Complaint Review: DON BROWN CHEVROLET

I have never been in a position to have to leave a bad review. 100% of the time I would let it blow over and I would just move on. However, this time I refuse to do that.

I went in to get my oil changed a week ago (Tuesday) at this location. Within 3 days(Friday) my car began having issues, such as hearing a “knocking” noise and my vehicle would shake here and there. But Sunday, I noticed a brown puddle of fluid resting by my front left tire. We’ve had rain quite a bit within the last week, so I assumed it was mud that washed upon the pavement near my car. When I ran a couple of errands I again noticed the puddle of brown fluid after pulling out of a parking spot.





By Tuesday of this week, I start receiving a notification that my oil pressure was low and to immediately turn off my engine. Soon thereafter, my vehicle shut down completely. I called first thing in the morning to set an appointment to take it in that day (Wednesday) of this week. I had to keep pulling over every 2 minutes to shut my engine off in order to make the trip to their location.

I pulled my car into their garage and you could hear the knocking in my engine very well and you could see the oil leaking from my car. I was told they would run tests to see what was going on and would contact me with further information.

I received a call from Dave asking questions to find out “who else has worked on my vehicle”. He mentioned that the oil plug that “someone” installed, was not a GM part and that was possibly the cause for the oil leak. The technician that checked me in gave several different answers as to how and why this would happen. I was made to believe that the oil leak came from an area that was different from the place they changed my oil. Granted the technician told me that the oil plug was very new and that this had to have been done recently.

The issue with this is NO one has serviced my car since my last oil change, 4 months prior. Then I was told that what caused the leak was due to my time sert threading being damaged. I then asked, “how could that have been damaged?” Again, I was told by the whomever installed the plug. I shared that I was never notified that the plug that came with my vehicle when I purchased it new was ever replaced. I keep a record of my receipts for my oil changes and there are no additional charges for that line item. I would think if that had been replaced that the shop would like to be paid for it. However, I have no knowledge based upon communicating when getting my oil changed and when I view my receipts.

I was never told there was any issues with my oil plug or that their were problems with my sert threading until after the issues began to happen. I then had a conference call with their customer relations person Pam, Dave and the technician Jim Staub concerning how to rectify the repair issues. After I learned of what needed to be done, I was given the cost to have it completed.

I was completely drawn back by this. Wait, so you mean I have to pay for the repair of my car leaking oil from an oil change that you completed on it last week?! In which, I was quoted over $550 to do the repairs. I shared how I should not have to pay for an issue they caused, then I was offered a “50% discount” that decreased the bill to $264. They declined any and all wrong doing and tried to place the blame on the shop that completed my oil change prior to this. What I know is if another plug was installed by them prior to Chevy, I didn’t have any issues with the oil leaking back out. Dave then tried to use the fact that the plug was not a GM manufactured plug, didn’t make sense to me. The issue was that you installed it back on my vehicle “damaged” and it created issues OR it wasn’t installed correctly. If it were, there would be no leaking regardless of the brand of plug that was used. If it was damaged and you still put it back on my car, YOU are the one that is at fault!

Dave tried to use whatever he could against me to not take the blame such as:
•the number of times they have serviced my car(I do not use their location often) I had an issue with the very first oil change they completed on my car after I bought it. A couple years went by and I decided to give them another try due to the specials they were running
•the fact that my Vehicle did not have tires on them that THEY typically use, does not justify the issue at hand

This morning I took my vehicle to another shop for a second opinion. The mechanic walked me through what goes on during an oil change. I shared with them what was shared with me and their response was that the answers I received from Don Brown were incorrect. In which were:
•my oil could not be changed from another place that didn’t involve you removing the oil plug
•the brand of the plug doesn’t matter as long as it is the correct sized plug and installed properly

The automotive shop I went to this morning shared with me based upon the issues I was having that they would do a visual inspection and would test it to see what codes would be triggered, if any. He ran down all the codes that should come up pertaining to this issue. When he came back to share the findings, every code he mentioned showed up. The knocking noise and notifications were all as a result of my car not having any oil left because it leaked out.

The staff was professional until there was an issue. Pam tried to smooth things over and it didn’t work. The remarks that were made throughout this process from Dave & Jim were unprofessional, the tone that was used was inappropriate and I didn’t appreciate my profession(career) being used as a tactic to get you out of this. Especially, when I never disclosed what I did for a living. That tells me that you either went through the trunk of my vehicle and saw my company’s sign or you googled me.

I also found it disturbing that when I asked more questions that Jim Staub got upset, called Pam and told her that I came back asking the same questions over and over again expecting different answers. This happened when I asked for the name of the manager Dave and Jim were accountable to. I was then asked to leave because I kept asking questions. I wasn’t inappropriate or unprofessional when speaking to them. I requested my plug(part) back to take with me and a print out of the codes they ran when they serviced my vehicle

I asked for a refund because I should not have paid for their mistake and was denied a refund.

I was also told that I needed new tires, when I’ve only had my tires for 5 months(installed by another shop). I also was told all of a sudden that my water pump was leaking and that my purge valve needed to be replaced. Why wasn’t I told this before during my initial visit? The shop I took it to today shared that my tires are fine, and there are NO signs of leaking from my water pump, it was dry as a dessert. The 1 thing they did have correct was that I needed to replace the purge valve.

Don Brown lied to me, they took advantage of me to make whatever money they could because me coming just for an oil change wasn’t enough for them.

BUYER BEWARE!!! PLEASE do not take your car to them. ESPECIALLY, if you are a woman. It is an obvious pattern with them getting over on female customers after researching reviews.

I am pursuing this further because I want EVERY penny returned back to me.

Attached are images of the puddle of oil from my car leaking after they changed my oil. The other picture is of the new company showing me that my water pump was NOT leaking!