Genthe Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Saline — Local services in Saline

• 1/28/23 UPDATED REVIEW * First let me offer an apology to LaFontaine Saline for the tardiness in updating this review.

Off the bat you will notice my rating has changed to 5 stars. Yes, the response and service I received after my last review warranted the jump in the rating. And NOT only because they responded to my review with issues.

So first off, let me make you aware, that LaFontaine has recognized the service issues they have had in the past and made personnel changes to address this. Changes in the form of a new service manager who I will call out by name, Bradley Landsdale. To the management of this dealership, I commend you both on your recognition of the issue and finding an OUTSTANDING person to address them.

Now to start, within hours of posting my review I received a VERY polite message which informed me that they both apologized and offered quick investigation into the remaining noise issue. They did not make excuses, owned the problem, and moved forward. I truly appreciated this.

I will say that I was very confident that my assessment of the noise coming from the front of my car was not due to aggressive tire tread. And now also up front I will tell you I was both wrong and right. And I say wrong first because it was a tire issue but not due to its aggressive tire tread, but rather, I was told the tires were cupped and chopped.

Well, suffice it to say, they acknowledged that this was probably a hard message to swallow, given the maintenance records on the rotation of the tires I provided them. However, they were VERY patient with me and willing to demonstrate that this was indeed the issue.

I should mention here, they came to MY house and picked up my Jeep, brought me an immaculate loaner, one package level up from mine (I have a Trailhawk), took the car and then confirmed their opinion that the tires were the cause.

However, and here is the truly awesome part, they went the super extra mile and found a set of wheels and tires from the same year grand Cherokee as mine, with known good tires, put them on my vehicle, drove it to my house, and let me test drive. And, WHAM, what a difference, hypothesis of bad tires proved! Frankly I was a little embarrassed to have made such an issue out of something that was essentially out of their control and that they essentially (although the specifics were wrong originally) told me the first time.

Oh.. and I should mention, as this was a follow up to a previous service issue, no charge! I can't of course guarantee that for you, but I do feel confident now that they will do their best to do right by you.

SUMMARY: Let me say, I am very very impressed with the new attitude, responsiveness and willingness to go the extra mile. Coming to my house, picking my car up, finding good wheels and tires, allowing me to be skeptical and being willing to let me see the truth first hand. This is the hallmark of excellent and outstanding customer service.

I hope it doesn't take a negative review for you in the future to get the kind of experience I just described, but I will say this, I can guarantee you that I will be returning to LaFontaine Jeep in Saline for any further service needs I may have.

• END 1/28/23 UPDATE *

** abbreviated original review * Oh boy.. well folks I'm trying to be fair here. I know that we have a national debt of talented skilled workers right now, so I'm trying to temper this review.

PROs -Very friendly staff Eventually a free loaner but not until they determined there was a problem took care of a very minor trim problem for free obvious service problems were indeed solved on first visit (gas filler tank obstruction, sunroof reprogramming, air suspension repair) communication during repair process was excellent

CONs Getting them to respond to you when you submit an online service request is near impossible.

completeness of service was poor.

I WILL be back to update this review with a fair assessment of how they handle...

I brought my car in for some maintenance, and asked them to check on another issue while they had it. It was engaging into reverse roughly. $376.50 for 1.5q of transmission fluid to fix it? I have no leaks showing on my garage floor. When I picked it up, I had a NEW problem that wasn’t there before, where it was getting stuck in 3rd gear. This new issue caused me to be stuck on the side of the road, so I had to schedule a new “appointment”. This appointment resulted in a rebuild of the transmission, under the powertrain warranty. No offer to cover the cost of the previous appointment under the powertrain warranty though. They had my car for 23 days for the 2nd appt.

They don’t know what the word “appointment” means They operate on drop off only, and they don’t even touch your car for a day or two after you drop it off. Why not just schedule the appointment for when you know you are going to be able to perform the service? 2nd appointment set for 9am 4/24. They didn’t even look at the car until the following day. No update on diagnosis until end of day Friday 4/25, and the service writer was gone for the weekend shortly after sending this update, leaving no time to discuss alternative transportation options until Monday.

Their communication is horrible They use text now for most of their communications. I am constantly asking for updates, and do not get timely responses, which often bleed over to the next day. Multiple times I got a text update toward the end of the day. When I immediately replied to the text asking follow up questions, they had already left for the day, or even gone for the weekend. They could be much more proactive in their communication to keep customers in the loop. Twice I reached out after not hearing from them in a week. My initial paperwork said that the “Est. delivery” would be “Sat. Apr 26, 2025”. When I called the dealer on that day, I found out that the service department isn’t even open on weekends. Twice the completion was delayed due to needing to order a “special tool”. I didn’t find this out until I reached out asking for updates after not hearing from them for a week (twice). This didn’t instill a lot of confidence in the work, as if they were trained ‘hands-on’, or completed this repair in the past, they would already have the tools. If neither of these things happened, and they didn’t even know that they needed these tools in advance of starting the repairs, are they certified to complete the transmission rebuild properly?

They have little empathy for their customers On top of the horrendous communication, they had my car for multiple weeks, and did little to nothing to help me find alternative transportation to work. Someone in sales took pity on me and gave me a loaner off the used lot, but when I had to return it after a few days, the service department showed that they just didn’t care. They offered me $45/day toward a rental for up to 5 days, but I had to find my own way to the rental facility, and miss work to get there at a time when they had cars available. Also, the rental reimbursement was only “up to 5 days”, and they had my car for 23 days. I ended up having to pay for my own Uber just to get home, after the rental car company didn’t have any cars available for me at the time, and the dealer wouldn’t let me wait there until my wife got off work to come pick me up (after they closed). On day 15 of having my car, the service department finally offered me a loaner vehicle. If I had not raised a complaint, I sincerely doubt that this offer of a loaner...

Long Read: My wife and I purchased a vehicle not even a week ago 7/24/21 and it already has engine issues. Come to find out, it’s an common issue with that particular vehicle. I called into the dealership and explained what was going on and our sales rep “Doug W.” suggested that we bring the vehicle in to be checked out.

I was under the impression that the dealership would fix whatever was going on with it, considering that it has not even been a week since our purchase. I brought it up so that the mechanics could see what was wrong and fix it.

In passing time, I found out from the LaFontaine mechanic about the dealership’s vehicle extended warranty. That was withheld from us for whatever reason at the time of purchase. I mentioned to Doug W., “I didn’t know you all offered extended warranties”. His response was “my finance manager didn’t come talk to you all about it?” I said no “We only dealt with you the entire purchasing process.” I told him I would be interested in purchasing an extended warranty.

After speaking to his finance manager to find out about getting our vehicle repaired, Doug came back to say “the finance manager won’t cover the engine repairs because he said “the car drives”. I then begin to mention to him, this can be a very costly job and I wasn’t looking to spend thousands of dollars to start off fixing a vehicle right away.

There was no way we would have remotely known that the vehicle had engine issues since the sales reps were the first to start the vehicle. The engine issue only happens once the car has sat for a long period of time (initial/Cold Starts).

The finance/business manager Vedran Karahusic finally approaches the desk aggressively. He asked “What’s the problem with the truck” in a very uninterested tone. I told him what was going on and and he immediately jumps on the defense saying “but you denied the extended warranty” I told him, we were never offered an extended warranty. He wasn’t listening to a word that I said. He was very Antagonistic and condescending about the entire ordeal.

Fast forward As soon as Vedran K. leaves, Doug W. mentions “I don’t know what all that was about! I told him that I didn’t offer you guys an extended warranty!” Needless to say, I ended leaving without an extended warranty.

They sold me a lemon for thousands of dollars and didn’t take responsibility for it.

PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, PLEASE PLEASE DON’T BUY FROM LAFONTAINE IN SALINE MI. THEY ARE UNETHICAL, MISLEADING, & SCAMMERS! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO DISAPPOINTED IN PURCHASING FROM A...