Rant

[lefteyewilly]

3 weeks ago, i get my oil and rear differential fluid changed on my 07 Charger at Valvoline Instant Oil Change. The next day i'm on my daily commute into work (32 miles each way) , and while going 75 on the highway, i smell horrible burning and my car starts to lose power sporadically. Then while i'm in the left lane just about to pass a car, i hear a horrible 'clank' and then all at once, my entire car feels like it's about to fall apart. It took all that i had to get my car safely to the side of the road before my car came to a dead stop.

When i get out of my car, in a daze and completely confused, i turn to look in a ditch along the highway is a piece of metal spewing steam 15 feet in the air. I get up close to this piece of metal, and it happens to be my rear differential. Looking underneath my car, i now have no muffler, the drive shaft is on the ground and their bolts scattered everywhere.

I get my car towed to the dealership where i bought it and on the way, i'm wondering what the hell happened. And then it clicked. Valvoline failed to put rear differential fluid in the case, thus seizing up all mechanical parts.

So i call valvoline, tell them what they did, they come and inspect the vehicle and claim all damages as their fault. The dealership says, it'll be 4-5 days to have my car back in complete working condition. Valvoline says they'll pay for my rental car, reimbursement style, but i have to pony up the money first.

TWO WEEKS LATER, my car is finally fixed. I return the rental car. It's over $1000 for the two weeks to rent a car. Had no clue on that one, and of course i was told it was going to be 5 days.. Ugh. Pissed. I get my car from the dealership. On the way home, my car starts vibrating at 65mph. I'm thinking what the F&*#& is going to happen now? Thankfully i made it home safely.

Now i just took the car back to the dealership to have whatever fixed that needs to be fixed. Turns out they failed to see the god damned driveshaft was bent. Are you F(*(ing kidding me? You didn't notice that or check that when you saw the shaft was dragging on the ground? Friggin idiots.

Now i have to wait for Valvoline to approve the additional cost/ parts on this driveshaft, and then wait another day or two for parts to be delivered. And by the time it's done, it'll be almost 4 weeks since the start of this debacle.

I'm so pissed right now at the incompetence of people who you're handing your lives over to when they work on your vehicle.

ANGRY!

[gerbick]

Good rant, bad luck. Sorry about that man. But at least they claimed it.

[creativeinsomnia]

Yikes, what a friggin hassle. Cars suck.

[silverx2]

im kinda suprised all your getting out of this is everything paid for, this is a massive issue, i hope you contacted a lawyer as im sure you would be able to get quite a large settlement due to negligence.

[Frets]

That story reminds me of the first new car I ever bought. However it was 1 month after i made the final payment and the warranty expired. In my case the engine siezed.

Sorry to read about your troubles Lefteye.

[hanratty21]

I needed a tow after a Jiffy Lube oil change where they decided that my air intake really didn't need to be re-attached. My mechanic called them monkeys, begged me to never allow them to touch my car again and even offered to give me a price reduction on oil changes to their low rate as long as I don't allow them to F* up his work ever again.

[jAQUAN]

I will only take my car to a particular dealership location whom I have a good relationship with because of so many stories like these.

[WannaBe_80z]

^ exactly. and luckily where I work we share the parking lot with a repair shop so I just drive to work and the work gets tons while I'm there and by the time I'm out of work whatever needed to be done is done.

[joshstrike]

**** man, that's nothin. I bought a 95 Camaro Z28, 6 speed back in '98, and within 3 weeks the thing dropped fourth gear in the fast lane of the 101 outside Gilroy. Took it to the only Chevy dealership in town, took the greyhound to San Francisco where I was living. Two weeks later, they had the tranny rebuilt, got back to Gilroy on the bus, drove about 10 miles out of town before it ground out the same gear and had to get it towed back again. And don't think I'm a bad driver. This was a case of a Corvette transmission and engine stuck into a used Camaro. Only had 40k miles on it. Thank God for the warranty, GM cars just aren't built to last, but the dealerships are lazy as hell. For $80 an hour in coverage you'd think they could get off their ass for a few minutes and check things out, but no. GM dealerships are the worst place to take your car. Find a nice Armenian mechanic in your neighborhood and you'll have no problems from there on out. I loved my Chevy dearly but I had less problems with a bottom of the line south american Volkswagen like my most recent Senda with 200,000 miles on it. (Although the interior did get eaten, completely, by a giant killer fungus after a major tropical rainstorm. Another story)...

[jAQUAN]

My uncle had a saying. "People don't sell Camaro's because they are working."