wow. stupid dealership service fail rant *updated*

[evident]

I normally change my own oil/rotate my tires, but i wont have time in the upcoming weeks so i took it in to the honda dealership for a service change. i also wanted them to do all the "B" scheduled maintenance in my manual, which is nothing more than inspecting a bunch of parts. aside from them trying to upsell me tranny fluid and brake fluid service (my car is at 30k miles and a year old, absolutely no need for either service and they know it) i thought everything would be ok.

so driving my car today, whenever i even tap the brakes at slow-medium/fast speeds, my brakes sound like they are shuddering hardcore, kind of like the abs is kicking in. and when im at 55/60 mph the steering wheel is also shuddering like crazy as well. seriously, how the hell does a dealership screw up tire roration/balancing? i dont even know what they did to my brakes either. EVERYTHING was completely fine before. i was also supposed to drive up to NYC tonight, but now i have to cut out of work early, put an extra 80 miles to go back to PA to leave my car at the dealership, and take my mom's car for the weekend and drive up to NYC from my house. this is ridiculous :|

UPDATE: took my car back there, the service manager didn't even admit fault. i pointed out that whoever worked on my car didn't even reset the maintenance minder and explained to her what happened to my car. she calls me 4 hours later and tells me that the rear rotors were rubbing and they would replace them for me, BUT i would have to pay 10% of the cost, $29.99. she said the front rotors were fine. I asked why do i even have to pay 10%? she said something to the effect of because it wasn't our fault and there wasn't anything done wrong during the service.
at this point i was already in new brunswick so i couldn't go there and bitch, ad the car wasnt gonna be done until today anyways. this is the biggest crock of shit ever. who can i even bitch to?


UPDATE 2: i have an 07 accord coupe i4 w/ 38k miles on it. i treat my car like it's my kid and i def. know when something is up with it. it's evident that i'm never going there again. i'm just gonna go to my local guy if i ever need anything (i didnt go to him this time because he was booked and i needed my car done by the weekend).
the dealership is sussman honda in willow grove.
i think its funny, if it wasnt their fault then why would they only ask me to pay 10% of the rotors? anyway, -$100 later, i got the car back and it's fine now i believe, i took it on a highway and did some high speed braking and it's not shuddering anymore. it was weird. they were never apologetic, yet they weren't mean about it either. even when i was pissed off yesterday, they had their pokerface and didn't show any emotion. ultimately i think it was an honest mistake, and if they just admitted that they fucked up i wouldn't have held it against them.

i really hope all this crap is behind me and they didnt take a piss in my engine or something while changing the oil. i can't wait to take my car to the shop next week, the audio shop to get my new stereo installed

 

[boomerang]

Sounds like they didn't torque the lug nuts properly. If you get out of this without paying for new rotors I'd be surprised.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: boomerang
Sounds like they didn't torque the lug nuts properly. If you get out of this without paying for new rotors I'd be surprised.

Sorry for your loss.

i dont understand, this is such a trivial service to get done. HOW DO THEY SCREW THIS UP?!

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: boomerang
Sounds like they didn't torque the lug nuts properly. If you get out of this without paying for new rotors I'd be surprised.

Sorry for your loss.

i dont understand, this is such a trivial service to get done. HOW DO THEY SCREW THIS UP?!

Well, you'd have to ask them. But it's well know that overtorquing lug nuts can lead to warped rotors. You say the car braked fine before they did their work, so it stands to reason that they created the problem.

I'm not defending them by any means, but I hope you can understand that you brought the car in for what amounts to trivial work. They're not going to put their best tech on it, because it's a waste of his talents. You came out on the short end of the stick. You're going to have to do a really good job of convincing them that they caused the problem and should eat the repairs. It's going to be a tough road would be my guess.

I'm not siding with them and I'm not trying to raise your bloodpressure, I'm stating the way that it is.

 

[LTC8K6]

You sure it'll make it back?

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: boomerang

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: boomerang
Sounds like they didn't torque the lug nuts properly. If you get out of this without paying for new rotors I'd be surprised.

Sorry for your loss.

i dont understand, this is such a trivial service to get done. HOW DO THEY SCREW THIS UP?!

Well, you'd have to ask them. But it's well know that overtorquing lug nuts can lead to warped rotors. You say the car braked fine before they did their work, so it stands to reason that they created the problem.

I'm not defending them by any means, but I hope you can understand that you brought the car in for what amounts to trivial work. They're not going to put their best tech on it, because it's a waste of his talents. You came out on the short end of the stick. You're going to have to do a really good job of convincing them that they caused the problem and should eat the repairs. It's going to be a tough road would be my guess.

I'm not siding with them and I'm not trying to raise your bloodpressure, I'm stating the way that it is.

no, i completely understand your statement.
but, it would be one thing if i took it to a jiffy lube or some crap place, but i went to the dealership for this. to make it worse, i have my mom's car there for some more major service as well. her car is getting oil, tranny fluid/filter, brake fluid flush, and replacing an exhaust bracket thats been grinding on something or other

i think i'm just going to invest in a car lift and do every car service myself from now on. rotating tires may be trivial for a shop, but it is a pain in the butt when all you have are jackstands and a floor jack

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: boomerang

Well, you'd have to ask them. But it's well know that overtorquing lug nuts can lead to warped rotors.

Big time. A few years ago, right after I bought my Durango, we were going on vacation. On the day of the trip, I noticed that 3 of the 5 lug nuts were almost ready to fall off of the driver side front tire. They must not have been properly factory torqued on that wheel. I took the lug wrench and tightened the hell out of them (as well as snugging the hell out of the other wheels). About 4 hours into the trip, the Durango started shaking when applying the brakes. By the time I had driven to Florida, it was terrible. When I returned, I took it to the dealer who told me that the wheels were over torqued and that the rotors had been warped. I explained that the lug nuts were falling off and I had to tighten them before the trip. They turn the rotors under warranty (nice of them) but later had to replace them because they would not stay smooth.

I have since bought an adjustable torque wrench and torque the recommended 100 foot pounds per lug nut.

 

[StageLeft]

If it is rotors from over-torquing (could be something like a badly balanced wheel, too), I've often found that mechanics will crank the ever living hell out of the lug nuts. No way it's to spec. I think they just slap on number 5 setting on their air wrench and crank those bitches on. This is why it can be impossible to change a spare tire when you need to, because their air tool made the lug impossibly tight.

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
If it is rotors from over-torquing (could be something like a badly balanced wheel, too), I've often found that mechanics will crank the ever living hell out of the lug nuts. No way it's to spec. I think they just slap on number 5 setting on their air wrench and crank those bitches on. This is why it can be impossible to change a spare tire when you need to, because their air tool made the lug impossibly tight.

I broke a bolt trying to get the lug nut off to rotate the tires because the techs had overtightened when I got new tires. I was so pissed I would have probably killed somebody but they fixed it.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: evident
aside from them trying to upsell me tranny fluid and brake fluid service (my car is at 30k miles and a year old, absolutely no need for either service and they know it)

Actually anything but DOT5 brake fluid absorbs moisture over time. 30K miles/1 year is a good time to change it and protect the life of the system, but it could wait until you do pads. Definitely change the fluid everytime you do pads.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
If it is rotors from over-torquing (could be something like a badly balanced wheel, too), I've often found that mechanics will crank the ever living hell out of the lug nuts. No way it's to spec. I think they just slap on number 5 setting on their air wrench and crank those bitches on. This is why it can be impossible to change a spare tire when you need to, because their air tool made the lug impossibly tight.

hmm, since i do have to drive 40 miles back to the dealership, should i bother using my spare tire wrench and try and tighten/loosen them? i dont want to touch anything and have them say that it was my fault for screwing it up but i also dont want to do further damage to my rotors, but if i can get a new set of rotors for their fuckup, i'd rather not do anything. i also don't keep a freakin torque wrench in my car either, lol. think damage has already been done to the rotors after 40 miles of highway driving? I pressed the brakes a few times just to see WTH was going on, didn't do anything too hard though.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak

Originally posted by: evident
aside from them trying to upsell me tranny fluid and brake fluid service (my car is at 30k miles and a year old, absolutely no need for either service and they know it)

Actually anything but DOT5 brake fluid absorbs moisture over time. 30K miles/1 year is a good time to change it and protect the life of the system, but it could wait until you do pads. Definitely change the fluid everytime you do pads.

my brake fluid is pretty clean still. i hardly ever brake since i'm on the highway. i am def. gonna change it next year or earlier regardless, and probably replace my pads as well. (stock honda pads are crap, gonna get some nice hawks or akebonos)

tranny fluid - since i do most highway driving i dont feel like i need tranny fluid change right now, esp since it shifts fine. honda's recommended is 100k but i'll probably do it anyways around 50k. my mom's car is the V6 so hers is gonna get done every 30k regardless. dont want to take a risk w/ that transmission.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Lately I've heard of some dealerships making problems because they need money so you'll come back and get that fixed and spend more :|

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: Skoorb
If it is rotors from over-torquing (could be something like a badly balanced wheel, too), I've often found that mechanics will crank the ever living hell out of the lug nuts. No way it's to spec. I think they just slap on number 5 setting on their air wrench and crank those bitches on. This is why it can be impossible to change a spare tire when you need to, because their air tool made the lug impossibly tight.

hmm, since i do have to drive 40 miles back to the dealership, should i bother using my spare tire wrench and try and tighten/loosen them? i dont want to touch anything and have them say that it was my fault for screwing it up but i also dont want to do further damage to my rotors, but if i can get a new set of rotors for their fuckup, i'd rather not do anything. i also don't keep a freakin torque wrench in my car either, lol. think damage has already been done to the rotors after 40 miles of highway driving? I pressed the brakes a few times just to see WTH was going on, didn't do anything too hard though.

No, don't touch them, leave them as they are. First off, you aren't going to be unable to undo the damage. Once you've made some stops the heat cycling makes the rotors take a set and they're essentially ruined.

Secondly, I was going to suggest earlier that if they give you a hard time at the dealership to see if they'd be willing to check the torque with you watching. This is about all you're going to be able to do to prove to them they messed up. Whether they'll admit to their error or not is of course the issue.

This all came about when it became important to increase mileage. One way to increase mileage is to reduce weight. Instead of the old heavy, beefy rotors that you could turn multiple times before scrapping, we now have lightweight wimpy rotors that are sometimes even made of a composite of materials. Most can't even be turned once.

 

[LTC8K6]

I would just take a good look and make sure it isn't anything that is going to kill you. Maybe they left the lugs loose, for example.

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: boomerang
Sounds like they didn't torque the lug nuts properly. If you get out of this without paying for new rotors I'd be surprised.

Sorry for your loss.

i dont understand, this is such a trivial service to get done. HOW DO THEY SCREW THIS UP?!

Minimum wage kids in high school usually do the trivial work like oil changes and tire rotations, and they are not always car enthusiasts that take the time to learn how to do things right.

 

[evident]

UPDATE: took my car back there, the service manager didn't even admit fault. i pointed out that whoever worked on my car didn't even reset the maintenance minder and explained to her what happened to my car. she calls me 4 hours later and tells me that the rear rotors were rubbing and they would replace them for me, BUT i would have to pay 10% of the cost, $29.99. she said the front rotors were fine. I asked why do i even have to pay 10%? she said something to the effect of because it wasn't our fault and there wasn't anything done wrong during the service.
at this point i was already in new brunswick so i couldn't go there and bitch, ad the car wasnt gonna be done until today anyways. this is the biggest crock of shit ever. who can i even bitch to?

 

[LTC8K6]

Maybe the lugs were torqued correctly but the rotors warped anyway? This can happen too.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Maybe the lugs were torqued correctly but the rotors warped anyway? This can happen too.

why wouldnt i notice it until after i got my car back from the shop though? I drive my car 70 miles every day, i would notice if something is off.

 

[dud]

It is evident to me that Evident needs to find another dealership to have his service done at.

They did a horrible job and then, without admitting fault the add insult-to-injury by charging 10% to fix the rotors. What's a warranty worth?

BTW if you haven't mentioned it already what model Honda and what dealership did you go to?

 

[evident]

i have an 07 accord coupe i4 w/ 38k miles on it. i treat my car like it's my kid and i def. know when something is up with it. it's evident that i'm never going there again. i'm just gonna go to my local guy if i ever need anything (i didnt go to him this time because he was booked and i needed my car done by the weekend).
the dealership is sussman honda in willow grove.
i think its funny, if it wasnt their fault then why would they only ask me to pay 10% of the rotors? anyway, -$100 later, i got the car back and it's fine now i believe, i took it on a highway and did some high speed braking and it's not shuddering anymore. it was weird. they were never apologetic, yet they weren't mean about it either. even when i was pissed off yesterday, they had their pokerface and didn't show any emotion. ultimately i think it was an honest mistake, and if they just admitted that they fucked up i wouldn't have held it against them.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: boomerang
Sounds like they didn't torque the lug nuts properly. If you get out of this without paying for new rotors I'd be surprised.

Sorry for your loss.

i dont understand, this is such a trivial service to get done. HOW DO THEY SCREW THIS UP?!

Why get so worked up? Are you perfect? Have you ever screwed up a simple task? Of course you have. Stuff happens. They should/evidently did make it right, and that's what they needed to do. Sorry it happened to you, but if you displayed this type of attitude at the dealership, I can understand why they didn't kiss your ass. I think that maybe they should have, but sometimes you get what you put into a situation.

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: boomerang
Sounds like they didn't torque the lug nuts properly. If you get out of this without paying for new rotors I'd be surprised.

Sorry for your loss.

i dont understand, this is such a trivial service to get done. HOW DO THEY SCREW THIS UP?!

Why get so worked up? Are you perfect? Have you ever screwed up a simple task? Of course you have. Stuff happens. They should/evidently did make it right, and that's what they needed to do. Sorry it happened to you, but if you displayed this type of attitude at the dealership, I can understand why they didn't kiss your ass. I think that maybe they should have, but sometimes you get what you put into a situation.

the way i expressed myself here was def not the way i expressed myself at the dealership. i never raised my voice and was very nice and cordial to them. read my follow up post where i said im sure it was just an honest mistake because they repaired the other car i brought in just fine, but an apology would have made me feel alot better about the situation. i'm pissed at paying $40 for two new rear rotors that i wouldn't of had to pay for if i didnt go there in the first place, but i guess i'm happy they only asked me to pay 10% of the cost and $40 is nnot worth raising my blood pressure about.