Grossman Chevrolet
Ripoff auto repair deale

On the week of 01-09-02 I brought my 1997 s-10 blazer into my regular mechanic for an oil change/check an oil leak. He reported to me that it was a faulty intake line, and he could do it the next week. I needed it to be done by the next weekend, as we were leaving town. So I brought it to Grossman Chevrolet in Burnsville, MN.

They called me after inspecting the vehicle and reported to me that it was the intake line and a leak in the manifold. The estimate for this was $936.96. I took the truck home and noticed a rattle, there was no rattle before bringing the vehicle to Grossman's. I called Grossman's, and was told to bring the vehicle back as soon as possible, which ended up to be 2-12-02. It was a bracket on the front of the motor they had failed to tighten.

I again took the vehicle home to find another oil leak. I brought the vehicle back in, missing yet another day of work due to lack of transportation. I was then informed it was an oil-pan gasket leak. This ended up costing $624.85. While I was discussing this on the phone, I referred to a letter I had received regarding '97 Blazers and their possible failures of upper ball-joints in the chassis that would be covered under warranty up to 100,000 miles. My truck at the time had 96,000 miles. I asked them to check on it, and they said there would be a charge. I then asked why there should be a charge considering it was supposedly under warranty. They proceeded to check on the ball-joints and called to tell me both upper and lower ball-joints and idler arm were loose. Since they had the vehicle open, they could fix the lower ones at a charge of $550-560. The mechanic then told me that I was then paying half price because the tops were covered under warranty, which is a ridiculous statement considering the warranty is just thatmeaning I should not have to pay for the uppers at all, and therefore was paying full price.

The summary of the charges for the warranty ended to be $324.96. I declined having the lower ones fixed. This again contradicted the mechanic's statement, which stated the upper/lower joints would each cost $550-560.

I then picked up the car and headed home. I hit 45 mph, and the steering wheel began to shake, and the tires felt bouncy. The steering wheel was also off-center, which it had not been before. On 3-11-02, I then went in to Grossman and asked to speak to the general manager.

I explained what had been done to the vehicle. I proceeded to ask why every time I brought my vehicle in, that I drove out with more problems every time. I then asked if the vibration of the wheels were due to fixing the ball-joints, he answered by telling me that I hadn't had the lower ones fixed. But the truck had not vibrated previous to this repair.

He pointed to the work order and stated the ball-joints were worn. The statement clearly said loose and not worn. I pointed this out to him, I also informed him that I had talked with other mechanics and was told that this would be a gradual wearing. That vibration and noise would slowly increase, and that this would not happen all at once as it had.

I then asked for a courtesy car and told the manager that I should be able to drive my car out in a better, or at least equivalent condition as when I drove it in. I received a courtesy car and went home.

The next morning I received a call and was asked to explain what the vehicle did when I drove it. I told the service manager the symptoms, and he said it sounded like the suspension, and this may have been caused by service on the oil pan. He called shortly afterwards and informed me it was a constant-velocity joint. It would cost $400 to rebuild it and $1100-1200 for a new one, they would absorb labor costs.

He said it had seized and there was a lot of corrosion. I asked him why I had problem after problem. He told me that sometimes when you move some things to get fixed, other things have to get moved, and upon replacement, things don't always work the same. The general manager also told me this about the lower ball-joints. He told me when they take the unit apart to inspect the upper ball-joints, that the lowers may become looser. I was never informed of this possible complication previous to the service. It seems odd that this incidental difficulty was not covered by the warranty.

Back to the cv joint. The service manager stated that when they had removed it, the shaking disappeared. It had probably been moved when they did the other repairs causing the problem and costing me yet another $400. I told him I would call back, contact some mechanics I knew, and basically informed me I had no other choice. I called back Grossman's and said I was willing to pay $200. He later called me back and said the best he could do was $250, I agreed.
This issue is still not resolved, I have yet to get my vehicle back, and my grand total so far is $1,811.81for an oil-leak.

I should have known better since my 16 year-old son had brought in his 1988 cavalier in 1999 for a simple repair and given an estimate of $250. He was later contacted by Grossman, who had taken the liberty of fixing other things that were apparently wrong without any consent from my son, or myself. Giving him a grand total of around $1,400, more than he had paid for the car itself. I called and complained and they dropped all labor costs, giving him the bill of around $900.

Obviously these people know they are doing something shady considering they are so quick to drop labor costs and deal with the problems that they reportor in other words, the problems that they make.

Penni
Burnsville, Minnesota

Company: Grossman Chevrolet
Country: USA
State: Minnesota
City: Burnsville
Address: 1200 W. 141st Street
Phone: 9524358501

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