Automotive People: I'm Getting Sheistered Again. Help. =(

[guppie01 0]

LOL got some extra time.... feel free to repair the clutch in my car.

g

"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?"
Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU
OMG, is she okay?

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Cool!!! Okie dokie, I'll do it!

I can't wait to get the truck back and 'fix' somethin' on it! I've never even done an oil change!

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

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I'm not sure what Chevy's HQ policy is, but if Toyota HQ receives significant complaints about a dealership, they will pull/cut inventory from that dealership until they prove they are up to Toyota's quality standards. You may want to check into it.

That shit pisses me off so badly.... Not sure if you remember my rant from about a year and a half ago, but the dealership gave me a slew of crap the NEEDED to be done, or "I was going to be stranded on the side of the road" (load of shit).

Well a year and a half later and I still have not performed any of the crap (including replacing the clutch), and my car is fine.

Oh, and Steve took the car to a different dealership, and they didn't mention any of the stuff that the previous dealer did... AND they gave him a free set of ipod speakers. WTF

I'm pretty sure that I'll need to replace the clutch sometime in the near future - I'm at 180,000 miles on the car with the same clutch (I'm damned proud of this too), and we'll be road tripping in September.

Good luck sweetie!!!

g

Last time I called Chevy HQ they couldn't give a shit. And THAT was about the seatbelt that I had to cut off of my son's neck. They said if I didn't have any medical bills to forward, then the issue was closed. I told them if I hadn't had a belt cutter in the truck and got to him in time, it would have been funeral bills I was forwarding to them. They wouldn't even pay the cost to have the fucking seatbelt reinstalled. They said that since the belt had NOT malfunctioned (even though, they admitted, it was probably a design flaw) that there was nothing further for them to do but note it. They wouldn't look at the design, wouldn't consider recall, just wait for someone to die and sue before they'd do anything.

The group was debating the need for lawsuits in another thread; I think this is a case of showing that sometimes it is the only way to get a company to do the right thing. That's sad.

I'll never buy a Chevy again.





...and no I didn't sue. But I sure wish I could have taken a baseball bat to some corporate exec's truck.


Cool that you have 180k and it's still going strong!

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

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you're better off buying the more reliable vehicle to replace it, eating your losses now before they get any larger. Car payments suck, but they're better than spending similar amounts on repairs. There is an expression: Don't throw good money after bad.

Yeah yeah yeah...I know. I'm just too busy for this shite right now.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

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reading all the responses in this thread is...interesting. i remember back in the day that i rode around in the back of a 74 ford with a camper shell with 5 other brother and sisters. no seat belts, no air bags, no god damn DVD super duper HD surround 5.whatever sound system with 39 speakers and 27,000 whatts. and....we were happy...we, looked out the window for intertainment. we, talked to each other. and even when we got re-ended coming home from the beach, no body go hurt, we didnt call the police.. and we didnt sue, and the diver that hit us just gave may dad $100 for a new bumper...cause the truck was made of STEEL! and did not need a dealer to fix it, we turned screws and changed our our oil and did tune ups, and rebuilt tranny's in the garage on the work bench. damn, where has all the knowledge gone? i drive a 17 year old car....and work on it myself. but then again, i am not into spending a bunch of money on depreciating things. rant over.

That's all well and good, but there's nobody in our family that knows ANYTHING about cars. As a matter of fact, nobody for generations...my dad is one of 8 brothers and sisters, and none of THEM know shit about cars. None of their 21 offspring know jack about cars. None of THEIR progeny know anything about cars. Our grandparents didn't know squat about automotive. Our GREAT grandparents knew how to drive horse teams, and that was it!

You'd think out of this giganormous family, ONE OF US would have become a damn mechanic!!!


As for the entertainment...well I don't really think I need to defend myself there. I grew up the same as you. But my brother and sister and I didn't beat our heads against the windows on car trips longer than 15 minutes without a sedative. Autism wasn't that prevalent back then. If they were typical kids, yeah that would be pretty lame to 'require' an A/V system to produce a hypnotic lull. With Autistics, it's the only way to avoid harness/helmet/sedation to get down the road. Some days are better than others (we had to go to therapy in the car today and Joey didn't try to hurt himself once on the way home! ) But for most days, sorry to say that is not an exaggeration.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[LongWayToFall 0]

Its all about applying the formula. Take the average out of court settlement cost, multiply it by the number of expected incidents, and if that number is less than the cost of a recall, they won't do one.

[squirrel 0]

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Autism wasn't that prevalent back then. .

i used to teach kids, some with autism. i understand your need for technology to help with your care of your kids....i know it must be tough.

i truely wonder why it is more prevalent today, more so then back then. i see news reports that indicate something like 1 in 150? its something i have thought alot about, being that we may have a child in the next few years.

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[squirrel 0]

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LOL got some extra time.... feel free to repair the clutch in my car.

g

year and make please?

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[ACMESkydiver 0]

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Autism wasn't that prevalent back then. .

i used to teach kids, some with autism. i understand your need for technology to help with your care of your kids....i know it must be tough.

i truely wonder why it is more prevalent today, more so then back then. i see news reports that indicate something like 1 in 150? its something i have thought alot about, being that we may have a child in the next few years.

Research your vaccines, that's one thing I'll recommend. I will NEVER tell a parent what to do when it comes to trying to prevent Autism (I tell you not to get the MMR shot, your kid develops Measels and passes away...I couldn't live with myself).

Research everything and make the best infromed decision you can. -And even then, you're rolling a 150-sided die and hoping not to crap out when it comes to this thing.

I say a prayer every time a friend is expecting, and I'm looking forward to the discovery of a cause and cure for all of us.

Takes a gifted person to teach an Autistic. Thank you for that.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[wmw999 2,589]

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it's only worth what you can sell it for

Actually, to her, it's worth what it would cost her to replace it with something of equivalent reliability and function. The two might be very different numbers, because she knows its history.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[guppie01 0]

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LOL got some extra time.... feel free to repair the clutch in my car.

g

year and make please?

2001 Toyota Rav4

g

"Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?"
Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU
OMG, is she okay?

[piratemike 0]

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I feel for you man. I bought a used Honda 2001 Civic for $9500 with only 88,000mi on it. Knowing Honda's great rep, I decided I won't need a 10,000mi extended warrenty.

Now 7,000mi later, my torque converter decides to fall apart, and I'll need to replace my entire transmission soon because of that.

About $2500

God...dang!

Well.. that's got to be the exception on a honda like that. Even if you bought the "extended warranty", it probably would have not covered a lot of the repair.

Don't feel bad about not buying that thing.

[piratemike 0]

So there probably not a lot you can do to recover the situation here.

Things to learn:
1. avoid extended warranties(primarily ones not offered by the car manufacturer). They usually don't cover you for much of anything. I have never heard anybody say "gosh, I'm glad I bought that third party, extended warranty for that car!"
2. just like downwardspiral said, do not goto the dealership for anything past recall notices and original warranty repairs.
3. look into doing some of the work yourself.
4. Did I mention the avoiding extended warranties?

Replacing those lights might be quite easy. walk over to the parts department and ask for a new light module.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

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So there probably not a lot you can do to recover the situation here.

Things to learn:
1. avoid extended warranties(primarily ones not offered by the car manufacturer). They usually don't cover you for much of anything. I have never heard anybody say "gosh, I'm glad I bought that third party, extended warranty for that car!"
2. just like downwardspiral said, do not goto the dealership for anything past recall notices and original warranty repairs.
3. look into doing some of the work yourself.
4. Did I mention the avoiding extended warranties?

Replacing those lights might be quite easy. walk over to the parts department and ask for a new light module.

1. Actually, we've used Geico's extended warranty 7 times I believe. It was worth every penny (and it didn't cost much at all...I'm thinking $20/month. We used WELL over $240 per year over and above our deductibles, fortunately/unfortunately).

2. Will do. In 600 miles, we're out of ANY kind of warranty & there's no reason to bother with dealerships any more. -And since Turtle and so many other people mentioned, I did some searching online and we may be trading it in on another used but smaller SUV...I'm hoping to find a hybrid perhaps!

3. Just ordered the Chilton's manual.
4. If the shop is to be believed, the lights do not come separate from the radio face plate or steering wheel. I'll check into that. That's not a major safety issue; just an annoyance, really...and I AM going to try to fix the seat wire thingies!
UPDATE:

Here's what happened earlier today - Geico called me on my cell and said that their inspector verified the differential seal leakage and also the A/C being a switch issue, not a compressor/charge issue. I called Chev dlrship #2 that had my truck and authorized repair of diff. leaks, but NOT the A/C switch. I told the lady I was expecting nothing more than warranty repair and a free lube/oil/filter, not $500 out of pocket. I explained the difference in diagnostics between the 2 dealerships, how now I'm paying for 2 diagnostics & not so happy about that. She said that it was just a $250 deductible from Geico either way, so I might as well have them repair it. I explained to her that it was $250 per item and that I'm out about $500 with tax if I went that route. I said 'no thank you, I can't afford that.'

I called Chevrolet dealership #1 back, the one that charged me $95 for a diagnostic of A/C compressor bad/need recharge. I talked to some kid at the service desk, he said he'd transfer me to a manager who he said was there but didn't see at his desk...

I left a message for the mgr letting him know that a 2nd dealership and an independent inspector both verified that it was a switch, not the compressor, nor a needed re-charge. I asked him to call me back, as I'd like to get my $95 back that I paid for a faulty diagnostic.

5 hours goes by. No call back.

I get a call and it's dealership #2 telling me that my truck is ready to pick up. The guy on the end starts to say, 'So, we fixed the A/C,'...

'Um, the A/C?'

'I guess we misunderstood and thought that it was a $250 flat deductible for you from Geico instead of per incident, so we decided to do that repair on our own.'

'Oh, great! Thanks!'
We went down and picked up the truck, and paid $250 for the front seals, the A/C, and a lube oil filter. Not so bad I suppose...

Now then there has been MUCH speculation between my sister in law, her hubby, Joe and I as to exactly how this 'free' repair truly came about...

But oh wells. Life is good right now.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[kbordson 8]

Why is it that you just can't seem to trust service types?

I took my lil Tiburon in today for some noises that she makes on right hand turns (probably brakes for the rubbing or CV with the clicking part or something).
"We heard the noise but we don't know what it is. We're checking into it. Oh and we cant do an alignment because the tires are way out from not being rotated."
Ummmm.... I take it there for tire rotatios.
"We only have it in the records that you've come in twice for tire rotations."
She only has 25k miles on her.
"You should be getting it every 7.5k miles"
Ok... so I'm only 2.5k over. Shouldn't be THAT big of a problem.
"We recommend buying a new set of tires"
WTF!
"And your steering wheel is off."

Makes me wonder if they're going to bill me for prop wash and flight line or whatever the automotive version of that would be.

[marks 0]

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Why is it that you just can't seem to trust service types?

I took my lil Tiburon in today for some noises that she makes on right hand turns (probably brakes for the rubbing or CV with the clicking part or something).
"We heard the noise but we don't know what it is. We're checking into it. Oh and we cant do an alignment because the tires are way out from not being rotated."
Ummmm.... I take it there for tire rotatios.
"We only have it in the records that you've come in twice for tire rotations."
She only has 25k miles on her.
"You should be getting it every 7.5k miles"
Ok... so I'm only 2.5k over. Shouldn't be THAT big of a problem.
"We recommend buying a new set of tires"
WTF!
"And your steering wheel is off."

Makes me wonder if they're going to bill me for prop wash and flight line or whatever the automotive version of that would be.

I am sorry, but I do not see anything wrong with what they told you. why do you rthink they are ripping you off.
if you brought a car to me with 25000 miles on it and you only rotated the tires 2 times, I am sure I owuld see failry worn out tires also.
what did you not understand? did you look at the tires yourself?
this is the biggest ptoblem I see, people get mad when I tell them what is wrong with thair car when they are the one not maintaining it. and Ya I work at a dealer.
your noise is likely feathering or cupping in your tires due to lack of tire rotation. "maintnance."
I fail to see how they are ripping you off. to me it looks as if you failed to maintain it and your blaming the dealer.
just my honest opinion that really means nothing.

[kbordson 8]

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I am sorry, but I do not see anything wrong with what they told you. why do you rthink they are ripping you off.
if you brought a car to me with 25000 miles on it and you only rotated the tires 2 times, I am sure I owuld see failry worn out tires also.
what did you not understand? did you look at the tires yourself?
this is the biggest ptoblem I see, people get mad when I tell them what is wrong with thair car when they are the one not maintaining it. and Ya I work at a dealer.
your noise is likely feathering or cupping in your tires due to lack of tire rotation. "maintnance."
I fail to see how they are ripping you off. to me it looks as if you failed to maintain it and your blaming the dealer.
just my honest opinion that really means nothing.

It was actually the bearings ... which has nothing to do with the fact that I was 2.5k miles behind on my tire rotation. IF he had done his job before calling me and trying to get me to buy new tires for a new(ish) car. He was just trying to get me to spend money instead of fix the actual problem. Had to get the husband to talk to the dealer to get them to actually figure out where the noise was.


Edit to add: To me it was just a lazy dealership trying to make money instead of honoring the warranty that comes with the vehicle.
Just my opinion which obviously means nothing to you. nor, I'm guessing do the opinions of your customers.

[marks 0]

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I am sorry, but I do not see anything wrong with what they told you. why do you rthink they are ripping you off.
if you brought a car to me with 25000 miles on it and you only rotated the tires 2 times, I am sure I owuld see failry worn out tires also.
what did you not understand? did you look at the tires yourself?
this is the biggest ptoblem I see, people get mad when I tell them what is wrong with thair car when they are the one not maintaining it. and Ya I work at a dealer.
your noise is likely feathering or cupping in your tires due to lack of tire rotation. "maintnance."
I fail to see how they are ripping you off. to me it looks as if you failed to maintain it and your blaming the dealer.
just my honest opinion that really means nothing.

It was actually the bearings ... which has nothing to do with the fact that I was 2.5k miles behind on my tire rotation. IF he had done his job before calling me and trying to get me to buy new tires for a new(ish) car. He was just trying to get me to spend money instead of fix the actual problem. Had to get the husband to talk to the dealer to get them to actually figure out where the noise was.


Edit to add: To me it was just a lazy dealership trying to make money instead of honoring the warranty that comes with the vehicle.
Just my opinion which obviously means nothing to you. nor, I'm guessing do the opinions of your customers.

i still think your blaming the dealer when you sholdnt.
if your wheel berings are bad at 25000 miles, that means you hit something. which in turn means your allignment is out. all in all, how is this the dealers fault?

p.s. i have ben doing this a long time. wheel berings just don't "go bad" at 25k. your tire problom is a result of the berings, which is a result of you. I could be wrong, my opinion means nothing. just think about it.
have a good night!

[kbordson 8]

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i still think your blaming the dealer when you sholdnt.
if your wheel berings are bad at 25000 miles, that means you hit something. which in turn means your allignment is out. all in all, how is this the dealers fault?

The fact that he acknowledged "yes there's a noise" but was more interested in selling me new tires instead of actually finding the problem and not putting it up on a rack until a male voice told him to. It's the sexism that really pissed me off. Just cuz I don't have a dick some people think they can get away with doing substandard work because the lil girl won't figure it out. She won't worry her sweet lil curls about the real problem.... lets just spend her money.

You mean BESIDES that?

[Squeak 17]

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i still think your blaming the dealer when you sholdnt.
if your wheel berings are bad at 25000 miles, that means you hit something. which in turn means your allignment is out. all in all, how is this the dealers fault?

p.s. i have ben doing this a long time. wheel berings just don't "go bad" at 25k. your tire problom is a result of the berings, which is a result of you. I could be wrong, my opinion means nothing. just think about it.
have a good night!

I think she is more miffed that the dealer suggested new tyres beforeeven investigating the initial problem.
Once a male spoke to them they checked and found the bearing issue.
Had the NOT been pressed, the tyres would be replaced and the bearings would still be shot.

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[kbordson 8]

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I think she is more miffed that the dealer suggested new tyres beforeeven investigating the initial problem.
Once a male spoke to them they checked and found the bearing issue.
Had the NOT been pressed, the tyres would be replaced and the bearings would still be shot.

Exactly.


[male voice might make him listen]

[kbordson 8]

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p.s. i have ben doing this a long time. wheel berings just don't "go bad" at 25k. your tire problom is a result of the berings, which is a result of you. I could be wrong, my opinion means nothing. just think about it.
have a good night!

You know... you're so right. Thank you for pointing out my problems. You are so smart. I'll just go sit over in the corner and let you spend all of my money cuz I don't need to worry my poor lil head about such manly things as cars.


But.... um. didn't you say at first that it was because I didn't get my tires aligned that the tires are bad and that was making the noise.... and now you're saying that the bearings (which again you're saying is all my fault) is why the tires are bad.

This is all so confusing for us women. I'm going to go and cook now.



-Few things piss me off more than a sexist attitude. - and although you MIGHT not have meant to come off as sexist. After dealing with them here and then hearing you defend their action and further telling me to "just think about it"... well thinking about it isn't helpin.

[jumpin_Jan 1]

I feel your pain!

Dealers are not the only ones.

I got a car from Carmax and purchased Maxcare warranty.

I took it in for 3 issues.
1. Coolant leak, I could smell antifreeze.
2. Belt squeeking
3. Engine surge when in reverse

Plus I had them change the oil.

$300 oil change was all I got.

They could not find the coolant leak.
I had to insist they pressure test it over time.
They did not hear the squeek, they never warmed it up.
They could not replicate the surge in reverse.

The bimbo I had to deal with was ultra rude because I questioned her word.

By the time they brought it up for checkout the service department was closed.

Before I got out of the parkinglot it was squeeking like crazy and I could smell coolant.

I had to go back and raise hell.
I demanded they get their manager to return for me to speak to him. He was pissed but not as angry as I was.

Eventually (the following day) they found the leak was causing the squeek but it cost me a return trip and another lost day.

I spent the day waiting and getting contact info for the suits for formal complaints in writing.

I'm still going round and round with them for the original charges since 2 things were related.

I found and fixed a vacuume leak myself that their 95.00 inspection (for surging in reverse) missed.

When I complained at the cashier they knew exactly who I was referring to so I sought out the sales manager while he was making a sales pitch.
The rude cunt finally got fired for being lippy a week later.

The moral of the story is,

NEVER get an extended warranty, they are a waste of money!

NEVER use a dealer or Carmax for service!

As I promised them, I will never pass up an opportunity to steer people away from Carmax!

And that is why I piped up on this subject!

FYI I drive an '03 Subaru Outback H6-3.0, 22k on the odometer as of today, very low miles! I had only put 5k on it when I went in for service 29 months after purchase.


PULL!
jumpin_Jan

"Dangerous toys are fun but ya could get hurt" -- Vash The Stampede

[LongWayToFall 0]

If the car is driving straight and turns good (not allot of toe in or out) than it is doubtful that the alignment is what caused the bearing failure. It definitely is possible that you hit something and this damaged the bearing slightly, which over time is what caused it to go bad. You also could have damaged the seal with road debris which allowed dirt and junk to get in there. Don't let anyone tell you that because you didn't get your tires rotated you damaged major items. The only reason to rotate your tires is to get slightly longer life out of them, however if you pay someone to do it, you must factor this into the cost of the new tires. Personally, if the tire appears to be wearing evenly, I would not do it. Some front wheel drive cars love to eat up the outsides of the front tires though, and in that case it is worth your time. Don't feel bad for only fixing what is wrong, the manufacturer specifies replacement intervals for most parts that are pretty short, you might as well get your money's worth. The only things you absolutely must make sure you always do, is your oil changes and valve adjustments on time (its possible your car does not need valve adjustments). The rest of the fluids need to be checked for level and color, if the coolant or brake fluid gets discolored at all its time to change. When your wheels are off or hear noise when stopping get the brakes looked at, simple stuff like that. You just gotta be heads up with what the car is doing.
The fact that you heard the bearing going out and didn't put it off until it came apart shows that you are above average in your competency with vehicles

[downwardspiral 0]

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Makes me wonder if they're going to bill me for prop wash and flight line or whatever the automotive version of that would be.

Headlamp or blinker fluid. Actually saw that under "recommended repairs" when my gf brought me the receipt after getting the oil changed at a Jiffylube. "Healamp fluid low."I definitely recommend avoiding such cheap oil change places at all cost.

www.FourWheelerHB.com