Scotty, I have another dealership story for you. I have a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville, 3800 supercharged with about 136,000 miles that I bought a year and a half ago as a "project". I'm not a certified mechanic but I'm good with my hands and I've been slowly trying to restore it. I've pretty much done everything myself up to this point, but the supercharger was making noise and I knew it needed to be replaced. I took it to Findlay Chevy, here in Las Vegas. They confirmed that the supercharger was bad, but they also claimed that there was "bearing noise" in the engine. I had never heard bearing noise or any unusual engine noise at all. But, I didn't want to do the supercharger and then find out that there really was bearing noise. So I had them replace the engine and supercharger at the same time. Two weeks after the job was complete, I just happened to check the fluids and the oil was WAY overfilled. I'd say at least an inch to inch and a half over the full line. So I took it back to have them drain the excess oil out, after driving about 500 miles overfilled. About 3 weeks after that, it started leaking fluid. It looked like oil to me. It looked like it was coming from the oil filter. I took it back again and this time they said the water pump was leaking. Keep in mind, that water pump was put on the old engine, by myself, back in January of this year. It probably didn't even have 1,500 miles on it. They tried to make it seem like, because they didn't replace it when they replaced the engine, that it wasn't their fault, even though their technician transferred the water pump from the old engine to the new engine. After showing them the receipts of the A/C Delco pump I bought back in January, they replaced the water pump under warranty. I specifically asked them when I picked the car up if they were positive that it wasn't the oil filter and they said no. Fast forward another 2 weeks and it's STILL leaking from the same spot! Now, I'm mad. I sent the service writer pictures of oil, leaking under my vehicle and told him that this was unacceptable from a supposed MASTER GM TECHNICIAN. A master tech that overfilled the engine and didn't screw the oil filter on tight.... that's auto mechanics 101! I have gotten no response back. I decided to check for myself and got under the car and lo and behold, the oil filter wasn't screwed on tight. I turned it 5 or 6 quarter turns before it actually stopped moving. Unbelievable! I've been changing my own oil in my cars since I was 20 years old, and this is why! Its sad to see the decline in service, especially at the dealerships. From my experience, the dealerships used to be a place where you could get the best service. You might pay more, but at least you knew your vehicle was in the hands of experienced technicians, but not anymore, I guess. What happened to taking pride in your work?
From what I can make out it sounds like typical stealership nonsense, but that wall of uninterrupted text is pretty difficult to fully parse. (Paragraph breaks are your friend!)
What happened to taking pride in your work?
it's been replaced by "get by in your work"
Same thing happened to me at Henderson Chevy. Over-filled a 2011 Impala. Holds 4.02 qts. They put in 6 qts. It blew out a seal in 5 miles. I brought it back and they refused to fix it since I drove it off the lot. They basically accused me of sabotage. The car had 3000 miles on it. First oil change. All dealerships in the Vegas area are crooked when it comes to service. They don't diagnose problems. They just sell new parts and labor. I had a similar experience with Findlay Honda Henderson. They charged me for an oil change that never happened. I drove 1200 miles on 6 months. The oil looked relatively clean. All they did was reset the oil reminder and gave the car back. I had it all on dashcam video. Anything related to Findlay car service in Las Vegas should be avoided like the plague.
Sin city sinner, that's insane! I feel like Scotty, I HATE dirty mechanics and dealerships man! My problem is that I'm halfway between knowing nothing and knowing everything about fixing cars. I can do a lot but there's a lot I can't do so sometimes I have to take it to a mechanic. This happened to be one of those times, and they did me dirty!
