[stevenspeaking]

Any dealer out there able to get written confirmation that MM brake pads have a lifetime parts warranty even for wear when installed by the dealer? I have been trying to get a straight answer from MM and Mopar for two weeks that is in writing. Mopar said yes and MM said no to the specific term "wear/worn". However I always wan't something documented that I can fall back on.

I have sided with Mopar based on two things.

1.The logo at the base of the brake pad catalog lists " valueline friction & brake kits" (See attached picture)
2. The valueline warranty statement

"Mopar Lifetime Limited Warranty on Value Line Brake Pads/Shoes,

Value Line Shocks/Struts and Value Line Mufflers​

Dealer Installed:​

The above Mopar products are warranted against normal wear and defects for 12 months/12,000​

miles for both parts and labor.​

Beyond the 12 months/12,000 miles, your Chrysler Group dealer will replace the worn or defective​

product for as long as the customer owns the vehicle on which the products were originally​

installed and is, therefore, not transferable to a subsequent owner of the vehicle. This warranty​

does not cover labor charges or applicable taxes.​

Over-the-Counter or Wholesale:​

Mopar parts sold over-the-counter or wholesaled are warranted against defects in workmanship​

or materials for 12 months/unlimited miles for parts (exchange) only."

MM is quoting there statement which only shows only the term defective.

"C) “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” 12 months/12,000 miles and Lifetime

Limited Warranty (Shocks, Struts, Brake Pads Kits, Brake Shoes):​

The limited warranty period starts on the day the Part is sold, as reported on the sales receipt, to​

you, the consumer, and lasts for as long as you own the vehicle on which the Part was originally​

installed, or in regards to emission related parts, the applicable period required by law, whatever is​

longer. The limited warranty is not transferable. When you sell, or otherwise dispose of that vehicle​

(i.e. the vehicle is no longer titled in your name), the limited warranty ends. KEEP YOUR ORIGINAL​

RECEIPT.​

a) Parts Installed by an Authorized Dealer:​

Parts installed by an Authorized Dealer are warranted for both parts and labor for 12​

months/12,000 miles, or for parts only on an exchange basis for as long as you own the​

vehicle on which the Part was originally installed, whichever is more favorable to you. If any​

such Parts are defective during the warranty period, an Authorized Dealer will provide a​

replacement Part. You, the consumer, must pay any applicable taxes.​

Take your vehicle and sales receipt for the original Part to the Authorized Dealer which sold​

the original Part to you and you will receive a replacement Part and any warranty service​

covered as shown above. It is recommended that you take your vehicle to the Authorized​

Dealer who sold your Part. However, you may obtain warranty service under warranty from​

any Authorized Dealer."

Thank you
Steven

 

[MoparDanno]

I would go with the letter of what it says, or chargebacks could come a-callin

Although I will be honest and say that I was under the impression that the MM pads were to be "lifetime" pads as well. In fact the Chrysler guy who has been pushing the program to us specifically stated wear as falling under the warranty period. But from what you have posted here, it specifically excludes everything but "defective materials and workmanship", which knocks wear out of the picture IMO.

TBH, how many people are going to use it as a lifetime free pad replacement? Even if thats the case, they will have to foot the labor. It would be worth it to use them as a lifetime pad and just absorb the cost of the pads for the rare consumer who will do this. Call it goodwill advertising or something. See if you can write it off to advertising actually...

Danno

 

[mdh1776]

Edit: I just realized that you work at a dealership, so my PM and reply might not be useful

But I can't find anything clear concerning the warranty of the MM pads. We havent run into this yet. Maybe call your Parts and Service DM? I'll be curious to hear what you find out regarding this, as I'm sure I'll end up needing to know.

 

[robatdamicos]

If you go on your mopar dealer site, and click on the MM tab you will find the warranty statement which includes:



"Exceptions:
The following Parts have time and mileage limitations, or warranty coverage that differs from
the general coverage described above:
 Remanufactured Starters, Remanufactured Alternators, Water Pumps: (B) Lifetime
Limited Warranty ;
 Shocks, Struts, Brake Pads Kits, Brake Shoes: (C) 12 months/12,000 miles and
Lifetime Limited Warranty."



Which i think is great that starters, alts, and water pumps also are lifetime limited!

 

[Dave Z]

Value Line pads... ack. I made the mistake of getting them, and they wore out twice as quickly as the standard pads. Saving twenty bucks or whatever on a free replacement pad doesn't make up for the hundred bucks of labor.

 

[robatdamicos]

For most applications, I dont have too many complaints, but if its a larger vehicle or truck, I let the customer know they will surely wear out faster then the OE. Most of mine don't care, they want what they can deal with for now, but most still atleast are glad i am honest about it.

 

[Dave Z]

I don't think Value Line was implemented well. Why would they tarnish the Mopar name and what's left of the dealer rep by selling something that wears out in half the time and doesn't feel as good in the meantime?

 

[MoparDanno]

I don't think Value Line was implemented well. Why would they tarnish the Mopar name and what's left of the dealer rep by selling something that wears out in half the time and doesn't feel as good in the meantime?

I think it was more with how the dealers sold/promoted it.

I know that at some dealerships, ALL brake replacements quoted to customers are with Vline stuff, unless the customer specifically asked for OE. Service advisors are very hesitant to upsell OE stuff when they have Midas or such down the street that they feel that they are competing against. VS offering the OE AND saying we do have a Value line that does not last as well, dusts more etc. Letting the customer make the informed choice.

Danno

 

[stevenspeaking]

Part of the wear issue is that the V-line kits (unless you get the pad/rotor combo) do not come with new shim/slides. No amount of cleaning will make those new again. A worn slide will aid in quicker pad wear.

The V-line do dust more.

Also most V-line will have a ceramic option as well.

Steven

 

[robatdamicos]

I use the make it new kits as much as possible, just for that reason. Especially when we are doing rear disc brakes and Emergency brake shoes. All come in the kit with hardware. Where can you go wrong?

 

[CBODY67]

I know that some dealers' service advisors like to sell "price" only, as if that's the ONLY thing they know how to sell off of. This is somewhat normal, by observation. So an intimate (so to speak) knowledge of the OEM product and how it might differ from the in-house brand items is highly important . . . even for the parts person at the front counter, too.

For example, selling brake pads for a 3/4 ton or 1 ton pickup is a different "sell" than for a Sebring. With the heavier-duty truck, you can expect it to be loaded at or past the stated GVW a good bit of the time, plus running down the freeway like that, at or above posted speeds (with posted speed in TX now at 75mph or above in some places). Having that much weight and momentum, if you need to stop quickly, you NEED the best brake pad/linings you can get on that vehicle--period. ANY body damage can equally well-exceed the savings from the less expensive linings . . . whether from VLine or "down the street auto parts". So, selling ONLY OEM brake items for that intended customer is in everybody's best interest.

With the Sebring, you can probably expect that vehicle's owner will not be in such a "heavy-duty use mode" as the truck owner. Therefore, still selling the OEM items can work, especially when the issues of shims and such is considered AND the customer is made aware of what the OEM items include, which can result in greater life and better overall system performance. This customer demographic will possibly be more price-sensitive, so knowing what the other places are selling and what YOU are selling is important! Plus, what the chain stores have in their ads might not reflect what they might upsale the customer into once THEY get them interested . . . not specifically in a "bait and switch" orientation, just additional options past the base purchase option.

Ford, GM, and Chrysler all have their "value line" brake parts. For GM, it was DuraStop. Looking at the DuraStop parts catalog, it was very clear they just found a supplier and co-opted their items for the DuraStop line. The main item with DuraStop was the D3 certification of the friction items, so that they matched the OEM material specs very closely in performance. We were cautious when they first came out, to see if we wanted to use them, but they seemed to do well and we continued to use them, even on 1-ton trucks.

Key thing, though, is you have to add value in the product and service sales transaction. Value in that your OEM products are what the vehicle was designed to use, rather than a "will fit" product from an aftermarket supplier. That means that the same performance the vehicle had when new can be reattained with new OEM-level replacement parts of the OEM part number . . . providing service installation is done as well as it should be. This is an assuarance which can't be made with any aftermarket part--period. From the OEM, then you can mention the less-expensive VLine option (ensuring it's priced competitively with "the other guys" items). Plus, if you need to add-in the price of the shims and such to the VLine items, include that in the pricing, too.

The OTHER key thing is to know what the competition is selling AND where they get their parts. For example, the local Firestone store can keep their in-house oil filters and such, but for brake pads, they'll probably get them from O'Reillys down the street from them. Other shops might use AutoZone or NAPA, so seeing what those websites have on them can be important. What the local NAPA store has for pricing on their website is what they charge us, a wholesale customer, for example.

In any event, you want your service advisors to be able to sell the service drive customer (or the front parts walk-in or wholesale customer) on the fact that with YOUR parts, the vehicle will perform "as new" (as closely as possible) in a manner the customer can trust. Not to "high-pressure" sell, but to present the facts and competitive pricing issues, plus "the value story". If the customer or their vehicle is in your dealership, you might as well confidently sell them YOUR parts rather than motivating them to go down the street . . . where you KNOW they'll sell them something AND possibly get more of their service work in the future.

Building the customer's trust in your staff and repair products is a key thing in ensuring that you (or anyone else in the dealership) will NOT give the customer a reason to go anywhere else for their parts/service/vehicle needs. That can also include "competitive pricing" rather than artificial profit motivated "matrix pricing" on the highly-competitively-priced items in your inventory.

After all, the customer came to your dealership to see what y'all had to offer in comparison to the chain stores offerings. A dealership service dept repair should cost a little more, if any, BUT it should well be worth it to the customer's piece of mind in knowing that "factory trained" techs did the work to OEM specs (this is ONE area where any OEM's dealership should be certainly up to spec!) rather than a chain store tech that works on all brands of vehicles. I suspect some might have snickered at that orientation, but it HAS to be that way for the dealership's service dept to really be better than "the other guys", even if "the other guys" are the CJDR dealer across town. Training and testing are greatly important for techs and parts operatives, equally!

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[stevenspeaking]

finally got the answer in writing.

The Magneti Marelli pads and Mopar Value line pads are covered for wear.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[Dave Z]

Mopar Value Line might be covered for wear, but ONLY for the part, not the labor.

They are rubbish, in my admittedly limited experience.

I will neverbe getting Value Line pads again. I see two options: replacing the pads twice as often and wasting my time but saving a few dollars, or wasting my time AND spending money at the dealer for labor, and losing a lot of dollars.

 

[Jeff2KPatriotBlue]

Disappointed that Mopar is playing the lifetime part game like this. Leave that to the chains.

 

[Dave Z]

Yup. It would mean something if, say, they threw in labor for the first replacement