To reflash or not to reflash

Question

Ok so the other day my durango (05) started and then died instantly... I took it into the mechanic (midas) and they said their diagnostic machine said it needed to be re flashed and to take it into dodge dealership so we did that and the mechanics there said no way this is the problem and there is no way of us telling what the problem is unless we do a diagnostics ourselves. My questions is who do we believe? Or who would you trust more? LOL I know that sounds weird but the diagnostics is not cheap and to have to pay for it twice and then get whatever is fixed, fixed is just a lot to handle.

Answer 1

it should cost around $100 to get flashed at the dealer.pay that and see what happens.

Answer 2

You can never be sure.  

I would say, let the Dealership do there diagnosis again.  They may find the same thing wrong, but than they will continue to fix the problem.  

Thats the way they work, they wont listen what Midas has to say at all.  They dont care.

It could be a reflash, but that stuff just doesnt go bad out of nowhere.  A reflash means the computer got fried, the data was erased, OR there is a factory problem, which is there fault.  

Im thinking it is another problem, but maybe Midas couldnt figure it out, so charged you and sent you away.  It could be a small electric problem, or for that matter any problem, as lights will come up on new cars for anything.

Answer 3

Sorry to hear of your dilemma. Unfortunately, this is a judgment call on your part. And it appears you chose the wrong option this time.

As to who I would trust with the little trucklett, I would choose the dealer. The ONLY thing they are trained for there is the Dodge. Not Chevy, Not Toyota, only Dodge.

If they advise that re-flashing isn't necessary, believe them. Actually they did you a favor. If you told them to re-flash with no explanation, they well could have, and charged you for it, and now you would be out the cost of the wrong diagnostic, and the re-flash, and the SUV still wouldn't run. You'd still need to pay for more diagnostics.

Pay them for their diagnostics. It works much the same as going to the doctor. Your doctor isn't going to trust the data from another physician. It isn't that he doesn't trust the physician, but he isn't going to make decisions based on someone else's tests and judgment.

Let the dealer make a diagnosis and offer an estimate for the repair. When it runs, you'll be much more confident in the end.

Answer 4

  The dealer is definately correct. re-flashing a computer will not correct a problen with the veh. just suddenly dying. You have driven the veh. for many miles on thee same program and it wasnt dying then. Flash re-programming is used for minor eprom changes, usually to alter the parameters as related to OBD II onboard system testing.