;
  • Report:  #182509

Complaint Review: HONEYCUTT AUTO MART - LAKE CITY Florida

Reported By:
- lake city, Florida,
Submitted:
Updated:

HONEYCUTT AUTO MART
2434 US HWY 41 NORTH LAKE CITY, 32055 Florida, U.S.A.
Phone:
386-758-3020
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?
ON 02/16/2006 I PURCHASED A 1998 CADILLAC DEVILLE FROM HONEYCUTT AUTO MART WITH A 30 DAY BUMPER TO BUMPER WARRANTY THAT STATES DEALER PAYS 100% PARTS AND LABOR. ON THE DAY OF PURCHASE I HAD OPEND THE TRUNK AFTER TEST DRIVING TO CHECK WHAT TYPE OF SPARE TIRE IT HAD. THERE WAS NO TIRE IN THE TRUNK AND MR. HONEYCUTT CAME RUSHING UP TO THE CAR JUST AS I WAS ABOUT TO CLOSE THE TRUNK AND STATED "DON'T SLAM THE TRUNKS BECAUSE IT HAS AN AUTOMATIC LATCH" AND HE SHOWED US HOW IT WORKED BUT IT DID NOT WORK PROPERLY AND HE SAID THAT IF I WAS INTERESTED IN BUYING THE CAR HE WOULD HAVE IT REPLACED AND JUST TO BRING IT BACK ON 03/17/06 TO HIS MECHANIC. MY DAUGHTER TOOK THE CAR IN FOR ME SINCE I HAD TO WORK FROM 8AM TO 4PM MON-FRI. WHEN I GOT HOME THE TRUNK STILL DID NOT WORK CORRECTLY AND MY DAUGHTER INFORMED ME IT HAD TO HAVE ANOTHER PART REPLACED AND IT WOULD BE READY THE NEXT DAY WHICH WAS 03/18/06 SO SHE TOOK ME TO WORK AND THEN THE CAR TO MR. HONEYCUTT AND THE LATCH WAS REPLACED COMPLETELY AND WORKED FINE. SINCE I HAD THE CAR I HAVE REPLACED TWO FRONT TIRES DUE TO A LARGE NAILS IN EACH OF THEM AND THE REAR WAS REPLACED AS WELL DUE TO RUBBER THAT HAD FELL INSIDE OF THE TIRES FROM WEAR.

AFTER HAVING THE CAR FOR ABOUT 1 1/2 WEEKS IT STARTED TO SHAKE AND NOT WANT TO PULL OFF OR BACK UP SO I CHECKED TRANSMISSION FLUIDS AND FOUND THE TRANSMISSION WAS ALMOST EMPTY SO I PURCHASED A JUG OF TRANSMISSION FLUID FROM DISCOUNT AUTO AND IT FILLED THE TRANSMISSION UP AND THE CAR WORKED FINE. INTO THE THIRD WEEK 03/7/06 WITH THIS CAR I WAS ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK AND IT STARTED TO WHISTLE UNDER THE HOOD SO WHEN I GOT HOME I HAD MR. JACKSON A FRIEND TO CHECK IT FOR ME AND HE OPENED THE RADITOR AND FOUND OILY MILKY LOOKING FLUID INSTEAD OF WATER SO HE RAN WATER THRU THE RADIATOR TOP AND LET IT OVERFLOWED FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES TILL THE WATER RAN CLEAR. HE FILLED IT WITH WATER AND IT WORKED FINE FOR ONE DAY THEN IT STARTED NOT WANTING TO PULL OFF OR BACK UP SO MR. JACKSON CHECKED THE TRANSMISSION FLUID AND FOUND IT ALMOST EMPTY AGAIN AND SINCE HE ALREADY HAD TWO BOTTLES OF TRANSMISSION FLUID HE PUT THEM IN THE CAR AND WE DECIDED TO HAVE THE DEALER CHECK IT OUT.

HE FOLLOWED ME BACK TO HONEYCUTT AUTO MART ON 3/8/06 AND WE INFORMED MR. HONEYCUTT OF ALL THAT HAD OCCURRED AND HE STATED THAT IF WE LEAVE THE CAR HE WOULD GET THE RADITOR REPLACED AND FLUSH THE ENGINE. HE THEN CALLED HIS MECHANIC OUT TO THE CAR AND HAD HIM LOOK AT IT AND HE OPENED THE RESEVIOR AND IT OVERFLOWED WITH OILY MILKY LOOKING FLUID AND THEY BOTH AGREED IT WAS TRANSMISSION FLUID THAT HAD SOMEHOW GOTTEN INTO THE RADIATOR. MR. HONEYCUTT EVEN INFORMED US HE HAD TO CALL AND ORDER ANOTHER RADIATOR ON THURSDAY AND THAT THE CAR WOULD BE READY ON 3/10/06 BY THE TIME I GOT OFF FROM WORK AT 4P.

WE LEFT THE CAR WITH HIM ON 03/08/06 AND WHEN FRIDAY CAME AFTER WORK I CALLED MR HONEYCUTT AND WE SPOKE AND HE INFORMED ME THAT THE RADIATOR HAD BEEN REPLACED BUT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE FLUSHED AND THAT HE KNEW SOMEONE AT HOPKINS THAT WOULD DO IT SO THE CAR WOULD FUNCTION PROPERLY. HE STATED HE DID NOT WANT ME DRIVING IT LIKE IT WAS SO WE AGREED TO LEAVE IT WITH HIM OVER THE WEEKEND AND HE WOULD HAVE IT READY ON MONDAY SO I DID.

MONDAY COMES AROUND AND AFTER WORK I CALLED HIM AGAIN AND HE STARTED SAYING THINGS LIKE "YOU HAVE BEEN LETTING PEOPLE DRIVE THAT CAR AND IT IS MISSED UP FROM THEM DOGGING IT OUT". I ADVISED HIM THAT NO ONE DRIVES MY CAR BUT ME AND HE STATED HE KNEW FOR A FACT THAT OTHER PEOPLE DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE A WOMEN BROUGHT THE CAR TO HIM THE DAY AFTER I PURCHASED IT TO HAVE THE AUTOMATIC TRUNK LACTH REPLACED WHICH I INFORMED HIM WAS MY DAUGHTER AND THAT I AM BOUND BY THE STATE OF FLORIDA TO ATTEND ALL MANDATORY TRAINING FOR CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS IS WHY SHE BROUGHT THE CAR TO HIM. SO HE THEN STATES "YOU SENT A MAN OUT HERE TO GO THRU THE CAR AND THAT HE IS RESPONSIBLE IF SOMETHING HAPPENS WITH ALL THE PEOPLE I HAVE DRIVEN THAT CAR" I SAID "THAT MAN WAS MY SON AND HE ONLY WAS LOOKING FOR MY ATM CARD THAT I COULD NOT FIND AND SINCE I WAS AT WORK AND COULD NOT LEAVE ON LUNCH AND BE BACK AT WORK IN 30 MINUTES I CALLED HIM ON HIS CELL TO CHECK MY CAR TO SEE IF I LEFT IT IN THERE".

HE SEEMED TO CALM DOWN THEN AND STATED "THE GUY THAT DID THE TRANMISSION WORK RAN INTO A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND THINKS THE PUMP NEEDS TO BE REPLACED IN ORDER FOR IT TO WORK RIGHT". SO I SAID OK AND ASKED WILL IT BE READY TOMORROW AND HE STATED "I DON'T KNOW BUT I WILL CALL YOU WHEN ITS READY. HE THEN PROCEEDED TO TELL ME "YOUR CAR IS NO LONG UNDER WARRANTY SO YOU'RE RESPONSIBILY FOR ANYMORE REPAIRS AFTER THIS. I INFORMED HIM "THE CAR WAS PURCHASED ON 02/16/06 AND THAT THE 30 DAYS WAS NOT UP TILL THEN". HE THEN STATED "TODAY IS THE 14TH" AND I INFORMED HIM "ITS THE 13TH OF MARCH" AND HE SAID "OK, I'LL CALL YOU WHEN IT IS READY".

ON TUESDAY 03/14/06 AFTER I GOT HOME FROM WORK NO MESSAGES WERE ON THE ANSWER MACHINE I HAD LEFT ON AND WAS STILL ON. NONE OF THE FAMILY MEMBERS HAD SPOKEN WITH HIM SO I CALLED MR. HONEYCUTT OFFICE AND A FEMALE ANSWERED THE PHONE AND STATED SHE DID NOT KNOW IF IT WAS READY BUT WOULD GO ASK THE MECHANIC. A COULE OF MINUTES LATER SHE WAS BACK ON THE PHONE AND STATED "THE MECHANIC WAS NOT BACK THERE AND THAT SHE WOULD HAVE HIM CALL ME" SO I LEFT MY NAME AND PHONE NUMBER FOR HIM TO CALL ME.

I HAD ADVISED MR. JACKSON THAT ON WEDNESDAY 03/15/06 TO CHECK ON THE CAR AND SEE HOW IT IS COMING ALONG AND MAYBE THEY WILL SPEED UP SO I CAN GET BACK ON THE ROAD WITH MY OWN CAR. MR. JACKSON STAES THAT WHEN HE ARRIVED THE CAR WAS ON THE RACK AND HAD ALL KINDS OF STUFF LEAKING AND HANGING. HE SPOKE WITH MR. HONEYCUTT WHO WAS MAKING FALSE STATEMENT ABOUT HOW THE CAR HAD BEEN DOGGED OUT AND MR. JACKSON STATES HE TOLD HIM HE WAS LYING AND WANTED TO KNOW HOW HE FIGURE THE CAR HAD BEEN DOGGED OUT. HE STATES MR. HONEYCUTT STARTED SHOWING HIM DIFFERENT AREAS UNDER THE CAR THAT HAD TO BE DONE BY DRIVING INTO A DITCH OR SOMETHING TO CAUSE THAT MUCH DAMAGE. MR. JACKSON STATES HE TOLD HIM AIN'T NO WAY FOR THIS BIG CAR TO GET INTO A DITCH AND IT NOT CAUSE SOME KIND OF DAMAGE TO THE BODY OF THE CAR. MR. JACKSON STATES MR. HONEYCUTT STATED SAYING I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU AND WENT INSIDE AND CLOSED THE DOOR. HE SPOKE WITH THE MECHANIC WHO STARTED OUT SAYING WHAT HAD TO BE DONE TO THE CAR AND THAT IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN IN A WRECK WITH THAT MUCH DAMAGE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE CAR. MR. JACKSON STATES HE JUST LEFT BECAUSE THEY HAD F---ED UP THE CAR AND WAS PUTTING IT ON ME.

AFTER I GOT HOME AROUND 4:30PM FROM WORK AND MR. JACKSON INFORMED ME OF WHAT HE HAD SEEN AND GONE THROUGH I CALLED AGAIN AND THE SAME FEMALE ANSWERED THE PHONE AND HAD TO ASK THE MECHANIC IF CAR WAS READY. SHE CAME BACK ON THE PHONE AND STATED THE MECHANIC SAID THAT I NEEDED TO TALK TO LARRY BUT HE WAS WITH A CUSTOMER AND SHE WOULD HAVE HIM CALL ME. I INFORMED HER I HAD LEFT INFO WITH HER YESTERDAY AND NEVER GOT A CALL BACK FROM ANYONE AND JUST WANTED TO SPEAK WITH THE MECHANIC. SHE THEN SAID "OH HOLD ON HERE COMES LARRY NOW" UPON MR. HONEYCUTT GETTING ON THE PHONE AND SAYING HELLO I STATED THAT I HAD CALLED FOR MY CAR AND HE STATED "THAT CAR HAS BEEN WRECKED AND THAT HE KNEW MY SON HAD DONE IT" THEN HE STATED "I AM NOT GOING TO FIX THAT CAR AND I HAVE PICTURES OF THE DAMEGE THAT YOU DONE TO IT" THEN SAID "BYEEE" AND HUNG UP THE PHONE ON ME.

I HAVE NOT MADE ANYMORE CONTACT WITH HIM SINCE 03/15/06 BECAUSE IT IS GETTING OUT OF HAND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY HE WAS HOLDING THE CAR SO LONG WHICH I NOW BELEIVE HE DID FOR THE WARRANTY TO EXPIRE. FEBURARY ONLY HAD 28 DAYS IN IT SO THE WARRANTY WILL END THIS SATURDAY ON 03/18/06 AND HE STILL HAS THE CAR AND HAS NOT MADE ANY ATTEMPT TO CALL ME TO TRY AND WORK THIS OUT NOR WILL HE TALK TO ME.

I LIKED THE CAR VERY MUCH AND AM CONFUSED AS TO IF HE ALREADY KNEW WHAT SHAPE THE CAR WAS IN BEFORE HE SOLD IT TO ME OR JUST WANTED TO GET OUT OF PAYING FOR THE PARTS TO REPAIR IT.

I DO KNOW THAT HE STILL HAS MY DOWN PAYMENT OF $1,500.00 AND THAT I SHOULD BE GIVEN THAT MONEY BACK SINCE I DO NOT HAVE A CAR.

THE CAR WAS STILL UNDER THE 30 DAY BUMPER TO BUMPER WARRANTY WITH LABOR AND PARTS COVERED BY DEALER 100% FOR 30 DAYS AND I NOW HAVE NO MONEY FOR TO GET ANOTHER CAR NOR DO I HAVE THIS CAR UP AND RUNNING SO I HAVE BEEN RIPPED OFF BADLY AND ROBBED AS WELL SINCE HE HAS HAD THE CAR IN HIS POSSESSIOON SINCE MARCH 8TH, 2006.

Loria

lake city, Florida
U.S.A.


4 Updates & Rebuttals

Jim

Mobile,
Alabama,
U.S.A.
Hi Loria

#2Consumer Suggestion

Sat, June 17, 2006

Just a couple of comments, I'm a Master Mechanic and have no connection to anyone here. First, you "Purchased a jug of transmission fluid from Discount Auto", Oh my, what kind of fluid was it? type "A", Type "F", "Dexron"etc, the odds are good you got a generic "Trans Fluid" and not the right type, do you still have that Jug? If so, look at the type.check if it's the right fluid (This has no bearing on the radiator failure, but can ruin the trans in short order) The Milky radiator fluid, and whitish transmission fluid are all the same problem, there's a transmission oil cooler built inside the radiator to cool the transmission fluid (Which is a light oil, about 7 weight) and obvilusly it failed. This caused the transmission fluid to get into the radiator and mix with the antifreeze, it also lets the water/antifreeze mix to get into the transmission, that's why the trans fluid was low, most of the trans fluid was in the radiator. Here we run into a big problem, you let your neighbor clean out the radiator (Good) and add trans fluid from his trunk (Bad) you see there are different types of fluid for different auto's by manufacturer, so the odds are very good he put the wrong fluid in it.(Second time, first was the "Jug") Now both the trans fluid being low, and having the wrong fluid/contaminated fluid will hurt an automatic transmission badly, and at this point it's going to be near impossible to say just which caused the trans damage, but my bet is a combination of both. The wrong fluid will eat up seals, the low fluid will cause rapid wear (Sometimes as short as one minute to completely ruin a trans) and water/antifreeze from the radiator will gum up everything. You mentioned that the trans "IT STARTED TO SHAKE AND NOT WANT TO PULL OFF OR BACK UP" and right there the trans was damaged, this will burn up clutches and do major damage in just a minute's time. So odds are good the radiator/heat exchanger is the major cause here, (Why the trans was low in the first place) but not all the damege was caused by the heat exchanger failure. Low/wrong fluid hurt it here. The right fix is to replace the radiator, and at the same time flush out the contaminated trans fluid. So replacing the radiator/flushing both systems is the correct fix here. Now the problems (This is the stuff that clouds the issue) I CALLED MR HONEYCUTT AND WE SPOKE AND HE INFORMED ME THAT THE RADIATOR HAD BEEN REPLACED BUT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE FLUSHED AND THAT HE KNEW SOMEONE AT HOPKINS THAT WOULD DO IT SO THE CAR WOULD FUNCTION PROPERLY. HE STATED HE DID NOT WANT ME DRIVING IT LIKE IT WAS Absolutely correct, the trans was already damaged, but he didn't know it, and the right thing to do here is flush it, test it, and pray a bit. "YOU HAVE BEEN LETTING PEOPLE DRIVE THAT CAR AND IT IS MISSED UP FROM THEM DOGGING IT OUT". Here the trans damage has been found, you need to know that the damege from low fluid, and the damage from, "Dogging it out" are exactly the same, (Burnt Clutches) but since you added fluid, they can't tell it was caused from low fluid, not hot rodding. If it's full, "Dogging it out" is an entirely reasonable diagnosis. (Wrong, but understandable) NO ONE DRIVES MY CAR BUT ME AND HE STATED HE KNEW FOR A FACT THAT OTHER PEOPLE DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE A WOMEN BROUGHT THE CAR TO HIM THE DAY AFTER I PURCHASED IT TO HAVE THE AUTOMATIC TRUNK LACTH REPLACED WHICH I INFORMED HIM WAS MY DAUGHTER Sorry, here you're proved wrong, "No One" and "Just my daughter" are not the same. Proved here by your own words "Other" people have been driving the car" Bad, Bad, Bad, choice of words, it makes you look like a liar, and from now on right or wrong he's going to think you lied. This is where things start to go downhill fast. "THE GUY THAT DID THE TRANMISSION WORK RAN INTO A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND THINKS THE PUMP NEEDS TO BE REPLACED IN ORDER FOR IT TO WORK RIGHT". Yep, internal damage usualy requires a new pump, good mechanic not to just let it go. "YOUR CAR IS NO LONG UNDER WARRANTY SO YOU'RE RESPONSIBILY FOR ANYMORE REPAIRS AFTER THIS. I INFORMED HIM "THE CAR WAS PURCHASED ON 02/16/06 AND THAT THE 30 DAYS WAS NOT UP TILL THEN". HE THEN STATED "TODAY IS THE 14TH" AND I INFORMED HIM "ITS THE 13TH OF MARCH" AND HE SAID "OK, I'LL CALL YOU WHEN IT IS READY". Call it a misunderstanding, let it go. MR. JACKSON STAES THAT WHEN HE ARRIVED THE CAR WAS ON THE RACK AND HAD ALL KINDS OF STUFF LEAKING AND HANGING. OK, this is bad, but as it's just come back from the transmission shop they should have noticed any "Hanging and Leaking" or did the transmission guy repair the transmission in their own shop? Unlikely or they would have noticed it when it was first jacked up to fix the trans, the front pump cannot be replaced without removing the transmission, so there's a huge problem here, either the trans guy did no work, you were lied to, the trans guy lied to them, or there was no trans guy in the first place. Remember at this point they think you lie, so they're unlikely to listen to your saying "It was not wrecked" You need to find who is the transmission repairman, at this point it looks like the car was wrecked coming back from having the transmission repaired, I'd look strongly at whoever delivered your car back to the dealership from the transmission repair shop. So far this looks like a huge misunderstanding, and a real radiator failure that damaged the trans, coupled with your driving the car when it was "Not wanting to go forward and back (Low fluid, again the radiator failure's fault initialy) Possibly adding the wrong fluid, and your neighbor's helping you flush the radiator and adding trans fluid from his trunk. So to summ up, the radiator cooler failed, the radiator had a fluid leak both to and from the transmission, low/wrong fluid damaged the transmission, and someone wrecked the car. Here's the only real problem, Just who wrecked the car? To find this out you'll need to talk to whoever repaired the transmission, only he can say if it was damaged before, or after the repair work was done to the transmission. Look for these things, nobody repaired the transmission (Highly unlikely, only a mechanic would know to replace the pump) The transmission was repaired "In House. (Again unlikely, the communications indicate the car was sent out to have the trans repaired) Name and phone number of the trans repairer, once you get this, talk to him about undercar damage, IT IS HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO GET THIS INFO, AS WELL AS JUST WHO RETURNED THE CAR TO THE DEALER. Take it from there politely and I'll bet you get the car fixed and returned, be calm and polite. Jim


Jim

Mobile,
Alabama,
U.S.A.
Hi Loria

#3Consumer Suggestion

Sat, June 17, 2006

Just a couple of comments, I'm a Master Mechanic and have no connection to anyone here. First, you "Purchased a jug of transmission fluid from Discount Auto", Oh my, what kind of fluid was it? type "A", Type "F", "Dexron"etc, the odds are good you got a generic "Trans Fluid" and not the right type, do you still have that Jug? If so, look at the type.check if it's the right fluid (This has no bearing on the radiator failure, but can ruin the trans in short order) The Milky radiator fluid, and whitish transmission fluid are all the same problem, there's a transmission oil cooler built inside the radiator to cool the transmission fluid (Which is a light oil, about 7 weight) and obvilusly it failed. This caused the transmission fluid to get into the radiator and mix with the antifreeze, it also lets the water/antifreeze mix to get into the transmission, that's why the trans fluid was low, most of the trans fluid was in the radiator. Here we run into a big problem, you let your neighbor clean out the radiator (Good) and add trans fluid from his trunk (Bad) you see there are different types of fluid for different auto's by manufacturer, so the odds are very good he put the wrong fluid in it.(Second time, first was the "Jug") Now both the trans fluid being low, and having the wrong fluid/contaminated fluid will hurt an automatic transmission badly, and at this point it's going to be near impossible to say just which caused the trans damage, but my bet is a combination of both. The wrong fluid will eat up seals, the low fluid will cause rapid wear (Sometimes as short as one minute to completely ruin a trans) and water/antifreeze from the radiator will gum up everything. You mentioned that the trans "IT STARTED TO SHAKE AND NOT WANT TO PULL OFF OR BACK UP" and right there the trans was damaged, this will burn up clutches and do major damage in just a minute's time. So odds are good the radiator/heat exchanger is the major cause here, (Why the trans was low in the first place) but not all the damege was caused by the heat exchanger failure. Low/wrong fluid hurt it here. The right fix is to replace the radiator, and at the same time flush out the contaminated trans fluid. So replacing the radiator/flushing both systems is the correct fix here. Now the problems (This is the stuff that clouds the issue) I CALLED MR HONEYCUTT AND WE SPOKE AND HE INFORMED ME THAT THE RADIATOR HAD BEEN REPLACED BUT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE FLUSHED AND THAT HE KNEW SOMEONE AT HOPKINS THAT WOULD DO IT SO THE CAR WOULD FUNCTION PROPERLY. HE STATED HE DID NOT WANT ME DRIVING IT LIKE IT WAS Absolutely correct, the trans was already damaged, but he didn't know it, and the right thing to do here is flush it, test it, and pray a bit. "YOU HAVE BEEN LETTING PEOPLE DRIVE THAT CAR AND IT IS MISSED UP FROM THEM DOGGING IT OUT". Here the trans damage has been found, you need to know that the damege from low fluid, and the damage from, "Dogging it out" are exactly the same, (Burnt Clutches) but since you added fluid, they can't tell it was caused from low fluid, not hot rodding. If it's full, "Dogging it out" is an entirely reasonable diagnosis. (Wrong, but understandable) NO ONE DRIVES MY CAR BUT ME AND HE STATED HE KNEW FOR A FACT THAT OTHER PEOPLE DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE A WOMEN BROUGHT THE CAR TO HIM THE DAY AFTER I PURCHASED IT TO HAVE THE AUTOMATIC TRUNK LACTH REPLACED WHICH I INFORMED HIM WAS MY DAUGHTER Sorry, here you're proved wrong, "No One" and "Just my daughter" are not the same. Proved here by your own words "Other" people have been driving the car" Bad, Bad, Bad, choice of words, it makes you look like a liar, and from now on right or wrong he's going to think you lied. This is where things start to go downhill fast. "THE GUY THAT DID THE TRANMISSION WORK RAN INTO A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND THINKS THE PUMP NEEDS TO BE REPLACED IN ORDER FOR IT TO WORK RIGHT". Yep, internal damage usualy requires a new pump, good mechanic not to just let it go. "YOUR CAR IS NO LONG UNDER WARRANTY SO YOU'RE RESPONSIBILY FOR ANYMORE REPAIRS AFTER THIS. I INFORMED HIM "THE CAR WAS PURCHASED ON 02/16/06 AND THAT THE 30 DAYS WAS NOT UP TILL THEN". HE THEN STATED "TODAY IS THE 14TH" AND I INFORMED HIM "ITS THE 13TH OF MARCH" AND HE SAID "OK, I'LL CALL YOU WHEN IT IS READY". Call it a misunderstanding, let it go. MR. JACKSON STAES THAT WHEN HE ARRIVED THE CAR WAS ON THE RACK AND HAD ALL KINDS OF STUFF LEAKING AND HANGING. OK, this is bad, but as it's just come back from the transmission shop they should have noticed any "Hanging and Leaking" or did the transmission guy repair the transmission in their own shop? Unlikely or they would have noticed it when it was first jacked up to fix the trans, the front pump cannot be replaced without removing the transmission, so there's a huge problem here, either the trans guy did no work, you were lied to, the trans guy lied to them, or there was no trans guy in the first place. Remember at this point they think you lie, so they're unlikely to listen to your saying "It was not wrecked" You need to find who is the transmission repairman, at this point it looks like the car was wrecked coming back from having the transmission repaired, I'd look strongly at whoever delivered your car back to the dealership from the transmission repair shop. So far this looks like a huge misunderstanding, and a real radiator failure that damaged the trans, coupled with your driving the car when it was "Not wanting to go forward and back (Low fluid, again the radiator failure's fault initialy) Possibly adding the wrong fluid, and your neighbor's helping you flush the radiator and adding trans fluid from his trunk. So to summ up, the radiator cooler failed, the radiator had a fluid leak both to and from the transmission, low/wrong fluid damaged the transmission, and someone wrecked the car. Here's the only real problem, Just who wrecked the car? To find this out you'll need to talk to whoever repaired the transmission, only he can say if it was damaged before, or after the repair work was done to the transmission. Look for these things, nobody repaired the transmission (Highly unlikely, only a mechanic would know to replace the pump) The transmission was repaired "In House. (Again unlikely, the communications indicate the car was sent out to have the trans repaired) Name and phone number of the trans repairer, once you get this, talk to him about undercar damage, IT IS HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO GET THIS INFO, AS WELL AS JUST WHO RETURNED THE CAR TO THE DEALER. Take it from there politely and I'll bet you get the car fixed and returned, be calm and polite. Jim


Jim

Mobile,
Alabama,
U.S.A.
Hi Loria

#4Consumer Suggestion

Sat, June 17, 2006

Just a couple of comments, I'm a Master Mechanic and have no connection to anyone here. First, you "Purchased a jug of transmission fluid from Discount Auto", Oh my, what kind of fluid was it? type "A", Type "F", "Dexron"etc, the odds are good you got a generic "Trans Fluid" and not the right type, do you still have that Jug? If so, look at the type.check if it's the right fluid (This has no bearing on the radiator failure, but can ruin the trans in short order) The Milky radiator fluid, and whitish transmission fluid are all the same problem, there's a transmission oil cooler built inside the radiator to cool the transmission fluid (Which is a light oil, about 7 weight) and obvilusly it failed. This caused the transmission fluid to get into the radiator and mix with the antifreeze, it also lets the water/antifreeze mix to get into the transmission, that's why the trans fluid was low, most of the trans fluid was in the radiator. Here we run into a big problem, you let your neighbor clean out the radiator (Good) and add trans fluid from his trunk (Bad) you see there are different types of fluid for different auto's by manufacturer, so the odds are very good he put the wrong fluid in it.(Second time, first was the "Jug") Now both the trans fluid being low, and having the wrong fluid/contaminated fluid will hurt an automatic transmission badly, and at this point it's going to be near impossible to say just which caused the trans damage, but my bet is a combination of both. The wrong fluid will eat up seals, the low fluid will cause rapid wear (Sometimes as short as one minute to completely ruin a trans) and water/antifreeze from the radiator will gum up everything. You mentioned that the trans "IT STARTED TO SHAKE AND NOT WANT TO PULL OFF OR BACK UP" and right there the trans was damaged, this will burn up clutches and do major damage in just a minute's time. So odds are good the radiator/heat exchanger is the major cause here, (Why the trans was low in the first place) but not all the damege was caused by the heat exchanger failure. Low/wrong fluid hurt it here. The right fix is to replace the radiator, and at the same time flush out the contaminated trans fluid. So replacing the radiator/flushing both systems is the correct fix here. Now the problems (This is the stuff that clouds the issue) I CALLED MR HONEYCUTT AND WE SPOKE AND HE INFORMED ME THAT THE RADIATOR HAD BEEN REPLACED BUT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE FLUSHED AND THAT HE KNEW SOMEONE AT HOPKINS THAT WOULD DO IT SO THE CAR WOULD FUNCTION PROPERLY. HE STATED HE DID NOT WANT ME DRIVING IT LIKE IT WAS Absolutely correct, the trans was already damaged, but he didn't know it, and the right thing to do here is flush it, test it, and pray a bit. "YOU HAVE BEEN LETTING PEOPLE DRIVE THAT CAR AND IT IS MISSED UP FROM THEM DOGGING IT OUT". Here the trans damage has been found, you need to know that the damege from low fluid, and the damage from, "Dogging it out" are exactly the same, (Burnt Clutches) but since you added fluid, they can't tell it was caused from low fluid, not hot rodding. If it's full, "Dogging it out" is an entirely reasonable diagnosis. (Wrong, but understandable) NO ONE DRIVES MY CAR BUT ME AND HE STATED HE KNEW FOR A FACT THAT OTHER PEOPLE DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE A WOMEN BROUGHT THE CAR TO HIM THE DAY AFTER I PURCHASED IT TO HAVE THE AUTOMATIC TRUNK LACTH REPLACED WHICH I INFORMED HIM WAS MY DAUGHTER Sorry, here you're proved wrong, "No One" and "Just my daughter" are not the same. Proved here by your own words "Other" people have been driving the car" Bad, Bad, Bad, choice of words, it makes you look like a liar, and from now on right or wrong he's going to think you lied. This is where things start to go downhill fast. "THE GUY THAT DID THE TRANMISSION WORK RAN INTO A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND THINKS THE PUMP NEEDS TO BE REPLACED IN ORDER FOR IT TO WORK RIGHT". Yep, internal damage usualy requires a new pump, good mechanic not to just let it go. "YOUR CAR IS NO LONG UNDER WARRANTY SO YOU'RE RESPONSIBILY FOR ANYMORE REPAIRS AFTER THIS. I INFORMED HIM "THE CAR WAS PURCHASED ON 02/16/06 AND THAT THE 30 DAYS WAS NOT UP TILL THEN". HE THEN STATED "TODAY IS THE 14TH" AND I INFORMED HIM "ITS THE 13TH OF MARCH" AND HE SAID "OK, I'LL CALL YOU WHEN IT IS READY". Call it a misunderstanding, let it go. MR. JACKSON STAES THAT WHEN HE ARRIVED THE CAR WAS ON THE RACK AND HAD ALL KINDS OF STUFF LEAKING AND HANGING. OK, this is bad, but as it's just come back from the transmission shop they should have noticed any "Hanging and Leaking" or did the transmission guy repair the transmission in their own shop? Unlikely or they would have noticed it when it was first jacked up to fix the trans, the front pump cannot be replaced without removing the transmission, so there's a huge problem here, either the trans guy did no work, you were lied to, the trans guy lied to them, or there was no trans guy in the first place. Remember at this point they think you lie, so they're unlikely to listen to your saying "It was not wrecked" You need to find who is the transmission repairman, at this point it looks like the car was wrecked coming back from having the transmission repaired, I'd look strongly at whoever delivered your car back to the dealership from the transmission repair shop. So far this looks like a huge misunderstanding, and a real radiator failure that damaged the trans, coupled with your driving the car when it was "Not wanting to go forward and back (Low fluid, again the radiator failure's fault initialy) Possibly adding the wrong fluid, and your neighbor's helping you flush the radiator and adding trans fluid from his trunk. So to summ up, the radiator cooler failed, the radiator had a fluid leak both to and from the transmission, low/wrong fluid damaged the transmission, and someone wrecked the car. Here's the only real problem, Just who wrecked the car? To find this out you'll need to talk to whoever repaired the transmission, only he can say if it was damaged before, or after the repair work was done to the transmission. Look for these things, nobody repaired the transmission (Highly unlikely, only a mechanic would know to replace the pump) The transmission was repaired "In House. (Again unlikely, the communications indicate the car was sent out to have the trans repaired) Name and phone number of the trans repairer, once you get this, talk to him about undercar damage, IT IS HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO GET THIS INFO, AS WELL AS JUST WHO RETURNED THE CAR TO THE DEALER. Take it from there politely and I'll bet you get the car fixed and returned, be calm and polite. Jim


Jim

Mobile,
Alabama,
U.S.A.
Hi Loria

#5Consumer Suggestion

Sat, June 17, 2006

Just a couple of comments, I'm a Master Mechanic and have no connection to anyone here. First, you "Purchased a jug of transmission fluid from Discount Auto", Oh my, what kind of fluid was it? type "A", Type "F", "Dexron"etc, the odds are good you got a generic "Trans Fluid" and not the right type, do you still have that Jug? If so, look at the type.check if it's the right fluid (This has no bearing on the radiator failure, but can ruin the trans in short order) The Milky radiator fluid, and whitish transmission fluid are all the same problem, there's a transmission oil cooler built inside the radiator to cool the transmission fluid (Which is a light oil, about 7 weight) and obvilusly it failed. This caused the transmission fluid to get into the radiator and mix with the antifreeze, it also lets the water/antifreeze mix to get into the transmission, that's why the trans fluid was low, most of the trans fluid was in the radiator. Here we run into a big problem, you let your neighbor clean out the radiator (Good) and add trans fluid from his trunk (Bad) you see there are different types of fluid for different auto's by manufacturer, so the odds are very good he put the wrong fluid in it.(Second time, first was the "Jug") Now both the trans fluid being low, and having the wrong fluid/contaminated fluid will hurt an automatic transmission badly, and at this point it's going to be near impossible to say just which caused the trans damage, but my bet is a combination of both. The wrong fluid will eat up seals, the low fluid will cause rapid wear (Sometimes as short as one minute to completely ruin a trans) and water/antifreeze from the radiator will gum up everything. You mentioned that the trans "IT STARTED TO SHAKE AND NOT WANT TO PULL OFF OR BACK UP" and right there the trans was damaged, this will burn up clutches and do major damage in just a minute's time. So odds are good the radiator/heat exchanger is the major cause here, (Why the trans was low in the first place) but not all the damege was caused by the heat exchanger failure. Low/wrong fluid hurt it here. The right fix is to replace the radiator, and at the same time flush out the contaminated trans fluid. So replacing the radiator/flushing both systems is the correct fix here. Now the problems (This is the stuff that clouds the issue) I CALLED MR HONEYCUTT AND WE SPOKE AND HE INFORMED ME THAT THE RADIATOR HAD BEEN REPLACED BUT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE FLUSHED AND THAT HE KNEW SOMEONE AT HOPKINS THAT WOULD DO IT SO THE CAR WOULD FUNCTION PROPERLY. HE STATED HE DID NOT WANT ME DRIVING IT LIKE IT WAS Absolutely correct, the trans was already damaged, but he didn't know it, and the right thing to do here is flush it, test it, and pray a bit. "YOU HAVE BEEN LETTING PEOPLE DRIVE THAT CAR AND IT IS MISSED UP FROM THEM DOGGING IT OUT". Here the trans damage has been found, you need to know that the damege from low fluid, and the damage from, "Dogging it out" are exactly the same, (Burnt Clutches) but since you added fluid, they can't tell it was caused from low fluid, not hot rodding. If it's full, "Dogging it out" is an entirely reasonable diagnosis. (Wrong, but understandable) NO ONE DRIVES MY CAR BUT ME AND HE STATED HE KNEW FOR A FACT THAT OTHER PEOPLE DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE A WOMEN BROUGHT THE CAR TO HIM THE DAY AFTER I PURCHASED IT TO HAVE THE AUTOMATIC TRUNK LACTH REPLACED WHICH I INFORMED HIM WAS MY DAUGHTER Sorry, here you're proved wrong, "No One" and "Just my daughter" are not the same. Proved here by your own words "Other" people have been driving the car" Bad, Bad, Bad, choice of words, it makes you look like a liar, and from now on right or wrong he's going to think you lied. This is where things start to go downhill fast. "THE GUY THAT DID THE TRANMISSION WORK RAN INTO A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND THINKS THE PUMP NEEDS TO BE REPLACED IN ORDER FOR IT TO WORK RIGHT". Yep, internal damage usualy requires a new pump, good mechanic not to just let it go. "YOUR CAR IS NO LONG UNDER WARRANTY SO YOU'RE RESPONSIBILY FOR ANYMORE REPAIRS AFTER THIS. I INFORMED HIM "THE CAR WAS PURCHASED ON 02/16/06 AND THAT THE 30 DAYS WAS NOT UP TILL THEN". HE THEN STATED "TODAY IS THE 14TH" AND I INFORMED HIM "ITS THE 13TH OF MARCH" AND HE SAID "OK, I'LL CALL YOU WHEN IT IS READY". Call it a misunderstanding, let it go. MR. JACKSON STAES THAT WHEN HE ARRIVED THE CAR WAS ON THE RACK AND HAD ALL KINDS OF STUFF LEAKING AND HANGING. OK, this is bad, but as it's just come back from the transmission shop they should have noticed any "Hanging and Leaking" or did the transmission guy repair the transmission in their own shop? Unlikely or they would have noticed it when it was first jacked up to fix the trans, the front pump cannot be replaced without removing the transmission, so there's a huge problem here, either the trans guy did no work, you were lied to, the trans guy lied to them, or there was no trans guy in the first place. Remember at this point they think you lie, so they're unlikely to listen to your saying "It was not wrecked" You need to find who is the transmission repairman, at this point it looks like the car was wrecked coming back from having the transmission repaired, I'd look strongly at whoever delivered your car back to the dealership from the transmission repair shop. So far this looks like a huge misunderstanding, and a real radiator failure that damaged the trans, coupled with your driving the car when it was "Not wanting to go forward and back (Low fluid, again the radiator failure's fault initialy) Possibly adding the wrong fluid, and your neighbor's helping you flush the radiator and adding trans fluid from his trunk. So to summ up, the radiator cooler failed, the radiator had a fluid leak both to and from the transmission, low/wrong fluid damaged the transmission, and someone wrecked the car. Here's the only real problem, Just who wrecked the car? To find this out you'll need to talk to whoever repaired the transmission, only he can say if it was damaged before, or after the repair work was done to the transmission. Look for these things, nobody repaired the transmission (Highly unlikely, only a mechanic would know to replace the pump) The transmission was repaired "In House. (Again unlikely, the communications indicate the car was sent out to have the trans repaired) Name and phone number of the trans repairer, once you get this, talk to him about undercar damage, IT IS HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO GET THIS INFO, AS WELL AS JUST WHO RETURNED THE CAR TO THE DEALER. Take it from there politely and I'll bet you get the car fixed and returned, be calm and polite. Jim

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