A Newer Project!

[njsteve]

A little update.

We have only put on 900 miles since buying the car in 2014. Lately, I have been trying to identify an annoying engine-related noise that occurred only under constant throttle - not coasting or heavy throttle. It was hard to pinpoint exactly because of how loud this car is under acceleration with the aftermarket muffler on it. (Time is of the essense too, as the third extended warranty is getting ready to expire after 15 years in December 2016). [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

After pulling the serpentine belt and spinning everything by hand, that spins, I was able to isolate it to the alternator bearing and several of the idler pulleys. So I brought it to the local Chevy dealer and they did a nice job working on the car. They had just been through two days of dealing with the extended GM warranty with my daughter's Impala SS - replacing a leaky steering rack, the power steering hoses, the trans cooler lines, the oil pan gasket, and an engine mount. I found all of these items while underneath the car changing the oil last week. The GM extended warranties are wonderful to deal with compared with an aftermarket one. They even gave us a free 2016 Impala with 300 miles on it as a courtesy car! Total bill: $107. ($100 deductible plan)

The aftermarket extended warranty that the original owner bought is another story. The service writers were able to deal with the crazy people at the warranty company who, as usual, put you on hold for 20 minutes at a time and try to make it hard enough that you give up. For example, they agreed that it needed a new alternator. So instead of allowing the Chevy dealer to simply install the AC/Delco alternator that was in stock on their shelf, at the Chevy dealer price, they had the exact same part number AC/Delco alternator overnight Fedexed to the dealership. While they might have gotten the alternator $30 cheaper than the dealer price, they just spent $100 overnighting it!!! The same thing with the main idler pulley. The dealer only asked for the pulley - a $40 item. The warranty company balked at that but then sends them the entire AC/Delco idler assembly (a $200+ part) overnight. They also refused to pay the dealer hourly rate - undercutting it by $10 an hour...but then end up paying the extra hour for the idler assembly replacement instead of the pulley. (BTW, I think they actually get their parts from Rockauto based on the packaging).

So in the end, I paid $112 consisting of the $50 deductible plus another $45 in the unreimbursed labor charges, plus tax, for a bill that cost the warranty company around $1,000 ($500 in parts and $400 in labor and $100 in shipping). And I got to keep the original alternator and all the pulleys, idler, etc.

And the annoying mystery noise is gone!

BTW, When I brought it in to the dealer, they know how particular I am about my car so they had a space inside all ready for it - and it stayed inside for the three days it was there. The funny thing was when I brought the car in, the twenty-something male service writer didn't know how to drive a manual transmission so he handed the keys to a twenty-something young lady with full sleeve tattoos who gave me the all knowing nod (turns out she has a Mustang Cobra and an old pickup truck - both with stickshifts). Cool lady. If my son was older I would have played matchmaker. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[Xplantdad]

Wow...you wonder how places like that warranty company stay in business?

[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.

[Zman1969]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Xplantdad</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Wow...you wonder how places like that warranty company stay in business? </div></div>

I used to work for a warranty company - I couldn't stand it. you gotta read all the fine print!! whats &quot;excluded&quot; usually is what fails - nothing in exhaust or nuts bolts fasteners is covered on what used to handle. Some policy's aren't bad but some are pure junk and thrown in to sell a high mileage piece of crap I feel sorry that some people don't know what to look for in a used car and when to run away!

[njsteve]

Yeah, they declined the control arm bushing replacement as a &quot;wear item&quot;. The account rep was nice enough to call me and explain why, which was unexpected. He said that since all four bushings had the same degradation it is considered normal wear and tear that is excluded in the fine print, versus if one bushing actually failed which would have been covered.

Compare that to my old Chrysler Corp extended warranty on our 2006 300 which covered the worn out lower control arm bushings and replaced the control arms at 99,980 miles on a 100,000 mile extended warranty.

Same experience with our Impala SS with the GM extended warranty. They cover everything even if it is wear and tear. (Other than brakes).

So me and the boy will be doing the bushings ourselves. Already ordered them from Rockauto, along with new brake pads.

[njsteve]

We replaced the front and rear brake pads and pulled the rotors to clean them and soak them in evaporust to remove the surface rust on the hat portion. They look much nicer now. I had to replace one of the caliper brackets after breaking the head off the slider bolt. It was completely seized in the bore and even heat and gently trying to turn it in a vice didn't do anything. Luckily the local Autozone had one in stock (Cardone remanufactured original bracket for $25).

Of course that means the dealer totally ignored that problem when they charged her all that money for the front brake job and an extra $145 to cut the front rotors, a few thousand miles ago. It was an obvious problem since that front inner pad was worn twice as much as the outer one since the caliper couldn't slide. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Zman1969]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: njsteve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yeah, they declined the control arm bushing replacement as a &quot;wear item&quot;. The account rep was nice enough to call me and explain why, which was unexpected. He said that since all four bushings had the same degradation it is considered normal wear and tear that is excluded in the fine print, versus if one bushing actually failed which would have been covered.
</div></div>
Well that sounds like a steaming pile of you know what, and did you know you can dispute the denial? it would be brought back up to a supervisor and reviewed again and IMO bushings are not a wear item like brakes or shocks are. there alot of different warranties out there so you should read up on the company check the BBB and see if they are handling people correctly. IMO there are contracts thrown in on cars that have way too many miles but people think that theyre covered and when something like an engine fails and its found to be sludged up that its denied by PO lack of maintenence so the claim is denied leaving the new owner a useless unwarranted car. It's buyer beware for sure! personally I trust my knowledge of cars and inspecting them personally befor buying and deciding to take the risk of failure and saving the money I would spend on a contract(they aint cheap!) to pay for any repairs may come.