As the original starter of this thread, I feel obligated to point out that by funny, I was being extremely sarcastic The only reason I did not wind up in jail that night is because the mechanic repeatedly apologized to me and he did such a good job cleaning the engine that I would have almost felt bad by killing him... And, believe it or not, where I live I took it to the better of the two Chevy dealerships. The last time I went to the other one, I went there to pick up a custom sunshade that I had ordered, and the sales lady tried to sell me a new car on my way into the parts department. When I told her I wasn't interested, she waited for me outside the parts department until I was done to "make sure" that I didn't want to buy a new car... I have never been that angry in my life!!! I rather loudly explained to her that IF i was even slightly interested in trading in my car, I would NOT be at the dealership to BUY PARTS FOR THE CAR I ALREADY OWN. After yelling at her for five minutes, she said "So you aren't interested in a new car at all?" They still haven't found all of her body parts

 

 

Yeah...my dad works with a guy who took his truck to the GMC dealer in town for an oil change. He was in the waiting room, and saw mechanics and service techs running around frantically. He looked in the back and took a few steps into the service bay area, and saw his truck half on the lift, and half off...

 

I once took my 90 Mercury Cougar to a local Jiffy Lube. I watched the guy go under and drain the oil out. I thought everything was fine - so I sat down to wait. All of a sudden I heard my car start up - the idiot started it with no oil in it and the drain plug out. I immediately ran out, shut my car off, and took the keys. His reasoning was to pump the last of the used oil out. Needless to say that was the one and only time I took my car there. I did not give them the keys back to pull my car out – I did that honor and I left two black stripes and a cloud of smoke in their building.

 

My salesman told me to bring mine in for a free oil change at 3,000 miles, and always to change it at 3,000. With a 90 mile round trip commute, it was not very long till it was due. I called the salesman and he said they would also wash it for free because they had missed some plastic wrap and tape in the new car prep. Abd while they were changng the oil, they would give it a looksee to be sure everything was in perfect working order. So OK, back to the dealer to get a maintenance program started. Are you snickering at me yet?
They took all day to change the oil. They put the wrong weight of motor oil in. They did not wash it, because it was Monday and my sales guy was not there to make them do it. At 8,000 miles I rotated the tires myself and found all 20 lug nuts to be a smidge more than finger tight. Like two fingers on a 3/8 drive socket wrench tight. So I went back and told them about how glad I was the wheels did not fall off while I was blasting over to Las Vegas and back in 110 degree heat. They thought it was all just hilarious and assured me they always torqued the lugs as part of a new car prep. So much for the dealer maintenance program.
So I do my own maintenance which so far has been full synthetic oil and a new filter every 8,000 miles, a couple of air filters, and a knock sensor. My tire dealer uses a torque wrench on the lugs so they get to rotate and rebalance tires for me. At 69,000 miles the brakes up front are getting thin and the rotors have chunks missing around the edges which look cheap so I will have my real mechanic replace them. With any luck the Chevrolet dealers will never commit repairs on The Harlot again.

 

Santa fe... and that is why my sig says what it does...

 

You got that right. It would seem that the price of auto work equates with the owner's lack of knowledge and gullibility.
I ride mountain bikes with a group of guys a few times a week on local trails. Three of them have auto repair shops. One is fond of Corvettes and Chevy products in general. He ain't cheap, but he is honest. I do what I have the ability to do and if a job is beyond my ability or shop, I pay the man I know from years of experience. Same same with doctors and lawyers. Stay healthy and out of trouble, but know who to call when stuff happens. You want to check out your doctor's qualifications and professional endorsements, and maybe ask a nurse who has taken care of the doctor's patients. I know way more about lawyers than I ever wanted to. Stay out of trouble. You will be screwed by the justice system, or you will be screwed by your lawyer, or maybe both. Stay out of trouble and spend the money on shiny new parts.

The AC on my 2000 F150 quit. The Ford dealer wanted to rebuild it for around 500. My mechanic friend diagnosed, evacuated and recharged the system and leak tested the system and charged 230 including tax and misc.

 

Many years ago as an Auto Center manager at a large company that shall remain nameless. I found myself trying to explain to an astonished customer how my tech managed to drive his one year old K-5 Blazer through the wall into the waiting room. You really "NEEEEEED" to bleed the brakes after replacing the calipers, really you do....I stressed this to the tech while firing him. Only $5,000 worth of damage to the truck and $12,000+ worth of damage to the store. I still thank God that the waiting room was empty, and that the customer was very laid back. I don't miss the car repair business at all...ever.........

 

Ok, I have one more (and that's it - really!! :) ) - I had a new 1974 Volvo that was troublesome from day 1 - after many visits to the dealer I set up an appointment with the service manager to discuss the ongoing, recurring and new problems (simple things like 50mph top speed LOL - 3 radios installed as they kept burning out - headlight and tail lite bulbs needing numerous replacements, burning oil and the list goes on and on) - so I sit down with him and lay out my list of problems and he starts to tell me I am "paranoid"!

PARANOID? I ask him, and reach down and grab the paper bag I brought in with me, put the bag on his desk and asked him "is this paranoid"? - and reached into the bag and pulled out the stick shift from my car that came adrift and fell out the night before - and plop it on his desk on top of his papers........ it was covered in grease on the ball end and made a little bit of a mess there I guess. :)

He didn't say a word - he just picked it up by the clean end, disappeared into the service area - and came back a few minute later - he wouldnt even look me in the eye as he said the list of complaints will be dealt with to my total satisfaction and that a mechanic would have the gear shift fixed in the next couple of minutes.

And no, the problems continued - until I changed dealerships, and started doing my own work. I wish forums and the internet were around back then, as it sure would have saved a lot of time and $'s. Back then I was lucky to have a few mechanically minded friends and also was very lucky to encounter a service manager at the new dealership that was very helpful (shades of ChevyMgr).