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Mark Dodge Thread

So my truck got to MD in just over 6 weeks of placing the order, which was well above my expectations. That's where the good news seems to have ended. I mentioned earlier that Aaron called me to say there were some scratches on the truck. I got another call today with more details : seems there was another vehicle ( a Charger I think ) on the transporter from Port Allen and somehow it got a broken rear window. No idea how. Evidently my truck was under it and broken glass rained down on top of it ! There's some scratching on the hood, on the roof, on one of the doors, on the plastic surround of one of the rear view mirrors and on the front bumper. It's now at a body shop and Aaron estimates it could be a month there. Mainly because they need to order replacement parts - the scratched plastic parts need replacing. The hood, roof and door panel will be painted. The body shop guy is evidently a buddy of Aaron;s and wants to be sure the job is done right, especially since Stellantis is paying for this. It could be touched up, but its a better job to do the entire impacted panels. ( I had personal experience of this once : one of my kids drew a nice picture in the dust on the door of one of our cars. But she drew it with a rock off the driveway :eek: Nice smiley face and all. Then she went to dust it off and had an "oh sugar" moment. The body shop finished up painting the entire side of the car, not just that door. He said it was the only way to blend it. Especially since vehicle was a few years old at that point. )

But I digress, back to the truck: my sense is Aaron is on top of this and being proactive. They could have used a touch up pen and shipped me the truck and then shrugged when I noticed it and said "I dunno, it must have happened on it's way to you". But he's not. He sees it and he wants it fixed and made right. He told me to hold off on the financing for now ( so my good for 30 days quote from my credit union might expire unfortunately)
He did tell me that, given this, I do have the right to cancel the order without impacting my deposit. But if I place a new order, prices have gone up. While I ordered Jan 15th, I actually got Dec pricing because that's when I started the conversation with MD. And it'll be a longer wait for a new build vs getting this one sorted out.
I don't think the scratches are massive and that I'll probably have a few on it myself by the end of the summer after a few camping trips out to the woods, but Aaron wants to deliver a factory-pristine vehicle to me. And in fairness that's what I've paid for and should get.
What would you guys do ? I guess it does come down to personal preference. I know some folks on here are detailers when it comes to paint finish, but I'm not really one of those folks myself.
I guess I could ask for an additional discount or other sweetner to the deal to compensate for the delay !
I would get my money back and get another truck. The amount of work that needs to go into it for a full paint job is a lot and most places cheap out and don't do a factory perfect job.

You are more likely to have issues within the next 5 years if you let some shop do it.
There is a chance they do a better job then the factory, but that is an insane risk to take. That's the whole point of buying a vehicle new.
 
Is there a way to sell/transfer a deposit at Mark Dodge? We ordered a 1500 v8 longhorn and want to upgrade it to a 2500 Cummins longhorn. But the truck will be at mark Dodge in the next 3 weeks and we will have to eat the deposit. Just curious if anyone knows!
 
Is there a way to sell/transfer a deposit at Mark Dodge? We ordered a 1500 v8 longhorn and want to upgrade it to a 2500 Cummins longhorn. But the truck will be at mark Dodge in the next 3 weeks and we will have to eat the deposit. Just curious if anyone knows!
Have you had a discussion with MD on what you want to do?
 
Have you had a discussion with MD on what you want to do?
We were able to change from a 4x2 to a 4x4 a week after we ordered and were told if we changed again we would have to eat the deposit. I'm sure they would be able to sell the truck we ordered with less discount on the lot AND keep our $1k deposit!
 
MD is clearly eating up every bit of their allotment every month. After seeing how much is on their lot in person I can understand why they're making people eat the deposit. Their margins are small and it's eating into their numbers.
 
MD is clearly eating up every bit of their allotment every month. After seeing how much is on their lot in person I can understand why they're making people eat the deposit. Their margins are small and it's eating into their numbers.
I'm a relative newb, so don't/haven't looked into what allotment a dealer may be allocated, but sounds as if orders through MD could take longer based on their large volume due to a "cap"? In essence they get x cars per month (lets say 100)? So if prod time was 2 months and they took 200 orders in Jan, max they would receive in March would be 100, pushing the additional 100 to another month?
 
My salesman told me they've been selling 400/month since the pandemic started and they changed to their deep discount selling.
 
Traded my 1500 Rebel for this! Ordered through MD and all I can say is it was an amazing deal.
2002 24v and the 2022 6.7
20 years of Cummins
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I'm a relative newb, so don't/haven't looked into what allotment a dealer may be allocated, but sounds as if orders through MD could take longer based on their large volume due to a "cap"? In essence they get x cars per month (lets say 100)? So if prod time was 2 months and they took 200 orders in Jan, max they would receive in March would be 100, pushing the additional 100 to another month?
I'm not sure what they're alloted but being a volume dealer I would imagine they can pick up the phone and ask for more and get them pretty easily. The key right now is selling sold orders to the person that ordered them. You know you're order was accepted if you have a VIN and people maybe wait a week max before they have a VIN through Mark Dodge.

Logistics are a mystery, but right now the dealer the order comes from doesn't appear to be a factor.
 
So my truck got to MD in just over 6 weeks of placing the order, which was well above my expectations. That's where the good news seems to have ended. I mentioned earlier that Aaron called me to say there were some scratches on the truck. I got another call today with more details : seems there was another vehicle ( a Charger I think ) on the transporter from Port Allen and somehow it got a broken rear window. No idea how. Evidently my truck was under it and broken glass rained down on top of it ! There's some scratching on the hood, on the roof, on one of the doors, on the plastic surround of one of the rear view mirrors and on the front bumper.
So today I was in the Toyota dealer getting an oil change done on the wife's Highlander. I was wandering around the lot while waiting, hoping to find a '22 Tundra to take a look at ( had considered it before settling on the Rebel ). They only had one Tundra on the lot, but plenty of Tacomas and I noticed this one with some sort of shipping plastic / film over the hood and roof.
And I got to thinking "I wonder do Stellantis ship the trucks protected like that ? And if they do, then how did mine get damaged ?" I guess bits of glass dropping from perhaps 6+ feet above might still puncture that film though, but it seems it would be some help.
 

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I'm a relative newb, so don't/haven't looked into what allotment a dealer may be allocated, but sounds as if orders through MD could take longer based on their large volume due to a "cap"? In essence they get x cars per month (lets say 100)? So if prod time was 2 months and they took 200 orders in Jan, max they would receive in March would be 100, pushing the additional 100 to another month?
The way it used to work was a dealer's allotment for vehicles on their lot was based on last year's sales. So if they sold 100 in March of 2021, their allotment would be 100 for March of 2022 (that's from when I was in the business in the 80's - many moons ago).

Now it looks like it is a "turn-and-earn" process for many dealers, with instant rewarding of allotments for those who sell cars now. If Mark Dodge's allotment also includes customer-ordered vehicles, their future allotment will be through the roof. I've seen some here who say there are currently over 1000+ vehicles on order through MD. That's crazy if true.
 
I'm not sure what they're alloted but being a volume dealer I would imagine they can pick up the phone and ask for more and get them pretty easily. The key right now is selling sold orders to the person that ordered them. You know you're order was accepted if you have a VIN and people maybe wait a week max before they have a VIN through Mark Dodge.

Logistics are a mystery, but right now the dealer the order comes from doesn't appear to be a factor.
I had my VIN a couple of days after ordering. Aaron told me he might have it the day after, but I didn't press him. A day or two isn't a big deal to me, and me having the VIN isn't going to get the truck built any faster. Aaron was great to work with.
Good luck to all of us!
 
I had my VIN a couple of days after ordering. Aaron told me he might have it the day after, but I didn't press him. A day or two isn't a big deal to me, and me having the VIN isn't going to get the truck built any faster. Aaron was great to work with.
Good luck to all of us!
Yeah, I had mine a day after I ordered as well.
 
Headed to pick up my Laramie from MD tomorrow morning. After dealing with Sandi for the build and Aaron today once the truck arrived I have nothing but praise for Mark Dodge. Helping steer a friend away from a local dealer and build through MD after telling him how easy it was for me.
 

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