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New 2013 Dodge Dart Owner.

9K views 72 replies 14 participants last post by  AndreaLee 
#1 ·
Hello all! I am new to the forum and I look forward to what other owners experiences are.

I purchased a 2013 Dart on 12-30-13. It was built in September of 2013. I love the car so far and after owning a Jeep for 10 years I chose to stay with Chrysler products. However this weekend disappointment hit me when my check engine lite came on already.

I have a Black Sporty looking Rallye with 2.0L VVT, and powertech 6 speed trans. Back up camera, moon roof, uconnect touch screen w/out nav.

Anyway 1045 miles on it and my first trip to dealer results in a reported need to replace the (PCM) Powertrain Control module.

I thought wow that is pretty unusual for a brand new car. So I have found info on the web about this being an issue with these cars but what I read is it is mostly with the Turbo engines. Wonder why mine is already a fail. The car was running fine other than some occasional low idle which seemed as if it might stall. Gas mileage in the 35 range combined. I put about 75 miles to work and back each day.

I must admit this has me concerned moving forward. I went brand new over used in order to avoid reliability issues. I really didn't expect this out of a brand new car and am quite disappointed about it. I guess at least it is covered but I really hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

What makes it worse is I come from a ford family and they already pick on me for liking Chrysler products. This just adds fuel to the fire. Ughhh

Anyone else have this issue? How did it work out for you?
 
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#35 ·
I had mentioned that to the service man earlier in the process and he said no that they wouldn't buy back the car because they can repair it. I wish they would offer to buy it back cause my confidence is shaken in the whole engine deal. I like the car a lot but in my mind with all that gets disturbed in removing the engine I am just concerned about possible mechanical issues related to that later on. My engine is getting repaired vs. replaced. I know they are qualified to do these repairs so I am really banking on them to put everything back together with care and to assure everything is sound back in the car. I think Chrysler should offer an extended bumper to bumper warranty beyond the 3 year 36,000 mile factory one especially since the motor has been removed from the car. I hope they will.

I ultimately think that if they aren't able to resolve the issue with this repair that they should buy the car back. I will fight for that. If I drive that car home and a few days later that CEL comes back on I will be contacting Chrysler about replacing the car. The dealer sounded confident this repair would solve the problem so hopefully sometime soon I will have it back and no further issues. It would be fun to enjoy the car and build my trust back in it.
 
#36 ·
Unbeknownst to me, my transmission was replaced by another dealer before I bought my "new" Dart. I would not have known about it if my TCM had not failed 9 months later. It took my dealer 30 days to get Fiat to ship them a TCM that worked. Now I am a happy camper! In other words, don't assume you are screwed.........unless your dealer is incompetent.
 
#39 ·
I will keep updating both my threads for sure. I appreciate your interest and support! They already have taken the engine out and apart. At this point they are going to repair the 2.0L engine and put back into the car. They are confident the issue will be resolved. Lets see what happens.
 
#43 ·
Found out today (Tuesday) that the parts for my car will not be in till Friday 2/14/14. That means this will push into next week. That will mark 3 weeks+ in the service dept. Wish this never happened. This isn't supposed to happen with a brand new car. Wish I never bought the car. Feels like a big mistake. This has been the worst possible experience I could have ever imagined when buying a brand new car. Very frustrated, feel trapped and don't know what to do.
 
#45 ·
Don't know if you saw this in your other thread but here is my take:

You need to call Chrysler. Emailing Dodge won't cut it. I found Chrysler easy to work with on the one repair I had. Putting miles on nice Chrysler and Dodge loaners for 30 days was fine with me. Found out the metallic grey Avenger is a girl magnet. Even took the family + shedding dog camping in it. They had a real mess to clean up by the time we got it back to them! haha Even had approval to leave the state and drive to Washington if I wanted to. One way or another you will be taken care of in the end, or they will lemon your car. 100,000 mile power train warranty is standard on all Darts too.
 
#48 ·
I can't believe that tearing down and rebuilding an engine is cheaper for them than a simple engine swap. There's a huge amount of labor involved. As for why your car ended up like this to begin with, what was the mileage on the car when you first took delivery? Something that concerns me when buying a new car is that previous tire-kickers may have test-driven it and over-revved the engine and spun tires in an attempt to see "what she can do". Since they're not actually buying that particular car they may not care less about how they're treating it, especially if the dealer let them take it out without the salesperson riding shotgun. If your car only had 7 or 8 miles on it then it wasn't likely test-driven, in which case somebody at the engine assembly plant wasn't watching what they were doing.
 
#52 ·
My car had 7 miles on it when I took it out for a test drive. It was Sept 2013 build so not on lot terribly long. I put about 7 miles on it in the test drive. I agree with you on the situation about replacing the engine. I think the dealer wanted a new engine to put in, I know they asked for one early on in the process but Chrysler wouldn't do it cause they said the engine can be repaired. Some of the delay was in diagnosis for sure and then needing a Cylinder head instead of the block. A lot of waiting and the last week was just a waste. I just want the car mechanically sound when I get it back if I ever get it back. I don't want a rush job. I want to be able to lift up the hood and the engine compartment looks clean and undisturbed like it should. They have very little time left to get this resolved.
 
#49 ·
@speedvalve I think you may be in luck. I am sooo mad for you that I looked up the New Car Lemon Law in NY. It says:

"If the dealer can't fix the defect after four tries, or if you haven't been able to drive the car for 30 or more days because of the issue, you are then entitled to either a replacement vehicle or a refund of your purchase price―your choice."

I pulled this right off the your states DMV site. On the 12th the dealership had the car for 21 days. So you are at 22 today. IF they receive the parts on Monday you will be at 24 days. At which point they have to tear down and rebuild the engine in the remainder 6 days. Honestly, at this point... let's hope NOTHING happens this next week. Then you can choose to be refunded or get a new car.

I hope this helps.
 
#50 ·
Thanks for looking that up! I appreciate your support. Yeah I have been looking at NY DMV site myself and reading the FAQ on the NY Lemon Law. I have been without the car actually 21 days total cause I did get it back after one day the week prior. Either way, yes they are pushing this close to the line as far as days go. I'll bet they know it too. If the way it reads is correct I have 9 days left to give them. I am sure there is some fine print too with the Lemon Law I am not aware of. That is why if the situation goes beyond this coming week I will get legal advice from an attorney.

I am trying to be patient with the situation as much as possible. I know weather has been crazy across the country lately which may be delaying shipping from Detroit but those parts should have been expedited in the first place. If this pushes beyond this week I'm gonna flip out big time and like I said I will call Consumer Protection Agency and consult an attorney. I will raise holy hell that is for sure.
 
#51 ·
Why take the hard route? As soon as they pass 30 days you just tell Chrysler "Hey, this car is a lemon." They know they are getting the car back at that point, so they will give you a new Chrysler (based on what you paid or even your car's MSRP). A satisfied customer is a win-win for them. Its happened this way for people on this site and I had my dealer tell me the same thing (they got it back to me in 30 days though).
 
#53 ·
That is exactly what I will do Pretty Boy Floyd. If this goes beyond 30 days I will give Chrysler a chance to offer refund. I would hope they want a satisfied customer vs. a legal fight. I am sure they are going to try and make sure I get my car back within the limit like they did you. I guess time will tell. I appreciate your support!
 
#58 ·
I'm new to the forum I just bought a 2013 Dodge Dart SXT Special edition. It has the 2.0l tigershark engine. I have to say I was the 1st person to drive this car I took out a similar one but the 1 I actually bought had 2 km on it. The one I took for a test drive had more. Anyway, I traded my 2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4 for the Dart the engine blew in my SRT I didn't have $8000 they wanted to fix it. I love my Dart I'm glad I bought it! Extended warranty and all. I do miss my SRT I put way to much money into that car I wanted something that would get good gas mileage. The Dart is awesome!
 
#59 ·
The first 3 weeks with my Dart were great. I was so happy with the purchase. They really have a lot more to offer than other cars in it's class. I think my situation is just unfortunate. I was getting close to 35 MPG before I had to take it in to the shop. It has the aero treatment which helps with the Fuel Mileage. I truly hope you have good luck with your DART.
 
#64 ·
Good luck with the car, hope it works out for you. I was super hot on the Dart until I started hearing these stories of bad reliability. Here and elsewhere, and the issues have ranged from pretty severe like yours, to minor stuff like the gas door and poor throttle response. I am ultimately glad that I decided to hold off. Even if I do end up in a Dart, it'll be a couple of model years down the road. Right now I'm actually considering a 2015 Colorado, as I want the utility and 4x4 for winter. :eek:
 
#66 · (Edited)
Not sure where all these stories of bad reliability are coming from, because the 2.0 Dart has been getting high marks for reliability from most consumer-related guides, speedvalve's issues nothwithstanding. If you read any brand-specific online forum you'll quickly get the idea that nobody out there makes a decent car. The ratio of people reporting issues will always be high because the folks with no problems at all don't usually bother to post online. For example I never knew forums dedicated to Neons even existed until mine started falling apart and I began doing some Google searches looking for answers. And when it's not falling apart I virtually never bother to post on those forums. In fact I'm only here on a Dart forum because I'm a potential buyer trying to educate myself. I've already looked at plenty of forums for other cars before (BTW did you know there's a Geo Metro forum as well? Talk about excitement!), and they're usually 50% troubleshooting help, 25% modifications, and the remaining 25% is mostly off-topic nonsense. So take everything you read with a grain of salt, because the folks with problems or questions will always outnumber those posting just to let everyone know that nothing happened with their car today.

While it's a shame that speedvalve got a new Dart with a bum engine, hopefully even he's aware that shit happens and with his luck he probably could've gotten a Toyota Corolla that was the same way. My luck with cars (both old and new) hasn't always been great either, in fact I too once had a vehicle blow its engine just a few weeks after I bought it (a used but seemingly cherry Chevy S10). But that's life and I had to roll with it. I rebuilt the engine myself and made sure I got 100,000 miles of use out of that thing. With something as complex as today's cars the chances that something will go wrong are always high, even when the entire vehicle is brand-new. The main thing is how good the warranty is and how well the service department takes care of it, because no matter what brand you buy I can pretty much guarantee you're going to need their services at some time or another, especially with all the recalls and TSBs that plague every single brand. I was screwed with the S10 because it didn't have a warranty, which is why I don't want to buy another used vehicle. Some folks tell me to get a Honda or Toyota, but then I'm reminded of the Honda my sister bought that was a POS which proves you can still get a reject regardless of brand pedigree. The bottom line is, you get what you want, buy it from a dealer with a reputation for good after-the-sale service, and stop worrying that maybe going with Brand X would've been better, because you can't be 100% sure it is.
 
#67 ·
While it's a shame that speedvalve got a new Dart with a bum engine, hopefully even he's aware that shit happens and with his luck he probably could've gotten a Toyota Corolla that was the same way.
For sure Delta Dart. You are probably right. My luck in general lately has been terrible. Not sure what the hell I did. You are right shit does happen. I have been getting a lot of flack from my Ford loving family, but I told them that if they look on the net they will find all kinds of problems with all makes even their precious Fords. It is called mass production. I have had very good fortune with Chrysler products the last 10 years, so this was just a big surprise for me. I understand it can happen, but it was still hard to go through. I am just looking forward to moving on.

Thanks for your input!
 
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