Vehicle Lemon Law?

[Sytes]

Anyone experience the setting for a new vehicle that results in multiple visits for warranty work on the same issue(s)?
When / how to file / what is the result, etc?

I have a Ram 2022 Laramie 5.7 Etorque.

Right turn from a stop sign. As I proceed to make the right, the truck's ebrake suddenly engaged and my truck made a brief screech dead stop. Engine off, ebrake engaged.

Off to dealer. Battery dies 10 miles from dealer. AAA tows it to dealer. Dealer gives loaner, called next day, returned to dealer, "too many signals. It has to be the radio"... Are you chitting me??? I shared my concerns of the truck ebraking w/o notice and why I find it challenging to believe the radio is the problem.
"We've reset the radio. The battery held the charge so it's not an alternator. The radio likely stayed on and drained your battery." Explained how would it drain the battery driving 2 hours to their location - it should charge while driving. Everyone's radio is on while driving. "Battery held it's charge. We don't have anything to go with as multiple error codes were given and that's because the battery died."
We (wife and I) go out to truck and turn it on. This appears:



Back inside. Show picture to dealer service. "We manually reset the radio. "We'll take another look."
Ten minutes later, "Okay, everything is good now."
Go out to truck again.
Again, turn it on and Presto! 13 minutes later Same chit!
Go back in show the pic again with the new time. "Again?" Service guy says. Yep, again. It's saying Brake System Alert. That's a bit concerning considering the situation that led us to call you and drive down for you to eval/fix.



Well, take the loaner truck again. We'll have to look into it again.

This morning, dealer call says truck is ready to p/u.
Back down. "We did a factory reset of your radio. It should be good now."
I'm at work. Wife p/u truck.
Leaving lot (2 hr drive) she took a pic of the dash. Note battery. I would have shown the battery to the service person before leaving though not faulting wife. Difference how we go about life.


Arrive at home wife takes another pic of dash. Note battery.


Hey though radio doesn't say B"rake System Alert". Side note: nor did it when the ebrake automatically engaged while turning from a stop sign.

Any thoughts how to resolve this? It's concerning to drive a truck that pulled this crap - then to see the alert pop up that indicates a common theme for the reason we brought it in.

 

[perma]

Call Ram and request a final repair attempt before pursuing buyback and lemon law. Request that a field rep assists the dealership in the repair.

Depending on the state, the average is 3 repair attempts or 30 days before your eligible for buyback.

Retain all work order invoices you received, you may have to retain an attorney to support the process of either fixing the truck or replacing it under your state laws. It’s cheaper for everyone to fix the truck because you may not get reimbursement for TTL fees and you’d inherit those costs. Again, varies by state law.

PM me if you need specific help. I deal with this daily.

 

[Sytes]

Apparently this ebrake at slow speeds was part of a Ram Etorque/ Jeep recall for 20-21 builds through September. My truck build was November of 2021. They said mine should have been resolved. (Same issue I experienced.
USDOT issued a notice of review as 2022+ have the same issues.

 

[Sytes]

Call Ram and request a final repair attempt before pursuing buyback and lemon law. Request that a field rep assists the dealership in the repair.

Depending on the state, the average is 3 repair attempts or 30 days before your eligible for buyback.

Retain all work order invoices you received, you may have to retain an attorney to support the process of either fixing the truck or replacing it under your state laws. It’s cheaper for everyone to fix the truck because you may not get reimbursement for TTL fees and you’d inherit those costs. Again, varies by state law.

PM me if you need specific help. I deal with this daily.

I'm still under warranty from dealer for another 7,000 miles or 4 - 7 months. Thus far everything they've done, they've stated is warranty covered.

I'll follow up with a PM. Thanks for the offer.

 

[perma]

I'm still under warranty from dealer for another 7,000 miles or 4 - 7 months. Thus far everything they've done, they've stated is warranty covered.

I'll follow up with a PM. Thanks for the offer.

That’s good, once you reach 12000 miles or 1 year (whatever comes first) your fight gets significantly more difficult. I’d make that phone call to Ram Monday morning and don’t let off the throttle (no pun intended) until you get what you’re looking for.

 

[Sytes]

Snow, light turned green, 3/4 through intersection, truck brake automatically locks up truck - this time, over train tracks. Completely shut off with the "A", circular arrow and exclamation point popped on dash upper mid left area of screen.

Again, slow speed, accelerating from a stop.

Only difference, the snow disguised the setting a bit because the last occasion on asphalt, my truck brakes caused an immediate stop and screech noise.
This had no noise other than the car behind me honking their horn. Thankfully smart enough to keep distance behind me and able to stop in time.
This truck has been to the dealership... around 10 occasions thus far.
I followed dealership advice and an O'Reilly auto store ran their code computer. Zilch. This was the next day as this event occurred late in the evening. The A symbol was no longer on the dash.
I would've thought that A symbol would have caused a code, however, not the case.



We have it serviced in the U.S., currently temp stationed in Canada (Govt job), hence the km speed.
This picture was right after I quickly tried to figure out what happened, disengage the ebrake and restart the truck. As I accessed my phone to snap a pic and video of the dash.

FCA keeps up with a field tech and our main dealership. Unable to replicate the issue. Keep saying battery holds charge, even though the first time my wife had AAA tow it the final 10 minutes to the dealership after the battery died en-route.

it's been about five days since this recent event. Battery seems OK currently...

I've offered to keep a service buyback $ with FCA for a 2500 2024/5. Nope. But they'll obviously do a "trade in".

On a "good" note, this seems to occur at slow speeds from a stop to start of acceleration. The forums elsewhere suggest same setting.
All relate to the e-torque and I believe attributable to the Auto stop at light function. Though???

At a loss.

 

[longbow51]

How frustrating, so sorry.

 

[Addicting]

Friend did the lemon law with Ford and it went surprising well. The dealership has a lot to do with it and they were fully on board with the process. It took a long time but he was in a rental provided by Ford for the whole time.

Have you filed a complaint with Dodge customer care?

 

[hank4elk]

Good thing I'm old, like my trucks.
I would not buy a new vehicle.

 

[TheTone]

Super frustrating, sorry

My truck likes to randomly lose electrical power but has always immediately got it back. Almost always while going slow, slow speed turns or going down hills. Dealer basically said we have no clue what it might be and also maybe change the battery cables. I can’t wait for it to be paid off, save a little money and get something different. I’ve lost a lot of faith though in newer vehicles with too many sensors and computer controlled systems

 

[Redmt]

You can't trust "new" anymore.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Good thing I'm old, like my trucks.
I would not buy a new vehicle.

You and me too, hank! I'm about to spend over $8k to rebuild drivelines, front end steering, and labor-heavy oil leak repair. But gladly, since I love my old 2005 Dodge Ram Laramie 3500. Likley it'll still be haulin' when hank and I are stalkn' bulls in the happy hunting grounds.

'Sorry for your unacceptable vehicle service stresses, Sytes. 'Good thing your bride keeps your heat and engine light in check ... or there could be a catastrophic customer satisfaction response at that lame dealership!

 

[Sytes]

Friend did the lemon law with Ford and it went surprising well. The dealership has a lot to do with it and they were fully on board with the process. It took a long time but he was in a rental provided by Ford for the whole time.

Have you filed a complaint with Dodge customer care?

Been in contact with FCA since the first time. They have a field tech that converses with the dealership techs and the service manager has been in good contact with us.
A royal pain that no codes flag! So infrequent It would be a lottery win for the 15-30 minutes they spend driving to replicate the issue.
Lemon law from our home (MT) does not apply after 19K miles, I believe - last we looked into it and NY is no better, especially since my current location is in Canada.
I keep pushing for a Service Buyback, but the last time FCA said that that is not an option. I'll keep pushing for it...

Good thing I'm old, like my trucks.
I would not buy a new vehicle.

No kidding! I'd love to have my IH '65 Scout! Wouldn't pull our trailer however the simplicity sure makes troubleshooting a breeze!

 

[Redmt]

Mechanical problems are easy. Electrical or computer problems are terrible. My '96 Power Stroke occasionally looses power. I shut the key off and refire and it's fine. It does it in clusters, maybe twice a day for a week and nothing for months. No codes no warning lights. It has 323,000 otherwise trouble free miles.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Honestly this is horrifying IMO…the truck brakes out of nowhere and you could be injured. I would not trust that truck at all and do a buy back ASAP….but maybe that’s just me.

 

[Addicting]

sell it

 

[Redmt]

sell it

A truck that's not reliable is like a dog that bites. Get rid of it before it really gets someone hurt or worse.

 

[Sytes]

and do a buy back ASAP

I've argued this continuously with FCA. I can not do a lemon law type buyback so it's basically at the whim of a customer service buyback and that's not something they're interested entertaining.
I called / left a message with the general manager for the dealership. Shared while the service manager has been involved and to no fault of hers as she works with FCA appointed field tech, we are still w/o any resolution even though the exact setting turned into a massive recall for the e-torque 1500's up to Sept 2021 builds and ours was built Nov 2021.

In July of this year, NHTSA began reviewing October through ? That covers my truck for the same exact setting.

I'll see what the general manager has to share.
My warranty expires @40k though, i believe, it continues under warranty work for the same issue even after 40K miles.

sell it

I am the WORST sales person ever. I spend more time speaking about any known issue I've run into to ensure the person has full transparency. Private party sales is out nor would I want that on my conscious - The general manager just called back, and he was empathetic and offered on his end to give a good trade in value though FCA is the responsible party for buyback options.
I'm driving down there tomorrow for them to do another service exam based on field tech interests and their own... basically likely another wasted trip though I suppose it records another instance of an ongoing issue unresolved(?). Today, I'm going to chew on FCA again - general manager shared while he appreciates my professional demeanor speaking with him, if he was to offer any advice, it would be to rachet up the intensity of the situation with FCA for a service buyback. Guess it's time to raise it up a notch...

 

[TheTone]

Next step?

Alaska 4th of July celebration: destroying vehicles? | Car News | Auto123

In Glacier View, Alaska, they like to celebrate American independence in a unique way: they throw vehicles down a cliff. Auto123 has more.

www.auto123.com

 

[Dave N]

Next step?

Alaska 4th of July celebration: destroying vehicles? | Car News | Auto123

In Glacier View, Alaska, they like to celebrate American independence in a unique way: they throw vehicles down a cliff. Auto123 has more.

www.auto123.com

It's actually a good time! Was there in 2019. Sounds like the river is cutting away enough banking that they may not have it next year.