How do you guys do it ? I know some of you mod happy guys have your cars in the shop for extended amounts of time, but I'm going nuts.

Long read...sorry guys I need to vent

Almost 7 weeks ago now my engine started knocking pretty bad. Car is a 98' with 80K on it, thank god I paid for the extended warranty. I called both chevy dealerships near me and got bad vibes from both service managers(jerks). So I called a pontiac dealership, explained the problem and asked if they could take care of my vette. They said "Sure no problem, bring it on in". I also mention that my tranmission(M6) and differential have minor leaks, since its covered by warranty they will fix that as well. So I bring it in.

Week 1
The car sat.

Week 2
They realized they dont have the necessary Engine table to properly drop the engine,so they order it. It arrives at about the two week mark.

Week 3
The engine gets pulled and diagnosed with a spun rod bearing. THEN they pull the tranny/diff, Tranny is fine, just needs resealed. The differential has broken shims and the gears are grooved. The warranty company is called and an adjuster finally sees it at the three week mark.

Week 4
Waiting for the warranty company to make a decision. During this time I negotiate to have a cam and springs installed since the engine is out anyway. Shop says $100 to install since my engine is already apart. I buy the parts and have them rush shipped over.

Week 5
Warranty company is sending in a rebuilt(30k miles) LS1 and a brand new Diff. Parts arrive on a thursday.....my mechanic is off work until monday...GRRR. Cam install will now cost $475 since the new engine will have to be opened, whatever, lets get it done.

Week 6
(This Wednesday)I happen to drop by just as the mechanic is filling the engine with fluids, everything is together but my H-pipe and wheels. He tells me to hang out because he is about to fire it up. While I"m standing there, he and another mech attach my clutch slave to bleed it and the slave leaks all over the place. Mind you, this slave is about 3 months old. He fires up the car anyway(sounded great!) and says they'll call the warranty company to see about the slave.
I get a call, the warranty company wont cover the slave so they want $180(yea right) for the slave and $650 to install it, I nicely tell them to go to hell and a flatbed will be there in the morning, I"ll buy the slave elsewhere for $100 and install it myself. They say this will void the warranty on thier work, since they cant test the car. I point out that if they warrantied thier work, this wouldnt have come up in the first place. I order the slave through FredBeans and pay for overnight for arrival on friday...Still 50 bucks cheaper !(Thanks Gene )
I get another call later. They are sorry the car has taken so long and will do the install for $200 and I can supply the part.
(Thursday AM)I call back and say say fine, but the car has to be ready for the part on friday and DONE by friday evening, because if I do it myself it will be running by then, they say "No problem".

The slave arrives at my door at 8:50AM today(friday) and I rush it over, Turns out my mechanic is off and wont be back until monday. I take a deep breath and prepare to strangle someone, at this point the service advisor tells me that because they feel bad...they will install it for free and the car will be ready on monday.

To be continued.....

I"m happy because when I get my car, it will have a basically all new driveline for the cost of $300 (deductable and fluids). Thats the main reason i've stayed sane through all of this. But do you guys think I am justified to be more than a little pissed at this point ?

 

Holy crap. Proof positive that buying an extended warranty is worth the money. Sorry for your crappy experience, but congratulations on the new parts!

 

Besides the two days off, seems like they are just running into issues they can't predict. However I can still see why you are upset, 6 weeks with out a vette would drive me bonkers!

 

When they pulled the engine apart did they see why the bearing went out?

Oil pump, trash, etc...??

Also what oil (brand and weight) and filter do you use and how often do you change? Also do you race the car or anything else that may have caused it?

I build motors and am always whondering what happens/ed to cause soemthing. My old firebird spun a bearing. Turned out the last owner had a crank kit put in and the tech did not replace the oil pump and the pickup fell off. Needless to say I was ticked something so simple was not done.

thanks and keep us updated

 

I know exactly how you feel. I've been without my vette for 7 weeks now. I've had problems that I don't even want to get into here. Anyway, good luck! I hope we both have our vettes soon.

 

Well I did ask them if they were equipped/capable of working on my vette, and they said yes. Yet they didnt have the engine table, and didnt order it until my car had been there for over a week. even if they couldnt get to my car right away, they could have gotten the equipment on the way sooner.

Also, while waiting on the table, they could have removed the rear and transmission and had that done. Instead they waited until after the engine was done and then moved on to the rest..setting it back 4 more days.

These guys just arent very effecient. And it annoys me to no end that they agreed to have the car done on friday knowing full well that the mechanic wouldnt even be there. Seriously, I would have the car back together by now if I had brought it home yesterday, instead it is spending another weekend sitting in thier garage.

 

You should be very grateful anyone in their right mind would warranty a corvette with 80 K miles.

 

They suspected the engine had been overreved cold at some point to start the wear and then wore out over time. It was pretty damn worn, the bearing was almost non existant. I have only had the car for about 6k miles and its had three changes with mobil 1 10w30 in that time. Noteworthy was that I had a bad oil pressure sender(130psi) on the old engine, and so couldnt monitor any pressure problems.

The car is my daily driver and I'll drive it spirited here and there, I definately dont baby it.


Yea, my wife was annoyed when I spent $1800 on the warranty.....she isnt so upset now

 

Ive been without mine since sept 22. Rearended in a car accident. I've lost my sanity-beware

 

your not the only one.hopefully this can calm your nerves. I saved all my money for years at 17 the only way i could afford a c5 was on ebay a 98' @ 21,200 w/80k miles $400 shipped to my door.the guy i bought it from signed the title as a dealer so in IL i paid $2000 in tax, title, lic. two weeks later service column lock shows up on display wheel locks up car stalls after it starts.$60 shipped to dealer $60 for a new key $1018 for steering column lock and new BCM. three weeks later get car my car back with a big scratch in rear bumper and a huge chip in the hatch glass. now i need to do brakes,$350 clutch $2200.thats a total of $27,288. I just did my first oil change come on now. I realize most of you paid more for your car than all that combined but at 18 i cant afford much more. will i ever catch a brake. oh yeah i was just reminded of the $350 i spent on a new alternator and belt. Glad i can do all the work myself.

 

Sad that it has taken this long, but you have the right attitude about it - you'll have a new drivetrain in the car and hopefully many more enjoyable miles.

 

Actually I sympathize, but if you arent married yet, I garantee its alot less painful My wife is all over my ***. Because shortly (a week) before the engine went I had just gotten done putting in a new clutch/flywheel/slave, New rims/tires all around(which have now spent 10 times more time on the shop floor than on the car), the new brake rotors came in two days after it hit the shop(still on my garage floor waiting). I bought the cam/springs to have them installed. And my bill from the dealership is gonna be a bit over 1k with deductable, cam install, fluids and the difference on the rental car(warranty only covered 5 days).

Now I get smacked in the back of the head when she looks over my shoulder and sees me looking at new heads

 

i admit your was physicaly more painful. mine burned a hole in my jeans.

 

LOL

 

36 hours(give or take) and counting until I get my baby back.

 

that sucks im in the same sort of situation...week 4 and they said its going to be at least another week and these are the last few weeks i have for driving my car before i have to put it away for the winter

 

Hang in there!

 

I got it back yesterday! My car has never been so dirty though, I was out on the driveway after work at 2AM detailing the car

Everything is running great, and the cam I had installed is perfect! 221/221 575/575 112 +4 , The computer is still not quite used to it, once in a while it will try to die when I come to a stop. But man...the idle is intoxicating and though I havent revved it above 3500 yet...I can definately feel more power.

The transmission has never felt smoother, its great !

Tonight I take it back apart, get my Drilled and Slotted rotors on it and paint my calipers red(the black I did had a brownish tint). Man it feels great to have my baby home !

Thanks for all the support gang