What happened?

In August of 2023, my vehicle was doing some crazy things. All of the lights on the dashboard would turn on and I would lose power steering and gauges. This would last between 1~10 seconds and happen randomly. Below are some pictures of it happening.

I took the vehicle on the morning of August 16th as when I was going to work all of the lights came on and the emergency brakes were engaging while I was driving. I brought it in and they plugged in their scanner and said they said it had 32 error codes. Perfect they have logs of what happened and know what to fix. On August 18th I got a call saying it’s fixed. I paid my warranty deductible and got the car back stating it was fixed. On September 12th I took the vehicle back as it was doing the same issue as above. This time I asked them to look at a grinding noise in the front. I received the car back on September 30th (18 days). In order to get the car back I had to send a very lengthy email to all of the service advisors and service managers. The email below was sent on September 29th after not being able to get any update on my vehicle from any service advisor at this dealership.

“Dear Sarah,

I hope this email finds you well, although I must admit that my current state of mind is far from "well." I feel compelled to express my deep frustration and disappointment regarding my service experience at your dealership.

To put it bluntly, all of my visits to your service department have been nothing short of a nightmare. From the moment I arrived until the time I left, my experience was marred by incompetence, indifference, and a complete lack of customer care.

I would like to start from the beginning. I scheduled an appointment toward the beginning of the year and I was assigned to Chris Leonhardt. I made an appointment to have a sensor replaced and Chris was fully aware of what needed to be done. When I arrived, I left my vehicle there to be serviced and was told it would be a quick job. After a while, I called back and was told the vehicle was not going to be fixed for a while and if I wanted I could come pick it up and bring it back the following week. Chris was extremely difficult to work with and quite honestly very rude to me. It was that experience that I decided if I ever had to come back it would never be working with Chris.

A few months after that I had an oil leak under my car. This time when I brought in my car it was to Collin. Collin was great and explained everything to me. Unfortunately, he explained that the oil was coming from a seal around the sensor that was installed wrong when I brought it in the first time. After another lengthy amount of time, I finally got my car back. When I got the car back I still had fresh oil stains on my driveway so I took it back to Collin. He took it into the shop and then showed me that it was no longer leaking, and it just must have been just leftover oil in the bottom of the tray.

I am writing this now after my third and last time at Yark Service Center. This time it was on August 17th and I was working with Ryan Adams. I brought my car in because I had a strange issue where all of the lights turned on in the dashboard. I understand this is a serious issue and probably not an easy one to track down and fix, but It was fixed pretty quickly and I happily paid the warranty deductible. A few days later all the lights turned back on briefly so I called Ryan after hours and left him a message. It happened one more time so I called Ryan and he scheduled me to come in. He informed me he would be out of the office but Eric would be following up with me if it was done before Ryan came back. That was September 12th. On Sept. 14 I called Eric multiple times and could not get not get an answer. Finally, I had to call the dealership to get transferred until someone was able to track down Eric and get an update for me. He told the woman I was speaking to to "keep my phone nearby tomorrow". I never received a call.

Eric not answering the phone was the beginning of the most frustrating part of this whole experience. I have been trying to call and get updates a few times over these last few weeks and I have to call multiple times a day in order for someone to answer and give me an update. When I did get an update on Tuesday, Sept. 26th I was told that my car would be done by Thursday, Sept. 28th at the absolute latest. I called the 28th and left a voicemail for Ryan and asked that he call me first thing in the morning. He did not. I don't blame Ryan for all of this since he is not the technician but the lack of communication is his fault.

I am still waiting for my car. It has been more than three weeks and have received no call back.

I implore you to take my feedback seriously, address the issues that have plagued my recent service visit, and ensure that no other customer has to endure such a nightmarish experience.

Branden Cunningham”

Ten minutes after sending this email I received a call with an update on my vehicle and they stated it would be done very soon. The car was delivered to me at my home with a full tank of gas and no charge on September 30th. They stated they replaced the front PTO unit.

On October 11th the lights came back on.

I took the vehicle back on October 12th. This time they only had the vehicle for 8 days and returned it to me on October 20th in the same condition I left it there. They stated they could not recreate the issue and that I needed to get Stellantis involved so their engineers could take a look at the case. I then had to call Stellantis to open a case for the dealership to be able to share this case with them. I recorded the below video and sent it to everyone so they can see exactly what is happening while I am driving.

On Monday, November 27th, I was driving to work when suddenly I heard a loud bang and my car completely seized pulling me into the right lane next to me. Eventually, after sitting in the road I was able to get it to move and drove it to a parking lot where I was able to take the picture below. Pictured is the PTO unit they replaced two months prior.

I had the vehicle towed to the dealership that day. Yark Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram still has the vehicle and is taking an unacceptable amount of time to repair it (Edit 5/3/24: I finally received the vehicle back after making this post) I have been told three different dates now on when the vehicle is supposed to be repaired but the dates keep coming and they still have the vehicle. There is always an excuse for why it is delayed. In order to hear their excuses I have to call or email because they refuse to contact their customers with updates. This unprofessionalism has gone on for too long and is inexcusable. Below is a rubric they gave me one time after a service appointment. It details what they think I should consider when I am leaving a review. I am not sure if they meet one of those standards they listed.

I did receive a loaner vehicle the past two times but at request. They did not offer and this last time when it exploded they told me they did not have any loaners at all. The only reason I was able to get a loaner vehicle is because I said I was going to get a rental and send them the bill when I received my vehicle back. Fifteen minutes after stating that on the phone I received a call stating they had a loaner vehicle for me.

I did email them asking exactly what they are replacing on my car. I took their response and called another Jeep dealership to ask how long this repair would take. They told me 26 days including ordering parts.

After 44 days my car was finally finished. So far no more issues have popped up but Yark still does not care. (Edit 5/1/24: Issue has happened again) I had to ask to sit down with the service manager after this whole situation. No one cared to reach out and either apologize or take responsibility for how long this took. (Edit 5/3/24: The service manager did apologize after we sat down)

On May 1st, 2024, the issue happened again. All of the lights came on, and the emergency brake was turning on while I was driving, so I took it right back to Yark. They were able to see the issue, grab the codes, and then recreate the issue right away, so they said this time they could fix it. A few days later, I got a call saying they could not recreate the issue, so they could not fix it, but they would keep trying. I had to ask the actual service manager for a loaner vehicle again in an email as the service advisor on the phone did not want to give me one because he thought he could fix the issue.

This is just my experience. There are a lot of others who have similar stories, but not all of them are negative. Below are some links to review sites for this specific dealership service center.

https://www.bbb.org/us/oh/toledo/profile/new-car-dealers/yark-automotive-group-0422-11789

https://www.dealerrater.com/dealer/Yark-Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram-FIAT-service-27222/

https://www.yelp.com/biz/yark-chrysler-jeep-dodge-ram-toledo-2

https://www.carfax.com/Reviews-Yark-Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram-Toledo-OH_UPYPM68LP1#reviews