Mechanos

Last Saturday was a reasonably warm day in the low 50's. After several weeks of snow and then melting snow my truck was a mess, so I headed up to the local full-service carwash... figured I'd let someone else clean the interior. When they had finished, the young high school kid hopped in the truck to pull it out of the detailing bay. As he pulled out of the bay to where I was standing, the truck engulfed itself in a huge cloud of smoke... then the wonderful aroma of burnt clutch lining filled the air.

The youngster did not release the parking brake and had the truck in 3rd gear. After a discussion with the manager, I left the car wash with a badly slipping clutch and a signed Repair Authorizaiton for me to take my truck to the dealer for repairs. Dropped the truck off at the dealer on Tuesday and went back to pick it up on Wednesday. While it was at the dealer, I had them remove 3 small door dings via paintless dent repair.

New flywheel, clutch disc, pressure plate and through-out bearing came to $2300 in parts & labor. Dent repair was $75. I paid the $75 and the car wash was billed $2300. When I got in the truck, I noticed a gouge/tear in the vinyl on the door panel and scratch on the door above the window. New door panel on order at the paintless dent repair contractor's expense... $700. They took the truck back to the body shop to polish out the scratch above the window.

About an hour later, they brough the truck back up and told me they have some more bad news. When they were polishing out the scratch, they somehow managed to get some water on the drivers seat. The brilliant technician tried to dry the seat out quickly with a heat gun and got it too close to the seat and burned a hole through the side of the seat cover. New seat cover on order at the paintless dent repair contractor's expesnse... $250.

So, $2300 for a new clutch, $700 for a new door panel and $250 for a new seat cover = $3250.... all because I wanted to wash the salt off my truck and vacuum out the interior.

Lary Ellis (Top)

Sorry to hear about your woes...but I wonder why you didn't put a better clutch in it while you had the chance? You could have gotten a much better clutch for a lot less than the dealer charged for the same weak POS that came with the truck...

Mechanos

Becasue I didn't pay for it or the labor. The car wash was willing to send me to the dealer with a Repair Authorization, but they wouldn't cut me a check directly. I plan to replace the clutch at some point with a better unit, but that is on my dime and my time. I got my truck returned to service in 3 days at no cost to me.

SOhappy

Wow, that's quite the story!

Lary Ellis (Top)

I get that....but the Dealer charged more for another stock clutch that will just go bad again if you drive it 20 ft with the parking brake on When he could have paid for a good one and the dealer still could have put it in.

I am not saying this to try and make you feel bad, I am putting it here for the next guy that might read this story so perhaps he can benefit from a similar situation

Mechanos

Yeah. I get where you're coming from, but the dealer will not install aftermarket parts. It's OEM or they don't do it. So, I didn't really have much of a choice. Probably would have been grounds for them to void the warranty by ditching the dual mass for a solid. There are only 6000 miles on this truck.

I don't think it was so much the 20ft with the p-brake on as it was the starting in 3rd gear, about 1800 RPM from the sound of it, and riding the clutch the whole way. Jr. just had no clue.

Lary Ellis (Top)

I sell parts to Dealers all the time, average at least a dozen calls a week from Dealerships looking for parts for their customers. Don't assume they won't put a good clutch on your truck as I find they are ALL about making a buck and are happy to accommodate the customer

Now doing deletes are another matter, but there are even some dealers willing to go to that extreme as well.....just very few and they tend to not advertise it.

Good luck at those car washes in the future I have learned not to let anyone drive my truck just from reading stories like yours....

staarma

The good news is you didn't have to fight anyone for the claims. The bad news is your truck and you went through one day of heck. Glad it all worked out for you.

carl48

glad it worked out for you and I enjoyed the entertainment, I forwarded it to all of my friends.

WeldinGas

Wow!! What a headache! Glad I stick to the good ol' fashion wash it in my driveway method. All the more reason to continue this way. I don't even like taking my truck to the dealer for service but due to my warranty I like to have a record that I am doing the service. Glad it all worked out though!

AirLiftCompany

Sounded like a domino effect full of problems. Glad it was able to all get fixed though!

az2500

Wow. That's crazy. Glad to hear you got taken care of.

Jeff in TD

Every company will eventually mess something up.

Good companies take responsibility when that happens, and make the customer whole.

Sorry all that happened, but it was good you were apparently dealing with an ethical company who stepped up and covered repairs.