Just thought I'd share a recent experience with the membership, respecting Service
Contracts sold by Chrysler (Extended Warranties).

About 2 year ago, while still under the manufacturer's warrant, my SRT-6 experienced
the failure of the intercooler water pump (called by Chrysler an auxillary water pump).
This was replaced under warranty, and no issues.

Flash forward to yesterday. I noted while driving on this past Sunday that the car was
showing the same symptoms that had occurred when the intercooler water pump failed
a couple of years earlier. So, dropped the car off at the service center yesterday morning.
I got a call at about 5:05 PM last evening, from the Service Adviser, telling me that, indeed,
the pump had again failed. But, here was the kicker... he said it was not covered by the
Maximum Care extended warrant I had purchased, and the the repair would cost over
$650.00.

Obviously, I took great exception to this, and informed the Service Adviser that I would be
reviewing my contract and contacting Chrysler. So, I called the number on the back of
my warranty card, and found they had left the office for the day. Called back this morning,
and spoke with a representative. After about 1/2 hour, I was able to get the representative
to understand that they had to stand behind the printed statement "If it is mechanical, it
is covered". He contacted the service center, and the work will now be done under the
warranty (less my deductible, which ain't much).

The reason for my relation of this story is to encourage any of you with the extended service
contracts to watch out for any such shennanigans. When I spoke with the Service Adviser
this morning, he showed me the printouts from the first inquiry yesterday and the inquiry
this morning. Yesterday's clearly states that there is no coverage for this repair, while the
second clearly states that the repair is warrantied. What does this mean? Well, I don't
want to be accused of Libel, but it is my opinion that as Chrysler (and others) sink deeper
into the financial morass currently extent, there will be attempts to get customers to pay for
repairs that should be covered under warranty. Had I taken the first answer I had received
from the Service Adviser, I'd be out $700.00 (with taxes), and the Service Contract folks would
have saved however much they actually pay for such repairs. Do that a few thousand times
(easy with the number of Chrysler's on the road) with folks who don't read their agreements,
and I'm sure they could reduce their financial exposure greatly.

I cannot say that Chrysler is engaging in such behavior, but it is not unknown nor unheard
of for such things to happen. Certainly, this is not the doing of the local Service Center, as
they have no dog in this hunt. They just take what they are given in response to their query
and run with it. What else can they do when the Service contract issuer says a repair is not
covered. It is up to us to protect ourselves and ensure we are getting what we paid for, and
in all truth there is no one more trustworthy with this task than ourselves.

So, if you have one of these extended service contracts, make sure you are familiar with the
related documents, the contract itself and the "brochures" online on the Chrysler website.
Know that you should question any such determination made from the initial query by the
Service Adviser, and contact the Service Contract department to challenge that determination.

Once again, I am not claiming any factual knowledge of impropriety with respect to Chrysler
Extended Service Contract departments, just that it seems real shifty (that's an 'F' followed by
a 'T') that at 2:40 something yesterday afternoon this repair was not covered, but after my
call at 9:00 something this morning it is covered.

And for those who would offer such advice, yes I am ordering a Johnson pump to replace the
new OEM pump once the new OEM bites the dust in a couple of years (2 years since the first
failure). When that happens, which I think it will considering the number of these units which
have already failed, I'll just take care of the replacement myself with the stored pump. and save
myself the hassel.

Good luck to you all,

Coyote