I am done buying GM products!!

[CharvelRocker]

Okay, this is rich. We get a call from the Suzuki dealer. The car is done. A coolant flush, transmission fluid change, oil and filter change, inspection/emissions, fluids topped off a new oxygen sensor, and a new air filter- "Wait what" Those dumb fucks put an air filter in, after we JUST CHANGED ONE AND TOLD THEM NOT TO DO IT. We tried a new air filter, as we figure by a long shot, a $10 filter it needs anyway might fix it. So we put one in, and one of the things we told them was "No AirFilter". Then to top it off, it all comes $610 and change. There is no way in HELL all that cost $600, as I just checked that the stupid ass sensors are $70 and are pretty much "plug and play". To make this even worse, we were quoted $250 for it all. We are PISSED.

And no, it was not a matter of doing it ourselves. Dad is 63 and doesn't have the energy to climb under a car and work on them all day. all I can do is change oil. We certainly can't do inspections So since it needed all this anyway, we figured we would get it done all at once.

[LouSiffer]

is that why jiffy lubes have been caught red handed using the same oil filter's and charging for flushes that weren't done. vehicle repairs are like anything else it's customer satisfaction driven. end of story. if you don't take care of your customers they won't come back. the "there's always the next guy theory" is a pipe dream, the market is way too competitive. name your business it's the same story. i'm not saying all repair shops don't charge or can't get expensive , but sometimes they will goodwill transmissions or other costly repairs. independant shops won't necessarily do that.

And you are just reading out of my statement what you want to. Oil jockeys are not technicians. I have personally seen dealer techs do an oil change like this: Drive car in, wipe off filter and cap, change sticker and done.

Thats why I take mine to shops that I can watch what they are doing. I also know what shop did the last change and with a simple glance, I know the filter was changed because they all use a different brand.

When it comes to conventional oil..... oil is oil. Bar none. I went to a business conference when I managed an Autozone and spoke to one of the people form the oil industry. Guess what? They ship the same oil to Castrol as they do Pennzoil, Valvoline, etc. Just change the label on the drum....thats it. Sure the additives may be slightly different after the brands are done with it, but, most additives burn out before the oil hits half of its life exectancy anways.

The smaller private shops can stick it to you too, but, they are less likely to do it on average. That doesn't mean they are impervious to it, but, less likely.


As for your idea on goodwilling a transmission and I am assuming labor..... well, if GM wouldn't replace the coil and spark plugs for around $100 or so, what makes you think they are going to shove you a $2000 transmission at no cost?? I am still scratching my head over this one.-Lou

[Sidk]

Well LouSiffer, I read your story. Your story doesn't jive. First of all, if you bought this car as a demo from a dealership then the warranty starts on the day YOU take delievery. Second, the codes you told are injector fault codes, usually a shorted or broken wire. I am a GM drivability tech for over 29 years. I have never seen any A body cars with a broken plug that came from the factory, ever. I have never seen an ignition coil fail in them either. I have had tons of ignition modules fail. Sure they wern't p0300?

So if the dealership did sell you this car and they claim it is out of warranty when it should still be covered, call your local TV station, they love putting these guys on the spot. Call GM youself and ask about demo warranties and have them mail or fax you their policies. I suspect the salesman told you it was a demo and reality was a buy back. Which makes it a used car and therefor your warranty started from the original in service date of the first buyer.

Oh and one last thing. Your cat converter is going to die because of the multiple missfires. That is a Federal 8/80 warranty. Look for code p0420.

[Rupe]

Civic 1; 166K miles...life ended by a red light runner.
Accord 1; 158K miles...life ended by a red light runner.
Accord 2; 127K still running great!

Be careful! In another 23K miles you're due to get whacked at a red light

[LouSiffer]

Well LouSiffer, I read your story. Your story doesn't jive. First of all, if you bought this car as a demo from a dealership then the warranty starts on the day YOU take delievery. Second, the codes you told are injector fault codes, usually a shorted or broken wire. I am a GM drivability tech for over 29 years. I have never seen any A body cars with a broken plug that came from the factory, ever. I have never seen an ignition coil fail in them either. I have had tons of ignition modules fail. Sure they wern't p0300?

So if the dealership did sell you this car and they claim it is out of warranty when it should still be covered, call your local TV station, they love putting these guys on the spot. Call GM youself and ask about demo warranties and have them mail or fax you their policies. I suspect the salesman told you it was a demo and reality was a buy back. Which makes it a used car and therefor your warranty started from the original in service date of the first buyer.

Oh and one last thing. Your cat converter is going to die because of the multiple missfires. That is a Federal 8/80 warranty. Look for code p0420.

Sorry, but, it is what it is. They gave me the codes. They misdiagnosed the problem. It was due to cracke insulators on the plugs.

If you were a tech, you would know that the Cobalt is not an A-body. A-bodys were your Montes, Chevelle, Cutlasses, GTO, Skylarks, etc.

You are a troll...... please get back under the bridge.-Lou

[Sidk]

Sorry, but, it is what it is. They gave me the codes. They misdiagnosed the problem. It was due to cracke insulators on the plugs.

If you were a tech, you would know that the Cobalt is not an A-body. A-bodys were your Montes, Chevelle, Cutlasses, GTO, Skylarks, etc.

You are a troll...... please get back under the bridge.-Lou

Please step up to the 2000 era... A body is a Cobalt. I work for Chevy. I do this shit every day. Go do yourself a favor smart ass and go read the 4th digit of your VIN, if you even know what that is. I don't care if I get banned.

Your an asshole, You don't have a fucking clue!!! Guys that do this shit day in and day out know. BTW a Monte is either a G body-old school or W body newer, retard. Get a clue and I will join you under the bridge.

Go back and work on your rice burner and leave the the Chevy's to the pros.

Oh and there ain't no way in hell this car would have made it 20k miles on it without spiting out a MIL. Do you even know what that is?

You maybe in control of Hell by I do all the work.

Sorry to the rest of the forum members. When your right, your right. I have to defend myself.

Feel free to ask me what ever questions you have about your GM vehicles if I don't get banned.

[LouSiffer]

Please step up to the 2000 era... A body is a Cobalt. I work for Chevy. I do this shit every day. Go do yourself a favor smart ass and go read the 4th digit of your VIN, if you even know what that is. I don't care if I get banned.

Your an asshole, You don't have a fucking clue!!! Guys that do this shit day in and day out know. BTW a Monte is either a G body-old school or W body newer, retard. Get a clue and I will join you under the bridge.

Go back and work on your rice burner and leave the the Chevy's to the pros.

Oh and there ain't no way in hell this car would have made it 20k miles on it without spiting out a MIL. Do you even know what that is?

You maybe in control of Hell by I do all the work.

Sorry to the rest of the forum members. When your right, your right. I have to defend myself.

Feel free to ask me what ever questions you have about your GM vehicles if I don't get banned.

You obviously don't know shit about cars. I say, it is better to be thought a fool and remove all doubt. Advice you should follow.

Point: I assume you have NEVER seen a GM leave the factory with the tranny full of water. I have. I replaced several of them. People do funny things when they are about to go on strike.

I bet you have never seen a starter go bad on a Northstar engne within 5000 miles. I have. And placing the started inside the engine is dumb.

You know why you have never seen these things? Because, at most, you are an oil jockey and took offense to my issue. Not a tech. If you are a tech, please, sell all your tools and do some poor customer a favor as you would have never thought to look at the most simple of possibilities for a solution, you feel its necessary to replace the most expensive parts.

If the MIL kicks on, you probably read the code and go after the most expensive part.....just like these guys did. And, I bet you are wrong a fair amount. Reading an MIL is not diagnosing. It is helping to put you in the ball park. You are a joke.

As for the rice burner comment, I am not into those. I can tell you more about the small block Chevy than you could ever possibly understand. What I don't know, I got several big books that I can find out. Yes, I can read.
. -Lou

[Sidk]

You obviously don't know shit about cars. I say, it is better to be thought a fool and remove all doubt. Advice you should follow.

Point: I assume you have NEVER seen a GM leave the factory with the tranny full of water. I have. I replaced several of them. People do funny things when they are about to go on strike.

I bet you have never seen a starter go bad on a Northstar engne within 5000 miles. I have. And placing the started inside the engine is dumb.

You know why you have never seen these things? Because, at most, you are an oil jockey and took offense to my issue. Not a tech. If you are a tech, please, sell all your tools and do some poor customer a favor as you would have never thought to look at the most simple of possibilities for a solution, you feel its necessary to replace the most expensive parts.

If the MIL kicks on, you probably read the code and go after the most expensive part.....just like these guys did. And, I bet you are wrong a fair amount. Reading an MIL is not diagnosing. It is helping to put you in the ball park. You are a joke.

As for the rice burner comment, I am not into those. I can tell you more about the small block Chevy than you could ever possibly understand. What I don't know, I got several big books that I can find out. Yes, I can read.
. -Lou

You should not make assumptions. Yeah I've seen all that stuff. So what does that have to do with anything related. If the plugs in the car were cracked you would have noticed it the first time you drove it, not 20k miles later. They were probably carbon tracked, which can look like a crack. Common problem.

Keep on showin your ass. Doubtful you could show me much on any GM product. I've already shown that I know what I'm doing.

You can insult me all you like but we all know who works under the shade tree.

Have a nice day.

[SEEGERMANY]

[nhspike]

Damn.
That's one hell of a skin condition.
It turns green, you loose all you hair, and you grow a quintet of peni on the top of your head.

[dg]

You saw how it turned out for Howie Mandel. Not a pretty sight at all...

[LouSiffer]

Well...... obviously i need to clear a few details for you:
I dont drive the car. I know the difference between a cracked plug and carbon tracking. It was fucking cracked.

Secondly, if it was carbon tracking..... shame on them for just hooking into the OBD and ASSUMING it was correct. That is not troublshooting. It may be a standard practice for hacks, but, since you seem to condone this type of behavior...... again, it makes me question your abilities. Nothing like this would have never gotten passed me.

[nhspike]

That's it.
I'm assigning both of you guys to the same table for the JCF Forum awards banquet, and you're gonna be at the same table every year until you learn to get along!
:ROTF::ROTF:

[Sidk]

Well...... obviously i need to clear a few details for you:
I dont drive the car. I know the difference between a cracked plug and carbon tracking. It was fucking cracked.

Secondly, if it was carbon tracking..... shame on them for just hooking into the OBD and ASSUMING it was correct. That is not troublshooting. It may be a standard practice for hacks, but, since you seem to condone this type of behavior...... again, it makes me question your abilities. Nothing like this would have never gotten passed me.

No sir, I don't condone any customer getting up the poopper. Truth is there are some really bad techs out there. Trust me, I have other autoshops sending there fuckups into us to fix everyday. Yes shame on them for telling you it had an injector fault as the Tech 2 tells you what the circuit description is.

Why are you questioning my abilities? I'm not the one that worked on it. You're just pissy because I spoke the truth.

[LouSiffer]

That's it.
I'm assigning both of you guys to the same table for the JCF Forum awards banquet, and you're gonna be at the same table every year until you learn to get along!
:ROTF::ROTF:

And I will beat him in the damned knee cap with my muffler bearing expander tool.