Eckler's Corvette Parts - bad designs
 

I just had a very unsatisfying interaction with Eckler's. I ordered a simple part, the horn contact on the steering wheel. The part Eckler's delivered was incorrectly designed, center hole for steering column bolt is too small, permanently contact the column bolt and hence horn blows all the time. I confirmed with Eckler's that I had ordered the correct part,. Granted I didn't figure this out until well after the part was delivered, but I figured since Eckler's prides itself of being a Corvette specialist that they would be concerned about their reputation and be willing to make good on this problem. I couldn't have been more wrong, 3 different representatives of Eckler's said "too bad but this is past our 60 warranty. if you want a new part you'll have to purchase one". I argued in vain that a bad design deserved a bit more reputation consideration but they repeatedly refused. So I deleted my Eckler's account and will make my future purchases elsewhere. Boy, was I disappointed!

Moving to Transaction Feedback.

The first problem i had was i got into the car and going across the Dames Point Bridge i saw it did not want to come out of forth gear going down the bridge. i got it to go into 3rd gear and got off the expressway. pulled off the road and it would not go into 2nd gear and the clutch felt like it was not going in right, it was real easy to push the pedal down.I did get it back into third gear and drove it home to put out my wife and then over to the Chevrolet dealership. They looked at it and told me it was a bad clutch, and how hard it was to change and that it would be over $2,000 to replace it. I had no choice so i told them to go ahead and replace it.
When they got it out they called me and told me that i needed a new fly wheel and that I needed to order it on line, pay for it and bring it to them. they gave me the wrong number but Summit Racing got me the right one for my car and i took it to them. few days later they called and told me that i had to go and buy a set of header gaskets as they needed them to put the headers back on with, so i went to Advance Auto Parts and bought them and took them to the Chevy dealer.
The next time i hears from them they said when the were putting everything back on they found the hose between the transmission and the clutch bad and that i need to buy one and bring it to them. I got one from Ecklers and brought it to them to replace. then they called me about two days later i called them to see if it was ready and they told me the Master Cylinder for the clutch is bad and there is metal particles in it and it needs to be replaced also, they had one and said they would install it. Now i have called and they say it grinds when they put it into reverse and they need to adjust the transmission, and they will call me when it is ready to pick up.
I am retired and 73 years old and not getting too much money each month to spend on keeping this car running, i love the car but I know it is old and probable not worth more than $5,000 if i sold it. I will be surprised if this bill is not more than $3000 and i am not sure now that it will be all fixed when i do pick it up. I am afraid the Dealership working on my car did not know what they were doing when they started on this repair.