GM dealer screwed me!

[Truck_Man]

My catalitic converter was under warantie and my truck had a bad miss fire to it and idled shaky, took it to the dealer and they told me that there was nothing wrong with the converter and i needed new plug wires and a coil pack, 275.00 to fix, had it fixed and the truck was still doing the same thing. I decided to save up some more money and take it too my mechanic, found out the whole inside of the converter was broken up and blocking the exhaust and my fuel filter was pluged, I wondered about this because before I took it to the dealer I put my hand over the end of the exhaust and there wasn't hardly anything comming out. Truck runs perfect now since I took it to my mechanic. Car dealers, what a rip off. Don't get me wrong there is good and bad dealerships and good and bad mechanics but this whole situation just sucks! I just can't believe with there test equipment that they didnt pick up on this because I had them do a full diagnostic on it.

[see error]

what do you have for a truck and how many miles on it

[Truck_Man]

Originally Posted by see error

what do you have for a truck and how many miles on it

1999 GMC Sonoma with 2.2 liter 4 cylinder 44,000 miles, as you can see hasn't been drove much. This problem happened about three years ago, I have had it in storage saving to get it fixed as I live on a fixed income. I had too have new front breaks, catalitic converter, fuel filter, new serpentine belt and ideler pulley, tires rotated and balenced, muffler, and something to do with the altenator. I live on a fixed income so it took me all this time just to save, The converter was under warantie on this vehicle for 10 years or 100,000 miles. The dealer told me it was under warantie but they used the excuse that the converter wasn't the problem when it was.

[Ninja_Lawn_Guy]

I had the same thing happen to me...cut them off and straight piped it...no more hesitation...And yes, the cat should have been at least checked...GM ********!!!

[stumpuller454]

Nothing surprises me anymore, especially poor dealer service, its really hard to get 100% satisfaction from any repair center.

At least everythings fixed and working good for you.

[batty1214]

huh..... I wouldn't go to a GM service center around me...... just after money... and most don;t know their butt from a hole in the ground..

[junior3382]

Next time..... just a thought... take it to your mechanic first, get the diagnosis, have him print it and sign it, THEN take it to a Dealer to get it covered. I am not going to defend their practices, but working for many in the past I can say that they do not make money on their cars.... SERIOUSLY... most dealerships make all of their money in their service department, and there is no money to be made on warranty work. Besides, converters do not just fail, they are usually the byproduct of a misfire due to bad coils, plugs or wires. SO they may have needed to be replaced and since they therefore may have caused the very problem you suspected to begin with, it would not have been covered anyways. But it is all a mute point. the only time I take a vehicle to a dealer for warranty work is when I know for a fact what the problem is, like when I took the '06 cobalt in for a new multi-function switch..... other then that, it is always cheaper to use someone else. but beyond all this, I am glad to see that the issue is resoved however.

[Truck_Man]

All I care about now is that I got the problem fixed, but still if a manufacture or anybody for that matter gives you a warranty, then they need to stand by it and not give you a run around and feed you lies. What they did to me was bad business and they just lost a future customer. The next time i'm buying a Toyota. Loosing customers is not good, it's another way businesses go under and more people are out of jobs. That and mismanagement of funds and greed. As far as the dealers they still get there money for warranty work from GM, Ford, or whoevers product they are selling. If they are getting to much warrantie work then that should tell them that there product needs improvement in quality. Another thing that pissed me off is these CEO's flew in on private jets that cost them about 20,000 dollars from what i heard a peace, when they could have flown comercial for probably between 400 and 600 bucks, no they spend the big bucks on a private flight and then hold there hands out, I wouldn't give them a dime. Sorry to ramble just wanted to get a couple of other things off my chest.

[gmtech]

I being a GM technician since 85 can agree and disagre with your statements. First of all you get good and bad mech/techs wether they work at a dealer or any other repair facility.Yeh we make our money from repairs but styill have the income of selling cars to put up a profit, where other repair shops have just repairs to make their bills so who charges more is up for grabs. I did independent inspections for exteneded waranty companies and found that yes other repair shop labor rates maybe less but overall they charge more time for the same job. Example they would charge 3hrs at 78 per hour to diag check engine light concerns where the dealers would charge 1hr at 90 so you do the math. Also working at the dealer for 23yrs i have seen and repaired alot of other shops screw ups that the did or could not fix. So I guess I would find a mech/tech that you trust and stick with him but when he can't fix it send it to a reputable dealer

[Truck_Man]

Originally Posted by gmtech

I being a GM technician since 85 can agree and disagre with your statements. First of all you get good and bad mech/techs wether they work at a dealer or any other repair facility.Yeh we make our money from repairs but styill have the income of selling cars to put up a profit, where other repair shops have just repairs to make their bills so who charges more is up for grabs. I did independent inspections for exteneded waranty companies and found that yes other repair shop labor rates maybe less but overall they charge more time for the same job. Example they would charge 3hrs at 78 per hour to diag check engine light concerns where the dealers would charge 1hr at 90 so you do the math. Also working at the dealer for 23yrs i have seen and repaired alot of other shops screw ups that the did or could not fix. So I guess I would find a mech/tech that you trust and stick with him but when he can't fix it send it to a reputable dealer

Good to hear from you, please understand that I am not saying that all mechanics in the GM garage are no good, like you have basically stated there is good and bad in all repair shops, we are in agreement on this. As far as my mechanic, I'm lucky. My family has been going to the same guy since the 1960's, we are charged around 35.00 per hour and most of the time if he has to do an engine diagnostic, he will bring his what i call laptop style computer out plug it in and do it for free. There has also been many times were if I have a problem and explain it too him he will say ok this is what you do and explain it to me in enough detail that i can fix it myself free of labor. He is an older guy, has had his own garage since the 1960's, very experienced, extreamly smart. This can be what happens though when your family uses the same guy for that many years, I don't know what I will do when he is gone because I know no other repair shop in the area will give the deal and generosity that this guy does. I feel bad for all the good Mechanics in a dealership because the bad ones and crooked dealer owners end up giving them a bad rap and that sucks.