My Snake on Fire

[1 Bad Snake]

I am throwing this out to the group for advice. I am not going to mention names at this time. As some of you know I have had some problems with my sick snake. I took her into a highly recommended dealership for diagnosis. The PCM and MAP sensor were the culprits. one backfire later, the caught my side sill on fire and melted it beyond repair. Now to the advice portion. They called in the warranty people who declined to pay for a new side sill because I have aftermarket headers, exhaust and fiberglass side sills. They are hiding behind a clause that says they can decline coverage for any aftermarket parts. I somewhat understand the warranty peoples position. What I need advice on is the dealership is excepting no responsibility for catching my car on Fire and leaving me with a couple thousand dollars in repairs. I informed them that the car was backfiring excessively, and had developed a rattle on the right side of the car. The rattle turned out to be my exhaust which came loose from the backfiring. The company that replaced by Hi flows even ponied up and excepted a couple hundred in repair cost. Any and all advice is welcome or any legal precedence would be appreciated

 

[Janni]

Interesting... Certainly were contributing factors - both stock and aftermarket. If the side sills had been original aluminum would they have melted? I have to believe that DC put those exorbitantly expensive aluminum side sills on the car for a reason - HEAT. I mean heck, the rest of the car is composite, so its not they are adverse to using alternative materials.

I think this may be a case of the aftermarket parts not being up to the same specs as the original, and therfore D-C is denying the claim as they did not perform adequately.

Thoughts? Others?

 

[Gerald]

Man, that's tough..

Unfortunatley, they ARE aftermarket parts that backfired through ANOTHER aftermarket part. I can see Dodge's position... Tough call


Gerald

 

[NCVCA]

DISCLAIMER: I am not an attorney:This advice is worth exactly what you paid for it...

Okay, this ***** all the way around. I feel for you.

First, "They are hiding behind a clause that says they can decline coverage for any aftermarket parts" doesn't sound like hiding - in relation to the warranty claim. HOWEVER,

in my opinion, if the car caught fire while at the dealership I'm thinking the dealership probably has some insurance to cover it. It wouldn't be "Warranty" it would be "Insurance". Probably worth asking the service manager who their insurance company is with because you need to file a claim. That may create an avenue for resolution.

Now that being said, have you spoken with the manufacturers of the aftermarket parts? I would think they would want to know that a backfire causes their product to spontaneously combust. In fact, I bet they too have insurance - product liability insurance. They may not want to file a claim that implies a product defect and choose to simply replace the parts. The installer has evidently accepted some responsibility by paying some amount and perhaps you could offer to refund the installers money if they would be willing to help install the manufacturers replacement parts???

That's how I would proceed. Note there is no mention of lawsuit or lawyer. I would also remember that there is some responsibility on your part for choosing to change the stock configuration. I have done some modifications to my car and I expect that those after market parts function as advertised and safely, but if they don't I wouldn't attempt to hold Dodge responsible. There is responsibility in everything that happens - but most times it is shared and can be resolved as long as no demands are made in excess of reasonable responsibility.

That's my 2 cents. Hope you find an acceptable solution. No one wants a crispy sidesill.

Jeff