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Oh Woa Is ME!

  • Thread starter Thread starter luvmy82
  • Start date Start date
L

luvmy82

Guest
Hoo doggies...it's been the week from hell with my car, and I have to complain somewhere. So who better to hear me out than you guys?

I knew when I got this car, I was going to sink some bucks into it but little did I know the stress that goes into dropping your car off at a shop and the care of it is now in their hands.

Took the car into shop #1 that another club member recommended and all the repairs were great (ie., recharged the AC, recored the radiator, fixed two oil leaks and replaced a retention clip on the passenger's side door). When I got it back, the window on the passenger's side right above where the lock cylinder (where the retention clip was replaced) is there are deep scratch markes in the glass that looks like cat claws. Told the guy that I knew every inch of the car, and in all honesty (gawd I HATE to complain about anything) those scratches were not there when I gave the car to him. After hemming and hawing, he agreed to replace the window, which I'm having done tomorrow.

Then, the following week, I drop it off at a big time Chevy dealership here in Detroit that deals in mainly Vettes to get the center bezel replaced (which had a crack in it when I bought it) and to replace the window switches which mysteriously sprouted little poofs of smoke when you rolled the window up and down. Not good. The hubster, being the firefighter that he is, told me to get it fixed ASAP, as he did not want to be putting out his own garage fire. YIKES!

When I picked the car up, the bezel was looking good and the new window switches were installed...this is great, I FINALLY get to drive my car. NOT! Get the car home, I have a nice chip out of the edge of the driver's side door where someone whacked it against something. Doing a slow burn....but said nothing to the dealership.

Then, a day later, go to start it and *click* *click* dead as a doornail. Check the battery connections, ok, kinda lose, clamped em down gave her a jump and starts right up. OK, got this fixed...NOT. Turn the car off. Dead as a doornail again. Jumped it and took it back to the dealership and told them to find out why it wasn't holding a charge. Dealership calls me and said the mechanic literally backtracked his connections and work on the window switches says everything's normal so is the alternator and electrical on car. Come to the conclusion that the battery is pooped. Won't take a charge and I had to buy another one to the tune of $140 installed.

Ok, I'm thinkin' I'm at the home stretch here got the car back, I'm putting Cleartastic panels on the rear of the car and notice this nasty gash/scratch right where I'm putting the Cleartastic on. Holy Crap! I'm doing a slow burn again! Detalin the car some more, guess what??? ANOTHER gash/scratch on the inside panel right over the wheel well on the passenger's side. I'm entering this car in a show June 1st and I'm working my butt off on getting it ready in time.

Called the dealership up and told him that I bypassed the nasty chip in the driver's door and said nothing. But these two scratches sent me over the edge! Guy tells me to bring the car back (after they have had it for 5 friggin days already) and they would have someone look at it from the used Vette lot to see if it can be touched up.

Should I just take it as a lesson learned and touch the scratch up with my touch up paint or should I put my car in the hands of these knuckleheads to let them fix what they screwed up on my car? Am I asking for more grief and punishment??? It seems the more I take it in to get something fixed another problem crops up! Help me!

Oh, in between all of this grief going on, when my car died, I was at a park and I went up to a C5 owner (thinking ok, he owns a Vette he will help me for sure) and asked him if he wouldn't mind giving me a jump (I had cables). He flat out told me no! What a friggin moron! I hope the guy is stuck on the side of the road somewhere and a big mac truck rolls by a big rain puddle and splashes the guy. How rude! I don't know about you, but if ANYONE was stranded, (providing it's safe to do so) Vette or not, I'd help anyone that needed a jump. What a JERK!

And I also tried to go to a classic car show at GM Headquarters on Saturday, and some of you may know that we had some pretty freaky weather here in the east (can you say SNOW in May?) well, I get to the car show and the hail storm from hell starts! I got in my car and hid under an awning until it stopped and made a mad dash for home and put the car in the garage, vowing that I'd never take it out if the clouds were steel blue/gray!

And that's been my week and I'm sticking to it! Can anyone top it?
 
Nope.

No way to top that one! :L:L:L

Do you feel better for having ranted away your frustrations!? I always do! :L

What a bummer to take your vette in for repairs and come away with more problems. :(
I think it's great that you know your vette so well after such a short time. Stick to your guns whenever a problem appears, like the ones you have described. Shops need to take more care of the vehicles left with them, and I feel that vette owners tend to be more picky/emotional than owners of most other vehicles.

I remember when I got 78 back from the paint shop and it seemed that every time I washed and detailed her, I saw another flaw! Paint shop fixed most of my concerns and I am happy with it now. But they hemmed and hawed so much about fixing them, I won't recommend them.

I can't believe another vette owner turned you down flat! Did he give an explanation as to why he wouldn't? Would it have hurt his vette to jump start another?
I hope when the semi-truck rolls past him through a puddle that the guy's window is down and he gets the puddle-splash full in the face!

A Doctor would tell you: "Take two drives and call me in the morning."
Silver
 
Re: Nope.

78SilvAnniv said:
Would it have hurt his vette to jump start another?

It is possible to damage the computer in the cars nowadays if you connect the cables improperly while trying to jump-start a vehicle. I can understand the fellow not wanting to use his car to jump you, but I can't understand just turning you down flat with no explanation or anything. He should have at least offered to drive you somewhere, or make a call for you if you had no phone. That I would consider rude behavior. :mad

I hope it gets better for you, and we hear more heartening stories like you won First Prize or Best of Show, or something. Good luck.

_ken :w
 
luvmy82- bummer! i am sure things will turn around for you.just think of all the great times you will have in that beatiful machine.
 
Sorry to hear about all your troubles. I hope it only gets better from here. This kind of report is why I like working on my own car. That way when I screw it up I have only myself to blame, I learn from the mistake and start over.
 
Hopefully the troubles are all behind you now, and you can enjoy your baby without issues...

As far as the scratches... I'm not sure what if I would leave the car with them again or not. I guess it depends on how sincere they sound when they offer to fix it. If they seem genuinely concerned about it you can hope that they'll fix them correctly. If they make it sound like you're being a pain in the ***, you can bet that the repairs will be uglier than the scratches... :(

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck to you!

Barb :w
 
If someone doesn't know how to jump their car properly or help someone else with a jump, then they need to take the bus! :(

--Bullitt
 
Bullitt said:
If someone doesn't know how to jump their car properly or help someone else with a jump, then they need to take the bus! :(

--Bullitt

Ouch! :L
 
JUMP

Well, I don't blame the C5 owner for not jumping you either. It actually says in the manual NOT to ever jump start with these cars. Nikki was doing a good deed for a person with the 90 a couple of years ago by giving them a jump. Low and behold, it immediatly blew out the climate control computer. Around $158 later her climate control was working again, and I swore I would not fix it again if she ever jumps off another person.

Don't sweat that.

As far as the bad week goes, it will get better. Heck, that car is like 22 years old now. Not unusual for stuff to break.

I would bet the rest of this summer is going to be blast. Hang in there!


Chris
 
no jump

Yeah, but he could have explained that by using his C5 for a jump start it could damage his vehicle.
I thought I had read that somewhere, but I still think he should have explained. It sounded like he flat told her "No". Rude.
Sil
 

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