Peterbilt dealer...GRRRRR!

hauling_ass

hauling_ass

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Mar 15, 2010
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Okay...can anyone suggest a shop that can do warranty work on a '14 Pete?
I called a month ago to set up an appointment for last week with Peterbilt Mississauga - where we bought the truck. When the driver took the truck in, he was told that the truck may not be looked at that evening but it would be looked at for sure in the morning. Two days later, he went in to pick up the truck - it was sitting in their back lot and hadn't even been touched. No excuses except that they had suddenly become very busy. Even though we had made arrangements a month earlier, the BIG companies had priority. How unfair is that?
And the issues? Lights that are falling off; DEF problems; chrome rusting and breaking; ABS problems; engine hiccups...but they just don't care.
If anyone was at Truck World and was admiring those pretty Petes...don't buy one unless you are a big company. Peterbilt Mississauga certainly doesn't care about anyone else. We bought a Pete because they are supposed to be the best of the best. Ha!

Any thoughts would be appreciated but either way...
Thanks for letting me vent!!!
 
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Hi there Hauling A**
I feel for you...yikes...lots of down time on a brand new truck. Not cool. I would reach out to the other dealers. There's one in Ayr, one in Hagersville, one also in Whitby I think. But I would also be all over the shop about your truck. Don't just leave it there and come back in a couple days...call, call, call, call them about it. I would also speak to the shop manager, not just the mechanic you drop it off with. Sorry that's not much help. We don't get much work done in shops at all. We do most of it ourselves to avoid all the hassles. But with warranty work you don't have much choice.
 
Thanks Chica123. We have always done all our own work because we have had older trucks. Thought it was time to go brand new. Never again. Warranty work is nothing but a pain in the butt. I will take your advice though and start making some calls. We'll see if the squeaky wheel does get the grease. Shouldn't be this way though.
 
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You're right it shouldn't be that way. We tend to hang around the shop watching and waiting when we have work done...not sure if that's cool either, but at least you know someone's actually working on your truck while you're being charged :0)
 
Good to know. This is our first experience with Peterbilt and warranty. It sounds like they are going to get tired of my face. :)
 
...Peterbilt of Ontario In London is Horrible as well, With the exception of a few techs that have been there for years. What a shame...the place used to be the best of the best to deal with. Bought a new cummins powered 386. 09 model in 08. Well aware of the issues with these trucks, but Peterbilt & Peterbilt London Was Horrible to deal with. Bought a 730 Volvo at the same time had some minor issues which were dealt with great by Gerry's Truck Center in London.
 
Well that explains why the Laidlaw trucks were getting top priority! Thanks Rob! Any suggestions on how or where I can get this truck fixed? I took Chica's advice and asked to speak with the service manager. He was in a sales meeting...and still is. Think I am getting blown off???
 
First mistake was buying new, warranty is the biggest rip-off going. I've had lots of used trucks all would run circles around new stuff. Anything built after 2006 I wouldn't even look at, nothing but problems with every brand ( some worse than others). I've only owned one new truck and it was on a first name basis with every shop around, right from the second day it left the lot. New trucks should be sold for $20,000 -- 30,000 less and the dealer can stick warranty up his __S, you'd be money and time ahead. Just my experience.
 
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hauling_ass said:
Okay...can anyone suggest a shop that can do warranty work on a '14 Pete?
I called a month ago to set up an appointment for last week with Peterbilt Mississauga - where we bought the truck. When the driver took the truck in, he was told that the truck may not be looked at that evening but it would be looked at for sure in the morning. Two days later, he went in to pick up the truck - it was sitting in their back lot and hadn't even been touched. No excuses except that they had suddenly become very busy. Even though we had made arrangements a month earlier, the BIG companies had priority. How unfair is that?
And the issues? Lights that are falling off; DEF problems; chrome rusting and breaking; ABS problems; engine hiccups...but they just don't care.
If anyone was at Truck World and was admiring those pretty Petes...don't buy one unless you are a big company. Peterbilt Mississauga certainly doesn't care about anyone else. We bought a Pete because they are supposed to be the best of the best. Ha!

Any thoughts would be appreciated but either way...
Thanks for letting me vent!!!
Click to expand...

My apologies ... I'm a little late getting in on this conversation. Being an owner of Peterbilts, I feel your pain brother ... I really do. The problem is not necessarily the dealership as much as it is the corporation and the truck itself. If you can get 70% uptime on your truck, you're doing well.

The first mistake, which I am sure you are well aware of now, is buying a Peterbilt in the first place. My biggest beef with them is that no matter how much money you spend on extended warranties, nothing will ever be covered. Ever. It's a poor system. Reminiscient of the last days of Caterpillar engines. The second biggest problem with them is that no matter what you do, you will never get descent fuel mileage out of them, assuming you powered it with the MX13 engine. I have no experience with the ISX so I can't really comment on their success or failure.

If the moderator's contact can't get you anywhere, I also have a name you can try. Let me know if you need it.

In the meantime, what do you do with your service issues? First thing is to stop dealing with Peterbilt of Ontario if you can. If you can't, Ayr and Hagersville are the best of the chain.
If you are running west, try Thunder Bay Peterbilt. Excellence Peterbilt in Quebec is pretty good as well. Ideally, if you are running into the U.S., book your truck into a Hunter or Rush dealership. Rush is the largest Peterbilt chain in the U.S., and Hunter is the second largest. We have had tremedous success with Hunter Buffalo Peterbilt, both from a warranty standpoint and from a service standpoint. Look them up on the web.
Pocono Pete is not a stellar dealership, and stay away from any Kenworth dealership. You are actually better off to tow your truck to a Hunter dealership, no matter how far away it is, than to commit it to a Kenworth dealer, even though they are supposed to be Paccar certified as well.

Other than the engine issues you are having, the majority of your problems sound like they are cab and chassis issues. If the truck is more than 6 months old, get out your chequebook, because they will not be covered by warranty.

The best option for you at this point is to get rid of the truck, if you can afford it. I know most people, myself included, can't, but you'll have to weigh that out for yourself. Soon, if you haven't already, you will start to experience catastrophic failures in the wiring harnesses, the exhaust aftertreatment system, DEF system, DPF filters, and fuel system. None of these are pleasant to deal with and as I mentioned earlier, no matter how much extended warranty you purchased, it will not be covered. On the plus side, the majority of these failures are due to the wiring harnesses and their exposure to the elements. If you are going to keep the truck, get a couple of pails of name brand "Krown" undercoating and spray the ever-living hell out of absolutely EVERYTHING and do the wiring harnesses twice. If you see your mechanic sticking a test light probe in to any wire on the truck, fire him (or her) immediately if not faster.

I wish you nothing but the best of luck and good fortune my friend, for you absolutely have a difficult road ahead of you in dealing with these new Peterbilts. Sadly, they are not the truck the once were.

PS ... even Laidlaw (Contrans) is buying Navistars and Freighliners now ... LOL
 
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Update:
Thanks to everyone who weighed in on this. Shortly after I posted, I received a phone call from the general service manager for Peterbilt of Ontario who assured me that he is the 'go-to guy' and that it was his job to 'fix' these sorts of situations. Great. He said they would need the truck for 4-5 days and promised that everything would be fixed properly. Still sounds good, right? Ha! I touched base with him last week and he said he would have to get back to me this week as to when he could get it in - Tuesday at the latest. I guess I should have asked him which Tuesday.
Good thing I didn't hold my breath. Our phone calls have not been returned either.
I am going to now call AR@DRC's guy. Should have done this in the first place.
Thanks also to Michael Ludwig for his post. You're on deck if I need your guy's name!
 
Well, this does not suprise me. We had a job done on guarantee at Peterbilt London. A job that we had to have redone 2 days later in MI which also included a tow. When the MI Peterbilt tried to pass this on the guarantee, they were unable to because of the repair in London. So... we paid the tow and the repair and the brand new batteries etc. We then contacted Peterbilt in London and I spoke to the service manager about this. At first they were all on board and there was communication by phone and e-mail. Then it was harder and harded to speak with the guy. He kept saying, 'if only you had taken pictures'... Pictures of what I'm not sure. It was a problem with the wiring of the batteries. Not put on to the poles properly or something of the sort. Even the guy in MI said 'A**hole, pictures of what?' and of course,as you may have imagined... one day, no more response... Bravo Peterbilt London... you used to be good on customer service...
 
Rule # 1: Never deal with Peterbilt in London.
Rule # 2: Never Ever deal with Peterbilt in London.
Any guess as to what Rule # 3 is ??? ... LOL
Honestly, if you can hold off repairs, try and get to either a Hunter dealership, or a Rush dealership, both in the U.S.
If you absolutely must get Peterbilt repair work done in Ontario, go to Ayr, Hagersville, Stoney Creek (opening next month), or Mississauga ... just don't go to London.
And , no, they were never good on customer service.
By the way, if anyone does buy a new Peterbilt, all the PDIs are done in London. Insist that your local dealer do another, and then have your own shop do it again.
 
London was Great when Dave Smith aka"Smitty" was running the service desk. Parts Dept. was always helpfull as well ... They always went the extra mile for us....Not so much anymore !!!
 
Peterbilt finally made arrangements to fix our truck. They say that a week to two weeks should fix everything. So now we wait and see. It should all be done under warranty but after reading Martinetav's post, I do not have a lot of hope. We did take pictures which it appears may be what saves our butt. Thanks Martinetav for that advice!
 
We are a 32 unit fleet all Internationals and have been for 33 years , Our local International dealer has bent over backwards to service our needs to keep our trucks rolling, Waycon International Trucks in Chatham was bought out by Carrier Truck , Rob Long the owner of Carrier Truck cannot do enough with Service and Warranty and taking care of his customers , we have had some Navistar warranty issues but Carrier have gone to bat for us when there was a discrepancy with the warranty issue. I do know there are not a lot of Navistar fans but I am totally sold on the fact that we are looked after and have great luck with International trucks , the only thing I have to say is "Ken and Pete who", that is my 2 cents worth to this thread.

Regards
Dave Carey
Carey Leasing Ltd
 
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