We have been stranded.
We were returning from watching one of our grandkid’s games when the engine began cutting out and the check engine light came on. This is not a pleasant situation when trying to get through Minneapolis traffic during rush hour. The reliable Dodge Durango now sits in our driveway until mid-October. We have had to cancel a road trip we had scheduled.
Here is the rest of the story. When we purchased this car we added an unlimited warranty. Why not just take the car in? We tried to phone our dealer for an appointment and were told there were no openings until mid-October. Cindy called Dodge to see where the warranty would be good and we were told we could use other Dodge dealerships, but after checking for us we again were told the earliest opening was mid-October.
I am not a car guy, but based on experience as a car owner my guess is that the problem is a tank of bad gas, a clogged fuel filter, or the fuel pump. We could just go to any repair shop and this would make sense if the problem is the gas quality or the fuel filter, but we would have to pay to replace the fuel pump and I am guessing that is pretty expensive. The appointment falls into the category of “diagnostic” according to Dodge and evidently, there aren’t a lot of slots for diagnostic visits.
We have been getting around with my Ranger pickup so we are not totally dependent on walking. I keep wondering what happens to people with one car in a similar situation? You must have to rent a car for a month or so. Is this another example of the recently common problem of not having enough workers with the necessary expertise? Maybe we should not have told them we have an unlimited warranty.