Feb 2017 - First took our 2013 Ram 1500 with a 5.7L Hemi in to Mountain View Dodge in Olds, Alberta, Canada complaining of a ticking noise in the engine compartment. Service staff pretended they couldn’t hear it. Because there was no power drain or performance issues we left without the annoying tick being diagnosed.

May 2018 - Engine Tick became louder, returned to Mountain View Dodge in Olds and service again pretended they couldn’t hear it. Again left without having the loud ticking noise diagnosed.

March 3, 2020 - As our $7,400 Extended Warranty was set to expire May 31, 2020, we brought the Ram 1500 in to Mountain View Dodge a third time and stated we were not leaving until they diagnosed what the annoying ticking sound was. Finally, service staff acknowledged the tick existed and we left it for diagnosis. Bailey Slack, our service rep called later that day and said the truck had a faulty motor blower and manifold but not to worry, it would be covered under our “bumper to bumper” extended warranty.

We were so relieved because we felt like they’d denied being able to hear the engine tick because they were trying to run out the 7 year, 160,000 km extended warranty we’d been “up-sold” at the time of purchase.

When we arrived to take our tick free truck home we were devastated to hear the same old annoying tick. My husband went back into the service department and told them the tick was still there. The service manager came out and listened at the hood agreeing that the annoying tick was still there. He asked if we could leave the truck with them, we said yes, but only for a week as my husband had to go up north to work. He said no problem, he was certain they’d have it resolved by then.

When we hadn’t heard from Mountain View Dodge after a week, my husband called his service representative, Bailey Slack, and asked if the truck was done. Bailey said no, but they’d taken 5 hours to diagnose the problem and it was a seized wrist pin. Bailey Slack went on to say that FCA had refused to cover this repair under our extended warranty because of improper maintenance of the vehicle. We asked for a document stating precisely why they were refusing the warranty claim and a quote for repairing the seized wrist pin.

When we hadn’t heard from Bailey Slack by March 19, 2020 (9 days) I called the Mountain View Dodge General Manager Clinton Slack and asked why we hadn’t received the repair quote or the document detailing why they were not honouring our $7,400 extended warranty. Mr. Slack apologized for the delay and said he’d look into it.

When I didn’t hear from him by March 22, 2020 I sent an email reminder. On March 24th Clinton Slack finally produced a quote, but it was not for replacing the seized wrist pin they’d diagnosed, it was to replace the entire engine block for $14,000. He’d also doubled the diagnostic hours from 5 to 10.

I emailed him asking why I didn’t receive a quote to replace the seized wrist pin and why he’d doubled the diagnostic hours. He replied back with yet another quote, this time for $4100 to replace pistons and a bunch of other things, but NOT THE WRIST PIN THEY'D DIAGNOSED ON MARCH 10, 2020. Crazy right! But he had reduced the diagnostic hours on this quote back to the original 5...lucky us.

BEWARE CONSUMERS! www.camvap.ca is a body that helps consumers get their vehicles repaired when dealerships deny valid claims. They will only help you if your vehicle is 4 years old or newer. If it feels like your dealership is trying to ”run out a clock”... they probably are! If your vehicle is more than 4 years old and your dealership is denying a valid claim, contact www.AMVIC.ca - they will try to help you!