A Newer Project!

[njsteve]

Most don't. They go belly up after taking your up-front money. That was a common scam a few years back. That's why I want to get as much repaired as I can while the aftermarket warranty is still in place and the company is still in business. I have six more months to locate any new noises. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

I spent the morning replacing the brakes in my daughter's 2009 Impala SS. I took out the Trans Am to bring the rotors down to my buddy's garage. We tried cutting them but they were way too warped so I bought a new set at NAPA. I had already bought the new AC/Delco pads from rockauto last week.

Of course, the daughter slept through all of the work and woke up just as I finished the job four hours later.

While on the test drive, bedding in the new brakes, I noticed that one of the door lock solenoids wasn't working. I ask her about it when I get back and she says: &quot;Yeah it's been like that a while&quot;.

Sigh....

Of course I could have gotten it fixed when it was at the dealer last week under the initial $100 deductible. Now I have to wait until something more major needs replacing under her GM extended warranty to make it worthwhile. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

I was thinking about updating the brakes on the WS6 so I decided to peruse the giant pile of dealer receipts from the original owner to see when they were last done. I wish I took a Mylanta before I did. It just got me all riled up again over how she was completely hosed by that dealer over and over again.

The rear brakes were replaced at 33,000 miles - new rear rotors at $44 each, emergency brake shoes at $89, pads at $59, and $120 in labor. That's not all that unreasonable. But at 45,000 miles they did the front brakes...and get this: they charged her $145 in labor just to cut her original rotors! That did not include the $120 actual labor to do the brake job. (Keep in mind that new GM rotors at the time would have been around $80 for the pair). Unbelievable! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/mad.gif[/img]

There was also two invoices for replacing both her serpentine belts: first one at 52,000 miles was $102 labor and the two belts were $27 and $47. Then 5,000 miles later they replaced them again at 57,000 miles. Charging her $110 labor and $29 and $52 for the belts. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/no.gif[/img]

The stack just repeated this abuse over and over again. Too bad the statute of limitations is in effect, and the place went out of business in 2009 when GM pulled their franchise.

Anyway, I have been hunting down a front suspension jounce squeek that occurs only when the car has had a good heat soak after running. While I was under the car I noticed the lower control arm bushings were failing on both sides, so I made another appointment with my local dealer for the $50 deductible warranty coverage. I took photos of the bushings and even made a video clip of the squeeking and sent it to the service writer. We shall see what happens.