I had my 1995 Pontiac Firebird Formula towed into Greiner Buick Pontiac GMC on March 16th due to the fact that white steam was gushing out of my exhust pipes, and the car would not start (it did turnover).
After they had a chance to look at the car and see what was wrong with it, they called me and told me i needed to replace the engine, becuase the head gasket was cracked. I really don't know much about engines so i did not know at the time that just that does not warrent a full engine replacement. They also told me they needed to replace the WaterPump & the Radiator.
They Charged me $5850.00 for the Engine
$2310.00 for the labor
$43.34 - Gasket
$60 - Radiator Hoses
$281.92 - Radiator
$30 - Thermastat
$122.44 - Mount
$125.26 - Mount ASM
$88 - Spark Plugs
$42.66 - For Colant (WHICH WAS THE WRONG COLANT)
$225.55 Header Bolts
$14.25 - BRK CLEAN
$12.00 - CLAMP
$25 - MISC MAN GASK
$5 - Filter AS
$11.80 - FLUID
$45 - Transmission Mount
$9.50 - More Fluid
$13.86 - STUD
$40 - SEAL ENG
$46.50 - OIL
$10,224.13 total
I had to put $500.00 down, for them to start the work.
Robert Rendon (Service Guy) told me that they had to Ship the New Engine in from GM Directly out of Michigan, and it would take 5 days to get there and a week after that my car would be done.
Well I called the day the engine was supposed to be in (Friday), and he siad there was some kind of delay and that the engine will arive on Monday. I called on Monday, and Robert siad that the engine arrived, but the Technition that has to put it in, is busy working on another car, and it is going to be two more days until he is done with that.
I call back near the end of the week, and Robert says that the car will be completed on the following Wednesday.
I call Robert back up on Wednesday, and he says that it won't be done now until the following wednesday, becuase his tech had to go to a Desiel Engine Traning Class.
I called back on The next Monday, and Robert Stated that the car will not be done on Wednesday now, that the tech that was working on my car has to work on a Canyon (i think that is another type of vehicle) and that it is warrenty work and says to me "The Technition Can Not Make A Living Only Working On Your Vehicle".
Why Not? What the Hell is the differnce, isn't it the same labor rate? Well actully the other was warrenty work, i am paying for mine, what makes the othe guy so important to where i have to wait another week now.
I call back later in the week, thursday i think, and Robert says my car will be completed on Friday or Saturday (Aprile 14th, or 15th. This has been a FULL Month now) So i call him on Friday, car is not done, but he says that it will be done Afternoon on Saturday, So i call back on Saturday he says it is completed.
However i could not pick it up that day, i had no way of getting there until after they closed.
I had to wait until Wednesday of that week to pick up my car due to Bank issues.
I arrived on Wednesday to pick up my car, i paid my Invoice of $10,224.13
I then drove my car home, i noticed it was making a few wierd noises, but nothing to bad. When i got home i opened my Hood and looked at the Supposed new engine they put in, It Was Filthy, Worse looking than when it was taken into them. It does not look like a new engine at all. And i checked my Coolant since they were supposed to replace my Radiator they had to put new coolant in, Radiator looks new, but they put the wrong type of coolant in the engine, they put the Green instead of the Orange that is required by my vehicle and say directly above the Radiator "ORANGE COOLANT ONLY".
The next morning, i had to take my girlfriend to school, on the way to her college, i noticed that my car was extremly hard to turn and that steam was coming out of the engine compartment. I dropped her off at school, then returned home to take a look at what the problem was.
Upon opening my hood, a huge cloud of steam arose into the air. My engine was Covered with Green Coolant, one of the hoses they put into the intake was Skirting out all over my engine, the hose that they CHARGED ME FOR on the Invoice, looked extremly old and dirty, no way could have it been new.
I also checked the power stearing fluid due to the fact that i could barely turn my stearing wheel. The Power Stearing fluid was completely Empty, that was the wierd grinding noise i was hearing when ever i turned the steering wheel.
I then got back in my vehicle and returned to the dealership, i went inside and Asked to speak to the General Manager (TY is his name) at this point i am a little on edge, becuase i just paid his dealership $10 Grand to fix my car, and i expected it to be done right. I Showed Ty my Invoice then told him to come out to my car with me, i lifted up my hood and showed him all the coolant sprayed everywhere, the empty powerstearing canister, and how they put the wrong coolant in the engine.
He went and got his service manager and had him come look at the car, some heavyset guy who just looks like the type of guy to rip people off. They tell me to wait in the lobby of the dealership for a while. They go somewhere and talk and come back to me about 15 minutes later, and tell me. That they will replace the coolant with the orange, but it does matter what color is in my car, that Green or Orange will do fine, and that people actully pay them to change the Orange Coolant to green. I didn't buy his non-sence one bit, because it say right on the sticker above the radiator to use ONLY ORANGE COOLANT, he siad that someone must have replaced the original sticker with that one.
They also siad that they would replace the hose that they put on, because it had a split in it, and that they would DETAIL MY ENGINE COMPARTMENT, Steam Clean in another words.
And then they told me they were going to have to charge me $520.00 to fix the PowerStearing, that it is leaking out the Presure Hose, well i have had the car for a Year and a Half before i took it to them, and never before did it ever leak power stearing fluid. I told them NO i did not want to pay for that. And then they siad they could fill it up with PowerStearing Fluid for me.
(TIME: 9:30am - 10:00am PST)
They went ahead and had Enterprise Rent-A-Car come and get me, and the paid for a Rental for me to drive while i was waiting for the 2-3 hours.
After 3 Hours, i called them and asked if the car was done, The guy on the phone siad "YES, COME AND PICK IT UP". SO I DID.
I took the rental car back to enterprise, enterprise then drove me back to the dealship and dropped me off and left.
I went into the dealship back to the service department and they siad that my car was not done and that they made a mistake by telling me that it was, Not only has this wasted my whole day, but it was starting to drive me insane.
They recalled Enterprise to come pick me up agian so i could have a car to drive around while they finish up, at this time 3 hours after i originally dropped it off they told me it is going to take 2 more hours maximum.
I call back around 3PM to see if my car is done, Robert siad NO that he will call me when it is done.
4 o'Clock Comes around, NO Call... 4:30, No Call...
5 o'Clock Finally a Call from Robert, telling me i can take the rental car back and come pick up my car that it was all done. Well thank GOD i was not close to the rental car place at the time. Because 20 Minutes after recieving his call, he called me back and told me to Keep the Rental Car over night, that they wanted to make sure there was no more leaks and to pick my car up in the morning.
Not to mention i was driving the Lowest Class Rental Car Enterprise Had.
The next morning around 9AM i call, Robert says that they have 2 cars ahead of mine that need to be detailed. I love how they give me such priority status (lie). I call back around 12PM (NOON) STILL NOT DONE, and everyone has gone out to lunch, and that there is still a car ahead of me for the detailer. I Call back around 2PM, they tell me that it is all done and that i can come pick it up.
I take my GirlFriend with me, we take the rental car back to enterprise, (THEY MADE ME PUT A $50 DEPOSIT DOWN FOR THE RENTAL CAR, i forgot to mention that). Enterprise Takes us down to the dealership.
We arrive at the dealership, my car was parked in a space outside of the Service department locked. So i go inside and get the keys from Robert, He tells me that he can not give me paper work for what they did to my car because thier printer is broken, and that they would mail it to me.
Robert handed me my keys, i went out to my car unlocked it for my Girl to get in, i figured i would Open up my hood to see what they did.
ONLY THING THEY DID WAS REPLACE THE HOSE & Replace the Coolant. They DID NOT Refil the Power Stearing Fluid and they DID NOT DETAIL (STEAM CLEAN) The Engine. What the hell did they do with it over night, WELL ACTULLY THEY MANAGED TO PUT 50 MILES on my car from the time i dropped it off, i bet they didn't think i checked my milage.
Well i went in and got the General Manager agian and took him out and showed him my Engine, that it was just as Filthy as when i showed it to him the previous day (HE REALLY NEEDS TO FIRE SOME OF THESE GUYS, that work for him). Well he sees that the engine is Dirty and the power stearing fluid is not filled.
He siad he was going to go get his service manager, eventually they both come outside he shows the service manager my engine, and the service manager just stands there like a Potatoe Sack, and looks at it like nothing is wrong, i point out to the guy that nothing is differnt exect they managed to do a trany flush and replace a hose. But they did do anyting for the extra 12 HOURS that they kept my car except put 50 Miles on it and waste my gas.
They tell me to give them my keys and that they would take the car back in there and clean the engine and fill the Power Stearing Fluid. And to wait in the lobby for 10 Minutes.
This is so rediculous. Also when they first told me they were going to replace the engine, they told me i was going to get a 10 Year, 100,000 Mile Warenty of The NEW ENGINE.
They stated on the Invoice 3 YEAR, 100,000 Mile warrenty. Then I asked them if i could get a warenty card or something more than just the little bit of type at the bottom of the invoice, they brang me a card, Wrote a Part # on it, and it had on there 3 year, 50,000 mile warreny. Which They just Crossed off and wrote above it 100,000 miles.
They Refused to Sign a paper saying that they put a new engine in my car, they didn't so much refuse to sign as they siad that they would have to hand write something and that they dont have any paper to write it on. They siad showed me where it says "Replaced Engine" on the Invoice, IT DOES SAY NEW. They told me 100 times that it is a NEW ENGINE, that they HAVE TO GET A NEW ENGINE, Becuase GM DOES NOT RE-MANAFACTURE Engines, or Sell Reused ones.
Which is a Complete Lie, General Motors stoped making the engine for my car over 4 years ago. And here is the good part, they PART # they wrote on the Warrenty Card that i stated above, is for a GM "CRATE ENGINE" A Re-Manafacture Crate Engine.
Re-Manafactured IS NOT NEW - it retails for around $3,500. They carged me $5850.00 for the SUPPOSED NEW Engine, AND THAT WAS AFTER A 30% Discount, that they siad they were going to give me.
Well the 10 Minutes Passes and the General Manager comes out with my keys and says that it is all done and that it is parked outside, and that he was sorry about all the hasel. I shake his hand and go out to my car, i open my hood to take a look at it, after 10 minutes of them cleaning my engine it looks better than the supposed 24 hours the spent on it previously. And they refilled my power stearing fluid, oh and they gave me the rest of the powerstearing fluid in the bottle.
Once agian, my car never leaked powerstearing fluid until after i took it to them. I am sure they were just looking for a way to get more money out of me, which they tried by telling me it would be around $520 to fix the Power Stearing Presure Line that was leaking.
That is the last time that i have talked to them.
These Photos were taken before i took my car back to them after seeing the coolant leak:
Http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC08906.jpg
http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC08907.jpg
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http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC08913.jpg
http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC08914.jpg
These Photos were taken after the 10 Min Quick Clean they did:
Http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC08916.jpg
http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC08917.jpg
http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC08918.jpg
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This Photo is of a Hose they charged me for on my original bill (Taken The Day After I Got My Car Back, on April 19th)
http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC08914.jpg
This Photo is of the hose after i took it back and had them replace it becuase it was spraying coolant everywhere.
Http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC08941.jpg
This one actully looks like it is new, unlike the first one. (Taken April 20th)
These photos i took while laying on the ground under neath by car. I am going to take my car to a mechanic and get my car lifted into the air so i can get some better photos.
Http://www.shadow3d.com/freehost/DSC02343.jpg
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Timothy
San Diego, California
U.S.A.
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