After searching for this car all over Florida for about 8 months I found one, a 1996 Chevy Impala SS, 11 hours later so had thieves. It was broken into on Friday November 3 less than 12 hours after I had bought it. Thinking the best place to take a chevy was a chevy dealer I called Maroone chevrolet of west dade and asked if they did theft repair, the response was yes. So I contacted my insurance company and had the tow truck take the car to the dealership. I was familiar with Maroone of West Dade because I purchase a brand new Chevy HHR in October at this dealership and it was 2 block away from my wife's place of employment.
On Saturday November 4 I picked up a rental Progressive had arranged for me.
Dana Smithline from Progressive Insurance inspected the vehicle on November 7 at Maroone with service advisor Andres Sarria. I spoke later that day to Andres who told me the inspection went great and the car would be ready by Monday November 13.
On November 9 I received the check from progressive insurance in the amount of 1247.00. I called Andres and asked if everything was OK. He explained the glass company would be out later that day, the estimate was good and the car would be ready by Wednesday November the 15th. This same day I talked to Dana about replacement costs for and alarm and window tinting not included in the estimate. I received the check for ($292.00) two days later.
Later that day I also went by the shop to talk this over in person with Andres. He explained that everything was OK and on track.
The weekend past and I had not herd from Andres so I called him. He explained that some parts for this car where no longer available so he was having a hard time tracking them down. I advised him of retailers that provided aftermarket parts for these cars but he explained that Maroone Chevrolet would only use OEM parts in a repair. He told me the glass people where coming later that day to replace the broken glass.
The car was promised on November 15 but instead of a call from Maroone I got a call from Dana at Progressive insurance. She explained how one at of the dash was not available anymore and how Maroone refused to follow the estimate written that included aftermarket parts. This difference in parts drove my bill up $177.00 beyond my $500 deductible. I then called Andres who explained that one piece was no longer available.instead of finding this irreplaceable $217 piece, Maroone charged 4 hours of labor at $98 per hour (almost $400) to fix the piece that basically had just one crack they glued together.
At this point I was so aggravated I just told them to fix it and I would pay the $177 difference. Andress told me the car would be ready by Friday November 17, worst case scenario.
Late Friday Afternoon (Nov 17) I called Andres all day and left messages with no response. At this point in time, my insurance company is threatening to cancel my car rental because it is way past the allotted time for a repair of this type.
Monday (Nov 20) comes around and my calls continue to be unanswered. I call the dealership only to find that Andres is on vacation this week. My wife continues to call and finds the service ticket is now being handled by Freddy Espinosa. I talk to Freddy, he tells me the car is being worked on and he guarantees the car will be ready by Wednesday the 22 of November. My wife visited the dealership later that day and asks to look at the car. To her shock not even the broken window has been replaced. Freddy explains the window is on its way. A mechanic working on the car tells her this car will take days to fix.
Tuesday Nov 21, calls are made to Freddy asking for him to fax over the itemized work order so I could release the insurance check from the finance company. On three occasions he tell me he is faxing it right over. Later that day I call Maroone and ask to speak to the service director Robert Guzman. His story is all over the place, he explains to me that it takes time to get these parts from all the different vendors like Napa and Hubcap heaven, then I explain to him that Andres told me that they could not use parts from Napa or any other 3rd party, he backtracks his story. He explains that the second suppliment Progressive wrote for $627 is not enough, he needs $780.00.
The next day (Wednesday Nov 22) I visit Mr. Guzman and find that he needs an additional $130.00 for keys and paint. I asked him at this point if I could just get my car back and go elsewhere. He says this is not possible because the parts have already been ordered and work was already done. He works through the numbers and find that the second progressive supplement for $627 was correct. We end our meeting with him telling me that the car would be Ready on Friday November the 24.
On Friday the 24,3 weeks after the break in I returned my rental car since this was way beyond what Progressive deemed reasonable for a repair of this type. I did not hear from Mr. Guzman that day so at 4:30 I called him. He explained that they found a bent piece and could not have the car ready until Monday.
This is where I stand today. I feel that Maroone Chevrolet of West Kendall is exploiting me and Progressive Insurance by artificially inflating the repair costs while their highly trained service technicians turn higher profits doing quick jobs such as oil and air filter changes. They have broken every delivery date they have set for the repair, continue to inflate the repair cost knowing that Progressive (and I) will pay the bill and refused to release the car to me after they could not meet their own delivery dates.
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