I swear, I have the WORST luck with cars...

So wed night, I am on my way home, and the caddy dies.. no warning, no noises (radio was on so that statement may not be accurate) but just killed the motor...

all of my other functions still worked, and the car would not kick over, you could hear the starter kick the flywheel, but it seemed something was telling it not to do more than that... I'm not far from home, but given the time of night, and the gut feeling that this isn't good I decide to hit the little blue onstar button and call for a tow...

2 or so hours later (had to register my information again cause they thought I was the previous owner) my car is being towed to the nearest dealer..

**importiant fact... my car has 53k miles on my car, but i bought the extended bumper to bumper warr. which has a $50 deductable

well here is where it starts to get interesting.. the nearest dealer is in North Ridgeville, almost elyria.. (stu can tell you that this is the most err.. hilbilly your gonna get around here) And I didn't know they were not a "cadillac" dealer, turns out they were a gmc, pont, olds dealer, and picked caddys up when gm killed the olds name.. ( I'm including this fact because it probably has a lot to do with the asshats causing the problems I am about to describe)

well the next morning I decide to give them a call at about 11 am because I haven't heard from them...

I talk to the service manager, and he tells me they have to do a diognostic, and it is $85 unless the repair is covered by warr. I figured this, and said go ahead, and let me know when you find out...

Later that day he calls me back, Tells me its the battery and It will be $150 installed because its not covered by warr.. He also tries to sell me a tranny flush based on mileage that I don't need ( the owners manual states 100k )

I am a car guy, have worked on cars from the time i was 10, and Have NEVER heard of a battery killing the motor of a car while its running, especially letting all my acc. work on the side of the road for 2 hrs. so obviously I question this, and he insists that this is the problem ( he also informs me that if i decide not to fork over the 150 big ones for a batt i gotta pay 85 for the "test" ) so I bite my tounge and just tell him to fix it, at this point i just want my car... I also tell him i'll pass on the tranny flush, but i would like a oil change while its there because my change oil thing came on about 3 days ago. he lets me know the total for everything ( about 220 ) and tells me he will call me later when its done.

Later comes and Mr. service manager tells me he has good news and bad news.. my car is done, but when the tech was backing out my car for some reason he decided to roll down my rear window, and now it wont go back up, I need a regulator, and they don't have the part in stock... I ask the guy if he is calling then to tell me that they are fixing it and providing me with a vehicle then? and he responds with "we can get that window back up, but if ya hit a bump it will probably fall" I repeat my last question, and he says he will call me back...

Guy calls back, tells me he has a car, and i can come pick it up... Cool, I will call Shannon, have her get me from work, and head over there... Oh Mr. brooks? I almost forgot... when we changed your oil, only a quart came out, and my tech reported some noise, but it seems to be fine, so we will note it for you for the future just in case... he then proceeds to question me about how overdue i am on my oil change, in which i remind him that it has only been a few days, and i question him where the other 5 qts of oil went?? again i really dont get any awnsers, but I give up, and tell him i'll see him soon to get the loaner.

When I get there I am walked to my car to get my insurance papers, where i see my interior strewn about the dirtiest shop i have ever walked into. I question this, still no real answer or action, but at this point I am not shocked anymore...

I get the car and leave...

Now the next day, Service manager calls, my car is done I can get it whenever, I tell the guy ill be there after I get off work...

I get to the dealer, walk over to the cashier.. $275?!? whats this $50 charge? your deductable on the warr claim for the window... GRRRRR.. I try to despute this, but am in no mood to get into an arguement with the service manager, ill just pay it, and call his boss tomorrow, I just want to get in my car and go home...

At this point my car is out front (dirty btw... my car is NEVER dirty) but again, i just want to go home so I bite my tounge.. I get in start her up and start to reset my radio and seats...

Then i pull out into the street and just like before the ENGINE DIES! now I snap.. I tried really hard not to be that guy that yells because i get that crap at work all day, but this has pushed me to far at this point, so I come unglued on the guy, and him and someone else go out to my car...

they come back about 15 mins later with my car and all you can hear is knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock... guy gets out and goes yeah thats a rod knock.... UHHH ya think??

They tell me they will get the loaner back for me and take a look in the morning ( now i start re asking questions ) like the oil missing, and the fact that i didnt think i needed a battery etc... they say they wont be able to do anything till morning over and over till i leave... (have i mentioned the loaner is a base model g6?) not a bad car, but not my caddy in any way...

I get home, still fuming and decide to call cadillac customer service.. had a nice chat with them, and they are trying to get my money back for me, a tech is going to go look at my car to verify the motor needs to be replaced, and I kinda have to wait the weekedn out to find out about anything..

but I am thinking I am going to wait till the inspector approves the motor replacement, call cadillac, tell them to transport my car to another dealer, and then take the g6 back and ask for my 275 back ( based on the thinking i never needed a battery, i shoudn't have to pay 50 bucks for something they broke, and i wouldn't have had to pay for an oil change had they diagnosed my car properly in the first place )

sorry for the looooong post.. I am just so agrivated right now...

The funny thing is i'm not even mad the car is broke, that stuff happens, thats why I got a warr... I'm mad that these guys messed up and aren't willing to fix there mistake



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That's messed up! Keep us posted.

That's why nobody but myself lays a tool to my cars...warrentied or not, the "trained" wrench-turners never get anything right, and ALWAYS brake/replace something they shouldn't have touched in the first place.




fortune cookie say: better a delay than a disaster

My gm warranty rebuilt my 2.4 3 times in 26k miles, the trans 3 times then a new one. now i doo not drive soft, but the thing is little things like ps fluid leaks never got fixed, leaks in the cam valley, the trans being very hard to shift *getrag* and them always telling me it was ok and it was my fault. well the new trans they put in at 36k is still perfect at 70k, and i replaced the engine they had rebuillt a few times with one from lkq salvage. it has worked for years since with absolutely no issues.
I will probaby always drive GM, but I dont think that Mr Goodwrench will ever touch it again *no relation to Mr goodwrench on this site BTW, totally different guy*

thats the problem with GM good cars most of the time, but the biggest tools on the planet servicing them



1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85

kill them all end of story

Stories like this make me nervous for when I eventually break something on the Sunfire. I drive 80 miles a day at 75mph, how long do you think it will last?
I'm warranted til 85,000 miles, I'm at ~56k right now, if the motor, tranny, etc goes, I cut my losses and buy a new car. especially if it's paid off.

Sucks to hear. Honestly, I'd just cut my losses, and file for ligitation against: A) the dealership, and B) the extended warranty. At the very least, call up the number on the extended warranty, and tell them "this is your problem now, deal with it". If they refuse (doubt they will, considered how agravated you've been made), they'll take care of everything else (including fighting with the manager).


--------------------------------------------------------
2002 Sunfire -->
- Ractive steering wheel
- ASA 17" EM9 + Nexen N5000 215/45/17 (steelies for winter)
- D-Spec Lowering kit @ 1.4" (issues currently )
- Rockford P250.1 + MTX MZS1004 + Panasonic CQ-C8313U head unit
- Barely legal tint.

DroptopPaul wrote:kill them all end of story

im down for that...

how far away was this dealer? where is the next closest DEALERSHIP.like an actual clean shop and everything? now it may be worth the extra drive.

thats what I am waiting on now...

it has escalated in cadillac customer service, the first lady I talked to really is just a note taker...

So when they guy from cadillac calls me on monday i plan on telling him i want my car transported to another dealer, and i will be taking the loaner back to the first dealer, and I want my 275 back...



** FOR SALE** http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=24&i=110879&t=110879

Do it.

This dealership sounds pretty putrid: The factory probably already knows about this, but I'd still lodge a complaint.

Don't let that a**hole dealership win. I've never liked most dealerships. They're lazy and stupid. I took my mom's Toyota to be sprayed with rustproofing at her dealership, but when I inspected the job they missed half the undercarriage. I could still see a ton of spots that barely had anything to keep it from rusting. When I informed the dealer about it, they just kind of shrugged.

The problem is that years ago you could threaten a dealer with going off and buying another make, but nowadays most guys who own the Toyota dealership ALSO own the competing car dealership (GM/Ford/Honda/Whatever) across the street. My advice, have your car serviced at another Cadillac dealership, but make sure it's not owned by the same jagoff who owns the one you're currently going to.

need I remind people if the random 3/8 drive 5 mm hex socket that was found inside the oil pan of my brand new cavi LOL

GM sucks... I liek there cars and despise EVERYHTING else about them

I was one of the few honest dealer technicians, hence I didnt make any money as one, and I can assure you that as long as I am capeable of servicing my own vehicle at home I will. If you are persistant with custom assistance they may be able to help you out with the charges. Demand your battery back first thing Mon. morning. When they cant provide it demand your money back. If they can provide it have them test it with the GM tester.

Dealers are crooked, I found out by working in one.

Darkstars wrote:need I remind people if the random 3/8 drive 5 mm hex socket that was found inside the oil pan of my brand new cavi LOL

GM sucks... I liek there cars and despise EVERYHTING else about them

I remember that, lol...did you ever figure out if it was from the production line or the dealership? Or just say "Cool, free tool" and call it a day?

89Sunbird wrote:

Darkstars wrote:need I remind people if the random 3/8 drive 5 mm hex socket that was found inside the oil pan of my brand new cavi LOL

GM sucks... I liek there cars and despise EVERYHTING else about them

I remember that, lol...did you ever figure out if it was from the production line or the dealership? Or just say "Cool, free tool" and call it a day?

BAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA!




Damn bro.... see, this is why you never leave a car broke! You always end up needing it sometime! kidding...

Good luck with everything! I want updates monday! I respect your patiences, cause if I had a Cadillac, there is no way I would have let everything that you let slide, slide. You're a good man Charlie Brown!

Stories like that make my cav not want to go to the dealership...

Funny part is I've never gotten so many coupons from Goodwrench before....

hey man, sorry to hear about caddy. i went through the same thing with my fire,ext. warranty with MILLENIUM insuranse. they refused to replace the tranny, so i tore the insur. a new a$$hole went to the dealer talked to him nicely, told him what i said to the insur. company which included i have a bb firebird that i can drive hard every summer, that it was the most pampered sunfire out here, needless to say it was fixed after 2 weeks of bs. good job on keeping your cool.



maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow....... but some day

Wow, that's awful! Good luck!

Take the G6 back to the dealership and drive it right through the front window of the place.

Then tell them its their fault.

This is the reason I dont use mechanics... Im good friends with one who sometimes gets to wrench on my car, but like he says, no matter where you take it you always just get "some @!#$ guy" working on it, maybe hes having a bad or off day or doesnt care at all. Who cares if someone is "certified" most of them dont know diddly about cars somehow.

Good luck with it. Just go in the showroom and start screaming at somone, when theres a lot of customers around, theyll fix you right up, so they dont lose potential other customers. Haha, my aunt does this, and I did it before as well, when I bought my cav.

Let us know what happens!

Factory certified doesn't mean a lot these days... sadly.

I'd rather a master mechanic work on my car, but they're still human. IF there was a way for the individual tech (or group of techs for each major sub-system) to become responsible for 100% of the repairs to your car, it'd be a little easier to track down the faults instead of saying it's so-and-so's fault, or worse "not my fault." when it's someone's RESPONSIBILITY.

That's why I don't take cars to dealerships, I've heard way to many horror stories from people no matter what dealership they took their vehilces too. I'm glad I found probably the most honest mechanic I've ever met. My dad went to one of those nationwide muffler centers that also fix everything else and they told him he needed over $500 worth of work done to make it streetable but I told him to take it to my mechanic and he told him straight out he didn't need half the @!#$ the other place said he needed replaced, all he needed was new brake pads, new drum brake kit and an oil change, the other place told him he needed new pads, calipers, drums etc... When you find an honest mechanic which isn't easy make sure you pass his name along to your friends and so on to keep him in business so he doesn't move to greener pastures.

yeah well, i'm at GMs mercy at the moment...

I am waiting a call from Cadillac tomorrow, Because the dealer is starting in on the "well we sent your oil to be tested, and we need your oil chance recipts" bs that i knew they would, then quote me almost a GRAND to drop the oil pan so the inspector can decide if they are replacing or repairing...

so yeah, i told the guy to put my old batt back in, and told him i was going to bring his loaner in tomorrow, and he can refund me the money for that, the oil change i didnt need cause my motor is junk, and the 50 bucks for the window he broke..

Cadillac shoudl be calling tomorrow, and I am going to request them to move my car and find me another loaner...



** FOR SALE** http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=24&i=110879&t=110879

damn dude, that's insane. good luck with it.

the dealer has no need for you to prove to them your oil change history. GM is the one that needs the proof. The dealer only does it to hassle you. I have yet to see a dealer send oil out for testing. Once again GM is the one that will do that. Wait for GM to tell you what to do. Dont let the dealer try to push you into spending money that you may not have to. Here is my thinking. The lube tech fudged up and didnt put oil in it, stated it and then drove out to the lot. The car started making noise so he checked and said "OH @!#$". Put oil in it and told the manager that you only had 1 qt of oil in it when he changed it, trying to cover his ass in case anything happened. The damage was already done to the bearings by that point. When the other techs drove it to see what you were talking about they finished off whatever was damaged. If your rod bearing was bad before the oil change, you would have had some indication of it. I spun one in my first engine build due to no oil pressure and I had warning before it became a major issue.