sonic1519

A couple of days ago i posted about taking my car into the dealership about a small oil leak. The small oil leak turned out to be a broken gasket on the filter. Ok makes sense. Then he goes uh we also found a small radiator leak. News to me car had not been running hot or anything.

1600.00 to replace the radiator and skid plate. Told service tech i would need to get another opinion. He oh well ok. Pickup my car this morning pay the 55.00 for the filter and one quart of oil.

Got home checked the water level all is ok. So i did have a trip planed today so i took the vette 100 miles round trip. It averaged between 195/201 all day. No sign of a leak. This is same dealership that would not fix one of my tires that had a bad TMPS.After i had paid for the 115.00
part. What really upsets me within the last 1 1/2 years i have bought a 2013 SS Camaro plus my vette. I'm talking to the GM tomorrow. What blows i now need to find a honest mechanic who can work on these cars.

damascus1986

sounds like they wnated to apply a vette tax for nothing

sonic1519

i know the drill i've owned 4 corvettes. but it seems like every time you go for service or just anything.they just double the cost.

WW7

There should be a ton of independant Corvette shops on Texas...Get in contact with a local Corvette club and find out who they mostly use..There is a reason everyone on here says to stay away from dealerships. Maybe some of the Texas guys on here will chime in with the names of a few good shops near you......WW
.
.

cessna10

Never have had a problem with my dealership through 3 corvettes. Just took
my new 2013 in for an oil change, brought my own oil and filter, got oil change and asked them to check all the fluids and have the corvette mechanic check the car over. Charged me $13.99 for the oil and filter change. You can't paint them all with the same brush.
The mechanic came into the waiting room and told me the car needs nothing. Same mechanic I have dealt with for 8 years.

Corvette_Ed

You should be able to find multiple quality speed shops in the Houston area. I visited two in Tomball, and know there are many spread around that area. Best bet is to go to the Southwest regional forum and post a request for shops in the area, not to mention Corvette World Houston, which is located on I-45 in the Spring area.

v26278

The dealer could have been trying to work you for some unnecessary repairs, it wouldn't be the first time a dealer pulled that stunt, but to be safe keep an eye on the coolant level. Some radiator leaks start as tiny cracks or pinholes in the plastic end tanks. The leak is very slow at first, maybe a little drizzle stain is the only evidence, no big puddles, no overheating. There's also some suspension or structural pieces that can catch little drips and stop them from landing on your garage floor. But those little leaks will get worse. I had such a leak on my '07. I got a low coolant warning on the DIC, couldn't see any stray fliud so I topped it up and the next day I got the warning again. With the engine hot I noticed a very fine spray coming out of a pin hole leak in the plastic tank on the driver side of the rad.

cmonkey713

Happens all the time.

AORoads

You have, or had, 4 Corvettes and an SS Camaro and still haven't got a good indie shop that works on your cars---in which case, you've been very lucky.

My post from the other thread; I'd say it's time to start looking for that other shop, Beaumont and Houston included. Matter of fact, one of the best in H-town is 510 Racing. They seem to have a hard time telling you where their shop is on their website, but a call....(https://www.510raceengineering.com/pages/about-us). Or, you can call Pete, aka "Gering" on CF and ask him where he'd go.

"it would help if you had at least a town or state where you live in your profile. plus, you really need to find some good indie shops in your area that can, and do work on Corvettes. talk to (but you don't necessarily have to join) your local Corvette club via phone not email. going back to a dealer you don't trust is not smart. the "old"method was to spray some fluid on where the "leak" was---not saying it isn't there because it's possible that breaking the "skid plate" DID cause a leak or crack that is leaking." (bold/underline added by me since this post in your other thread)

Good luck.

jrose7004

We keep telling you, stay out of dealerships!

COMMANDER2OOO

My stealership got me about 3 times for big money and I wont go anywhere near them.
Now they are having a trunk or treat event for the kids and want all the Corvette owners to come out post up and support. As I stated before, I'm not going anywhere near that place.

john 72-04

I agree. Have you even asked them to look at the skid plate and radiator ?
Have you even at least considered they could be correct ? I was a flat rate mechanic for 20 years in car dealerships and trust me if I wanted to rip you off I would never recommend a radiator especially in a Vette....too much labor and hassle. If I wanted to rip you off I would try and sell you something I could get done quickly with little effort. Please at least when you go to talk to the GM give them the chance to show you what they are recommending to you. If they can't then criticize all you want but if they show you damage then they deserve some credit for trying to help you not end up left on the road with your radiator plucking coolant all over the place.

COMMANDER2OOO

If the mechanic wanted to rip him off he could easily say he needs a new radiator, then take his car to the back sit for a few hours and not even touch the car. After awhile call him up and say his car is good to go and hit him with a $2000 bill.

john 72-04

Sorry but this is not the job a flat rate guy would pick to rip you off. Flat rate mechanics get paid on labor only no parts. The MO for a rip off is labor intensive jobs with low parts cost. Radiator is an expensive part drives up the price too much. He'd rather that $2k be in his pocket not the parts dept.

Aggie76

Only time I went to dealership was to replace driver's side seat belt buckle when it jammed. They then damaged the door panel when they removed the seat. Took two trips to get the correct door panel available, wrong color on first panel, and then the second panel wasn't install correctly and was dirty so I had to fix and clean it.

I've done oil and various filter changes each year and have no intention of going to the dealer locally. I live in a very remote town in northern MN where I've bought the only Corvette they've sold in the last six years, museum delivery. Don't plan to use their mechanics since they have no expertise. I will trailer it to a dealer with Corvette experience if I ever need service.

LowRyter

I think we already said not to go back there since they wouldn't program the TPMS.

let manager know that you aren't buying any thing from them. It won't help but you'll feel better. My guess is that you got ripped off on the cars you bought too.

sonic1519

Thanks for the good advice. I'll check it from the reservoir daily for a little while

BadgeZ28

The Chevy dealer in my town is the Wells Fargo type also. I don't know if they are on a quota system or I just got singled out? Knowledge is important with these cars. The more you are involved in their maintenance and know about how things work, the better you are prepared to deal with it.

the kid C6

The last time my car was at my dealership, they didn't even finish putting the car back together. Just slap it in and send it out. Very sloppy.

I recommend checking in with your local Corvette club. I know mine had some gift certificates left over from a car show, and there was one shop that everyone gave an "oooooohh aaaaaahh" for it. I have an appointment there next week.

ruxvette

I agree. There are two sides to every story. Make them show you what needs to be replaced and make an informed decision.