I might tell that to the dealer manager - after - I get my car back.

 

Squeaky wheel gets the oil. If you hear nothing by wed, make a surprise visit to the shop after hours and see if your car is on the lot or on a lift.

Then call the next day and ask them to summarize what they've completed to date and when. Be incredibly polite and get upset about nothing. Ask at the end "so it's been up on the lift all week, yes?

Nonconfrontational fact finding mission that lets you see who you are dealing with. Do not confront them about anything. Just fact finding. Stop by that night and locate your car.

There can be situations where they will do repairs in stages and move a vehicle off of a lift well seals dry Etc. So this is not a foolproof test. But it's pretty representative

 

Sorry for my ignorance, but what would be the point of this fact-finding mission?
Sounds reasonable to me that if they didn't get the parts until Thursday, or Friday, and the shop is closed Saturday, it could take until Tuesday for the car to be ready to go home.
Am I missing something?

 

Ummm.
I calculated the number of days to get parts. I neglected to factor in February only has 28 days. I was thinking this dealership took one week to get your parts. I thought that was ridiculously long.

I therefore thought they were lying when they said they just got the parts. This confirmed the obvious Theory that they had the parts before then but were dragging their feet working on your car. There is no basis for this other than my paranoia, which is well-known on this ste, quite entertaining at times.

Reconnaissance mission was to confirm my paranoid conspiracy theory that they are lying and are sitting on their hands.

Paranoia has its uses in life. This was not one of them. Apologies for the tangents.

I'm really good with tangents and droning on. As you can see.

Apologies

 

No apology necessary. I tend to have episodes of paranoia, going off on wild tangents, and droning on myself... we should get along perfectly!

I agree, a week to get parts, in this day and age, is ridiculous. But, what are ya gonna do? I've reached the age where it's often better to say, "Oh well" rather than pick a fight. At my age, fights and arguments are way too exhausting.
besides, I have my Silverado to drive while they are *****-footing around.
Now, if I was carless and depending on others to tote me around and back and forth to work... that would be worth a fight.

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday. I'm spending my day off trying new recipes.

 

 

Sorry for not getting back sooner... been a rough week. Thanks for asking.
Short story: Yes. Got the car back Thursday.

Long story: They hadn't called me in two weeks, I called them last Thursday and was told they just got the parts in. So, again, I called them Thursday morning only this time I asked for the general manager. I told no one has called me in two weeks and could he please find out what's going on with my car. He said sure, put me on hold, and walked back to the shop. When he got back on the phone, he said, "Would you be happy to know your car is ready to go?" I said sure, but why didn't they call me to tell me it was ready? ... are you ready for this?... He said, "They just now got it finished." Really? Miracle of miracles, they finished working on the car the exact moment I called? It's more believable they were lying and no one bothered to call me to let me know it was ready.

So, I have a friend drop me off at the dealership (btw, this is a Chevy dealer, not Saturn). He leaves and I go in to pay. The guy in the shop hands me the bill. $400 more than the quote.
I took a deep breath, pulled out my phone to call my friend to come back to get me, and handed it back to him and said that's not the price we agreed on - if you had told me this amount I certainly would not have agreed to it.
He looked it over, fiddled with his computer, handed it back - with the original amount - and simply said, "Someone made a math error."
I handed him my credit card, he gave me my receipt, I said thank you, and walked out the door.

WTF is wrong with people? Are there no competent, honest mechanics left on the planet, or did I just happen to find two crooks?

The car seems to run fine (was running fine before) and one of the indicator lights is no longer on constantly, either the service, or check engine light.
They told me they changed the oil... they didn't change the window sticker and the "change oil" light still comes on. Is there a way for me to tell if they actually did change the oil?

 

 

Idk either.
Look at the coolant reservoir... low fluid is the only reason I brought it in i the first place... and it's STILL low!

 

They may have drained the oil, saved it, and put it back in when they were done. Look at your invoice and look at the part where it says CS or customer States blah blah blah blah blah as the reason for bringing it in. You can then gauge what they did based on what they reported they found. The General don't care attitude towards actually telling you your car was done which you can tell when it was really done by when the invoice was run hopefully there is a date on it that is not the same day you picked it up. Or maybe they just let it sit around for a couple weeks because it wasn't important enough to do unless you called and bitched about it
Anyway there should be a line code for each different repair they did whether it says remove and replace R&R such and such and the part amount and labor amount, you should be able to walk your way through the invoice to see what actions they took. The fact that they did not top off your coolant is somewhat silly. If they replaced the water pump they would have had to open the cooling system. They may have recycled your coolant that drained and put it back in the reservoir. And after they burped the system to get out the air they simply never topped it off because they are jackasses. See if there's a charge for coolant. Dexcool On the invoice. Any dealership that does oil changes, the texts are programmed to do the stickers and it would take 10 seconds to look up how to clear the oil light on your Saturn. Your oil does not look brand-new to me. Check the invoice for an oil filter and oil. Probably 5 W 30. which means they charged you for it not necessarily that they did it.

If you continue to lose coolant, take it back and ask them to tell you why. Tell them you are not paying for a diagnostic of their own work. You've already paid for a diagnostic. If what they diagnosed was incomplete or wrong that is their problem. No matter what they tell you, make it clear you are not paying for another diagnostic. Do not make it clear you are not going back there which you are not because you have a brain. Don't get an oil change until after you visit them again. Don't make an appointment just show up. Do it later in the day if you can when they cannot say they are too busy. From early morning until noon is Crush time. After that it thins out.

Ask him for the parts removed from your vehicle that were replaced. By law they are required to give them to you. They will probably try to tell you they are already disposed of. Tell them to take you back to the dumpster behind the dealership and check. Go with them. Even if you have no idea what you are looking at or for. That dumpster takes weeks to fill up. Your parts are in there and they are legally yours. If the dumpster is pretty much empty they may be telling the truth. If it is not empty they will probably resist taking you back there citing some safety crap. Remind them that is outside and that if they refused to fetch Your Parts you will do so yourself. This is all posturing. Their obligation may end when you sign the final invoice and pay I don't know but based on how lackadaisical they are and have been about the entire thing, if your car starts losing coolant again, then it's time to take the lead in this dance. They will love that you have returned if the original problem wasn't fixed because they assume you are stupid enough to Put more money into it with them which you are not. This is how they suck people dry. People that are too lazy to look up how to turn off your oil change light are probably also too lazy to change your oil.

Paranoid? Maybe. But there is so much bull crap that goes on behind the scenes that sometimes you have to call them on things as much as you can. They will probably win out in the end, but every minute you distract one of the techs to look at a dumpster or the service manager to speak to him, you are wasting their time and therefore costing them money.

To be perfectly clear I​​​​ only believe this to be a Justified strategy when you are fairly certain you have been screwed.

If they tell you your car is leaking coolant from somewhere else, ask them why they never told you that. If they say it wasn't leaking coolant when it left, ask them why they did not do a pressure test on your coolant system before you left because it obviously it was leaking. It is true the coolant level May settle after it runs a bit but if it came back that way to you that's just wrong.

Places like this need to lose money when screwing people like yourself. You will not win. The point is to make sure it costs them something to compensate for what they have done to you or not done for that matter. I have never gone this far, but I have considered going into the waiting room and throwing a tantrum just to lose them business. But I have never done it because I have never been able to prove that above 95% certainty I had been screwed.
It's actually kind of fun to put these people that day in and day out rip people off on the defensive. They have there guard ready, for certain things, but not for people searching dumpsters. Most people don't know they are by law entitled to the parts that were replaced. Bring a cardboard box with you of decent size and walking with it when you first meet up with them. They will likely have no idea why.

I am not a mean person by Nature. Nor am I terribly vindictive. But over the years of moderating this forum, I have been exposed to so many rip offs scams and horror stories and actually prevented several that I have no patience left 4 people that cheat others simply because they think they can by tossing around technical terms and dancing around the law.

Your choice