My car reports a critical alarm indicating that charging system is not working and not long after that the car dies in the middle of the road under torrential rain. Lost power steering, brakes, lights, everything. Managed to push the car into a gas station parking lot and waited for a tow truck. After dropping the car off at the dealer, they found out later, that it was a bad cell on the warrantied battery I had bought a little over a year earlier and they replaced it under the warranty and charged me $39.95 for installation. The mechanic called it in and gave it a thumbs because not soon after that, the service adviser called me to tell me to come and pick up the car. I was happy to hear that the service was fast and was not going to break my pocket book but my overjoy soon turned into dismay. The service man that was sent to get my car from the shop floor, came back to report that as he started the car, the charging system alarm had come on again and the inspecting mechanic suspects is the alternator unit.
The estimate given was $941.77 more or less. Do alternator go out this fast or did the strain of charging a defective battery took a toll on it.
They are hanging me out to dry.
Update from Feb 6, 2017: I refused the service estimate for repair and told them that I would do my own repairs. There is no way I was going to pay for a remanufactured alternator at the dealership for $500.00 plus labor$442.00. I shopped around and found an original NoN remanufactured alternator for $200.00 delivered to my house in two days and I installed it myself, after all, the alternator warranty had expired and replacement was not covered only the battery did.
So; I drove away to my house with a replaced battery and a dead alternator, three days later I was driving around testing the car and the "SERVICE BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM" alarm appeared on my dashboad and the battery light was turned on in the cluster, but as soon as I pulled into the driveway the alarm went away. Called the service advisors at the GMC dealership told them what had happened and they advised that if the battery light returned, to bring the car back to the shop. Three days later the car was dead in my garage, called GMC advisors again to report the problem and as I suspected, I was being told that the problem was mine because I replaced my own alternator and that the unit was probably defective due to being remanufactured or my installation labor was questionable but to bring the car in for a PARASITIC POWER TEST to find out why the battery was being drained too soon. Well the story continues with the discovery that my car does not have a short, or an electrical fault anywhere and my installation and the GM ACDELCO alternator NON Remanufactured that I installed has no flaws and is working properly. Oh!!! but wait, the story does not yet ends....They did find that the new battery they installed a week earlier is bad and had to be replaced and still have the nerve to charge me $25.00 to install it and $40.00 to diagnose it.
I blew a gasket when they gave me the bill. I surely believe that it should have been a no charge due to the previous missdiagnosis and to top it off no one calls to notify me that the car is ready to be picked up until I make the call and when I get to the shop all of the advisors or anyone that I can complain about the charges are all gone. How convenient..
For the last three days, the car has failed to start in the mornings and to get the car going again I only had to remove the terminal cables, clean and brush each post and terminal clamps, reinstall them and the car starts on the first try.
I have no idea...To be continued?
Update from Mar 2, 2017: Well folks...Yes! the story continues and I hope this time it ends with a happy ending. After the last entry I made regarding my car's inability to start due to bad cells on a new battery. Well; the problems continued not as often as before. I again had to disconnect the battery terminals brushed them and reinstall them to get the car to start. But this time I was too sick to even think about getting up. I ended calling the GMC dealership to report the problem again, this time I requested to speak with the service manager and I gave him an ear full of my ongoing car problems and how I felt it had been handled under their "Professional Grade" Motto. He told me that he will review my car's service history and will call me back soon. He call me sooner than I anticipated and told me that he will keep my car couple of nights for an exhaustive electrical testing at no charge. He provided me with a loaner car at no charge during the time my car would be in the shop. I also mentioned to him of a loose emergency brake pedal cable and they adjusted it at no charge. Now that's the Professional Grade I'm talking about. It turns out that the positive power cable that a year earlier they had replaced due to a corrosion on the terminal, the cable connection at the starter was found to be installed wrong and it was not making a solid contact due to a small alignment plastic guide that the terminal has to make sure that is installed correctly in its position. To wrap things up, my car is back on the road with everything repaired and at no charge. I have high hopes that this problem will not happen again, at least in a long time. One thing that I learned from all of this is that you must learn to service your own car up to a certain level. Buy your own service manual for your car and learn how your car ticks and shop around for parts prices. If you could do the installation of any part so long is not under warranty, you'll save yourself a lot of money and dealers will not take advantage of you. Just because it's the dealership, it doesn't mean its perfect and you should not have to pay the astronomical fees they charge.
I hope my story here helps the few that would find themselves in similar situation. To be continued?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
My car reports a critical alarm indicating that charging system is not working and not long after that the car dies in the middle of the road under torrential rain. Lost power steering, brakes, lights, everything. Managed to push the car into a gas station parking lot and waited for a tow truck. After dropping the car off at the dealer, they found out later, that it was a bad cell on the warrantied battery I had bought a little over a year earlier and they replaced it under the warranty and charged me $39.95 for installation. The mechanic called it in and gave it a thumbs because not soon after that, the service adviser called me to tell me to come and pick up the car. I was happy to hear that the service was fast and was not going to break my pocket book but my overjoy soon turned into dismay. The service man that was sent to get my car from the shop floor, came back to report that as he started the car, the charging system alarm had come on again and the inspecting mechanic suspects is the alternator unit. The estimate given was $941.77 more or less. Do alternator go out this fast or did the strain of charging a defective battery took a toll on it. They are hanging me out to dry.
Update from Feb 6, 2017: I refused the service estimate for repair and told them that I would do my own repairs. There is no way I was going to pay for a remanufactured alternator at the dealership for $500.00 plus labor$442.00. I shopped around and found an original NoN remanufactured alternator for $200.00 delivered to my house in two days and I installed it myself, after all, the alternator warranty had expired and replacement was not covered only the battery did. So; I drove away to my house with a replaced battery and a dead alternator, three days later I was driving around testing the car and the "SERVICE BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM" alarm appeared on my dashboad and the battery light was turned on in the cluster, but as soon as I pulled into the driveway the alarm went away. Called the service advisors at the GMC dealership told them what had happened and they advised that if the battery light returned, to bring the car back to the shop. Three days later the car was dead in my garage, called GMC advisors again to report the problem and as I suspected, I was being told that the problem was mine because I replaced my own alternator and that the unit was probably defective due to being remanufactured or my installation labor was questionable but to bring the car in for a PARASITIC POWER TEST to find out why the battery was being drained too soon. Well the story continues with the discovery that my car does not have a short, or an electrical fault anywhere and my installation and the GM ACDELCO alternator NON Remanufactured that I installed has no flaws and is working properly. Oh!!! but wait, the story does not yet ends....They did find that the new battery they installed a week earlier is bad and had to be replaced and still have the nerve to charge me $25.00 to install it and $40.00 to diagnose it. I blew a gasket when they gave me the bill. I surely believe that it should have been a no charge due to the previous missdiagnosis and to top it off no one calls to notify me that the car is ready to be picked up until I make the call and when I get to the shop all of the advisors or anyone that I can complain about the charges are all gone. How convenient.. For the last three days, the car has failed to start in the mornings and to get the car going again I only had to remove the terminal cables, clean and brush each post and terminal clamps, reinstall them and the car starts on the first try. I have no idea...To be continued?
Update from Mar 2, 2017: Well folks...Yes! the story continues and I hope this time it ends with a happy ending. After the last entry I made regarding my car's inability to start due to bad cells on a new battery. Well; the problems continued not as often as before. I again had to disconnect the battery terminals brushed them and reinstall them to get the car to start. But this time I was too sick to even think about getting up. I ended calling the GMC dealership to report the problem again, this time I requested to speak with the service manager and I gave him an ear full of my ongoing car problems and how I felt it had been handled under their "Professional Grade" Motto. He told me that he will review my car's service history and will call me back soon. He call me sooner than I anticipated and told me that he will keep my car couple of nights for an exhaustive electrical testing at no charge. He provided me with a loaner car at no charge during the time my car would be in the shop. I also mentioned to him of a loose emergency brake pedal cable and they adjusted it at no charge. Now that's the Professional Grade I'm talking about. It turns out that the positive power cable that a year earlier they had replaced due to a corrosion on the terminal, the cable connection at the starter was found to be installed wrong and it was not making a solid contact due to a small alignment plastic guide that the terminal has to make sure that is installed correctly in its position. To wrap things up, my car is back on the road with everything repaired and at no charge. I have high hopes that this problem will not happen again, at least in a long time. One thing that I learned from all of this is that you must learn to service your own car up to a certain level. Buy your own service manual for your car and learn how your car ticks and shop around for parts prices. If you could do the installation of any part so long is not under warranty, you'll save yourself a lot of money and dealers will not take advantage of you. Just because it's the dealership, it doesn't mean its perfect and you should not have to pay the astronomical fees they charge. I hope my story here helps the few that would find themselves in similar situation. To be continued?
- Jorge D., Clovis, CA, US