llavalle
Member
Wow, dealership problems... I used to joke with a friend that we weren't having car problems but dealership problems.
Case #1 :Bought a used 1999 Honda Accord LX Coupe (4cyl, manual transmission) from my father-in-law. It was rented, I simply bought it for the "buy back price". Car had 55 000km or around 35K miles.
1-Transmission was making a weird noise when in neutral with the clutch not depressed. The noise would go away when depressing the clutch. I guessed a bad clutch bearing, I was right. Dealer changes the clutch bearing under warranty but while reassembling it, does not install the bearing correctly in its fork. I drove 50ft and I totally destroyed the pressure plate and everything in the bell-housing. They swapped the whole transmission for a new one from Honda... It worked for maybe half a mile : they had forgotten to put oil in it! 2nd new transmission! During all this time, I could not get a loaner because I wasn't 25 yo. (24!)
2-Engine started to make weird knocking noise at low RPM under no load. Went to the dealer, was told it was normal. Car started sipping oil. Went again, told it was within tolerances. Drivetrain warranty was about to expire (had only 4000km left) so I filmed my engine noise and posted on a local car enthusiast website. A guy there decided to show the video to his dad who was the senior mechanic at the same local Honda dealer. Guy told me to come over and he would deal with it. Had a loud fight (verbal) with the staff because they did not want to see me again. I had to run in the garage and ask for the senior tech... he came out and had to convince the staff to change the short block. Got a new engine installed, car started to do the same noise around 85K km later. Was told that it was a design defect with the 2.3L engines : the open deck design of the block made it so that the cylinder sleeves were never 100% aligned with the piston travel and the skirts of the piston would rub off on the walls and get loose.
Remember that at the time, the Honda Accord was considered one of the best rated car for reliability.
Case #2 : Traded the Honda for a brand new Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged. Before you trash GM, if you are not aware, this is not a base Cobalt at all. All the drivetrain, including the wheel bearings, suspension, disks & caliper, etc etc was coming straight from the SAAB 9-3. Decided to rent since the interest rate was lower and TCO was lower.
1-Got out of the parking lot with the car and the leather boot for the transmission decided to un-clip itself. They had broken the clips while doing a small service bulletin. Took 2 visits to fix it since they had to use a saw on the shift knob and did not thing to remove the plastic cap to check for a screw!
2-Car was running way too rich. Black smoke all the time rich. After 2-3months, the idle was crap since the plugs were crapped by the excess fuel. The declined to pay for the new plugs. I decided to change them myself. 4-5 months later, car was starting to lack power. Catalytic converter was running SUPER hot. It went away but it started developing a small leak in the exhaust. After 3 visit, they finally agreed to lift it to check for the leak : I had a 1in hole in the downpipe before the cat. The car was not making too much noise because it had a pre-catalytic converter. When I told them "the cat is probably blocked because it melted!" they refused to acknowledge this. They swapped the downpipe but called saying they had the "wrong part number". 3 days later I get my car and look under it : brand new catalytic converter. Asked them about it, they told me they simply cleaned the outside because it was on the bench. Took a good look at the invoice and the part descriptions were all blanked. Looked everyone of them and they changed the catalytic converter but did not was to give me the credit
3-GM issues a recall for a fuel pump / fuel level issue. I get there, takes 25min and it's fixed. WOW! 3 days later, I get stuck on the highway, car died and won't restart. I walk 4-5miles to get gas and when I open up the gas cap to put it in, I head a loud vacuum noise : while lifting the car, they had squeeze the vent line and my fuel pump created a vacuum in the tank.
4-Inside door handle stops working on driver side. They fix it. The same day, outside door handle stops working, they also fix it. The next week, it happens again : I call them and was told "my guys frequently forget to put the retaining pins"... come on...
5-Before my warranty runs out, I ask to get a front headlight swapped because it was fogging up. I tell them "don't mix up the years, mine is a 2006, in 2008 they changed the reflector color to white and installed a yellow bulb". Waited 3h for it to get installed, check the beam, they look OK. On my drive home, people give me the high-beams. Not only the sealed beam was not installed properly (top clips we in but bottom clips were outside their hole), it was never aligned. Then I look again : wrong version of the headlight!. I call the guy and tell them I want a new headlight, the correct one, and that I'll install it myself in less than 20min in the parking lot. After having to sign a waiver in case I drop it while installing it, I do the whole job in less the 15min, including aligning the beam!
Case #3 : I order a 2010 Subaru Legacy.
1-Since they are getting in Canada in very small number and I ask to postpone my delivery by 2 weeks, the owner of the dealership asks me if I would allow them to showcase my car since they have no inventory and mine is a fully loaded Limited edition. I was told my car would be left locked, no test drives and they would only show the interior / exterior. In exchange, they are giving me a full waxing and a free oil-change. I agree, take a few pics of the car. 2 days later, a friend comes over from oversea and I told him "come with me to the dealership, you'll see my car. They are closed but I'll be in the showroom". I get there, my car is in the parking lot, and VERY dirty. The next day I get there and I see salesman driving it from home! and SMOKING in the car! I took a few pics and waited for my delivery date. When I took delivery, the car had 257km more than new and I confronted them about everything that was going on. They told me that I could take the car or not but I'm in trouble since the Cobalt has to come back to GM and I'll be on my feets! Managed to deal a full set of OEM steel wheels + OEM caps + 4 winter tires + winter mats + whole car wash (inside and outside) and $1500 off the car.
2-Only issue I had with the Subaru was the premium audio amp gave out, the rest was OK.
After that, I bought a 2013 Volvo S60 and the dealer was very honest. This was my greatest car buying / owning experience. Took a couple of visits to fix a GPS antenna issue but it was very painless.
Then I got the Tesla. Service had been stellar and lets just say that it rises the bar!
Case #1 :Bought a used 1999 Honda Accord LX Coupe (4cyl, manual transmission) from my father-in-law. It was rented, I simply bought it for the "buy back price". Car had 55 000km or around 35K miles.
1-Transmission was making a weird noise when in neutral with the clutch not depressed. The noise would go away when depressing the clutch. I guessed a bad clutch bearing, I was right. Dealer changes the clutch bearing under warranty but while reassembling it, does not install the bearing correctly in its fork. I drove 50ft and I totally destroyed the pressure plate and everything in the bell-housing. They swapped the whole transmission for a new one from Honda... It worked for maybe half a mile : they had forgotten to put oil in it! 2nd new transmission! During all this time, I could not get a loaner because I wasn't 25 yo. (24!)
2-Engine started to make weird knocking noise at low RPM under no load. Went to the dealer, was told it was normal. Car started sipping oil. Went again, told it was within tolerances. Drivetrain warranty was about to expire (had only 4000km left) so I filmed my engine noise and posted on a local car enthusiast website. A guy there decided to show the video to his dad who was the senior mechanic at the same local Honda dealer. Guy told me to come over and he would deal with it. Had a loud fight (verbal) with the staff because they did not want to see me again. I had to run in the garage and ask for the senior tech... he came out and had to convince the staff to change the short block. Got a new engine installed, car started to do the same noise around 85K km later. Was told that it was a design defect with the 2.3L engines : the open deck design of the block made it so that the cylinder sleeves were never 100% aligned with the piston travel and the skirts of the piston would rub off on the walls and get loose.
Remember that at the time, the Honda Accord was considered one of the best rated car for reliability.
Case #2 : Traded the Honda for a brand new Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged. Before you trash GM, if you are not aware, this is not a base Cobalt at all. All the drivetrain, including the wheel bearings, suspension, disks & caliper, etc etc was coming straight from the SAAB 9-3. Decided to rent since the interest rate was lower and TCO was lower.
1-Got out of the parking lot with the car and the leather boot for the transmission decided to un-clip itself. They had broken the clips while doing a small service bulletin. Took 2 visits to fix it since they had to use a saw on the shift knob and did not thing to remove the plastic cap to check for a screw!
2-Car was running way too rich. Black smoke all the time rich. After 2-3months, the idle was crap since the plugs were crapped by the excess fuel. The declined to pay for the new plugs. I decided to change them myself. 4-5 months later, car was starting to lack power. Catalytic converter was running SUPER hot. It went away but it started developing a small leak in the exhaust. After 3 visit, they finally agreed to lift it to check for the leak : I had a 1in hole in the downpipe before the cat. The car was not making too much noise because it had a pre-catalytic converter. When I told them "the cat is probably blocked because it melted!" they refused to acknowledge this. They swapped the downpipe but called saying they had the "wrong part number". 3 days later I get my car and look under it : brand new catalytic converter. Asked them about it, they told me they simply cleaned the outside because it was on the bench. Took a good look at the invoice and the part descriptions were all blanked. Looked everyone of them and they changed the catalytic converter but did not was to give me the credit
3-GM issues a recall for a fuel pump / fuel level issue. I get there, takes 25min and it's fixed. WOW! 3 days later, I get stuck on the highway, car died and won't restart. I walk 4-5miles to get gas and when I open up the gas cap to put it in, I head a loud vacuum noise : while lifting the car, they had squeeze the vent line and my fuel pump created a vacuum in the tank.
4-Inside door handle stops working on driver side. They fix it. The same day, outside door handle stops working, they also fix it. The next week, it happens again : I call them and was told "my guys frequently forget to put the retaining pins"... come on...
5-Before my warranty runs out, I ask to get a front headlight swapped because it was fogging up. I tell them "don't mix up the years, mine is a 2006, in 2008 they changed the reflector color to white and installed a yellow bulb". Waited 3h for it to get installed, check the beam, they look OK. On my drive home, people give me the high-beams. Not only the sealed beam was not installed properly (top clips we in but bottom clips were outside their hole), it was never aligned. Then I look again : wrong version of the headlight!. I call the guy and tell them I want a new headlight, the correct one, and that I'll install it myself in less than 20min in the parking lot. After having to sign a waiver in case I drop it while installing it, I do the whole job in less the 15min, including aligning the beam!
Case #3 : I order a 2010 Subaru Legacy.
1-Since they are getting in Canada in very small number and I ask to postpone my delivery by 2 weeks, the owner of the dealership asks me if I would allow them to showcase my car since they have no inventory and mine is a fully loaded Limited edition. I was told my car would be left locked, no test drives and they would only show the interior / exterior. In exchange, they are giving me a full waxing and a free oil-change. I agree, take a few pics of the car. 2 days later, a friend comes over from oversea and I told him "come with me to the dealership, you'll see my car. They are closed but I'll be in the showroom". I get there, my car is in the parking lot, and VERY dirty. The next day I get there and I see salesman driving it from home! and SMOKING in the car! I took a few pics and waited for my delivery date. When I took delivery, the car had 257km more than new and I confronted them about everything that was going on. They told me that I could take the car or not but I'm in trouble since the Cobalt has to come back to GM and I'll be on my feets! Managed to deal a full set of OEM steel wheels + OEM caps + 4 winter tires + winter mats + whole car wash (inside and outside) and $1500 off the car.
2-Only issue I had with the Subaru was the premium audio amp gave out, the rest was OK.
After that, I bought a 2013 Volvo S60 and the dealer was very honest. This was my greatest car buying / owning experience. Took a couple of visits to fix a GPS antenna issue but it was very painless.
Then I got the Tesla. Service had been stellar and lets just say that it rises the bar!
