Re: Chrysler to Replace '05 Convertible Tops Under TSB - YAHOO!!
Ok I'll give you a rundown of my experience. I 1st noticed my window separation 1000 miles past my 70K extended warranty expired - about 18 months ago. I took it back to the dealer, they took pictures and told me someone from Chrysler would be calling me. I received a call from my 'case worker' saying there was nothing they would do. I started researching tops and found the Gahh (gahh.com) top to have a lifetime rear window guarantee. I liked that. I went to a local trim shop and they said the Gahh would cost me $1800 installed. They had another source for the tops they use and their top would be $1700 installed. Gahh required you to send your existing top to their Ca shop so they can sew in the spreader and send it back. 2-week min with all the shipping to/from the east coast. I then decided that I didn't have the $1800 or the 2 weeks without a ride so I used the 3M gasket seal. That worked pretty good but the separation spread and I had to continue to patch the leaks. That 3M stuff is quite sticky and difficult to do a 'pretty' job. At last, the letter from Chrysler arrived saying I was covered for a top replacement. Since the 3M was hold out, I kept the letter extending the use of my old top as long as possible. Well this spring, more separation and with 88K miles, I decided to get my new top. Of course they had to order it. It took ~ 2weeks and I received a call last Thursday saying my top was in. I scheduled the appt. for Monday and asked about a car. They do not supply a car so I called Chrysler and the case worker approved a rental car for 2 days. I dropped off the call Monday and they said they needed a full day. with no call from the dealer, I called at 5pm and was on hold for 15 minutes before dropping off. I called again Tuesday morning and the service agent said they had nobody skilled to replace so they had to send it out to a detail shop. I was actually glad to hear they subbed this work out to a professional. I received a call at about 3pm Tuesday saying it was ready. When I picked it up, the service agent said the trim shop charged them $700 to install it and they had to get back with Chrysler to get that reimbursed. Not sure why he thought that was important because I didn't care if it cost $7000 - it was all covered for me. Anyway, since I knew the trim shop, I called them asking them if there was any special care needed. He said it will be tight until the fabric loosens up some but otherwise it should be good to go. I told him what Chryslers said about the bill and chuckled some. He said Chrysler has it listed as a 2 hour job but it is much more difficult than that and he should them 3 books - 2 stating 6 hours and 1 stating 7 hours. Anyways, the top looks really good. I got home last night and treated it with top cleaner/conditioner. It rained this morning and driving 70 mph down the interstate showed no signed of leaking. I am currently happy with the job.