the old thread I had going died, so I thought I'd start one just for "advice"


In summary, I traded my 1997 TA M6 (89,900 mi)in for a 2001 SOM WS6 M6 (37,000 mi). After I drove it off the lot I have noticed problem after problem. They assured me that the clutch situation was covered under the 3rd party warranty i purchased.

Well after reading into all the fine print in the warranty literature, and speaking with friends that are mechanics, that was proven wrong and I bitched in the form of an email when I couldnt get ahold of the sales manager. He promptly called me back and told me they were going to fix it this time, even though he did acknowledge that warranties don't cover clutch components. So he pretty much said as far as the clutch situation was concerned, I was good to go and they were going to fix it this one time (as long as i agreed to pay the $200 warranty deductible). He said if it happened a couple years down the road I would have to pay full price to get it fixed myself.

So, i drove it up there that afternoon and they gave me a loaner, i drove the loaner home and it stayed parked until last night when they told me to come pick my car up... So I drove an hour away again to the dealership to pick up my car. I got there right before they were closing and after driving my car off the lot I'm realizing there is a slew of other problems now. In addition to them NOT fixing the clutch, the rear end is making horrible noise -- as if it is dried out and the gears sound like they are breaking down. The panhard rod sounds like it's going to fall off (i know because it happened in my 96 camaro too). And the transmission is making noises too. My dad is a mechanic and so is my best friend.

My dad got home from a contracting job in Cali last night. And I was showing him my new LS1car and he was not thrilled. He was pointing out the problems as they became more obvious driving down the road in it.

This is really sad because an LS1 WS6 has been my dream car since I was in like Middle school. And now it is a nightmare. This car has 37,000 miles on it and every time I drive it, I'm painfully reminded that my new (much more expensive car) can't even hang with my old one. My LT1 I traded only had a small coolant leak and it could have used a new T/O bearing.


I sent the dealer a nasty email and told them they needed to fix that **** because I took the car in to have it worked on, and it came out of the shop with more problems than before. Sound like a joy ride to anyone else here?

 

man that sucks is the other stuff covered under warrenty?

 

Typical scum dealer.... I'm going to have to say lawyer up!

 

yeah i just talked to the sales manager and he said they are NOT going to fix it. what are my options? do i have a strong case to get an attorney, even though i bought the car as is? i mean i was lied to a few times....

And I also just filed a report with the BBB. They are an "accredited member" so hopefully something will get done.

 

Well what the hell does your warranty actually cover?


There's all these problems and it just happens to not cover any of them? I'd be beating some ***.

 

That was my worst nightmare when I just bought my new car, thankfully it's been absolutely perfect for the last 2k miles I've actually driven it. Look into the lemon law depending on how long you've had the car and how many miles you've put on it. They didn't lie to you if it's not on paper. It's just a he said she said in court.

 

It sucks to hear of your problems, but sending the people nasty emails will only **** them off and make them less likely to help you. My advice to you is to go talk to them in person and see what can be done.

Of course, this is also a good case of why I don't let anyone work on my Camaro. The dealer can mess with my truck all they want, but I'm not willing to give just anyone the chance to work on something I've put so much time and money into. Hopefully the mechanics you know can help you learn how to do your own stuff...

 

Try to fix yourself or have your friends that are mechanics help you.
With dealerships being like that is the reason i do all my work on my cars or have someone i know and trust to work on my car.
And if you do it or have someone you trust at least you know the job is done and done well

 

You have a father and friends who are mechanics? Why did you take it to the dealer?

The one time I was at the dealership with my friend when he was looking into buying a car in their lot, I saw a mid 20 year old mechanic driving a customers Monte Carlo like it was a rally car in the parking lot. He parked the car by slamming the e brake on and sliding the rear end out. He then saw me watch him and just walked inside the service entrance.

I then walked inside when my friend was talking to a sales rep who was in front of some "manager." I forget because he was in his office and I don't remember, but I'd assume sales manager since my friend was in the sales dept.

Anyways I told the guy what I just saw and yanked my friend away and said "you're not buying a car from this ******* place."

As we walked out I just hear the manager yell at the guy we said did it and brought him in the office and closed the door. Who knows what happened there but I left. I'll never take my car to a place like that, let alone a dealership.

I also know it was a customers car because I saw them take the car a half hour earlier for a oil change from the customer.

 

Do NOT take this sitting down. Contact an attorney, regardless, because each state has laws to deal with situations like this. Some are more helpful than others. A reputable dealer does not want to get a bad reputation. Also, every person has a boss, including the sales manager that you mentioned. Ask to speak to the General Manager and/or regional rep for your area. Tell them that you want it fixed or you will get a lawyer involved. The "L" word usually gets them to cooperate. I know this because I have gone through this multiple times in my short 39 years of age. One was with GM, one was with a Pontiac dealer, one was with a Ford dealer, and one was with a Toyota dealer. The "L" word got two of them going but the other two we had to go to court. We won both times. Good luck to you.

 

What are you saying or doing to have so many problems with all the dealerships?

I just don't deal with them .....purchase the car or truck . Go though the bank or cash if you have it and never trust the dealerships . Stay away from them if they have screwed around with you so much.No need to use "L".

 

The next letter/email that comes from you needs to be from your lawyer and not you. You sending them anything is worthless at this point because it sounds like you have pissed them off. Especially when it is a nasty letter. You need to remain as professional as possible when dealing with this sort of thing as it is basically a situation where they can deny you just because they didn't like you. Not because they aren't legally obligated neccessarily. Not ethical on there part in the least but obviously they aren't worried about ethics at this point or what is the right thing to do.
You need to speak to a law office that deals with this sort of thing and thoroughly review your warranty (which you should have done before you drove off the lot). Them telling you anything and it not being in writing is the killer here. Anytime they agree to do something it always needs to be in writing or it is their word against yours and they will win unless you have it in writing.
If you have no case against them ie: it's not covered in your waranty then it's time to go get it fixed by your dad or someone reputable that you know or trust. The nice thing is that you have a low mileage car that can still be worth something if you fix it.
Another thing to consider at this point is are there any mods you have thought about since your rear diff is going to opened up and clutch replaced, etc. Might be the time to go ahead and upgrade those parts since they may need to be replaced anyway...performance gears/gear ratio, heavy duty clutch, etc.
I'm sure some knuckle head just made your issues worse while they had the keys by hotrodding the car around. I've seen this happen in person and had it done to me once personally. He didn't know I was standing there when he got into it and slid my car around in the parking lot. I'm 6'3" and 305lbs. I had that kid backed into a corner stammering how sorry he was when he got out of my car. The manager gave me the labor/installation free for my troubles on 4 tires at NTB.
Best bet is to see if a lawyer will take the case and how much it may cost you. It might just be worth it to wash your hands of that dealer, fix the car, and chalk it up to a hard learning experience. I hate that for you by the way!! At least when the car is fixed you'll have a low mileage LS1 car that will definetly hang with or beat your old LT1 car.
Good luck!!!!

 

yeah it's a shame. none of it is in writing, i was very civilized about all of it at first, but i think all of you are right about having stuff in writing. it was my first time buying a car from a dealership and this is already a lesson learned. dealerships are usually easier to obtain financing from, and im trying to start building my credit. I'm almost 21 years old and I work for the Cable company here so I'm trying to put the foundation down for the rest of my life.

It's a nightmare yes, but if they don't fix it, maybe I can get my $200.00 back and I might cancel the warranty. I think today I'm going to take it to an F-body specialist down the road. He races them so I think he will know them better than anyone else.

My dad doesn't work on cars much anymore, he works for another telecommunications company, so he has no time to do that kind of work. My best friend is a mechanic for the Ford Dealership.

 

The guy that taught me how to work on my car used to manage a Big 10 Tires, owned at least 3 F-bodies that were all pretty heavily modded, and worked on a ton of F-bodies whenever he could get them in there. If you can find someone like that that really knows their **** about these cars, they are worth their weight in gold.

 

that sucks! did you happen to keep track of the mileage before you took it to the dealer it sounds like it got rodded on, ALWAYS CHECK YOUR MILEAGE when you drop a car off at the place like that

Another thing to think about is yeah your having problems with your car and it is low miles, but you never know how bad the previous owner rodded on it or why it was was sold off anyway

if the original clutch didn't make it past 40,000 than its a pretty safe bet that it god rodded on a little in its previous life, i've got about 50,000 miles on my clutch and it has about 30-40 passes on it at the strip and it still holds strong

 

yeah so i got my car back today and i am pretty disappointed.

they supposedly replaced the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, and release bearing.
but i dont understand why the clutch pedal friction point is 4/5 the way down the pedal almost to the floor. also when i put it in reverse or 1st gear the car shakes before it takes off.

my dad thinks they just resurfaced the flywheel and thats it. what the hell.
this is really making me want to sell this car and

im not a mechanic and i dont have the time, money, or knowledge about cars to be replacing clutches and ****. I think im gonna go tire slashing at the dealership tomorrow. this has been a nightmare and im really about to go buy a new mustang.

 

I'd check the history of the car as much as possible, like a GM VIS and carfax at least.

I seen a totalled 01 Z28 at a junkyard once, the guy told me the story, it wasn't a reported accident, the car had 21,xxx miles on it (so he said) I looked at it but wasn't allowed to touch it because he had it sold to a buddy of his, typed the vin into my phone when no one was looking and sure enough carfax was clean and mileage was correct.
A few months later I saw a wrecked car, wrecked in the same area but now behind a car lot and stopped in, it was stripped. There was an 01 SS in front of the lot with guess how many miles on it? yep 21,xxx. And it did not look like a 21,000 mile car at all.
I looked at the vin of the wrecked one and it was the same car, the guy must have swapped the instrument panels.

I looked at another car he had and noticed frame machine marks and a rebuilt vehicle sticker, a lot of cars there had rebuilt stickers.
I asked the guy what was up with that and he told me all kinds of ****. He pointed at a Mustang and said see that there? it has a certificate of destruction, but it's my sons and he's going to take it to georgia because they can inspect it and issue a clean title.
Also asked him if he knew the guy at the junkyard, gave him the specific name, and he did.
Never set foot on that lot again.

Any chance your instrument panel has been swapped?

 

i dunno. they gave me the carfax which was clean. but the car was a ghost for 15,000 miles i think

 

might be a long shot but maybe the master needs bled out? i know i had them problems but i also replaced it and didnt bleed it all the way

 

Have any pics? This is a long long shot but maybe the previous owner modded it and sold the original parts, then put it back to stock with higher mileage stuff and sold it?
If you get someone under the car check to see if the vin on the engine, trans, and door sticker matches the plate. You can even pull the diff cover, theres a date code on the gears if they're stock. It should be close to the build date on the door sticker.