rob_engineer

So I went to the Chrysler dealership for the first time to purchase an oil filter cartridge for my new 2012 JKU sport. I know there was a thread on here about stupid things salespeople say. Well, lets add parts managers to this. My first words were I need an oil filter for my 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. His first words - which size engine does it have. OK, I got past that. I then asked his opinion on the use of synthetic oil. He says - you know, once you put synthetic in, you can never go back to conventional for the life of the vehicle. I then ask if he can put my VIN number and purchase records into the computer as proof for my lifetime warranty. He says no, but I should just save the receipt as proof that I bought the filter. He then says that in order to maintain the Chrysler warranty I must change the oil every 5000 miles or every 6 months, whichever comes first. Doesn't the owners manual say 8,000? I will do 5000 mile intervals, but not because this idiot told me to. He then comes back to the synthetic oil question and says that the Jeep was not engineered to use synthetic and I shouldnt use it. He said they could get out of a warranty claim on a technicality if I use synthetic because the Jeep was not engineered for it. I sure hope the service manager is more educated than this parts manager.

themoneyshot

sounds like a real winner. i hope for your sake there is another dealer in the area.

in my area the glen burnie dealership offered a 29 dollars rotation. so i thought what the hell. i marked the tires just to make sure. turns out they didnt put the spare in the mix so when i ask the guy said it was only meant for emergencies. rather than argue i refused to pay and left my number for the head honcho. never got a call. luckily i hve a good dealer in clarksville.

daggo66

If you want a 5 tire rotation, you need to request it. Why not just do it yourself?

JK_R&D

I've noticed the same issues when i make a trip to the stealership. I guess if it helps, put it into perspective. Whether its a parts or service guy, they work on the entire line of jeep, dodge, chrysler vehicles. The odds of the same mechanic or parts guy dealing jeep wranglers all the time is slim. So every guy probably works specifically on a jeep maybe once a week or less. And its probably always for different issues. Being on this forum kinda turn you into a jeep snob when it comes to knowledge. There are how to's and write-ups in here for jobs that a dealership will probably never see. We have access to information on here that mechanics have never had to touch more than maybe once. Not a bad thing to keep in mind.

AJMBLAZER

5 tire rotations are uncommon today. With all the traction, stability, and other fancy sensors, suspensions, and doo-dads it's not necessarily a good idea to have a tire on the suspension at all times that's slightly taller than the other 3.

Even heard of people having issues with automatic lockers like Lock-Rights, Detroits, etc while doing 5 tire rotations.

johnrb3b

Yes, I agree that's true.
But
It's no excuse for not knowing your product line THOROUGHLY. It's your JOB.
When I was a kid, I could name make, model and year of several different manufacturers, with engine options and specs just by looking at the car from 30 ft away.
When I was shopping for my JK a couple years ago, I found that I knew more about the vehicle just from reading the dealer's pretty picture brochure than all three salesmen I talked to.
Salesmen have lots of free time on their hands these days. Instead of sitting around, shooting the bull, they should be doing the homework for their job.
Same goes for service writers and parts managers. They probably have less free time since the cars break all the time but they still have the time and opportunity to learn their product line. No excuse other than laziness.

Now the subject of completely wrong info, like the line of bull about synthetic oil. That's just overall ignorance on the part of the guy in question. There's not much you can do about stupid.

Do your homework so you know when somebody's feeding you a line.
This forum is a great place to do homework.

Jiblet

actually, those are reasons for doing a 5-tire rotation. and fairly often at that (like with every oil change). Otherwise what do you do when you actually need the spare? Especially if the flat one can't be repaired....

the only times I have heard of problems like those are when someone throws an unused spare into the mix with some worn tires.

best bet is that if you have 5, use all 5. wear them out and replace all 5. Tires have a limited useful life, even if they just sit on a spare rack they age. that's why they are required to have the date of production on each one.

Incognito

Now that you have the part #, find the nearest NAPA store and you won't have to set foot at the dealer's again.

rob_engineer

The only reason I went there was in the hopes that thy would input into the chrysler computer that I purchased an oil filter there so in the future I would have proof that I performed the oil change. Price from the dealer is not bad at $8.50. I just won't ask any more questions if I go back to buy more parts.

AJMBLAZER

You do like most people do, throw the spare on, get the tire fixed, and then put the spare back.

Then again on most vehicles the spare rarely has a matching rim and often isn't even a matching tire. Some vehicles don't even have the same size tire or rim as the four on the corners.

I think this is one of those things that will change in the next decade or so. We're changing thinking because a decade ago every car didn't have stability control or traction control where it's a Federal law for one of them now. Now we have anal retentive electronic nannies that complain if one tire is a few pounds low.

Personally I don't bother with a new spare. I'll buy four tires for the ground and find a good used tire in the correct size. My spare is meant to get me off the trail or home or to the shop. After that it goes back on the mount.