Took my truck to dealership for an intermittant check engine light with an error code that says tourque converter overange. Came in and cleared twice. Of course when i drop it off it was clear but still shows the error in the history as not active. Dealer charged me for $150 and says cant find anything wrong. Keep driving it until it breaks. Then bring it in. Wow!
Told them this is un acceptable. I want to get it taken care of before its a big problem. I understand intermittent problems are hard to find but that doesnt mean ignore them. I made a living troubleshooting and repairing intermittent problems and always started with the simplest fix per the error code book. I was not in the auto business though. But I dont think doing the right thing should matter what industry it is.

In my case I have a lifetime warranty minus a $150 deductible so theres no excuse to refuse to do anything

Yea those type issues suck but some of them are a nightmare to track down with all the sensors and computers involved. I’ve had a 500k machine in the shop for the last 2 months with the same intermittent type issue and we currently have a $9k bill and it’s no closer to being fixed than the day it was dropped off. It’s much easier to track down the issue when it’s literally broke and often times like mine you have to resort to swapping parts until you fix it and warranty doesn’t cover that unless you get the manufacturer involved so that’s probably your next step.

Gremlins suck, but it is what it is.

That's why I stay away from dodge and jeep.

Curious who the lifetime warranty is through. Which manufacturer? Is that powertrain only? I didn't realize there was a lifetime warranty with anyone.

Also interested to know the engine displacement and mileage of the vehicle.

Some of the forum members are going to be experts on this...dealerships typically don't make very much money on warranty work. I believe at in some instances the hours allowed to perform warranty work is less than the time it takes to do the job. So technicians gently don't want to pick that sort of thing up especially when it comes to I would imagine a transmission removal. Perhaps they're just passing the buck hoping the issue or you will go away.

Most dealers are very upfront about telling you there will be a charge to look at a problem, no matter the outcome. In your situation, without a definitive answer and the problem not presenting at the time, they did what they could. Ol' Thumper had it right, in a case like that you have to throw parts at it until you find the bad one, but I'm sure your warranty states they aren't going to do that. I don't blame them for that; gremlins are tough and there's no guarantee they'll find it that way. If you have a blanket warranty, I'd do exactly what they suggested-drive it until it breaks.

Last month on my 2016 Ford I had an intermittent issue with my ignition missing out and then would clear up and run great. It did throw a code. I replaced the spark plugs (it had 120k miles, vehicle out of warranty) and it did not fix the issue. Took it in to Ford to let them figure out the issue. The code was stored but it would not do it when they took it for multiple test drives. They gave it back, no charge since they couldn't diagnose the issue. I replaced all the coils and it seems to have resolved the problem. I was surprised I was not charged a diagnostic fee.

Lifetime warranty - I got one for from Jeep. We bought a brand new Jeep Cherokee from the dealership, this was 2018. We had it for about a month and noticed ours did not have the Jeep logo on the hood like all the others. I popped the hood and noticed paint removed on the hinge bolts to the hood. I stormed back into the sales managers office about selling me a wrecked vehicle. Apparently the hood was damaged in shipping. We did not buy an extended warranty so he offered one. I told him the only one I would accept would be the lifetime since I do not know what other hidden damages there might be. The one he offered was much less but reluctantly gave in to the lifetime warranty. This was my daughters car going to college, knowing it was going to get dinged up there was not reason to force them to give me another new car, I like having the free lifetime warranty.

TG same thing happened to me.

agree ... I hate gremlins, especially with all the electronics these days

Some dealerships will offer a lifetime warranty as long as 100% of service is performed at their dealership, including all routine maintenance. Jupiter Chevy offered me that when I bought mine. I used them for oil changes and maintenance until the manufacturer warranty expired, but had already grown tired of the constant upselling tactics designed to bleed my wallet under the threat that the lifetime warranty basically depended upon me giving them money whenever they asked for it.


As for the OP's problem, they likely know exactly what the problem is. They won't say because to do so could expose the manufacturer's knowledge that such a problem exists across their fleet which could result in a class action suit or a recall which would cost them big time. All manufacturers are hiding problems these days until they become catastrophic for this reason, hoping the vehicle warranty expires before it fails completely. The car business is more crooked than drug dealing.

This is a 2016 . So with 8 years of history on the road theres a record of this kind of failure across the nation. Has to be. I dont see why the dealer doesnt communicate with the manufacture to find out what has been the common failure for this error code and run with it.

In my line of work which involved maintaining mechanical, electrical, and electronic equipment there was a saying. Technicians have ownership or they dont. Meaning if you have ownership you stayed on that job and went above and beyond to get it fixed without being told what to do. The guys who did not have ownership did as little as possible . Ignoring the current repeated intermittant problem cause its too difficult means theres no ownership

Not sure about those issues or gremlins but what I know is Stealerships suck

My dad owned and operated an automotive repair for many years, I never heard him tell anyone to drive it until it breaks then we will know what to fix...he simply repaired the vehicle, and not by replacing parts until it was fixed, he knew what caused most vehicles malfunctions.

I didn't see where he said so I was betting on a GM product.

It's fairly well known that dealers make more on service and repair than they do selling vehicles.

I can understand being charged when a problem is found and the customer doesn't want the work done. But if no problem was found or work done on the vehicle, there shouldn't be a charge.

It points to why I check YouTube when anything I own develops a problem. The vast majority of issues that develop with any specific model of anything are common issues, making it likely you'll find a video on their cause and how to address them. It's also why good mechanics can often tell you exactly what's wrong after you describe the problem and tell them the make and model.

Years back, I had a BMW 528. Great car for driving, but expensive to own. It developed a strange problem. If you turned on the headlights or wipers, the radio quit. Sometimes when you turned the headlights on, the wipers quit. I took it to the dealership 4 or 5 times, where they threw parts at it and fixed nothing. The good news is, that if you own a BMW, you are on a first name basis with the service guys. That wasn’t fixing anything though. So, one afternoon I called the head Service guy and suggested if he’d gather the entire service staff before they opened the doors for work, I’d bring a massive donut supply, and we could all brainstorm the problem. We did that, and one guy spoke up and said “It’s your voltage Regulator”. And it was.

For the OP, somebody somewhere knows what the problem is. Just got to find that guy. Maybe the Donut approach would work for you too. Sounds silly, but it did work for me.

I'm stealing this idea in the future.

No single manufacturer has a monopoly on problems like this, and likewise, no single manufacturer is immune to it either. All of them have planned obsolescence built into them as well. The end customer is the R&D department for too many bells and whistles put in them too. And every manufacturer will do whatever they can to avoid paying for mistakes engineered/built into their vehicles.

In the end, I'd bet money they know what will eventually fail on the customer's/op's vehicle. They just won't come out and say it due to financial liability, either for them or the manufacturer they're indebted to. these instances are so common these days it should be criminal. But as long as their lobbyists are greasing palms in DC nothing will ever be done to protect the consumer.

A competent and honest mechanic is worth its weight in gold. They can quickly diagnose the problem and fix what needs to be fixed, otherwise they are chasing ghosts with your money, and you are better off to just wait till it breaks.

Gremlins are very hard to find, especially if they are intermittent. The more complicated they make cars, the harder it will be to find them. How many man hr$ do you want to spend to find them?

The basic issue is that modern vehicles are way over engineered.
They load 'em up with bells and whistles (which means higher total invoice, out the door) and when the whistle breaks, they charge plenty to fix it.
Sometimes....the fix for the whistle is evasive.

Same on insurance. The more bells the higher the repair cost. So a collision gets expotentially more expensive - and so does insurance.

Just went in to get a set of replacement keys for my 2002 Taco. At $8 apiece, I decided to get three. The bill came to $48. I asked how that could be possible with the keys being $8 apiece and with me getting three? I didn't know about the $20 cutting fee.

well, you wanted them cut, right?

Yep and so I paid the bill wand walked away.

blanked, most likely it is just cheaper for them to replace the engine when it finally quits and send it to warranty cost, rather than spend time and energy trying to fix a small problem now.

My guess is if you didn't have the lifetime warranty, this would be a problem much easier to fix. just my opinion, could be wrong.