O. T. : Nothing Has Changed at the Dealership

[wxman1]

Son's Jeep lost oil pressure on the interstate. He pulled over immediately and called me.
Got a tow truck and had it towed home. I did not have any time to work on it so I went by and talked to the service dept at the dealership the next morning. Explained the problem and the symptoms
and he said that they would have to pull the pan and possibly replace the oil pump. He assured me that if I brought it in "they could get on it right away" . (The first lie). Called the tow truck and he had the vehicle at the dealership by 1 PM. I called at 5 PM, they had not even put it on the rack. Fine. Callled about noon the next day and they had removed the pan. (Now comes the pitch). "The engine probably has been suffering from oil depravation for some time now and probably has major damage. There's probably metal particles in the oil." I ask him...Did the mechanic find metal in the oil? Silence on the other end. Now he wants to sell me a long block since the car has 120,000 miles on it. A long block installed by them is $4100. I said I'd like to stick to the original plan and flush out the old oil and replace the oil pump. Then he sees the long block is a dead issue and tries to sell me a short block. Short block installed by them is about half the price of the long block. Nope...I said...lets stick to the original plan. He then says that the engine may blow up and have catastrophic failure. He also says it has a cracked piston. I ask him if he took the heads off and examined top of the pistons...silence on the other end.

So he gives up and then warns me that even if they do the repair the engine could fail shortly
and it would not be their fault. I then ask him what's the chance that they can get an oil pump for it
and have it back together by the end of the day. He says he'll call me back. He calls back an hour later and says the Chrysler Wharehouse is shutting down early for Christmas (its the afternoon
of the 23rd) and he won't have the pump until Monday. Fine. I then call AutoZone, they have the
pump for $74.95. I call back and tell him the pump is available locally. He says..."Oh, you want to go aftermarket?" . Well YEAH! I then call him back the next morning and he says that the pump
will have to be shipped and they're closing at noon today (the 24th). So now it sits at the dealership until I suspect the middle of next week.

Lessons learned:

1) I will let it sit until I have time to work on it.

2) Never ever take a vehicle to the dealership for any sort of repair.

3) Have plenty of aspirin around to keep my blood pressure down. (Although I never
raised my voice or got angry with this guy.)

The galliing thing about all this is that these people do the work on THEIR timetable,
charge whatever price THEY want and then are totally blameless if the engine blows up
later. WOW! how do I get into this kind of buisness.

Thanks for letting me vent!

Jim
The wxman

[TugOwar]

My last FIVE HOUR wheel alignment turned me off to dealerships forever.

Be sure to ask for the old oil pump.

[neonlarry]

I have to agree, the last time I had someone else work on one of my cars I wound up putting half of it back together myself (missing pieces loose bolts etc.) I used to do all my own work and then with changed living conditions (no place to work) and family I started farming things out but after that last time I won't let anyone touch any of my car/trucks. Too much money for p**s poor work, I wouldn't mind the money if the quality was there but its just a rip off.

[nu2-72]

We have a new Chevrolet dealership owner locally. They are great.
Why are you talking to the same guy? Go higher up. If that does not work, go to the top. If need be, go to the National #. They do this because people complain all the way home. Don't tell me, tell them.
Sorry for you experience. Mine has been outstanding here.

[jcueckert13]

it all depends on the dealership. i work at a toyota dealership and the management bends over backwards for the customer. usually the only time a short block is even concitered is if there is a rod knock. and we never look at a long block as an option because it doesnt pay as well

[70chevc10]

not all dealerships are bad. i work as a lonely little lot attendant (hey im only in high school...) at Parkland Chevrolet here in Tacoma, WA. We have a great service department and do good work. You jstu ended up at a bad dealership. Talk to some of the managers about they guy you talked to on the phone. Sorry the guy was so dumb! He's just tryin to make money in all the wrong ways.

[68C15]

something i read about in a trade magazine not too long ago. these have problems with the cam bearings going bad causing it to loose oil pressure. you may want to look into a long block driveway project. it sounds like the guys at the dealership have poor communications between the techs & service writers. the writers are trying to pull answers out of their butts because they dont have the correct info. if you dont feel confident dealing with them then try another option before you get the shaft. a customer-shop relationship is based on trust. if either end looses trust it is best to call it a divorce. if you know what I mean.

[Fred T]

68C15 makes some good points. I would recommend that you talk to the service tech, not the writer, before the pump goes in. Find out what's really going on. It's best if you can do it in person, but if you have to make it a phone call.

The bad thing is that there are also a lot of independents that aren't much better.

I recently moved my business from a Pontiac dealer to a Chevy dealer with an excellent reputation. The last time we had repairs made the writer was not the best in the world, but he was still far better than the guys at the Pontiac shop.