I just noticed on the home page it says to share info about mod-friendly
or unfriendly dealers so I'm adding my experience.
DEALERSHIP #1:(Brookdale Chrysler Jeep _____)
I bought my Jeep from Brookdale Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge in February of '07.
(right after the JKs came out, which helped me I think.).
They sold it as a
dual-top 2004 TJ Rubicon - "loaded"
(? cruise, auto, and fancy compass mirror means loaded, I guess?).
The hard top was on it in the lot.
They were asking $20,999 on Carsoup.com.
I called and offered $16,500, and after a bunch of BS and
a couple days we settled on $17,700
They were closing and asked if I could come by and pick up
the soft top tomorrow.
"The previous owner never used the soft top so it's brand new!" they said.
They gave me a couple boxes with new windows in them and
a quite worn torn, and faded black top with bows.
No rear window bar, no brackets, no hardware at all.
When I asked for a khaki soft top and all the hardware in decent shape,
the used car sales manager treated me like I asked to bed his daughter!
After a long, drawn out battle he had a meltdown on me in the
parking lot. The other salespeople were shocked at the things
he was saying.
I told this story to HIS boss and a new $1,100
full top was ordered from my VIN that afternoon.
Also they wouldn't honor the 1,000 mile, 30 day used warranty
when it was pulling to the right or the power-train warranty for
a leaky axle seal and a rear main.
Which brings me to...
DEALERSHIP #2:(Delano Dodge ****_
That summer I was working at another park reserve so I went to
Delano Dodge/Jeep nearby.
Their service department was/is AWESOME and honored my warranty
for the rear main and axle seals!
I only had a budget boost and a cat-back exhaust at that point but
I asked them about mods and they sounded like they would be
reasonable about honoring a warranty.
DEALERSHIP #3:(Park Chrysler Jeep *****)
I got in a fender-bender and wanted to find a shop that would paint
the front right fender and let me use the rest of the insurance money for mods.
After many, many body shops told me it couldn't be done, Dan McKeag
at Burnsville Off Road said,
"No problem, I know exactly what you're looking for and I'd be happy to oblige!"
After talking to him about my woes with Brookdale Chrysler Jeep,
he referred me to Park Jeep in Burnsville (moved from St Louis Park many years ago,
hence the name "Park" Jeep).
Burnsville Off Road puts HEMIs in jeeps and sells them as turn-key,
"like they came from the factory that way" vehicles.
They order the new ones through Park Jeep.
They also do all the aftermarket work for them - install lifts, winches etc.
As far as I can tell, Park Jeep is the mod-
friendliest dealership in the Twin City metro area.
