thanks, ive often been told im a good story teller,and i guess it does get funnier with each passing day,but if i saw one of those guys walking down the street here i wouldnt hesitate to jump out of my car and beat him to death with my shoe.

 

was that "eh" a crack at canadians?you know what im talking about!
but yeah,i think i said it a few posts back,i will never even look on another "indy" lot again.buncha wholesaling scum!

and captusa, i would love to hear your story,maybe it will make me feel a little better.PM me or something.

 

I'll post it here, but it is LONG LONG LONG!!! Be warned, if you're not interested, don't bother reading it.

 

Well, it’s not resolved yet, so it’s an ongoing saga. Started almost 2 months ago now. When I noticed my car was blowing white smoke out the back at W.O.T., I took it to a mechanic friend of mine who also happens to be warrantee certified by G.M. He tells me that the intake coolant is leaking into the oil, the head gasket’s blown, and quite possibly the plugs are fouled!! Now that’s one hellova long list. Oh well, thank God it’s under warrantee. So he starts to take it apart, and finds out that the damage has been done. The engine should be replaced. (original diagnosis was correct, right down to the burned up #8 plug). Okay, so he rents me a car under the GM plan, and I leave the car with him up in Riverside….. that’s about 100 miles from where I live. Well, as time goes on (about 2 weeks, he has me come down there 5 times. For paper work, or for a possible pick up, or various other reasons. The biggest one was to tell me that GM won’t let him replace my engine. The GM guy came down, and told my mechanic that the damage was minimal, and would have no effect on the engine. My mech was pissed, but what can he do? He doesn’t do what they say, he looses his contract. GM only let him replace the head gasket (which was dusted), and the EGR tube. Okay, that’s a thousand miles of driving, plus the time I missed from work, plus the bad news. Well, it sits there for another week, because the EGR tubing is burnt up way in the back, and he’s waiting on the new part. So three weeks later, I get my car back, and he tells me straight up that it should be okay, but it may have more problems later on down the road. LOL little did I know that he was talking like “on my way home” down the road. LOL the car had an exhaust leak. Sounded like a VW bug driving down the road. So I flip a biotch, and go back. They look it over, and sure enough, one of the bolts was missing from the exhaust manifold…. Nice. So he tells me to go ahead, and drive the car. It sounded like ***, but hey at least I had my car back. Come back the next weekend, he puts the bolt in, takes 5 minutes, and presto, sound goes away. Well, the next Monday on my way home from work, I turn on my A/C, only to hear a terrible sound coming from the engine bay. Sounded like a washing machine that wasn’t greased up right. LOUD. Total power drain, sounds like ***, and my gas mileage over the next few days drops to about 18mpg. Normal for me is 24mpg. Okay, well I’m done driving all the way up to Riverside all the time, so I take it to a local dealership to work on. I go in there w/ a case of beer (it was an hour before their closing time on a Friday so I thought I’d hook them up), tell them my problem, and inform them that it’s a repair on a repair, so I shouldn’t have to pay my deductible again. (extended warrantee from GM). Guy about flips out on me. Drops the paper work, and says to me “Now SIR, stop right there…. That paperwork CLEARLY says that the deductible is to be paid PER VISIT. I argue for a little while, but he just sits there with his hands folded on the paperwork saying things like “if you’re not going to pay a dedutible, then I don’t really know why you’re still standing here.” AAAHHHHHH!!!! Okay dude fine. I pay the deductible again. Tell him while he’s at it, and since I’m paying again anyway, fix my T-tops from leaking, my drivers side window clunks when you role it up, and my Ebrake handle rattles a bit. Okay SIR, we’ll take a look at it. That’ll be $255 dollars for inspection time if we find nothing wrong with the vehicle. …. I’m like “okay, whatever, everything I said is bad.” I need to get a rental car BTW, so I can get around this weekend, and go to work on Monday. ….. Ohhh… well SIR (he always said SIR really loud and disrespectfully) we can’t just authorize you a rental vehicle without looking at the car first. Come back on Monday and we’ll see. I argue again, but again I get the stone wall. Fine, I’ll be stranded all weekend, and I’ll bum a ride to work on Monday. I call him up on Monday, and he tells me that they are just now looking over the car, and he would call me back. I call later in the day, and he’s gone, and it’s now after 4pm, and the rental company is closed anyway. Nice. Okay, Tuesday roles around, and I call him again. He tells me that they fixed the window (the least of my problems), but could find nothing else wrong with the car, my poor fuel economy was probably due to my K&N aftermarket air filter, and any sounds I heard in the car were either normal, or due to the aftermarket exhaust I put on the car. So I would have to pay the $255 bucks. I was like…. “but you can hear the car sounds really bad, and that K&N air filter was installed by the dealership I bought it at (they were a dealer, as was the place I’m at now)….” And he cuts me off and says “Well SIR, if you’re not going to let me finish, then I’m going to have to put you on hold.” Click. Dial-tone. He hung up on me. I look at my watch, and it’s 5:45. They close in 15 minutes, and I can’t get there in time! Holy moley I’m mad now. I drive down there 1st thing the next day looking for him, but it’s his day off! Now I storm onto the lot and demand to talk to the GM (General Manager) Well, his peons were there to block my way, and I ended up talking to the Sales Manager. I tell him to follow me to my car, and I start it up for him. He looks at me all worried like, and asks me if I was there to drop it off for work. I told him his guys were trying to sell me on the car is SUPPOSED to sound like that. He composes his face, and says…. “Oh yeah, those there Camaro’s DO sound like that.” I stop the car, give him the keys, and tell him I’m not accepting delivery at this time, and I’m contacting GM corporate as well as my lawyer. I get a call on my machine when I get home and it’s the service manager. He tells me that he’d like to talk to me about my car, and asked if I would give him a call. I call him up, and he’s the nicest guy in the whole world. Tells me he’s going to take care of it, and he started up the car, and said it was no wonder I brought it in, because it sounded like it was ready to grenade. He’s waved the inspection fees, I can come down to pick up my rental car, and I’ll be getting a phone call from my underwriter soon, with an apology. Well, I get down there to pick up my rental, and my underwriter won’t even look at me. Just fills out the paperwork, and puts it closer to me on his desk and goes back to typing. They keep the car for 3 more days, and then I get my phone call apology. (in the form of a message). Okay, finally this is over. I’m up in L.A. the next day…. Maybe the day after, and I go to roll up my window after paying a toll road…. POP front of the window goes falling back into the door, and the back of the window is now pointing straight up in the air. It’s 3:00 on Saturday, and they are 4.5 hours away. Can’t get it there in time, and they are closed on Sunday. Monday I call him, and tell him what’s going on, and I need to drop the car off and pick up a rental, because I don’t have a ride this week. More excuses on no rental car, and says I need to make an appointment to come and wait for the work to be done. I asked him if it could be done in less than an hour, and he told me it could. I go on my lunch break yesterday….. 2 hours later, and one very rude underwriter, I get my car back, and make it to work to try and explain to my boss why I was so late. That was yesterday….. Who knows what tomorrow brings. LOL
I told you it was long. But there you go.

 

Talked to my boss before the long weekend, and suggested that I might like to stretch my long weekend by another day to go to Calgary (500 miles away). He says that he had the same plans, and that would work great. Later that day, I went to pick up my 95 from the dealer where they were finishing up the last of the tune-ups from my safety inspection a couple weeks earlier. I had been hearing a droning sound from the rear of the car, and told the mechanic to hop in for a second.

We went for a short drive, and he told me that my tires were causing the noise, and that I had nothing to worry about. I head off for my 8 hour journey, leaving at 4:30. About 4 hours into the trip, I heard a slight whine from the rear. Being 50 miles from anywhere, I pushed on. Another 30 miles later, the whine goes clunk, and starts grinding. I hammered on the brakes and pulled over. Flashlight in hand, I spotted oil running out the front of the rearend, and a trail down the road. I just passed a service station, so I drove the 1/2 mile back, and parked.

I called a tow truck and rode the deck 60 miles to the next city. My girlfriend came and picked me up, and we arrived in Calgary at 4:30am!! Not a good start to a long weekend.

I left my keys and phone number in the drop box at the dealership there. I called them the next morning, and they said they would try to get it fixed that day, but they would call to let me know what happened. I was guessing pinion bearing, along with ring and pinion. I called later at 3:30, making sure they weren't leaving early for Friday of the long weekend. She says it's next in line, and they might get the cover off today......

I wait all weekend, thinking about how I might get to work for Tuesday, and decide that perhaps I should wait it out, and work 12's for a couple days to make up the lost time.

When I finally get an estimate, they list off the parts:

Pinion Bearing
Crush Sleeve
Pinion Seal
Axle Seal
Axle Bearing
Plug
Gear Set

The total comes to $2100 plus shop supplies and tax!!!!!!!!

She then explains that $1400 is for parts, and the rest labour.......the gear set is over $1100!! She then checked with the parts counter, and that is for a GM ring and pinion!! GM PARTS!!!

I told her that I could get Motive (better than GM) parts for about $300. She simply couldn't believe that they would fit, and be as good as GM. That's unpossible

Now, I believe I have my dad dragging a trailer the 400 mile journey to find my car, and I'll ride the bus to meet him. Then, I'll stop and see the dealer who told me I had tire noise (coincidentally was the last one to check fluids), and see what he wants to do.

Now, do I spend $500 and rebuild properly....or do I spend $2500 and go 9"?? What do you think?

 

holy crap,
does everyone have a horror story to tell?is it a requirement,or a hazing to owning one of these cars?and captusa,your story is definately a hundred times worse that mine!i guess i can be thankful that i atleast didnt end up with a bunch of problems.man,i cant even laugh like its a funny story,i feel for you.what do you say i swing by and pick you up,and we we go to your dealer,and stadium auto with baseball bats in the night?that will make things right,right?man,it scares me,you definately cant trust the podunk dealers,but now the real ones?scary.i hope you can get things setteld somehow.keep me posted man,i am really interested to see how they handle this.

 

Money permiting i would love to get a 12 bolt or 9", but it also depends on on your final plan for the car. If its just a cruiser i would say save your money and go back with stock.

 

yeah,if you have the dollarsto spend go with a beefy 12 bolt or 9inch.

 

I've found it's cheaper in frustration spent when there is no war. involved.

 

yeah,i was just kidding about the baseball bat thing.and i never would have tried suing them.im just gonna try to laugh it off and chalk it up as a life experience.

 

Yeah, me too. I have drafted a letter to GM corporate, so I'll send that off, but it's pretty passive. LOL If I told them everything that went down, they'd probably fire the guy, and I don't need that on my conscience either.

 

I agree. Dealerships are always a pain to deal with. Especially since I am 18. Ive spent a good 2 years trying to get a sports car (great things come with patience, finally won and got my car). In those two years I figured a few things out.
1. Find a LOCAL dealership that likes to sell NICE cars
2. Visit the dealership somewhat frequently, even if they dont necessarily have the exact car you want.
3. Find (if possible) a young salesman who has a sports car
4. Always dress somewhat "snazzy" when visiting the dealership, and if possible ride up there with someone who has an expensive looking ride. This way you make the impression that you have money.
5. It also takes a ton of luck

Ive had a lot of real bad experiences, but the dealership I found, is supposedly a "non-comission" which helped a lot. They were nice enough to let me take the car (the one in my sig -my baby- ) with two of my buddies on a Friday night! Its only because I had been working with this particular dealership for awhile, and the actual salesman had a 97 cobra. Before we left, he pointed out all of the areas that the local cops stake out. I told him id be back in ten minutes, he laughed a little bit and then leaned down on the door seal right as a loud civic drove by "Its a friday night, the ricers are out... I'll see ya in about 30 or 45." I shook that mans hand.

I ended up paying about 11000 (5000 after trade) for my 98 Z28 A4 3.23's with every possible option except steering wheel radio controls. it had 46500 mi. I understand that this is NO GREAT deal, but I felt like the dealer had respected me, and shown actual intrest in helping me ( an 18 yr old male prep) get a beautiful, beautiful car. Without any extra charge, and without any request made by me, they put a brand new set of Goodyear Eagle HP's p245 50zr's after I bought it, but before i picked it up. The tires measure 10'in wide!

Overall, I agree that dealers a generally shitty, but everyonce and awhile a good dealership can be found!

 

Damn I am so glad that I work at a service/repair facility. I ordered my 02 SS in Sept. of 01. delivered in Nov. 01. Had the 1000 off coupon and negotiated the hell out of the price with 0% interest in 01. Almost 22K now with many mods, but I must admit there has not been 1 issue to return the car for as far as warranty would be concerned with, but the dealership still sends me maintaince notices LOL. Even if something like an alternator were to go out I would rather pay for the part at my cost than have the "C" level tech at the dealership work on my car.

 

Hold the ******* phone, kids... I'm 21, I sell cars and pride myself on not being a sleazy *******. Sorry to hear that you have had bad experiences, but for every angry customer I have had, I have had 20 happy ones. I have sold OVER 300 CARS, and I treat people right. As far as I am concerned, all of you guys that are talking in generalities about car salesman or dealers can go **** yourselves. I didn't **** you, so why do you want to **** me? Say SOME DEALERS ARE BASTARDS, not "dealers are bastards." Say MY SALESMAN WAS AN ******* PIECE OF ****. Don't say "all salesman are ******* pieces of ****."

When I am selling someone a car, I give customers the utmost respect- if I don't get it back, I have no problem telling somebody to GET THE **** OUT. I have no time or patience for ignorance.

Tell ya what. It pays to have a good car salesman to go to. Just ask the guy I saved $5000 just because he lived a block away from my dad. I didn't have to do that, I did it because I am a nice guy. It may be worth thousands to have somebody to go to that you trust won't **** you in the *** when you want that Camaro, or Firebird, or Vette that you want so bad.

There are lots of car salesman/enthusiasts on this site.

Sorry for the rant,
Insulted Salesman

 

Dont be insulted guy, as I mentioned in my post I service/repairs cars/light trucks for a living and I am in the same "pool" as dealerships/lawyers/salesmen etc. As you know there are a LOT of honest/try to do the right thing people in this industry that never get any credit, but at a lot of facilities there is the mentality of get the dollar when you can and let the chips fall where they may, if you operate the way you proclaim then you will sleep well at night as I do. But in a lot of cases the buyer should be aware!

 

Yeah, I have a nice mattress- that helps too... Glad to hear that there are some others in the auto industry that take offense to all this dealer bashing.

People need to understand that the salesman is just like everybody else. We have families, friends and lives away from work. I think many people that are in car sales get stereotyped as some old fat slob in a rayon shirt, when that certainly isn't the case where I'm from. A lot of 18 year olds flip burgers... I was selling $53,000 Expeditions.

And if it is whoever that wants to pay me some profit on a car, I can't fight 'em. A good salesman gets more money for products because he is just that, a salesman who builds value in his product.

I'm just a dude that needs mod money.

 

To follow up on my rearend nightmare ($1100 gears), I talked to the mechanic who told me all that I had was tire noise, and he was flabergasted! He didn't know what to think of it all, and agreed to let me get parts ($400) and fix it for $100, which is approx what it would have cost if I would have done it before all of this happened.

He couldn't believe that it would self destruct like that! I had him change u-joints becuase of a slight clacking noise. He knew it was still there afterwards, but didn't sound bad at all. He felt bad, and said I had spent enough money on it already, so $100 it is!!

Now, I just have to get it there.......

 

are you/they going to put it back to the stock ratio?

 

just in defense, ive bought two cars, and helped at least half a dozen friends, not to mention being there when my parents bought some of theirs, and dealers are typically bastards. you work in the profession, so you know and have seen many things. every experience ive ever had with a lot, whether its looking or haggling, has been bad. and there are countless people, here and everywhere else, that complain about dealers. so dont defend the profession,defend yourself. i can believe that you are a good guy, and im sure there are a few others of you out there. maybe next time i can come across one of you. i have a friend who started selling cars at 18, now 24, and he has told me a world of info about how dealerships,actual credible ones, do things to make money. he quit a few months ago to take on the corporate world, so good for him. and saving someone $5k on a deal is nothing. an amateur haggler could get that off the sticker. buying my 'camaro was a decent experience,but it took me sitting up there all day for them to come down on the price. tried telling me they would lose their shirt on the deal if they went more than 1100 off sticker. well,sticker was 20,995 and i got it for 16k and somechange, so i guess someone got fired over that one! yeah right, they could have gone to 12k or 13k and not lost any sleep on it. so, sorry to have insulted you, but you work in a profession that is probably equivelent to the ambulance chasing lawyer types.

 

LOL most of my family and friends sell cars, and there is a side that the consumer doesn't tend to realize. When you go in to buy a car, you're all primed up for a fight, because you're "sure" they're going to try to rob you. Point in fact, they are going to sell you the car for as much as they can, but that's life. Buying a car is the only thing in the world you go into not only expecting to get robbed, but also swearing that you'll be damned to pay full price. Anybody here have a plasma screen TV? Guess what, they cost about $500 dollars to build. The markup on those TV's is way over 300%. People buy them all day long without a second thought. It's hard as a person (your car salesman) to overcome the constant hagling, and arguing, and complaining all day. And their def of all day is different than most peoples def of all day. We're talking 14 hour days, 10 days in a row, then 1 off. 14 hour days 7 days in a row, then 2 off. ... Repeat. Cut the guys some slack. If you're cool with them, and you show yourself to be educated about the car you're buying, they'll be cool with you too. And if they're not, then you got the sterietyped one, and simply walk out the door. Just my take on it.