Well unfortunately I became another victim of the leaking AWD transaxle (PTO). I purchase my 2010 Dodge Journey last year with only 33,000 miles on it at the time. Little did I know that since my purchase everything that I correlated to a bad tire or something else was all related to this cursed part. It all started with a small vibration in the passenger front tire. Then we noticed every once in a while a burnt smell. The vibration only became much worse along with the burnt smell. It finally all ended when driving my family home from church one night we felt a sudden large jerk and then our car filled with smoke and a nasty jerking started along with what sounded to be a flapping noise. Thankfully we were pulling in the driveway when this happened. I got out and checked to make sure it wasn't once of the tires which it wasn't. After going inside to get a flashlight I looked underneath it only to discover an oil leak. I took the car to the garage to have it checked which I barely made it to the garage due to the jerking. They then told me THE DEATH SENTENCE it was not good and we needed to tow the vehicle into a certified dealership to have them look at it. Upon arriving in the new dealership they gave me the bad news of the transaxle (pto) unit was completely broken along with a seal that was causing the leak of oil. They told me not to worry it would be a quick fix and we would have a rental for the time it was in the garage. After 5 days in the garage my rental car was taken away and I was not offered another one due to the uncertainty of when the part would come in. This only complicated matters worse due to this vehicle was my primary mode of transportation for my family of 5. We were then told after 2 more days that there was no estimated time of delivery for the part. I was assigned a case manager with chrysler and was told they would be in touch and help us resolve this situation. This is only a GIMMICK in my opinion. The case worker stated there was a problem with the manufacturer of the parts and chrysler were trying to resolve an issue before the parts would become available. I was told there were over 219 of these on backorder with no estimated time of delivery. Since this time it has been in the garage now almost 4 weeks and still no estimated time of delivery. I had to purchase another vehicle which WAS NOT A CHRYSLER/DODGE nor will any future purchases be also. I believe that if an under warranty part is not available in a timely manner then chrysler/dodge should have to compensate the owner due to there inablility to provide quality service to their customers. Obviously they do not truly care to have returning customers in the future or they would do this. I have people ask me on a daily basis what is the status of my vehicle and when I tell them the situation they also agree to NEVER purchase another chrysler/dodge. I think we should start a facebook page to discuss this problem so that others will not purchase any of these also.
