Chevy @ MindSay

So, today, I woke up after not much sleep. (check the time of the posts on here if you want to know when I was up to) At 9 am with one thing on my mind. Will my car finally be fixed today? I call and call and keep getting the girl that just answers the phone to take appointments, as the service adviser still isn't at the booth.

Answer: No! ...  I go over everything they have done, and how the problem still exsist's somewhere. So, I tell them (Glen Campbell Chevy) over the phone to put it back together , button it up , and I'll be there 15 minutes to pick it up.

By the time I get to the dealership, its about 1130 - noon,  and have to wait for everyone to come back from lunch for them to finalize everything out so I can just pick the car up and leave. Which takes 40 mins! Me, calmly aggravated that this point, tell them thanks for everything , and leave . (you can thank the years of annoying personal and customers for ability to bite my tongue , and not tell you morons I think you are)

I hop in my car, its a 2003 Alero with only 53,901 miles on it. I drive over to Joe Basil Chevy , in Depew. Then entire time hoping the car doesn't stall out / die.

So, I arrive at the dealership with no problem, and go into the new car sales center, with an idea of the car I want.  The internet sale person greets me, and informs me that the car I saw online isn't in stock, but they have a similar one. Cool!

I walk with him over to the used car building, where I am greeting by what I will right now call an awesome call guy name David.  I get handed off to him to go out into the lot to check out a possible car.

It's a 2010 HHR with only 4,400 miles on it. Which is mind blowingly amazing. So the sales guy does his thing, explaining everything, ect.  and we hop in for a test drive.  It's cool, its pretty much got the same size engine as my old car, but it's pretty much new. The car drives and is very nice.

So get back to the dealership after a lap around the block and head inside to talk terms , dollars and cents.  Yes, the not so fun part of buying a car.  They give me a price on my trade in, which is just about the blue book value of it. Which I agree with , and then I tell them what I want to put down, and what I'd like to pay per month. Or, should I say, the most I'd be willing to pay.

He also tells me, that basil does this "engine for life" policy,  which means if the engine has any problems at all, its covered at no cost to me. Sweet!

Then we head over to there new car show room for a current promotion going on, where you can spin a wheel and win a prize.  Gas cars , assiores , ect...  The biggest prize being 2,500 dollars! So, I give it a wherle and win a huge prize !!!!  Seriously huge... 1,500 dollars huge !!! 

After that we head back over to the used dealership to continue the negotiation process.  I get the price I want,  that includes a rust proof, cloth proof, clear coat protection,  which ups the warranty to 7 years / 100,000 miles, at no extra cost to me!  This is an ultra sweet deal! 

So, in conclusion , I thrilled to have a new car, and done business at a dealership that treated me with respect. If you need a car or want a great deal , let me know , and I'll give you my sales mans name. (or card if I happen to have it)

~ Joe Basil Chevy, at least for the moment , in my mind , YOUR ROCK !

On the 15 th of this month,  I took my car to the local GM dealership, and explained the problem (explained below) that the car was having.

Problem: In the morning, I would go to start the car, and it was just crank, and crank , and crank, and not start.  To get the car to start, I would have to take a rubber mallet and tap on the bottom of the gas tank.  After tapping on the bottom of the tank I would get back in the car, and turn it on , it would crank a couple times , and start up.

The dealership diagnosed the problem as a fuel pump issue. Which is alright, because that part was under warranty , because it had just had the part replaced 13 months ago, and is a GM lifetime warranty part.  So all the work was done at no cost to me

.

This past Sunday, the car again, does the same exact thing. Except this time after I tapped on the gas tank , which again made it start,  It would stall as I drove. So I called them up on Monday, and was told I could bring the car in on Tuesday.

Tuesday, I bring the car in, after getting it start in my driveway which  took like a half hour this time. Again using the same process to start it that I used before.   As I drove down my street,  it died , stalled , so I drifted to the corner , and was unable to start it.  So I get out, tap on the gas tank,  get back in , a few more cranks inside the car,  and it starts again.  Good, maybe I'll make it to the place without this happening again. As I am now on a four lane road, and hoping it makes it there without dying.

I arrive at the dealership and drop it off. The service adviser says, "I am so sorry, don't worry about it , if its the same problem we'll take care if it free of charge."  So I am happy , thinking they will get it fixed and I'll get it back later that day.  I get a ride from there shuttle service and go home.  Nope.  Wouldn't you know, since the check engine light isn't coming on  when it stalls, there isn't any code stored in the system to say what or where the problem is, and they haven't had any luck in getting it to act up . So, I go back to the dealership and get the loaner car to drive while they keep my car overnight.

Wednesday morning, I call to check up on the progress of my car.  The service adviser says "There is defiantly something funky going on with the car. We got it to act up , it wouldn't start this morning when the mechanic went to work on it, but they couldn't find the problem , before it started.  Since it started it hasn't acted up again."  I'm thinking to myself great, just great.  "I'll give you a call later and let you know what happens."

So I go out to the loaner, to go to work, and wouldn't you know, the front tire is looking really low on air.  Awesome, just awesome, this day is getting better and better.  So, since the GM dealership is near where I work , I hurry over there, to hope they can fix the tire at least , and check up with the service adviser in person.  She says, she'll get them to fix the tire, if my car isn't fixed by the time I'm out of work , so I can again use the loaner if need.  Still by this time, the car hasn't acted up for them, thus it hasn't been fixed.

Toward the end of my work shift, I get a call from the GM dealership to say that they can't get my car to act up, and will give the loaner to drive home. 

So, here I sit, home, the loaner car in my driveway. I wonder to myself how much all this has already cost me, and the problem isn't even fixed, and wondering if they'll ever find the problem.  I wonder if I should just tell them to not worry about it anymore, and if the problem isn't fixed by Thursday night, if they are gonna keep my car another day , give me the loaner again or what gonna happen ?

How long will they try to find this problem? That they know exsist's since they've seen it for themselves now, before they give up on it all together. If so, What should I do then ?

I wonder, if I should just say screw this, and get a new car. I mean my car is an 2003 after all. Its in mint shape except for this very difficult to find problem , even my service adviser said that before I agreed with her.

Who knew keeping up to date on your cars maintenance could cause such an annoying problem.

~ Penny for your thoughts ?