Thorobred Chevrolet, Inc.

Review: Early July 2015 (7/7 - 7/9) I took my 1999 Corvette to Thorobred Chevrolet to repair the AC. I also left written instructions to not wash the car. When I picked up the car there were scratches on the right fender and bumper. They had also washed the car with multiple surface scratches throughout the vehicle with the worst scratches on the passenger side. I took the car back to have them fix the worst scratches on the passenger side at their body shop. The situation was made much worse by the process used (dullness and swirls on the entire side). I returned and let Thorobred see the issue and then had the car repaired by a professional detailer. The bill was $389 which Thorobred has only paid $200.Desired Settlement: I am not asking anything for the time/mileage to get this repaired, but I would like Thorobred to reimburse the $189.00 I had to pay. The only reason this car was detailed and sealed was due to the scratching incurred at Thorobred.

Review: On 12/12/14, I took my car in to the service department because there was an issue with the power steering going out. Later that day, the service advisor, [redacted], told me that the steering column was faulty and that it would cost $828.93 to replace. He warned me that the power steering would continue to go out on me if I did not have the repair done. I went ahead and paid for the repairs and on 2/25/15, I had the same issue with the power steering going out again. I took the car back to the shop on 2/26. [redacted] once again told me that the steering column was faulty and that it was replaced for no cost since it was still under warranty. Ten days later, on 3/8, the power steering went out again, and I took the car back in on 3/9. I spoke with the service manager, [redacted], and he asked if I would leave the car with him that evening to have it looked at again. The next day, [redacted] called to say that a battery cable was loose and that the battery was going out, and this was causing the issue with the power steering. I was told they would replace it at the employee rate with no charge for labor, and that this would cost another additional $100+. I requested to speak to the service manager again and he offered the same "deal". I declined and returned to the dealership to pick up my car. While there, I requested to speak with the dealership manager, John, who insisted that no one was trying to get over on me and tried to imply that it just had to be a coincidence that in ten days the issue went from being caused by an almost $830 repair to a completely different $100+ repair that happened to be causing the same issue. He offered the same "good will" offer. So my choices were basically to be forced to do more business with them and put out more money on top of the $828.93, or be out $828.93 and still be stuck with the same issue I originally brought the car in for. John seemed to not understand why I would even be questioning the issue, and I declined the offer again.Desired Settlement: I would like the $828.93 to be refunded since the business has already failed to repair the issue twice, and I no longer trust that they really know what the issue is or that they are being ethical regarding the situation.

Business

Response:

RE: Better Business Complaint ID #[redacted] vs Thorobred Chevrolet Ms. [redacted] indicated in her complaint to your office that her power steering was going out when she brought her 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt with 91,647 miles into our Thorobred Chevrolet service department on 12-12-14. One of our service technicians found that the steering column was failing. Our service consultant notified Ms. [redacted] about the failing power steering column and quoted her a price for the repair and Ms. [redacted] agreed to the repair of the steering column. Our service department replaced the failing steering column and Ms. [redacted] paid for the repair and drove away. Ms. [redacted] drove her car for another 946 miles when she came back to our service department for an oil change on 1-10-15 with no mention of a continuing problem with the steering column. Ms. [redacted] continued to drive her car another 1,449 miles when she again came to our service department with another steering complaint on 2-26-15. One of our service technicians found that the steering column part that we replaced in December was failing again, which was an unusual failure for this replacement part in such a short period of time. We replaced the failing steering column part again under out parts warranty at no charge to Ms. [redacted]. Ms. [redacted] continued to drive another 456 miles after the second steering column repair until 3-9-15 when she brought her car to our service department with another steering related complaint. Our servicedepartment provided Ms. [redacted] with a no charge loaner car so one of our technicians could diagnose and recommend a repair. This time our technician found that the battery, which appeared to be the original factory battery that came with the car, did not pass a load test and had a code that indicated thebattery was starting to fail, which was causing the car’s electric power steeringmotor to fail intermittently. The failing battery was not related to the original steering column repairs. As a goodwill gesture we offered Ms. [redacted] our employee pricing for a new battery with no charge for the diagnosis and the battery labor. She declined that offer because she thought this new repair was the cause of the original steering concerns. We tried to explain that the original steering column had been defective and that the battery starting to fail was adifferent problem. We also explained we loaned her a car at no charge and were not charging her for any diagnostic or labor related to the battery repair and we suggested that she go to another repair facility for a second opinion. We tried to explain that if she did go to another repair facility she may be charged for their diagnostic time and that if she did not accept our goodwill employee pricing battery and no labor charge offers she would probably be paying a lot more for the battery repair at another service department. Ms. [redacted] walked away and did not want to listen when I tried to tell her that when the battery finally failed it could leave her stranded which might require an additional towing expense. The original steering column repairs were needed because Ms. [redacted] drove over 2,000 miles after the original steering column replacement without any steering concerns until the same part failed again, which we replaced under our no charge parts warranty. The current battery load test failure Is a different concern and therefore Ms. [redacted] is not due the $828.93 refund she is requesting. If Ms. [redacted] wants her car repaired we will still honor the employee pricing goodwill offer we made for the battery with no charge for the related labor. Batteries usually fail in 3 to 4 years in the extreme Arizona heat and if the battery in her 7 year old car is the original battery and is starting to fail she will continue to experience intermittent electric power steering failure because the battery is not maintaining the proper charge and may be left stranded when the battery finally fails. Sincerely, [redacted]Vice PresidentThorobred Chevrolet, Inc.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. Seeing as how places like auto zone will replace a battery for free any day, the good will offer is a joke and in no way replaces the $830 I paid for not having my issue fixed. I have escalated the issue to GM's corporate customer complaint center, and have also reviewed info on several power steering recalls GM has done on Chevy Cobalts. I will also be filing a complaint with the attorney general's office and pursing legal action if the situation is not rectified.

Regards,

Business

Response:

RE: [redacted] 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt vin# [redacted]It appears Ms. [redacted] is not satisfied with my original response to her initial complaint and I want to emphasize we did our best to repair her car and we did nothing wrong. It is unfortunate and beyond our control that the initial part we installed in early December 2014 failed again and we had to do a no charge warranty repair in February 2015 to correct the initial part failure. Her battery was starting to fail the last time she was here which was causing her current concern with her car.Ms. [redacted] has a 2007 eight year old car with 94,000 plus miles on it and as with any older high mileage car various parts of the car will eventually fail and the owner should expect additional maintenance expense as a car ages. Therefore since we have done nothing wrong we will not be issuing any repair refunds for prior work we did correctly to repair mechanical failures on Ms. [redacted]'s aging high mileage car.Sincerely,[redacted]Vice President Thorobred Chevrolet, Inc.

after several calls they convinced me to drive from SUrprise, az to Chandler promising not to waste my time. I found my dream car. it was late and I was excited. I explained that I HAVE MY OWN FINANCING, however the sales associate was so nice[redacted]. that I gave him the chance to run it thru the dealer . THATS when the time wasting began I explained to them that I wanted to purchase the car and we began signing paper, although they werent very flexible on price I was still interested in the vehicle however. AFTER waiting a HALF hour he said the financing was closed and that he would contact me the following morning (knowing I needed a car asap). after waiting all day and getting everything ready to trade my car I noticed I hadnt heard from them. when I contacted[redacted]... he gave me a story about how they needed more money This is at nearly 5 pm. I asked why wasnt I contacted earlier in the day... he said oh we are still working this out but we need 2500... I had my OWN Financing.... they played me and wasted hours of my time.