Clark Motors Inc. - Winchester VA

Visit Geno's Garage for Truck accessories.

The most recent reports are at the top of the list; the oldest are at the bottom.

Sales=Good, Service=Poor, Parts=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=No,
I purchased a 2005 Dakota quad cab,v6,2wd and I love the truck but 3 days after I took it home a vibration in the rear brakes started. I took it back to the service department. I was told that a TSB was out because of the rear brakes, this upset me because I asked the sales force if there were any problems or notices out on the Dakota, they said no, but the service department said the had 6 or 7 trucks with this same problem. It took 7 weeks for the company to come up with a FIX for the problem. I have had it back 4 more time and they have replaced everything they can think of to no avail. The Tech Rep look at it on 3/3/06 and said replace the drums again and then turn them before they are put on. So six months later still no fix and the Dealership is tired of me complaining but I want my truck right.
Why can't dealerships be up front about the products they sell. Glenn Kochel the president of Clark Motors answer is we just sell them we do not build them, But they do not tell you everything about the
vehicle when you ask specific questions.
Submitted by: John Linder
Number of dealership visits=8, Last visit date=3/2/2006, Date report submitted: Mar 4 13:02:45 EST 2006

Sales=Fair, Service=Poor, Parts=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Maybe,
Shortly after I purchased my vehicle I hit a deer. Clarke Motors body shop, should I say, made the first attempt to repair the damage done to my vehicle. They had my car for about 4/5 days and called me in the early afternoon to let me know that my vehicle was available to pick up.
There was still at least two hours left before they would close for the day. I arrived after hours to pick up my car and began to look it over. The first thing that I noticed was that the inside of my car was covered in some type of white dust. I'm assuming it was shop dust from where they had my door(s) removed. I mean it was literally all over the inside of my car. The next thing I found was that my hood latch had been broken. To my knowledge it was not caused by the accident. Regardless, my hood had been forced shut (because that was the only way the hood would remain shut, was to force it), and in my opinion they had attempted to cover up what they had done. Since the body shop was closed I went into the sales department and at first told them that I was not accepting my vehicle in this condition. I was told that the cleaning crew had left for the day and that I could bring it back the next week to have the hood latch repaired. I agreed and left and came back the next day to have the interior of my car cleaned. Even then they did not do that great of a job cleaning it. I thought especially since they had obviously forgotten to do it the day before that they would do a wonderful job when I brought it back. Apparently I was wrong. I just let it go and I came back the next week to have my hood latch repaired.
I noticed shortly after getting the car out of the shop that there was a weird reflection on my hood (which was one of the parts that had been repainted). I figured that it would disappear after washing the car, but once I did that the reflection was still there. It was like my hood was in 3d. I called my insurance company and told them what was going on and they sent a representative out to look at my vehicle. He agreed that the hood had not properly been sanded and also found that Clarke Motors had not painted some of the parts under the hood that they had billed my insurance company for saying that they had painted them. So, my car went back for the second attempt at repair. When I went to pick up my car this time, my car was parked next to the building under the shadow of the roof. The car appeared to look fine, better than it did previously. So, I accepted the vehicle. As soon as I got home and got out of the vehicle (in the sun) I saw that the hood still had t! he reflection on it. The insurance representative came out again and recommended that I take the vehicle elsewhere for repair. I did so and was completely satisfied with the repairs.
Also, after the first attempt was made to repair my car, I discovered a leak. One day, luckily, I went into my back seat to remove something and found about two inches of standing water in my back floor board. There was no water on the seats, on the back passenger door, no dampness on my roof around my sunroof. Since I had never had this problem before, I assumed that this must have been caused by the accident. Clarke Motors told me that there would soon be a recall on my vehicle because they had discovered after all these cars left the factory that the drain at the base of the windshield was not large enough and also that the brake lights had not been sealed properly and that the water was "magically" (my own word) traveling from those locations to my back floor board. And somehow nothing else was getting wet in the process. So, the second time my car went back for repair, they supposedly performed the "recall." The next time it rained, there was water in my back floor board again. I took it back to Clarke Motors and they supposedly ran my car through the car wash and ran water over my car for hours and there was no water in my back floor board. They told me that they thought I had a leak from my sunroof. I told them I did not think that was where it was coming from since my ceiling was not wet. I don't know what ever happened to that theory, but they never said anything more to me about the sunroof leaking. They then suggested that I had left my back window open. My back windows are not power windows. So, someone would have had to have been in the back seat to roll it down. At that time, no one had ridden in my back seat. So, I told them that that was not possible either. I have never had a problem with the leak again since getting my car out of the shop the last time. So, I still to this day do not know what they did to it to either create and/or solve the problem.
When I had the repairs done at the "other" shop, the only thing they repaired was the hood. I recently discovered the the paint on my front bumper around my fog lights is peeling off and the paint on my driver side fender is rusting. Both parts are parts that Clarke Motors painted. I would never recommend this service department to anyone!
Submitted by: withheld by request
Number of dealership visits=6, Last visit date=June 2003, Date report submitted: Aug 3 17:09:44 EDT 2004

Sales=Fair, Service=Good, Parts=Good, bought there=Yes, Buy_DaimlerChrysler_again=Yes,
Bought truck here mainly because it was close to work if I ever had trouble. They tried standard hi pressure sales technique and I told them if they wanted me to buy anything to quit it and I would come back once I had found the best price over the net I could get. Came back with price for exact same truck and they went another 500 bucks off that. They were still making money but I was tired of screwing around shopping here and there and dealing with slimy sales guys so I got it there. Can't say as I liked my salesguy, he was a bit of the slimeball.
So far no problems with the truck and coming up on first 6K service which I will have done there just to check out the service dept and see if they are a bunch of knuckleheads or do they know their stuff. I did look at the service area and the shop is clean for a car repair place.
I would like to say why has the car business been the same for 90 Years? Always the same hi pressure slimeball sales pitches, scummy dealerships that make you feel like you are in a pressure cooker. Independent dealerships are garbage. I bet if the maker of the trucks / cars owned the dealers things would get better.
I hate vehicle buying and everything that goes with it. It's just painful and never can you beat the salesguys or the dealers, they will rape you even if you think you did as well as you can do.
Submitted by: Timothy West   timothywest[a]adelphia.net
Number of dealership visits=1, Last visit date=4/25/04, Date report submitted: Jul 10 20:19:24 EDT 2004

Sales=Good, Service=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=No,
Was satisfied with salesman. Seemed to be honest, was not pushy, and we quickly arrived at an agreed price. After inspecting the truck closer over the next few days I found that the front bumper and brackets had been replaced and the windshield had been replaced but this was never mentioned to me by the salesman. Bumper was missing the plastic inserts and the new bumper brackets and bolts just shined too much which is what tipped me off about the replacement. Found windshield glass in the engine compartment a few days later. It's an awesome truck and I'm quite happy with it!
Number of dealership visits=1, Last visit date=08/2003, Date report submitted: 22 Aug 2003 14:20:37

Sales=Avoid, Service=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=No,
This dealerships sales people will misrepresent equipment and options that are on the new car you are buying. Let the buyer beware when dealing with Rick Praml or Bob Pierce. Don,t let them rush you into buying. I found Ken Kochel to be very deceptive also, I guess bad sales practices start at the top of an organization.
Number of dealership visits=4, Last visit date=2/15/03, Date report submitted: 12 Apr 2003 23:11

Sales=Avoid, Service=Don't Know, bought there=Yes, scv_there=No,
Watch for the bait and switch with this dealer. Don't believe anything they tell you!!
Number of dealership visits=3, Last visit date=1/31/03, Date report submitted: 08 Mar 2003 11:59

Sales=Excellent, Service=Don't Know, 
Make sure you speak with Glenn. He really seems to care about his customers, I had a major problem with my order (had the 6 speed manual)which caused delays in delivery. Glenn really did all he could to make sure My truck was built and shipped ASAP.  During the time my truck was on order I sent many e-mails to Glenn and he took the time to answer all of them. Seems like a straight shooter. Kevin Ritter is OK, he seems to know a fair amount about Dodge trucks but has trouble giving a simple answer. He doesn't make up things that aren't true, he just talks too much. IMHO Still a good guy to deal with. I live in Maryland and drove 2 hours to deal with them. I would buy another truck from them anytime.  I have also heard that the service department does a good job on the Cummins.

Dealership Rating:
	Good sales department, good service
	Fair sales, fair service
	Conflicting or not enough information
	Poor Service or Poor Sales Department
	Avoid like the plague!!
	Don't Know / No Experience

This page was edited on: February 26, 2007