Becker Buick-GMC

In response to ID #***, The customer brought their vehicle in for an ignition cylinder recall and an oil changeThe vehicle was worked on by two different technicians, one for the oil change and one for the recallBoth technicians were able to get in and out of the drivers door when they
needed to through out the time the vehicle was hereThe customer later informed us of the issue with the inside door handle and we ask if they could bring the vehicle back for an inspectionWe do believe that the inside door handle did break, the door handle is inside the door panel and not visible without removing the panelWe replaced the ignition cylinder which is on the steering column and we changed the oil and oil filter, none of these repairs would effect the inside door handleThe two new keys which were apart of the cylinder repair also would not effect the inside door handleThis car is years old and has a lot of miles on it (168180) and parts do give outOur technicians were the last ones to get in and out of the car and we used the inside door handle several times while the car was in our possession and it appears the inside handle gave out, ( not to our knowledge at the time ), but that does not make us responsible for the repairInside and outside door handles break often, especially as vehicles get older with a lot of miles, think of how many times they are being usedIn conclusion, we did decline to repair the inside door handle for free and with the way the customer treated and spoke to us, it made that decision easier

In response to complaint #***; The customer came in to our Parts Deptrequesting us to cut/make a key for his vehicleWe did not have the key in stock and told the customer all we could do is get him a key code from GM and he could take that to a locksmith and possibly have a key madeHe was
told by our Parts personnel that we cannot guarantee that the code would work for two reasons: 1) We did not have the key, therefore we would not be cutting the key, therefore we are relying on the locksmith for a proper key cut2) The code from GM is for the original ignition lock cylinder code, the customer’s car is years old, we cannot guarantee that the lock cylinder has never been replaced or re-keyed in that year spanThe customer paid $for the code and leftUnfortunately the code or the cut did not workWhen the customer came back to our store demanding a refund, he was using vulgar language and calling our employee in Parts nasty names! He would not calm down and leftThen he called back three separate times, once to Parts, once to our Sales Mngrand the third time to the receptionist always using vulgar language and the name calling continued, all three employees hung up the phone on the customerAs a small business we would never cause grief over $10.00, but under these circumstances with a customer who is totaling out of control and being so nasty we will not reimburse the moneyHe is simply not deserving of it! Wayne C*** President Becker Buick GMC 509-455-

Purchased 4 new tires, mount, balance and Alignment in October,2013 around spent approx 680.00.
9 months later insides of front tires destoyed. Shop refuses to take any responsibility or warranty any work or tires I paid for.
In addition a week ago when I asked them to look at the wear and rotate the tires, the rotation was not performed although I have a receipt that clearly states the tires were rotated.
In my opinion you have a lot of yound in-experienced kids working in your shop and when they make mistakes I guess the customer is the one that gets to pay.

Review: I bought a 1989 used Siverado in January 2013. the vehicle was issued a forever warranty on the drive train if under 100,00o miles and passed Becker Buick 100 point inspection. I was told the air conditioning worked. due to the forever warranty I did not take it to my mechanic for inspection. the air conditioning did not work, the tires were low in air, the oil was dirty, all the spark plugs needed replaced. It started burning oil. I had my mechanic do a CLT test. The air conditioning had to be serviced, and the CLT indicated # 1 cylinder @ 70% leak, #2 30% leak, #3 30% leak, #4 28% leak, #5 28% leak, #6 26% leak, #7 30% leak, #8 28%leak, #1 cylinder has 70% leakage past rings. I called Becker Buick and they wanted to perform their own CLT. Both tests were payed out of pocket. Becker Buick then called and wanted to open the engine up and have the "Forever Warranty" inspector come out and measure parts. I asked for an estimate to re-build the engine and was given an UN-itemized estimate. Becker Buick mechanic told me it would not be covered under the "Forever Warranty". I took my truck to my mechanic and asked Becker Buick to pay one-half of the itemized estimate from my mechanic, they declined. I asked Becker Buick what is their 100 point inspection and was told not a CLT test; no other points were discussed. An estimate from my mechanic was faxed to Becker Buick. I sincerely believe this is misleading and fraudulent advertising.Desired Settlement: Total refund on having the engine rebuilt; Estimate $3,298.87 from Five Mile Auto Center

Business

Response:

Mr. [redacted]s brought his vehicle to us with a complaint of burning oil. To qualify under the warranty guidelines there must be a failed part which would require some of the motor to be disassembled at the owners expense if there was no failed part found. Mr. [redacted]s declined to have us do the teardown and requested a price on a rebuilt motor. Approx. two weeks later we received a phone call from Mrs. [redacted]s requesting that we pay for half of a rebuild motor that another shop was going to install. We did decline. The problem with the motor burning oil could have been covered by the warranty but, we will never know because the teardown was not performed. The problem could have possibly been repaired for alot less money than a rebuilt engine but, it was the [redacted]'s idea and decision to replace the whole motor.

All of our vehicles are serviced properly that qualify for the Warranty Forever Program! We do not do CT test on the engines and we are not required to under the Program. All customers have the right to take vehicles to their own mechanics for their own inspections at their expense. The air conditioning not working was never brought to our attention and the [redacted]s' bought the vehicle six months ago and it sounds like the system just needed a charge, which vehicles will need from time to time.

We are sorry the [redacted]'s are having trouble with their vehicle but, we do not believe we have mis-represented anything. It was totally their decision to replace the motor and not to explore the possibilities of the warranty.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9612764, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Business

Response:

In response to Mr. [redacted],

Please refer to my last response. I would just be repeating myself.

Our Warranty Forever Program is a great program and a great way to protect our customers vehicles. We have sold over 700 vehicles since we started the program last April and Warranty Forever is paying service claims daily! Like all warranties you must follow the maintenance guidelines, the rules of the warranty and there must be a failed part determined!

Again, we are sorry about the outcome of the [redacted] vehicle but, it was the decision of the [redacted]' to do what they did. We have not mis-lead or mis-represented the Warranty to the [redacted] or any customer and we stand behind our Forever Warranty Program.

Thank -You

Had purchased vehicles from you before, but this time the purpose of the visit was to ask if there was a fix for the key stuck in the ignition of our Jeep. We knew [redacted] and my wife took the vehicle in for him to look at. He promptly got an opinion from the shop and reported to her the approximate cost to make the fix. After she 'picked herself up off the floor', she called me on the phone with the 'news'. While I was enroute, she asked [redacted] what he had that was high off the ground and was red. [redacted] must have thought 'have I got a deal for you!!!' And he did. It did not take long to complete the deal for a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox. [redacted] did not try to 'sell' us a vehicle. He did exactly what he was asked to do about the Jeep. He then answered her question by showing her a vehicle that was 'high off the ground and red.' The entire staff was very efficient, polite and helpful. I'm sure we'll be back - again.

I purchased a used vehicle from Becker. I checked it over the best I could prior to the purchase. The fluids looked reasonable, there was no check engine light on, and it drove smoothly with no odd noises. I checked the Carfax as posted on Becker’s site, and it was clean as well. As Becker Buick has been around for a long time, I felt more confident in purchasing a car from them vs. purchasing from one of the many there-today-gone-tomorrow shops that populate Sprague Ave.
The next morning I hopped in the car to drive to work and the check engine light immediately came on. I pulled the trouble codes from the car and found it had a “Large Evaporative Emissions Leak”. It also displayed a code indicating the battery had been disconnected recently. For those who don’t know, on cars 1995 and newer, a car displaying a code like this won’t pass emissions. I’d just purchased a car that wouldn’t pass emissions, and from all appearances, someone had disconnected the battery to make the car “forget” the code temporarily.
This started my descent into used car [redacted].
In addition to this code, I found during an oil change that the transmission pan was leaking. When it rained, I found the trunk would get wet. When on the freeway, while climbing hills, the entire front end would shudder back and forth. On cold mornings, there was a rumble from the engine until it warmed up, and I discovered the idler pulleys and belts were worn out.
At one point the salesman from Becker e-mailed me asking if I was “satisfied”. I related my problem with the mysterious code and the evidence the code had been reset by pulling the battery. He said it was “probably a gasket or something” and I never heard from him again.
The final straw came when I went to change one of the turn signal bulbs, which on the car I purchased requires removing the headlight. Pulling the headlight revealed improperly repaired crash damage.
So now I had a car that wouldn’t pass emissions without expensive repairs (I’d already tried the “cheap fixes by this point, now I’m to the point that much more expensive diagnostics are needed), with bad belts and bad pulleys, that shimmied on the freeway while at speed and now on top of all that was in a collision and was repaired by someone who didn’t know what they were doing, and which was missing important crash mitigation components.
I e-mailed the Customer Service manager at Becker Buick, and never received a reply. I finally wrote them a very polite letter, printed out a copy of the photo of the crash damage, and mailed it to them.
A few days later I received the below e-mail from the President of Becker Buick GMC, [redacted], which is below:
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Mr. *redacted*,
I’m sorry you are upset with Becker. It’s a matter of opinion on whether the problems you are experiencing are minor or major, in my opinion they are minor. There are many, many reasons a check engine light could come on and most of the time it’s a minor issue. As for un-hooking the battery to clear the codes, please keep in mind it was probably the previous owner that did that prior to trading it in, we see it often! Mr. *redacted* when we sell an older vehicle we make it quite clear that the vehicle is being sold AS-IS and that the buyer is responsible for any and all future repairs. I have sent an attachment of the purchase order that you signed stating just that. Again I’m sorry that you are not happy with us, but we made it clear that we would not stand behind the vehicle!
Thank-You

President
Becker Buick GMC
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Mr. [redacted] appears to think my issues are “minor”. I suppose they are minor to someone who isn’t in possession of a car that will require repairs likely exceeding 25% of the purchase price, has hidden unrepaired crash damage, and which won’t even pass Washington State emissions. Mr. [redacted] admits freely that they “often” see customers trade in vehicles after resetting the car’s computer to make the check engine light go out, yet they don’t bother checking for this when preparing a trade-in for resale? How many other people have driven off the Becker lot with a ticking time bomb under their hood?
In my opinion, this vehicle was likely run through their car wash, vacuumed out and dropped on their used car lot with no other attempts to ascertain its condition or repair any defects.
Worse, this company (despite their marketing to the contrary), does not practice “excellent customer service”, and I suspect the reason why they don’t care about their customers is because their President doesn’t care.
This is an excellent way to make a quick profit, but an unconscionably poor way to treat your customers.
It’s possible my experience is unusual, but I doubt it. Beware if you choose to purchase a vehicle from Becker Buick GMC. Otherwise you’ll end up like me, just another sucker they made a quick and easy profit on.

Review: I made an appointment for an oil change and to fix the ignition which was a recall issue on a Saturn Vue because the key could come out of the ignition when running. When I dropped the automobile off the driver passenger door opened perfectly. When I picked up the car about 5 pm the door would not open from the inside causing me to crawl out the passenger side. I called them immediately and told them and I was told to bring the car back so they could fix it. I called to verify if they could fix it in the morning, and the mechanic told me it was my fault and that they never touched the door. I asked to speak to the manager and I was directed to the owner. He said it was not their fault, and they never touched the door. That is unlikely because they made two new keys for the door. These keys were thick keys compared to the old keys. Certainly when they make new keys they would have tried the keys. Since the new keys were quite thick I think the mechanic tried to force them to work and something came loose or broke causing the door not to open. This seems something that the mechanic would have noticed when he moved the car to the parking lot for pick-up because he would not have been able to get out the door. Both the mechanic and the owner were rude and said I had an old car and they were not responsible. However, they obviously knew it was broken and would not even admit to being a part of the problem.Desired Settlement: Fix the door so it opens from the inside.

Business

Response:

In response to ID #[redacted], The customer brought their vehicle in for an ignition cylinder recall and an oil change. The vehicle was worked on by two different technicians, one for the oil change and one for the recall. Both technicians were able to get in and out of the drivers door when they needed to through out the time the vehicle was here. The customer later informed us of the issue with the inside door handle and we ask if they could bring the vehicle back for an inspection. We do believe that the inside door handle did break, the door handle is inside the door panel and not visible without removing the panel. We replaced the ignition cylinder which is on the steering column and we changed the oil and oil filter, none of these repairs would effect the inside door handle. The two new keys which were apart of the cylinder repair also would not effect the inside door handle. This car is 14 years old and has a lot of miles on it (168180) and parts do give out. Our technicians were the last ones to get in and out of the car and we used the inside door handle several times while the car was in our possession and it appears the inside handle gave out, ( not to our knowledge at the time ), but that does not make us responsible for the repair. Inside and outside door handles break often, especially as vehicles get older with a lot of miles, think of how many times they are being used. In conclusion, we did decline to repair the inside door handle for free and with the way the customer treated and spoke to us, it made that decision easier.

Review: I bought my vehicle from Becker Buick less than a year ago. I bought from Becker because the truck was offered with a warranty for life. It says in the warranty contract to pre-authorize a "repair facility" in order to make claimed repairs. Myself being from Texas, I had concerns over the warranty getting voided. I was reassured that if I just called ahead of time before repairs that I then would be instructed to which place I could have my repairs done at. That was false information. The term "repair facility" in the warranty contract means the places that I have my routine maintenance done at. Therefore since I did not pre-authorize where I was doing the maintenance I was denied my warranty and told it was void. The salesman "[redacted]" specifically told me I would be fine and that I was to be covered under this warranty anywhere and only needed to pre-authorize where the work for repairs would be done. What a small thing he lied or misinformed me on is going to cost me dearly. My transmission has been going out starting 6 months after I bought the vehicle. I would like my warranty issue to be fulfilled and reinstated in full. I bought this vehicle ONLY because it came with a warranty.Desired Settlement: I want my transmission repaired under the set warranty that I purchased. This was not fair representation of the rules to keep said warranty. The warranty verbiage claiming that "repair facility" is the term they use for the places I get maintenance performed is a very misleading term to use. I was misinformed and it seems like it was on purpose to speed up a sale.

Business

Response:

In response to Mr. [redacted]'s complaint,

The guidelines for our Warranty Forever is very simple and when Mr. [redacted] signed the documents to purchase the vehicle in question he signed two documents that explain what he must do. Both documents mention the word MAINTENANCE and even gives the phone number you must call for authorization.

Becker Buick GMC and Warranty Forever are clearly not at fault and did not mis-represent our product. Mr. [redacted] clearly has not read the contracts that he signed and initialed! I have enclosed copies of the two documents that I've mentioned. We will not help with the repairs.

Thank-You

Becker Buick GMC

Review: May 2013 I purchased a 2008 [redacted] from Becker Buick. Within a month I drove it on the highway noticing that the steering wheel doesnt stay still, theres no pull to it. I also noticed when releasing the gas peddle, the peddle sticks, slowing coming up. I addressed the problem on 6/17/13 which they said they couldn't get my car in for service b/c someone called in & they were short handed. I work 3 jobs & havent got a chance to take my car back for service until today 8/19/13. I dropped my [redacted] to be fixed... I get a call from [redacted] stating that they recommend replacing the Gear of $1100,ider pulley $137 & the throttle body of $186. . out of MY pocket, and its not a part of my WARRANTY FORVER.. I explained to them I havent had the car for 90 days,Im not paying for the repair, I was told it passed all inspections when I bought it, which it certainly couldn't have. I tried to take it in 1 mth after purchasing the vehicle & they denied my service. He advised me to talk to [redacted] my Salesman, [redacted] said it is a used car, the issues may have been missed on inspection, not everything gets caught, he will contact me back & look into my file. In the meantime waiting for his call back, [redacted] the mechanic called & said that the owner of Becker ,[redacted] would like to speak w/me. [redacted] said that he felt bad about my situation given I've only put a few thousand miles on it, and was willing to go half on the repairs, I repeated my argument. He also stated it was a used car. I said I shouldn't have this problem so soon,if it passed inspection. Phone conversation ended [redacted] (salesman) called back & stated [redacted] said he will go half, I informed him I said no thanks Im not paying anymore for a car especially repairs that I didn't bring on, etc... [redacted] said "I dont want to make fun of the situation or be cruel but you have the GAP ins. that if you wreck it".... hinting towards the steering problem is proof there is something wrong w/it and to go the route of wrecking my car to fix the situation w/no cost to meDesired Settlement: Today I requested a copy of the inspection in which the ROAD TEXT COMPLETED, NOTES/COMMENTS, AND TECHINICIAN SIGNTAURE,lines were all left blank/uncompleted. To me this means the inspections wasn't completed/finished properly.I received an incomplete inspection,in which Im having to pay for.I WOULD LIKE THEM TO REPAIR MY CAR AT NO COST TO ME. THEY SHOULD HAVE NEVER SOLD A CAR IN THIS CONDITION. I UNDERSTAND I PURCHASED A USED CAR... BUT I WAS ALSO UNDER THE IMPRESSION IT WAS INSPECTED & GREAT!

Business

Response:

Mr. [redacted] did purchase his vehicle in May 2013, the vehicle had 96,000 miles on it at the time. The vehicle was sold AS-IS with the exception of our Warranty Forever Powertrain Warranty that comes with the vehicle. Mr. [redacted] chose not to buy an extended warranty to cover the other components on the vehicle.

Upon our inspection of the the vehicle on August 19th 2013, we were unable to duplicate the customers concerns while test driving the vehicle. With the inspection, we did find some slippage in the steering gear that could be causing what the customer is complaining about, the rest of the front end of the vehicle looked fine. Unfortunately, the steering gear is not a powertrain component so it is not covered by the warranty and the repair is $1100.00. Without an extended warranty to cover this repair and the vehicle being sold AS-IS, this cost is the customers responsibility.

We feel bad about such a costly repair in a short amount of time of ownership, so we offered to pay 1/2 of the repair of the steering gear. The customer refused! There is nothing more we are willing to do.

Thank- You

President

Becker Buick GMC

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I've had both my grandmother and grandfather die within a few weeks of each other and have taken work off etc. I can provide copies of info in regards to their death if needed to re-open the complaint. I'm just getting back to regular life. I apologize.

The vehicle was sold AS-IS with the exception of our Warranty Forever Powertrain Warranty that comes with the vehicle which I was fully aware of. HOWEVER, I was told that the inspection had passed ALL inspections.. in which now they state they could have MISSED that.. Also the Inspection isn't signed off on, meaning they didn't fully complete the inspection in my eyes.

When the dealership went for a "test drive" they said they couldn't duplicate the concern.. however I informed them it only happens on the highway when going over a certain mph... in which they said they don't do "test drives" on the freeway. So of course its not going to be duplicated. I feel that this is a way for the company to get out of taking care of my concern. I wouldn't have purchased the vehicle for the price I did if I had known that the inspection wasn't completed and they failed to test drive it over the highway and I would have to spend a few more thousands to fix it ... . I denied the 1/2 pay from the company b/c I feel it should be taken care of in full. I just paid thousands of dollars for a car w/a warranty and w/a so called "approved" inspection and feel that this should be taken into consideration.

Thank You

Business

Response:

Our position has not changed, the vehicle was sold AS-IS with the exception of Warranty Forever, the part is not covered by Warranty Forever because it is not a powertrain component failure. The customer chose not to buy an extended warranty which would cover this failure!

We will pay for half of the repair, parts and labor, and we feel this is more than fair.

Thank-you

Consumer

Response:

AGAIN, I purchased the vehicle with the AS IS which was displayed as the condition being nothing wrong with the car.. THEY SOLD THE CAR UNDER FALSE CONDITIONS. THE CAR WAS FAULTY. THE INSPECTION WAS'NT SIGNED OFF ON/COMPLETED AND THE CAR FOR THE TEST DRIVE WASNT EVEN DROVE OVER THE HIGHWAY TO SEE ACTUAL THE PROBLEM THAT WAS ADDRESSED TO THEM. I SHOULDNT HAVE TO PAY ANYMORE THAN WHAT I PURCHASED THE CAR FOR. WITHIN THE MONTH OF PURCHASING THE VEHILE ISSUES AROSE. THEY SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE.

Regards,