Denali in the shop..

[V]

well tonight I dropped off the Denali at Hawthorne Chevy. This time its going in for the antifreeze STILL leaking, engine tapping/knocking, driver window jams on felt strip, and the 4wd doesnt work right. When i engage 4wd, it slams in and out of 4wd and when i try to drive the frotn axle actually binds up and stops the truck from moving. Ihave to give it gas to even roll an inch, even there it sounds like soemthing is jammed. and in 4wd, i lose the ability of abs, it thinks my brakes are locking up so it takes over and i cant stop good at all. I have the extended bumper to bumper warranty so for a $100 deductible per visit, its all covered. The first time it went in to the dealer was Englewood gmc where i bought it and a bunch of stuff was fixed at their cost, but now i said screw them, never had a problem with Hawthorne. They were great with my SS and when i made the appointment for my Denali they were very nice and even admitted GM engines make horrible noises that arent right but GM cant come up with a solution. so ill see what happens with that, btu who knwos whats up with the 4x4, maybe a new front axle. but all this makes me think more about my cars and my hobby...i learned im starting to hate cars, i dont wanna deal with them much anymore. I wish i could go a few days without having to worry about getting something fixed or buying some parts or anything. i wanna go a week without thinking about cars....

[V]

just got a call from the dealer a little while ago.... the truck is having a sleepover tonight, lol. maybe theyll finish it tomorrow, but probably it wont be ready till like monday or tuesday. However Hawthorne does quick work, so we'll see.

[WayFast84]

Waranty? Do they have that for my 84 :rofl:

[Teds89IROC]

I wish i could go a few days without having to worry about getting something fixed or buying some parts or anything. i wanna go a week without thinking about cars....

EXACTLY how I felt right before I started using the T-bird, and no complaints now that the camaro is on the side 8-)

~Ted

[V]

rear pinion seal is leaking too they told me, and it needs a new belt and tensioner. so wont be done today.. The service writer has to put the estimate together and call my warranty company.. then theyll send an adjuster, then they'll do the work...maybe ill have it back by next weekend....

[V]

... i think they forgot about me, lol...havent heard from them in 2 days. i'm calling them early tomorrow morning... i like older cars more and more...

[Ian]

i like older cars more and more...

:werd:

[V]

they actually called me yesterday, i never checked my cell, lol. The head service writer left me a message. They finally did find my 4x4 problem after a week, and i was tellign them what it was doing but they just told me there were no codes in the ecm, i insisted they drive it to find it which they finally did. the transfer case motor was binding and locking up the whole front diff. so it needs that and a switch and some other junk now too. They had to contact the warranty company again and most likely an adjuster will have to come look at the truck, maybe today or monday. then theyll fix it. he said its like 800 in parts, so now im sorta glad i got the full extended warranty, but a little annoyed that this will be the second time the truck has been in the shop for 2 weeks straight since sept.

[maroman88]

wow u must love warrenties:)

[Ian]

wow u must love warrenties:)

between this truck and his camaro, its safe to assume he does in fact love warranties. :wink:

[Savage_Messiah]

between this truck and his camaro, its safe to assume he does in fact love warranties. :wink:

:werd: to that

[V]

still dont have my truck back,
date i dropped it off... 1/19/06
todays date... 2/6/06

so far its been 2 weeks and 4 days...and still not done. Total BS. I just got off the phone with the service writer. Today the adjuster for the warranty company came down to look at it. And approved the repairs for the front axle. Thats all good but i brought the truck there for the front axle problem and TOLD them it was binding up. for a week they couldnt find the problem, they said the computer showed no codes, i told them then to drive it, when they did, they saw what i was talking about. But instead of believeing me, they changed the 4x4 switch then changed the actuator in the transfer case. that alone took a week, and once they did that, they realized "theres a problem in the front differential". well DUH!!! they found that out friday, after 2 weeks of having the truck. But now they got the approval for the full front diff since its only sold as a complete unit from wheel to wheel. BUT they cant get one right away and the warranty company is checking their sources and may send one. So figure, by tomorrow they should have the part located, 1-3 days for shipping depending on where its coming from, another day for install. and then Im positive another issue will come. but even if it all goes well after the install, itll still be like friday when it may be done. Thatll be over 3 weeks theyve had it!!!!

[V]

update: 2/10/06

got a loaner on wed 2/8/06, a '05 tahoe, actually a rental paid for by my extended warranty company, $30 a day for 6 days is what they'll cover and somehow i got the tahoe for that cost.

Called the dealer again today. they recieved the new front differential, installed it, road tested it, and STILL not correct. The service writer said its still "jumping" on the highway. He said they got the wrong part with the wrong gear ratio. Well, geez, dont you check that? but hey that could have been the problem in the beginning. They messed with the rear to do the pinion seal, might as well check it, right? I told the service writer that my rental has to be back on tuesday cuz thats all they are covering, and he said he'll get an extension on it and hes waiting on a call back from the warranty company about them sending the correct differential this time.. I HATE that Denali. On wed night, it will be in the shop 4 WEEKS!!! hell, i barely even remember owning it.

[Ian]

damn man, get rid of that thing. trade it in or something just get rid of it!

[V]

...im fed up... the lawyer is getting contacted friday. total ********.

2/15/06.. still no final date when itll be done...

as of tonight, its been there 4 weeks straight. And since i bought the car in September, its been in the shop a total of about 50 days. lets think about this...
Sept 22-feb 15 ~ 150 days
in the shop ~50
the basic used car lemon law is considered "out of service for 20 or nmore days in first year(or 6 months, not sure which right now)"
so my vehcile has been getting "work" done for a 1/3 the time ive owned it.... i so wanna break something so bad right now...UGH

[camaro2you]

damn that sucks dude get ride of that bitch.

[Teds89IROC]

thats BS man, good luck with the lawyer.

~Ted

[bluecobaltss06]

Yo..trust me when I say this because I work there...the squeaky wheel gets oiled bro. They are gonna take their sweet time if you don't badger them.

[V]

ive called them every day or two for updates. No offense to you, but their techs there must have no clue what they're doing. When i TELL them whats wrong, why do they waste 3 weeks looking for it? thats pathetic. when they worked on my SS a while back the car was done all three times in less than 4 hours. The law suit wont even be against Hawthorne, itll be against the dealer i bought it from. BUT i need the truck bad and the service paperwork to send to my lawyer and this ******** is just wasting my time. well i know hawthorne chevy doesnt care that they lost one more customer after this. o well.

*EDIT*
Just got off the phone with Ray again, hes gonna call me tomorrow as to what is going on after he hears back from the warranty company. Turns out the rear has 3.42 gears, should have been stock 3.73. The front was still stock 3.73 and they replaced the front axle with a brand new assembly with 3.73 and still had the 4x4 problem, well DUH, they should have checked the rear gears, maybe when they had the rear cover off when they just changed the rear pinion seal. I also leaned the crankshaft had been replaced in 12/02 with 47,2xx miles on it. I bought it in 9/05 with only 50.174 miles, so that does NOT seem right. I'm goign to hawthonre tomorrow probably to pick up copies of all the previous work order to send to my lawyer and i explained to Ray, there will be a law suit regardign this vehicle but Hawthorne is not involved so id appreciate his help with getting me as much info on it as possible.

[V]

now for todays update.. its getting towed out of Hawthorne and going back to englewood GMC where i bought it. they are going to fix the gears in the rear and put in the correct ones. or so they say. My warranty company covered everything so far but refused to do the gears since the problem existed when the vehicle was purchased. But now i gotta return the '05 tahoe tonight, and tomorrow i can pick up another rental car from englewood GMC, an Aveo. yea, that piece of **** car...this sucks. I ahve a lot of paperwork already for the lawyer, i just gotta make copies and send it out. Oh and i even talked to the owner of englewood gmc/chevy, i made sure he realized how unhappy i was, and he knows he'll be hearing from me once the trucks gets there on Monday....right now im too frustrated to go into details of what was said so far.

[Savage_Messiah]

That sucks my dad had an aveo rental car for a few days when his car got hit by some guy running from the cops... I still make fun of him for it :lol:

[V]

the Aveo is such a piece of ****, lol, at leats its a 4door sedan and not a hatchback thing. BUT its fun as hell. having the ebrake right in the middle is awesome, not to mention it will do crazy burnouts if you find the right ice/water patch. hahaha

[Tru2Chevy]

not to mention it will do crazy burnouts if you find the right ice/water patch. hahaha

We need video confirmation....

- Justin

[camaro2you]

yes we definatly need video conformation.

[Savage_Messiah]

chirp chirp!!!

[V]

2/21/06... Truck got towed to englewood GMC yesterday. They should ahve looked ta it today. i called, and they didnt even touch it. WTF!? The service writer said they have to take it apart and check it all over to see what the problem is. Um, lets see maybe the problem is that the rear has the wrong ratio gears??? thats what Hawthorne chevy said and the extended warranty company as well. The service writer said they have to takle the time to check it themselves, as if itll take a while, I said how hard is it to take off the diff cover and rear a stamped number? he stumbled for an answer and then he said they have to reserach what the truck should have came with stock. So i said, how hard is it to check an RPO code? again he couldnt really answer. He told me tomorrow they will start on it. BUT he'll be away tomorrow and will call me about it first thign thursday. Im so annoyed it wasnt checked today. Tomorrow evening i will be without the truck for 5 weeks!! I'm just gonna call everyday until its done, but maybe ill have to stop by tomorrow and make my unhappiness known, again.

[Teds89IROC]

definitely show up there..a lot. I'm using the same kind of psychology on my boss and manager with getting moved from my position as "loader" at FedEx. All I hear is that they will hire more people so I can get moved because I've done my time loading, its been said for a while now, I've been loading since June when I started. It's all the same concept...keep nagging...to a certain extent and **** gets done. Good luck man

~Ted

[V]

2/23/06... WELL, yesterday(wed) i went to the dealer, the truck was still sitting untouched since monday. I had it, I made somewhat of a scene in the service department when the one service writer there said they had no info about the truck and when i explained it he said "possibly hawthorne chevy put the wrong gears in the rear" WTF *******, why the hell would they, UGH! When i wanted to talk to someone else, they said no one higher up was there that day, so i found the Used car manager and had a few words with him. Turns outs the service manager is a "partner" at the dealership so hes pretty high up and his meeting he told me he had yesterday actually turned out to be "looking at a college with his daughter". The used car manager took my cell number and said hell talk to the service manager this mornign and make sure he calls me. WELL of course no one called today by 4:45pm so I called. Suprisingly the guy was still there, and answered my call. Accordign to him, they took it apart, checked it out and ordered all the new parts which should be there tomorrow morning. Those parts being new 3:73 ring and pinion and bearings. He said itll take about 4 hours to do the install... so it SHOULD be done Tomorrow afternoon and i could have it back then. HOLY ****!!! after 5 weeks i may have my truck back. say it aint so. Im SURE it wont happen though, either way when i go to pick it up, im gonna complain abotu the motor knock. and even once i get it back, im still goign through my lawyer to get rid of this and get my money back.

[The Fixer]

2/23/06... Turns outs the service manager is a "partner" at the dealership so hes pretty high up and his meeting he told me he had yesterday actually turned out to be "looking at a college with his daughter"..
Well, that might be true. This is wacky, but the guy's daughters go to the HS I teach at. One is a senior, the other is a junior. I wish I knew them better, or I would have stepped in on this for you because what you've been through with this truck is absolute crap.

[V]

the guy's daughters go to the HS I teach at. One is a senior, the other is a junior.

Well... if for some reason they happen to fail.... what a shame that would be. :rollseye: Im sure you know some of their teachers, or maybe Mr wotman has them...hmmm...

OR are they cute? ill find a way to set them up with the biggest ******** i know. haha

[Savage_Messiah]

OR are they cute? ill find a way to set them up with the biggest ******** i know. haha

;).... lol

[V]

well. today came and went just about. the truck is NOT ready, but i expected that. They only got bearings for one side of the carrier or whatever, the other set are comign monday morning....i told them to do an oil change too monday mornign sinc ei get 4 oil changes a year free for life on the truck there. so.... maybe monday ill have it back... but i'm guessing no.

[bluecobaltss06]

the Aveo is such a piece of ****, lol, at leats its a 4door sedan and not a hatchback thing. BUT its fun as hell. having the ebrake right in the middle is awesome, not to mention it will do crazy burnouts if you find the right ice/water patch. hahaha

Yo don't laugh yo, as much as a piece of crap that this car is, I have yet to see one in the shop with a serious problem in the two years I've worked there...but that's probably because no one buuys them :laugh:

[V]

Yo don't laugh yo, as much as a piece of crap that this car is, I have yet to see one in the shop with a serious problem in the two years I've worked there...but that's probably because no one buuys them :laugh:

well true, there arent that many on the road. But if i owned the one im driving now, It would definately be at the dealer already, with only 6200 miles. Tranny feels weird, front struts making noise, weird egine noise, somehting loose in back, axles seem to be clicking on full turns... a big POS IMO lol.

BTW, in like 30 min, im going down to the dealer to see what the hell is going on. On friday I was told today itll be done...we'll see. And if not, The owner is back from his week vacation so i'll bug him for an hour or so.

[Savage_Messiah]

Lol, I bet the "fun" in "wintery conditions" had nooooooothing to do with ANY of those... hahahahah

[V]

:-D

but anyways...i finally got my truck back.. BUT something is not right, theres something loose or not fully tightened in back. It feel like the driveshaft is loose or the ujoints are like not there. When i give it gas off a stop, theres a slight hesitation and then a subtle thud/clunk and it goes....ugh...i cant win....

[Savage_Messiah]

lol so is it goin back in or is it just going on jackstands

[V]

...i dunno, im gonna call and BITCH more tomorrow about it. then see what they are gonna do about it... they better say bring it right in and we'll get it on a lift and take careof it while you wait. if they say i have to drop it off, then ill check it out myself and go from there, and call and bitch some more for the hell of it.

[mtg6486]

lol