Dealer Issues

jmurraywv · June 6, 2007

I had my IPC (Instrument Panel Cluster) replaced while at the end of my certified vehicle warranty period on 5/21/2007. A few days later, I noticed something rolling around inside the dash or steering column but it is hard to tell specifically where. I notified the dealer on 6/4 that it was happening and they scheduled me for today 6/6 to bring it in and they will see if it is related. Just a coincidence? I guess I can understand that things can happen but come on. I asked them how will they know if it was related to the previous repair and I got a typical stupid response of "well if it came from somewhere else in the dashboard like over here and it wasn't related to where they were working". I have no faith that even if they discover it was actually from something they did that they don't tell me it wasn't related and charge me for it. Anyone have any advice? Short of them allowing me to stand there while they take it apart to find out what it is, which I doubt they would do because of "insurance purposes", will be difficult for me to prove that it was in fact them that caused it or dropped something while repairing the IPC. Can I plead to GM? What could I say? I will ask to see the item causing the noise. If they say it isn't related, I'll ask what else is going to fall off back there next. Sorry for the rant.

breecher_7 · June 6, 2007

DONT LET THEM TOUCH IT!!!!

Make them give you the contact information for the regional GM rep for warranty work and deal with it through he or she.

Ive had to do this before, never trust the dealer. 99.9% of there technicians are complete Idiots.

Here is the fact, Service techs make dick for money, if they knew what they were doing and were good at it they would have there own shop or be working in the performance end of the business, not doing warranty work

jmurraywv · June 6, 2007

Good idea. That way they know I'm serious about how I want to handle my issue. They also tried to sell me their "fluids flush" in particular the transmission flush. I only have just over 30k miles on it. Then, he made me initial on the service order that I declined it. What would be the purpose of that?

jhm · June 6, 2007

I would have them fix it. If you are not happy with the results you can proceed further. Personally, I had good results when my truck was under warranty repairs. I guess it depends on the dealership, how much competition they have and the owners integrity. Breecher saying 99.9% of dealer techs are complete idiots is over the top. The cost involved in setting up your own shop is obviously something he is not familiar with.

dsmazz · June 6, 2007

99.9% of there technicians are complete Idiots.

Here is the fact, Service techs make dick for money, if they knew what they were doing and were good at it they would have there own shop or be working in the performance end of the business, not doing warranty work

If I were a technician, and I'm not, I might be offended by your blanket statement, referring to them as Idiots. I know several techs, who work for a dealership, and they make an extremely good living, and probably know more than a lot of people. I'd hardly call them idiots. You need to quantify the 99.9%.

Norseman · June 6, 2007

Then, he made me initial on the service order that I declined it. What would be the purpose of that?

To try to scare the shiz out of you.

jmurraywv · June 6, 2007

Just got off the phone with the service dept. and he told me there was a 1 inch or 1.5" screw in the duct work for the defrost. Had to tear out a bunch of stuff to get to it and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I'm getting charged because he said it was nothing to do with what they did. I don't believe them but not sure what I can do about it. How do I know they didn't drop something down my defrost vents while replacing the IPC and then it eventually found its way down into the duct? I'm never going back but I also don't want them to get away with it.

breecher_7 · June 6, 2007

I would have them fix it. If you are not happy with the results you can proceed further. Personally, I had good results when my truck was under warranty repairs. I guess it depends on the dealership, how much competition they have and the owners integrity. Breecher saying 99.9% of dealer techs are complete idiots is over the top. The cost involved in setting up your own shop is obviously something he is not familiar with.

Do tell? Im self employed.........

breecher_7 · June 6, 2007

Just got off the phone with the service dept. and he told me there was a 1 inch or 1.5" screw in the duct work for the defrost. Had to tear out a bunch of stuff to get to it and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I'm getting charged because he said it was nothing to do with what they did. I don't believe them but not sure what I can do about it. How do I know they didn't drop something down my defrost vents while replacing the IPC and then it eventually found its way down into the duct? I'm never going back but I also don't want them to get away with it.

This is why I told you not to let them touch it and to call the regional rep. And I will stand behind my statement about service techs. As far as your statement about them making a extremely good living, your income and mine must be very different because I dont know ANY dealer service techs that make what I would consider to be good money. Opening and running your own business is not hard at all if your willing to do what it takes to get it done and you are good at what you do. If you are a moron with no business skills and no common sense, then i could see it being an issue.

Oh, and as far as the trans flush at 30K, ive never looked at what they reccomend for the trucks, but I always do a pan drop, filter change, and refill every 30K personally so it probably wouldnt be a bad idea.

jmurraywv · June 6, 2007

Just got off the phone with the service dept. and he told me there was a 1 inch or 1.5" screw in the duct work for the defrost. Had to tear out a bunch of stuff to get to it and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I'm getting charged because he said it was nothing to do with what they did. I don't believe them but not sure what I can do about it. How do I know they didn't drop something down my defrost vents while replacing the IPC and then it eventually found its way down into the duct? I'm never going back but I also don't want them to get away with it.

This is why I told you not to let them touch it and to call the regional rep. And I will stand behind my statement about service techs. As far as your statement about them making a extremely good living, your income and mine must be very different because I dont know ANY dealer service techs that make what I would consider to be good money. Opening and running your own business is not hard at all if your willing to do what it takes to get it done and you are good at what you do. If you are a moron with no business skills and no common sense, then i could see it being an issue.

Oh, and as far as the trans flush at 30K, ive never looked at what they reccomend for the trucks, but I always do a pan drop, filter change, and refill every 30K personally so it probably wouldnt be a bad idea.

I suggested to them that I do that and perform most of the work myself and he started about not getting all the fluid out and I interrupted him. I told him there are differing opinions on flushing or just dropping the pan. I had my tranny go on my 2001 Impala and the shop that repaired it recommended just a drop and filter change and that flushing can cause particles to get into the valve body, etc. I don't really want this to be a bashing of the dealerships and people working there because I'm sure everyone has had varying degrees of success with them. I personally have had good and bad and know what everyone is saying. Trust is earned and not expected most of the time. I don't trust this dealer and am not going back after this last and final attempt. I just wanted to know what possibly could be my best option to have them reprimanded. Unfortunately, I already had it at the dealer before you posted not to have them touch it. I considered taking it to a GMC dealer that I have started to trust and have them investigate it and threaten the dealer that replaced the IPC to charge them but that usually doesn't work. I just hoped it was going to be covered.

I have been the recipient of someone who was dishonest before and I, in this situation, am trying to be honest with the dealer. They could turn around and say that I had dropped something in the defrost vent and am trying to blame them but I did not. A remote possibility is the previous owner had dropped something in there, became lodged and not rolling around, then when the dealer replaced the IPC under warranty caused it to break free causing the noise. On the phone, they couldn't tell me that it came from somewhere in the dash or not but somehow knew it wasn't from what they worked on before.

Bottom line, I guess, is some lessons are hard learned. I'll make sure everyone knows what happened though.

breecher_7 · June 6, 2007

Quick answer to your trans flush. Flushing the transmission is really no better then draining the pan and changing the filter other then the fact that it MAY get a little more fluid out. Fact is all a flush does is run new fluid in and a mix of new and old fluid out. There is no way to seperate the new from the old when its running through the system. So does it really flush anything........not really. What good is a power flush if your not going to change the filter anyways? No good at all. But if you insist on flushing your trans, you can do it yourself at home. Just disconnect the discharge line to your cooler and put it in a bucket, turn the truck on and add new fluid through the fill stick as it pumps fluid out. Bam, flushed. Personally ive never delt with it. I just drop the pan, change the filter, add fluid and off I go. Hasnt failed me yet.

As far as the dealer issue, as i stated before, contact the regional GM warranty rep and have him take care of it. Trust me, he will be more then willing to work with you.

johnfusc · June 6, 2007

Quick answer to your trans flush. Flushing the transmission is really no better then draining the pan and changing the filter other then the fact that it MAY get a little more fluid out. Fact is all a flush does is run new fluid in and a mix of new and old fluid out. There is no way to seperate the new from the old when its running through the system. So does it really flush anything........not really. What good is a power flush if your not going to change the filter anyways? No good at all. But if you insist on flushing your trans, you can do it yourself at home. Just disconnect the discharge line to your cooler and put it in a bucket, turn the truck on and add new fluid through the fill stick as it pumps fluid out. Bam, flushed. Personally ive never delt with it. I just drop the pan, change the filter, add fluid and off I go. Hasnt failed me yet.

As far as the dealer issue, as i stated before, contact the regional GM warranty rep and have him take care of it. Trust me, he will be more then willing to work with you.

You must be a dealer mechanic.

breecher_7 · June 6, 2007

Quick answer to your trans flush. Flushing the transmission is really no better then draining the pan and changing the filter other then the fact that it MAY get a little more fluid out. Fact is all a flush does is run new fluid in and a mix of new and old fluid out. There is no way to seperate the new from the old when its running through the system. So does it really flush anything........not really. What good is a power flush if your not going to change the filter anyways? No good at all. But if you insist on flushing your trans, you can do it yourself at home. Just disconnect the discharge line to your cooler and put it in a bucket, turn the truck on and add new fluid through the fill stick as it pumps fluid out. Bam, flushed. Personally ive never delt with it. I just drop the pan, change the filter, add fluid and off I go. Hasnt failed me yet.

As far as the dealer issue, as i stated before, contact the regional GM warranty rep and have him take care of it. Trust me, he will be more then willing to work with you.

You must be a dealer mechanic.

Not even close, but thanks for the slap in the face!!!!

tobias · June 7, 2007

Quick answer to your trans flush. Flushing the transmission is really no better then draining the pan and changing the filter other then the fact that it MAY get a little more fluid out. Fact is all a flush does is run new fluid in and a mix of new and old fluid out. There is no way to seperate the new from the old when its running through the system. So does it really flush anything........not really. What good is a power flush if your not going to change the filter anyways? No good at all. But if you insist on flushing your trans, you can do it yourself at home. Just disconnect the discharge line to your cooler and put it in a bucket, turn the truck on and add new fluid through the fill stick as it pumps fluid out. Bam, flushed. Personally ive never delt with it. I just drop the pan, change the filter, add fluid and off I go. Hasnt failed me yet.

As far as the dealer issue, as i stated before, contact the regional GM warranty rep and have him take care of it. Trust me, he will be more then willing to work with you.

You must be a dealer mechanic.

Good call! That's why it wasn't 100%

Daddy