Complaint Review: Blossom Chevrolet

I understood up front that taking to dealership would no doubt be most costly but initial shop that car was taken to could not diagnose, said car was not communicating with their scanner, and they assumed as well that dealership would be aware of how to resolve easily.  We all believed it would be an easy resolution as dealer is supposed to have everything they need (knowledge, ability, and equipment) to diagnose their cars.  I needed the diagnosis.  At any rate, it's another life lesson learned and at the end of the day all is well.  thank you for your input.

I went to the dealer because it was primarily at another shop that could not diagnose the problem; called us back and told us to take to dealership because they could not get car to communicate to their scan.  Car has been great, no problems whatsoever until now.  Dealership was only selected by recommendation from car shop that could not diagnose the issue.  The reason I opted to pay the $950 is because shop manager communicated that in order for them to even try to find the issue the 2 parts had to be replaced so I was locked in with no other options. I had already used had vehicle towed twice in 2 days having car transported to shop, and then dealer.   Car is nice car and presumably worth $950 if it was towards repair but I was locked in, and the shops I called before I agreed to the $950 coomunicated that the dealer would have to reprogram vehicle, so instead of spending $300-400 in tows fees looking for shops I had to either agree to the diagnosis or trash the vehicle which did/does not appear to be a trash car.

If the intial repair shop couldn't get the car started with one of their batteries, then you probably should have been asking someone whether the car was even worth fixing before you went to the dealership.  If the dealership then said it was going to cost $950 just to get the car started, without even figuring out what was wrong with it, then I would have thought about selling the car for parts.  I mean I read your sentence, "...vehicle needed new battery and body control module to even get it started so they could diagnose it and price would be $950...".  The first thing that went through my mind at that point is that the repair would have cost you at least $3K-$5K before you could take it out of the shop with it actually running, parts and labor.  I doubt the KBB resale is that high on that car.

Anytime you have to take an older car to a dealership because something is seriously wrong with the electronics of the car, then you know it will be a very expensive repair before someone even takes one look at the vehicle.  You should always assess whether a repair is either worth doing, or deciding to take that same money and investing in something newer..... 

The biggest ripoff is that there was no one at the dealership that sat down and had a heart-to-heart talk with you about how much this repair could eventually cost you.  Now, it may not have saved you the $950, but their honesty after that would have been a little useful....  When I was younger, I had taken a car to a dealership because some strange lights had come on the dashboard and no one could figure it out.  It was evident to someone at the dealership that my 10 year old car had blown a head gasket - which would have required a new engine.  Someone at the dealership sat me down and explained it to me.....  Before I spent another dime on the car for a repair, I drove the car away and spent the money I had into a newer car.....

That's what they should have done.

 When you use a dealer shop, you open the door for price gouging, poor customer service and parts changers who are called mechanics. Get yourself a better independent mechanic and NEVER go to a dealership shop. You see what they did to you! The FRAUD and DECEPTION which is common place among the slimeball car dealers of America has now flown into the shop like raw sewage on a downhill street.