Dealership wouldn't listen, it was a bad starter
 

I had an intermittent problem where sometimes the car wouldn't start, and/or the voltage gauge would decrease to 11 or below. If you pulled on the battery wires, then the voltage gauge may return to normal for awhile. I take my car to Penske Chevrolet in Carmel, Indiana. I tell the service adviser and mechanic that it may be where the wire from the battery connect to the starter. The service tech replaces a relay. Runs good for a day. Approximate cost $125. Take the car back. I explain to the service advisor and mechanic that according to Corvette Forum it is the post on the starter where the wire connects. They laugh. They state that only computer geeks are on Corvette Forum, they don't know anything, and Corvette Forum is the worse one. The mechanic tightens down the connections on the battery, and says that he took the wire off the starter and tightened it down. Approximate cost $110. Runs one day, same problem. I take the car to Car X. We put the car on a lift, pull the starter, heres a video of what we found. Now the car runs great after we replaced the starter.

View My Video

If I were you, I'd be taking my car back to Penske Chevrolet in Carmel, Indiana, and demand a refund of the $235.00 they charged.

Your bill from Car X, and your video, is rather convincing. If the dealer refuses to refund your money, I'd make a formal complaint to G.M.

This kind of scenario is precisely why people don't trust dealers.

You know what, you're right. I will.

Let us know how you make out.

There are G.M. Customer Care Reps., that monitor these forums.

They may be able to help as well.

:cheers:

:iagree: I absolutely agree on every point he stated! Inept irresponsible mechanics like this, and dealerships that allow this kind of crap should be put out of business. Another grand illustration of how dealers let this sort of thing and endorse this sort of thing to continue to rip off the public, except this time there's a video to prove it! :mad:

:iagree::yesnod:

AND...all that advice above was from Computer Geeks!!!:D

Glad you found and fixed the problem! Too bad you couldn't rely on the dealership to fix it for you, or to avoid charging you for fixes that weren't needed.

Question....why didn't you go to "Car X" in the first place???? Just wondering.

They never took wire loose or they would have spotted that problem.
z51vett
Doug

Yes, there are and I'll be interested to see how they help out this OP! After all, one call from them and it will most likely mean some new training for the Technician in question and a refund to the OP, I would guess.

And Doug (z51vett) is right about the Technician not tightening any post or they would have seen that easily---not exactly something you can miss when it wobbles and looks like that.

Get your money back!

Wow - that's something even one of those computer geeks that hangs out on Corvette Forum could have found. :D

I'd pursue getting my money back and telling other geeks not to go to that dealership.

If you do go back, tell 'em the geeks said "Hello!".

Elmer

You dont need the video. Take the starter to the dealer and plop it down in front of the service advisor and ask if he can find anything wrong with it.

Bingo! :thumbs:

This.

Just because they sell the car doesn't mean they know everything about it.

We thought of that too. The dealership told me the starter was good both times.

Fixed it for you
 

Fixed it for ya. :D

wow. A buddy called me last sunday night because his 11 gs would not start. I took a quick look only to discover that the under hood fuse box had no power. The car only started if it was jumped. Since i didn't have a day off for another 5 days and the car was under warranty he took it to the dealer and they replaced his starter ? With only 10k ? On a stock engine ? There is something they didn't tell him and GM paid for.