Ram (Doesn't) Care

[Stew81]

Quick rant. I took my truck to the dealership on Wednesday to get a couple small things fixed (glove box light fixed and the passenger door aligned). But the main reason I dropped it off was to get a tiny tear that I noticed in the back seat leather fixed. Picked up the truck today and the door was aligned, glove box was repaired, but Ram refused to repair the tear in the back seat.

I noticed this tear 2 days after buying the truck before anyone had even been in the back seat but I didn't want to take it in back to the dealership before Thanksgiving. Plus its a new truck and I want to enjoy driving it for a few days before giving it back. That was a mistake. Maybe they would have fixed it if I brought it in 3 days after purchasing it but maybe not. I do know that after 3 weeks and 700 miles, this is considered wear or tear. They are willing to fix it for me for $1000.00 parts and labor though.

After getting turned down by the service department I went to my salesman to see if they would be willing to help. They said if I come in Friday they will have some upholstery person that comes in to work on the pre-owned vehicles glue it so it doesn't get any bigger. That's the best they could do!

Moral of the story is break out a magnifying glass when you get your truck because Ram isn't going to help you with something like this. I'm pretty sure the perforated leather is just going to keep tearing. Its already bigger than it was when I first noticed it.

I was really happy with my experience at Tomball Dodge until this point. Now I'm pretty disgusted with the situation.

So has anyone had to repair a seat like this before? Looks like it got poked with a knife or something.

 

[PorBoy]

Man I’m really sorry to see that. Mine was bunched up when I got it and made worse when it got wet. Took 6 months to be replaced from the time I showed it...

 

[Stew81]

Man I’m really sorry to see that. Mine was bunched up when I got it and made worse when it got wet. Took 6 months to be replaced from the time I showed it...

Thanks. What do you mean it was bunched up? Having a hard time picturing that.

 

[Saints]

Well you can’t really say Ram doesn’t care as they have no way of knowing if it came like that or if it was something you did. If you would have taken it back sooner you could have had a case. It is a little bit of a challenging repair because of the perforation, but if their guy is any good he should be able to repair it where you may be able to see where it was, but no one else will and if anything he should be able to repair it where it will not continue to get bigger. Leather is pretty durable so don’t feel so down about it. I know it sucks, but you should be fine.

 

[iamtheav8r]

It sucks, but you really should have at least taken it back to allow them to document it.

 

[Stew81]

It sucks, but you really should have at least taken it back to allow them to document it.

I know it was stupid not to go immediately. No way of knowing whether or not that would have changed anything. The service guy said he has never seen them approve a puncture so it may not have mattered if it was documented. He said they will cover it if it comes apart at the seams.

 

[Patsy1099]

A good leather repair guy should be able to fix that without much of a problem.

Who knows, maybe if you’re lucky it will also start coming apart at the seams

 

[Stew81]

I get that

Well you can’t really say Ram doesn’t care as they have no way of knowing if it came like that or if it was something you did. If you would have taken it back sooner you could have had a case. It is a little bit of a challenging repair because of the perforation, but if their guy is any good he should be able to repair it where you may be able to see where it was, but no one else will and if anything he should be able to repair it where it will not continue to get bigger. Leather is pretty durable so don’t feel so down about it. I know it sucks, but you should be fine.

Hey it was a catchy title. I get it though. I’m sure there are people who scratch their trucks then go back and claim it was there when they bought it. Same with interior things like this. It’s just frustrating when you know you didn’t do it but the dealership (and manufacturer) won’t even consider the possibility that one of their employees wasn’t being careful with a tool or knife or whatever may have poked it.

 

[SD Rebel]

That sucks, but if you leave them an out, they will use it.

As mentioned, most auto upholstery people can get that fix pretty good, some do it mobile.

 

[jdmartin]

If it makes you feel any better,
1. You'll never notice it when fixed;
2. In a few months or few years it will just be part of your normal wear and tear.

 

[RichT]

fwiw, they replaced this rear seat for me 3 months after purchase without drama. Dealer took a picture, send it in for approval and 2 weeks later called to setup the replacement appointment.

 

[iamtheav8r]

I know it was stupid not to go immediately. No way of knowing whether or not that would have changed anything. The service guy said he has never seen them approve a puncture so it may not have mattered if it was documented. He said they will cover it if it comes apart at the seams.

I photographed several little issues on my truck the night I brought it home. The images are date and time stamped as well as the EXIF data on the file will prove when I documented these problems.

 

[RichT]

re-reading the OP, it sounds like they never took a picture to send to FCA? Sounds like the dealer screwed you. Take it to another and ask them to take a picture to send to FCA for replacement approval. The dealer is not the last word on it. Not even sure why they care.

(I did not get mine replaced at the dealer I purchased from)

 

[Stew81]

re-reading the OP, it sounds like they never took a picture to send to FCA? Sounds like the dealer screwed you. Take it to another and ask them to take a picture to send to FCA for replacement approval. The dealer is not the last word on it. Not even sure why they care.

(I did not get mine replaced at the dealer I purchased from)

The service guy did tell me they had to take pictures and submit it for approval. I assume that meant FCA. Its not very noticeable so I'm going to let the dealership use their mobile upholstery person to do the repair. I should be going up there Friday morning and they said it should only take about 15 minutes. I'll post some pics of the repair job on here. I'm curious to see how they do it. I assume its just some sort of glue for something this small. That's fine with me as long as it prevents the tear from getting bigger.

 

[jdmartin]

I think you are making the right decision. Sometimes the cure for stuff like this is worse than the disease. Pulling out the seats to recover or replace, there's a good chance you end up with scuffs or scratches where there weren't any before. Yes, they should be able to do this job without breaking anything else, but coulda shoulda is a whole nother thing.

 

[Stew81]

As promised, here are the repair pics. It's more visible in the pictures than it is in person. When they brought my truck around I had to look for the repair for a second so that was a good sign. The woman that repaired it said she just used vinyl glue and that will keep it from getting any bigger. So when it was all said and done I feel like the dealership did all they could considering I waiting a few weeks to bring it in and show it to them.

 

[Timeless]

Should probably at least tag @RamCares in a rant against Ram.

 

[bgmshrm]

As promised, here are the repair pics. It's more visible in the pictures than it is in person. When they brought my truck around I had to look for the repair for a second so that was a good sign. The woman that repaired it said she just used vinyl glue and that will keep it from getting any bigger. So when it was all said and done I feel like the dealership did all they could considering I waiting a few weeks to bring it in and show it to them.
View attachment 41761View attachment 41762

they should fix that .I'd be pissed

 

[ac1dd]

That looks like someone was removing the plastic seat wrapping or monroney label with an X-acto knife!
I used to work in new car prep PDI/PDI and although it wasn't approved of some guys would use them.
I'd still document this damage with RAM Care (open up a ticket) even if you don't get it replaced, my question for the owner is how often does someone sit back there? If rare or never I'd leave it, however if you are going to have regular passengers back there it will probably wear and fail pretty quickly....Post back.

 

[Stew81]

That looks like someone was removing the plastic seat wrapping or monroney label with an X-acto knife!
I used to work in new car prep PDI/PDI and although it wasn't approved of some guys would use them.
I'd still document this damage with RAM Care (open up a ticket) even if you don't get it replaced, my question for the owner is how often does someone sit back there? If rare or never I'd leave it, however if you are going to have regular passengers back there it will probably wear and fail pretty quickly....Post back.

That's exactly what I think happened here. Someone got careless with a box cutter or X-acto knife. It was a really clean cut. I have 1 daughter who usually sits on the passage side of the back seat (The cut is on the driver side). So nobody sits in that seat regularly. Good suggestion about getting it documented just in case. There is a record and pictures of it at the dealership but I may take it further just in case the cut/tear keeps getting bigger.