. Why this check was going to the dealership and not directly to me was beyond comprehension. I paid the dealership for the diagnosis-which seemed like it should have been part of the warranty and at that point the dealership basically washed their hands of the situation. For the next month, I attempted to get a status and not one person from the dealership or Mopar would help. Mopar had previously given me a date that the check was supposedly mailed but it did not matter at all to the dealership that it never showed up. I finally showed up to the dealership in person to find out what I needed to do. I explained the situation to the person outside and he went to talk to the service manager Alex Paralta. Alex didn’t even bother to come out and speak to me. He sent the guy out with a business card that he had written on the back the address of Sun Road Auto’s business office. Not once had anyone ever mentioned that the check would go there first.

I showed up at the Business office and a very kind person, Karen, listened and took charge of the situation. This was in December. She called Mopar repeatedly until she got information. After weeks of no check showing up after it was supposedly sent to the dealership, Mopar finally reissued the check and I finally received it in February. Over 4 months later! Meanwhile I was not given a rental, a loaner vehicle or anything. I was forced to pay for a rental for 2 months. I received no reimbursement for anything I was out of pocket on. With the check, I barely broke even after paying travel expenses for the entire time and the diagnosis fees. They didn’t even put the vehicle back together because I didn’t have another $2000 to pay for it.

I WAS a loyal customer. I was fully prepared to purchase a new vehicle from SDCDJR but the treatment I received has convinced me that my patronage did not matter at all to the dealership and I will be sure to let anyone I know looking for a car to look elsewhere. I know I am just one person, but this treatment was ridiculous. The only person that showed any type of interest in helping me was Karen at the business office, to whom I am forever grateful. I have every contact documented, every receipt,...

To save myself some time, I'll paste my e-mail to the service department. I've received to no response. For those seeking a quick recap, their service department attempted to use epoxy resin to repair a cracked (leaking) radiator. They billed my extended warranty company for a replacement ($1200+). I advised them I had discovered it and they corrected the issue. If you're not mechanically inclined... steer clear. It might meet the elements of insurance fraud. I'm still working out the details. I'll be going through the proper channels to report this activity.

04/18/23

San Diego Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, & Ram Service Department 777 Camino Del Rio South San Diego, CA 92108 BAR #ARD-277427

Gabriel Ceballos and Todd Hatch,

I am writing to express my disappointment and frustration with the recent service I received from your service department. On 04/06/23, I brought my 2018 Dodge Durango (VIN #1C4RDHDG8JCXXXXXX) to your dealership for a radio replacement due to delamination. Your vehicle inspection noted the vehicle's radiator and water pump needed replacement. All repairs were approved by my extended warranty company.

On 04/14/23, I was notified the repairs had been completed and the vehicle was ready to be picked up. On 04/17/23, I was available to retrieve the vehicle. I paid my $50 warranty deductible. I looked at the invoice and noted the radio was replaced, the radiator was replaced, and the water pump was replaced. The costs associated with the radiator replacement were $1248.29.

I drove to my home in Lakeside. I parked in the garage and could smell the odor of coolant emitting from the front of the vehicle. I opened the hood and inspected the engine compartment. I noted the radiator had damage, a crack, on the passenger's side. The damage appeared to have been coated with an epoxy resin or similar substance. There was coolant towards the bottom of the radiator. I obtained video and photographs of what I discovered.

Based on these observations, I believe a person, likely a technician, attempted to repair the crack on the radiator with epoxy. I do not believe the radiator was replaced as noted on the invoice. It's well known in automotive repair it is unsafe to attempt to repair radiator leaks with epoxy or other substances due to the high temperature function of a radiator.

I trusted your service department would take all necessary steps to ensure that the repairs on my vehicle were conducted with the utmost care and professionalism. At best, there was a lack of oversight by one of your technicians. At worst, this was an attempt to defraud a customer. Unfortunately, this brings into question whether the water pump was replaced. I'm going to rely on good faith and trust it was replaced.

This attempt to repair the radiator was potentially hazardous, as it puts my safety and the safety of other drivers at risk. My wife is the usual driver of this vehicle. This could have resulted in a breakdown on a freeway or more serious damage to my engine due to lack of coolant. The fact that a critical component of my vehicle was not replaced as expected, raises serious questions about the quality of service your department provides.

On 04/18/23, I returned the vehicle to your service department for proper replacement. This caused me to be late to work. Service Advisor Jose Luis Perez informed me my vehicle would be delivered to me. Jose Luis Perez has remained patient and professional throughout this experience. Gabriel advised me a rental vehicle was not available.

I urge the manager of the service department to have a serious conversation with the technician responsible for the repairs of my vehicle. If there was no miscommunication between the service advisor and the technician, this is an unethical action.

I wanted to reach out to you directly because you oversee service operations at this dealership. Any attempt to compensate me for my loss of two work hours and my frustration is appreciated. I appreciate your attention to this matter and hope to hear...

Suggest anyone to stay away!!! This is a dishonest, rude, and unprofessional dealership!!!

10/7: I found a pre-owned Hybrid vehicle on their lot and called the sales department. Denny picked up the call and got back to manager for pricing. After waiting for over 2 hours, he finally called back with 0 discount and a long education on how great deal it is. (Fair for now) 10/8 morning: the vehicle was lowered for few hundreds on their website, which proves the pricing was completely fake from a few hours ago. 10/8 afternoon: We went to the dealership. No one welcomed us or at least say 'Hi'. No front desk, no one, so we were left at the entrance for over 10 mins. Every sale person seems ignorant when they simply walked away from us, going in and out of the entrance. After actively looking for the Denny who was the sales on the phone, we were able to test drive and sit down for pricing. He asked a copy of license and left us sitting for 20 mins, claiming 'working on the price'. During this whole time, he directly jumped to help another customer, and left us waiting for nothing. Came back with a sheet of original price and claim the price is so good because they did not charge us with ''over $1.5k protection package''. He claims there's 0 dollar to be made and the car will be sent to auction. As a result of the bad experience and bad pricing policy, we walked away. Neither sale person or the sale manager cares to say goodbye.

10/10: I received an email of another price drop for about $500 online. I called back and confirmed the new price online is accurate. This time, the sale person Albert is actually the most decent guy during the whole experience, but he has to send the deal back to the first sales due to dealership policy. After another 2 hours of waiting, Denny (the 1st guy) called back with another attempt of education of how good price it is and promised a callback soon regarding the document processing. I was basically feeding the deal to their face so that the only thing needs to be done is to move forward with document. However, no test or finance app link was sent, no call back in another 2-3 hours.

I called again, and was send to voicemail twice. For the third time, the sales manager Stan 'furtunately' picked up the phone call. FYI, this is the exactly person in the office that saw us walking in and out without any gesture on the day we went to the dealership. After confirming my interest in purchase (no more price negoatiation), he 'suprised me' with a 'door and paint protection package' for $1500, and give me another education on how gooood the price is that we need to 'appreciate'. This action disgusts me, especially after he told me they have no motivation in proceeding with deal when there is not much profit for them. What an amazing story! In the end, we finished the phone call with an agreement on price (online pricing), and the callback commitment from Denny to move with documents.

10/11: This is the end of my experience since any customer should stop trying this hard to buy a car from them. No callback, no text message, no document or email was sent!

FYI: this car has been sitting on their lot for over 70 days they lied to me about pricing when they lowered it twice in a row they are a commision based dealership (take percentage of the profit), instead of flat fee/car sold. This is prob the roto cause to their poor performance/motivation and a sequence of lies we were the only two asian customers when physically in their dealership. How poorly they treat us can be clearly categorized or escalated into some deeper issues this dealer, mainly sales department are good at using tricks and lies to customers, based on the expereince from other reviews The general manager clearly wants to move the car by lowering the price, but the Sales team has no motivation. This is why the car is sitting

My advice: Always walk away from LYING...