Transmission Issue and an Incompetent Dealership

[TommyTheCat]

For some more notes see this thread here... don't think they are the same noise anymore. TLDR version at the bottom...

I started hearing a transmission noise more and more often, and eventually it got to the point where it would make a loud noise every time the car had been driven more than 5 miles at idle. It didn't matter whether the clutch was engaged or not, didn't matter which gear it was in or if it was in neutral. Never heard the noise above 1500 RPM and usually not at start up either. Really only heard it at around 1100 RPM when driving slowly until it got worse.

I called AV Chevrolet in Lancaster, CA to get an appointment. They tell me I won't be able to get a loaner car until they have decided it is a job that will definitely take more than a few days to finish. I make the first appointment for November 6th and take my lunch off work to go on a test drive with a tech and he agrees with me that it is a transmission noise. I also show him and the service adviser a video and tell them I believe that the pilot bearing is the culprit. The service adviser actually agrees it is most likely that, though now it feels like he is just agreeing to make himself seem more friendly the way most advisers are trained to. (Especially since he won't work on the car himself anyway)

I try making the appointment to drop the car off while I'm there so that I can actually get the loaner car and they are too busy for me to drop it off but they tell me they will call back the next morning. I don't get a call, so I call back the next afternoon and get no response. After leaving a message and calling again twice that day, I still hear nothing. Monday afternoon I call again twice and the second time I finally get to schedule an appointment for November 17th at 8 AM. I show up 30 minutes early on the 17th because I work Mon-Sat 8-6. I end up stuck there and at their rental place, Enterprise, until 10 AM. The dealer pays for the rental of course and I know they ended up paying close to $800 for it by the end of this ordeal... GM only covers the first 5 days and the rest is on them so I thought they'd hurry it up. Nope...

I was also told by the adviser I was not allowed to leave my vehicle there for any repairs or services without authorizing the ignition key recall, so I was forced to agree to having it done. (I had offered to sign any waiver I needed) I called GM later about this and found out it was a lie. Not a mistake, because when I told him I'd have to call GM first he claimed that two Camaro owners had recently done the same and been told what he was saying. I called GM twice and received the answer that this was a lie... twice. No way it's a mistake. He just wanted the extra money for performing a recall. He also says that the recall cannot be performed if parts do not arrive immediately, and that the parts are 10 days out and my car should be done before then. My car was not done within 10 days, but actually took 23 days to be done; the first two weeks it sat there ignored. Turns out the recall was performed on the 19th, was less than 10 days out and the parts were in stock, unlike what I was told. Maybe this was a mistake, but I doubt it.

Every time I called during this 23 day long trial I was either put on hold until a machine picked up, sent back to the operator asking who I was on hold for, told to call back later again and again, leaving messages that went unanswered, and then told by the service adviser whenever finally getting a hold of him that parts were ordered or that the car would be pulled in soon. He told me the car would be pulled in the day I dropped it off, then the next Monday, then that Friday, then the next Monday and then Tuesday, and then Monday... Just kept being "Oh they got busy but they'll pull it in tomorrow." Supposedly parts were on order the whole time but looking at the invoice I see that it was all a bunch of lies to keep me happy. I also told him multiple times that they could work on the valve cover leak while the tranny was out and that I didn't want to wait extra days just for them to order a valve cover gasket. He told me multiple times they had that part in stock... Once I get the invoice I see that the transmission was fully "repaired" by December 8th, which was the date he promised the car would be ready, and that the valve cover gasket was not ordered until December 9th and it was special order... then replaced on the 10th when I picked up the car, many hours after it was promised.

I drive home and in my neighborhood I hear the exact noise I took the car in for, and once parked the noise continues at idle just as loud. I had already escalated a case on the 8th with GM to have AV Chevy reimburse me for getting a new key from another dealer, now I will have to call back and add this to the list. I also find that the paper mats I provided are gone and my cheaper floor mat I put to protect my newer mat is moved aside, and now there are muddy footprints all over the more expensive mat. I make it a point that I'm picky about my car and even provide not one but two forms of protection for my floor mats and they still get covered in mud... Also looks like the battery either died or was disconnected, and I know this only because the time on my radio was wrong. Car cranked a bit slow when I left so looks like it most likely died and they barely charged it or ruined the battery, I'll have to test it later.

Here's a list of parts they replaced and some general prices I found online, which did not fix the issue. Very frustrating that I diagnose my car for them so that all they have to do is verify the parts are bad and they take 2 weeks to look at it, lie to me, take another 3 days special ordering a part I was promised was in stock, and then replace the wrong parts. I even looked at the old parts and didn't see or hear anything wrong with them... Figured it might be too hard uninstalled for some of the parts but either way they didn't fix it.

• 89058783 Manual Trans Countershaft Bearing $63.59
• 89058782 Manual Trans Output Shaft Bearing $94.40
• 89058781 Manual Trans Output Shaft Bearing $29.72
• 89058833 SEAL. Transmission Extension $36.36
• 92159965 Clutch Release Bearing & Slave Cylinder Assembly $213.58
• 89058835 SEAL. Transmission Mainshaft $62.84
• 89058776 Manual Trans Input Shaft Bearing $88.26
• 89059348 RING KIT. Transmission Mainshaft $49.96
• 1052943 Genuine GM Sealant $26.40
• 88862475 AC-Delco DEXRON GL-5 Gear Oil 2 qtz $40.00

Maybe I'll add a video here later but not really a point in it right now







TLDR; I tell my dealer my pilot bearing is making noise. They decide to replace 5 different bearings and other parts instead, and so the noise is still there after waiting for my car more than 3 weeks with terrible customer service all along the way.

[SS Blinder]

Start tallying up the days it's been in the dealership. Read up on California lemon laws. Might have to bring it up if issues keep arising.

[TommyTheCat]

Originally Posted by SS Blinder

Start tallying up the days it's been in the dealership. Read up on California lemon laws. Might have to bring it up if issues keep arising.

I talked to the service manager today who at first seemed rude then after I told him I'd have to call GM to complain and hung up, he called back apologizing and realized the car had been there for 3 weeks and got angry at his service adviser for letting my car sit for two weeks with no service. He's offered to look at it again of course but says the car has no pilot bearing, though ALLDATA shows one. I guess different transmissions

Not sure what to do yet, not so easy to keep taking days off. Taking some frustration out by putting on my new brakes at least

[TommyTheCat]

Noticed yesterday (since it was dark when I picked the car up) that there are some scratches on the door handle which I see on a lot of cars but never on mine, and three scratches on the rear left fender as if something slid off the top of the car (kinda looks like a shelf to someone who doesn't car) going down towards the top of where the wheel is. I mentioned this to a GM representative when they called me today and that I'd wash the car before accusing the dealership of anything since it may buff out... He tells me well it's probably not their fault. I ask why he says so, and he says "you know how black cars are, you can't really hold a dealership accountable for leaving marks on a black car"

wtf?
he is basically trying to get me to not complain about scratches on my car because it shows scratches easier than another color? if these scratches don't come out and they deny everything this will be the last GM car I ever buy

[StLCamarofan]

Ever get anywhere with this? My 2010 ss is making the same tunes, started around my clutch pedal sticking to the floor. Im headed to dealer tomorrow, will keep ya posted.

[TommyTheCat]

Originally Posted by StLCamarofan

Ever get anywhere with this? My 2010 ss is making the same tunes, started around my clutch pedal sticking to the floor. Im headed to dealer tomorrow, will keep ya posted.

long story short dealer kept car almost a month, replaced all tranny bearings and noise was still there, scratches they made were taken care but they left swirl marks where they got the scratches out and now the transmission grinds in high rpm ever since picking it up but i havent had a chance to take it anywhere yet. im hoping for a new tranny, im getting the swirls fixed myself, and one of the original noises turned out to be exhaust so they caused the tranny problem of grinding for nothing.
i checked fluid myself and it was good so im not sure how they caused the grinding to start