My GenV Dealer/Service Journey Experience

[Madmav]

I feel your pain vipertony, they make you feel like a king when you buy a viper, but when it come time to have anything done to it no one is willing to help.

[Granger73]

Who's the closest dealer to Chuck?

[LmeaViper]

It's a sad state of affairs and involves more than just the dealers in CT area.

Hmmm....have some first hand dealings myself that have me scratching my head.

[ViperTony]

Update. I had the P51 recall work done today and the tech was great, professional. He took good care of the Viper, followed the recall instructions, no damage, went well no issues with the tech. I would definitely use this tech again. The dealer/service center not so much. And it was as I expected: The service department doesn't give a shit about the Viper or even getting more Viper service customers.

I was surprised to find out that they did not update the PCM or plug in the WiTech at least according to the service mgr. The reason, according to the service manager: "We only do that if it's needed, we don't want to create problems that don't exist by installing the updates." When I spoke to him on the phone days prior he assured me they would do just that "Oh yeah, the tech will plug in the witech and perform any updates needed on your Viper". I tried to explain the P18 but it was akin to talking to a pretzel. He couldn't find in the computer. This service mgr, actually, the three people behind the service desk, collectively can't figure out which end of a paper bag to stuff things into. The tech had left before I had a chance to drag him into the conversation. I'm going to drop by tomorrow and check with the tech tomorrow about the updates.

[plumcrazy]

sad, that is standard in the dodge dealerships. none of them are worth the time to talk to.

[ViperJon]

Who's the closest dealer to Chuck?

Roanoke. Unfortunately.

[yellowmz3]

Can Chuck do anything with the gen 5 vipers? Does he have all the diagnostics needed?

[ViperTony]

Update: Found a hidden gem,Met with the tech. Good guy. While I've heard of this place I've never visited the dealership. It's pretty cool. It's not the atypical Dodge dealership. Their showroom has a 50's style diner built into it, a small village and the showroom has classic muscle cars on display. That was a pleasant surprise. They're doing my recall work on the door handles. High hopes on this place.

As for the other dealership I visited: Something a Viper owner SHOULD NEVER WANT TO HEAR FROM THEIR SERVICE REP:

Me: I need an oil change.
Rep: Is this for the GenV Viper?
Me: Yes.
Rep: Does it take conventional or synthetic oil?
Rep: Yes, this must take synthetic right?
Me: No, they upgraded the oil to Canola oil.
Rep: Which oil?
Me: Are you seriously asking me this question?!?
Rep: Yes but I can't remember the last time we did a Viper oil change. I'll look it up in the computer.
Me: Ok............I wait awhile.
Rep: It doesn't come up on the computer because it's been so long since we've done one.
Rep: How many quarts of oil does it take.
Me: How many quarts does the service manual state?
Rep: Service manual?
Me: Ask your Viper Tech for this information.
Rep: Our Viper Tech? Hey <name not heard>, do we have a Viper tech? Because a customer is asking if we have one.
Me: WTF
Rep: Can I look this up and get back to you.
Me: Sure, take all of the time you need.

FWIW, it wasn't an issue just with this one rep, a similar conversation occurred with another rep there. Holy sh*t!

[dethred]

I am still getting internal emails from the sales guy that I had to deal with. He somehow thinks I am a coworker, but also still sends emails asking if I was still in the market for a Viper... which he sold to me 2 months ago. I'd venture to guess that 90% of everyone that works at car dealerships are in the low 80 IQ range. The trick is to find the one or two people that are above a 90 IQ, and stick with them for everything you need. But then you have dealers like Viper Exchange and Woodhouse that appear to be extremely capable... which means there will be many dealerships that have no one to trust with your car.

[ViperTony]

Miracles to do happen. I'm happy to report that I've found a reputable dealership/Viper Tech here in CT. The dealership is Papa's Dodge in New Britain, CT. The Viper Tech is Dean. I had a chance to meet and speak with him. Dean performed all outstanding recalls, campaigns and updates on my '13 yesterday. As it turns out, he's been a tech for quite some time. They are not your atypical Dodge dealership. Inside the showroom is a 50's-style diner, dance floor, barbershop and the showroom contains classic and muscle cars among the new Dodge/Chrysler/Ram/Jeep models. Pretty cool. It felt like I stepped into a gear-head village. It may actually make for a great local Viper event location especially since they are big in the classic car show scene and dream rides for special Olympics.

The service desk is well run. People behind the counter are professionals. Dean is a professional and treated my Viper as it were his own. After I dropped it off he called to let me know that he found a small indentation on the driver's door panel. It was fine, the indent was from the seat belt getting caught between the door. Though small and unnoticeable Dean let me know about it which is a good sign. Sometimes it's the little things that matter.

He performed the door handle replacement and programming on both doors without issue. Also uploaded a few PCM updates that were outstanding, the Uconnect update, etc. I also had the oil changed which is the first time 9 years that I didn't perform a Viper oil change myself. I'm getting lazy. The service desk kept me informed throughout the day as to the status of the work. Overall a pleasant experience.

I will be going back if more recalls or services is needed on my '13.

[swexlin]

This is good to hear Tony. I must admit, I'm a bit nervous about the door handle recall. I probably wouldn't have it done, but since my door panel is loose anyway (warranty fix) I'm having them do it when it goes in for service in a couple months.

[myoungs]

This is good to hear Tony. I must admit, I'm a bit nervous about the door handle recall. I probably wouldn't have it done, but since my door panel is loose anyway (warranty fix) I'm having them do it when it goes in for service in a couple months.

Mine is in right now for the door handle recall. My driver's window fell down in the door and won't move. They had to order a new glass for it saying that the retainers are gone. Must have never been installed correctly. Probably only had the window up and down a couple of dozen times. I can't find (internet searches, etc) that anyone else has had this issue. Anyway, figured while the door was already apart, go ahead and do the recall too!

We have a good dealer in the Columbus, Ohio area. Ty at Crown is the SRT/Viper service mgr. Trust him with the Viper and the SRT Challenger. Nice to work with a real "car guy". They did the seat recall for me telling me how they tape off the car, etc. to avoid damage when getting the seats in and out. It's a very tight fit!

BTW, they always check for, and install, the latest software updates. However, I did the radio hack update on the Viper, the Challenger and the RAM, all worked perfect!