[tweav88]

So I just picked my car up yesterday, and one of the questions i asked is if i could do the basic oil changes and basic maintenance without voiding my warranty. I was told that I cannot even perform a simple oil change without voiding my warranty. My situation is a little different since I purchased my car overseas on a military installation and then picked it up from a german dealer. The car is US spec.

Is anyone in the states in the same boat? Or do y'all do your own mx?

 

[T-Rex]

I was told that if records and receipts were kept, no problem, on oil changes anyway.

 

[fatabbot]

What party is actually responsible for your warranty? Chrysler of America? Should be indicated in your warranty booklet that came with the car. Without that info, no way for us to give you proper guidance.

 

[karl]

Germans are funny about having to demonstrate competence before letting you do things like even driving. I assume you made the purchase thru AAFES. I bought a car that way and took care of it myself at the local craft shop. The single warrantty issue required me to take it to a local dealer in Germany. Got transfered to England and took it with me. Shipped it home to the US and the warrantty had run out by then but took it to a dealer for a recall for a repair. It was fun driving an American Exotic in Europe. The German car we had at the same time was easier to live with.

 

[tweav88]

I did purchase through AAFES, and I'll look in the book but I'm pretty sure its through Chrysler of America. Sad thing though, my car broke down withing 36 hours of ownership with only 142 miles.

 

[Pretty Boy Floyd]

Sounds like they sold you a derelict. I would demand my money back.

 

[tweav88]

So I did confirm my warranty is through Chrysler of America. I looked through the owners manual and I cant find anything saying I cant do my own oil changes. Has anyone had issues with warranty work if a dealership didnt do your maintenance?

Also, they are paying for everything as they should but I'll see how the car is when I get it back, if there is another problem I am definitely going to bring up lemon lawing it.

 

[jsblanch]

So I did confirm my warranty is through Chrysler of America. I looked through the owners manual and I cant find anything saying I cant do my own oil changes. Has anyone had issues with warranty work if a dealership didnt do your maintenance?

Also, they are paying for everything as they should but I'll see how the car is when I get it back, if there is another problem I am definitely going to bring up lemon lawing it.

Doing your own oil changes won't void US new vehicle warranty coverage. Just keep receipts of the oil and filters that you purchase, and records of when you do the oil changes (date and mileage are important). If your engine were to die of oil starvation at some point (hopefully not, but things happen), you would probably need to demonstrate that oil changes were performed properly.

 

[tweav88]

Doing your own oil changes won't void US new vehicle warranty coverage. Just keep receipts of the oil and filters that you purchase, and records of when you do the oil changes (date and mileage are important). If your engine were to die of oil starvation at some point (hopefully not, but things happen), you would probably need to demonstrate that oil changes were performed properly.

Yea that's what I thought, I always keep my own service records for my vehicles so it won't be anything new. Thanks for the reassurance though.

 

[Deadpool]

they must hate me then because i never go to the dealer for oil change. too damn expensive for dealer service.

 

[tweav88]

they must hate me then because i never go to the dealer for oil change. too damn expensive for dealer service.

I dont know that they'd hate you. I bought my dart in Germany through AAFES and when i picked the car up I asked about that and the german said that it would void my warranty, but my warranty is through Chrysler of America and I cannot find anywhere that says that I cannot do my own maintenance. Germans are also extremely particular when it comes to certain things, so maybe German warranties are voided if you do your own service. My uncle lives in germany and had a car shipped over and when he went in for warranty work they tried telling him he voided his warranty for not having it serviced in the shop, he just said that he isn't german and they ended up honoring the warranty. I might actually call chrysler and ask to triple check, then I can get info on who tells me this incase i run into an issue.

 

[Spillage]

From my understanding of things, US laws don't allow manufactures to deny you warranty because they did not conduct the regular service(s)... but as mentioned, you have to document that said servicing was done (date, mileage, receipts for oil, filter, etc).

I did however wonder about this for the 1.4L turbo.
There is no US produced engine oil that meets the oil spec in the owners manual... you have to get Pennzoil Ultra European Full Synthetic (Amazon has it) to meet the spec.
So if one did their own oil changes with Mobil 1 Full Synthetic, this would technically give Chrysler an out for a warranty claim, as your receipts would show an non-spec oil was used.

That being said, I don't think the dealerships have drums of "special oil" just for the limited number of 1.4L turbo's they service... I would put money on them using the (Mobil 1) full synth that they already have on hand.
Any Chrysler techs on here want to offer some inside info?

 

[Retlaw]

From my understanding of things, US laws don't allow manufactures to deny you warranty because they did not conduct the regular service(s)... but as mentioned, you have to document that said servicing was done (date, mileage, receipts for oil, filter, etc).

I did however wonder about this for the 1.4L turbo.
There is no US produced engine oil that meets the oil spec in the owners manual... you have to get Pennzoil Ultra European Full Synthetic (Amazon has it) to meet the spec.
So if one did their own oil changes with Mobil 1 Full Synthetic, this would technically give Chrysler an out for a warranty claim, as your receipts would show an non-spec oil was used.

That being said, I don't think the dealerships have drums of "special oil" just for the limited number of 1.4L turbo's they service... I would put money on them using the (Mobil 1) full synth that they already have on hand.
Any Chrysler techs on here want to offer some inside info?

Chrysler oil is made by Pennzoil now so most dealers will carry that. As far as bulk oil or not at our dealership we don't have any of the synthetics in bulk. We buy it from chrysler by the case and use all the recommended oils. This of course will vary dealer to dealer.

 

[Spillage]

Chrysler oil is made by Pennzoil now so most dealers will carry that. As far as bulk oil or not at our dealership we don't have any of the synthetics in bulk. We buy it from chrysler by the case and use all the recommended oils. This of course will vary dealer to dealer.

I'm sure many/most do, but the 44Gal drum of Mobil 1 Synth in the oil bay is a give away... especially with no case motor oil to be seen on the shelf.

 

[Dart189]

The price difference between the Mobil 1 and the Pennzoil is huge on the dealer level.

Every dealer that I know of has a contract signed with Pennzoil now. They delivery all the oil directly for FCA. I have never worked in a dealer that has "a barrel of Mobil 1" and I have been doing this for 30 years.

The only thing Chrysler that requires Mobil 1 is the old SRTs. All the newer stuff takes Pennzoil Synthetic.

As of 1 year ago maintenance records meant nothing for a warranty claim. As a dealer if there was an engine problem we had to tear down the engine completely to find the problem. Document it with clear pictures. If anywhere along the way there was any blueing of metal or signs of lack of lubrication or sludge anywhere the claim was denied. All pictures of engine and suspected failure had to be sent to digital imagining and someone there decided if we were going to do a warranty repair or not. They would usually ask us questions or ask us for specific pictures of something but it was a yes or no deal.

 

[Terogun]

Ive received 2 free oil changes for my car from my dealer so far, both times they listed mobil 1 synthetic 0w-20 6qt as the oil they used. Have the records in my lockbox. Ron bouchards cdr in fitchburg, ma.

 

[NorthernLightsDart]

Watched an interesting consumer news story last fall about a guy that was a HD mech by trade and did all his own service work. Long story short, the engine blew on his SUV and wanted the dealership to replace it thru warranty. His claim was denied on the basis that he couldn't produce what they deemed as "adequate" service records. Buddy had a fistful of receipts that he kept track of himself but that wasn't good enough in the eyes of the stealership. Just another thing to consider while your vehicle is on warranty I suppose. Don't enjoy shelling out money on something I can do myself but might have to bite the bullet in this case.

 

[fatabbot]

Would happily take it to a dealer for changes if I could be sure my rocker panels wouldn't be crushed. Alas, I do it myself. Very easy and clean on the Dart anyways.

 

[dad's dart]

In this day and age, most dealers have a deal with the manufacturer to give the new car customer an average of 4 free oil changes. Not a scam. Top grade OEM oil, filter, and any mileage you want them at. 2K, 3K, whatever. That policy keeps everybody's underwear from getting skid marks on them should a warranty issue arise.

 

[nick1253]

You really just have to check your warranty in detail and check with your dealer where I bought my dart they have a customer for life program so there's free oil changes for life.