shop horror story!!

[NjbadSS]

whats up guys, I am curious of everyones opinion on this situation that I am in, also opinion what I should do.

here goes....about 2 weeks ago I purchased a 2006 2500hd silverado truck. It ran like a gem, smooth no vibrations noises ect. With my bad luck, shortly after putting it on the road, I got a leaky trans line, notorious issue with those trucks ive owned many. I recently made friends with a local shop, and called to see what it would cost to replace all the trans lines, I called dealer found out to buy all 3 it would run me about $80. The shop, who did $2300.00 of work on my duramax about 3 weeks ago, told me bring it in I will charge parts and about an hours labor. I couldnt beat that and with my busy schedule, it was a no brainer bring it in to get them done. I got the call last night that the truck was done ready for pickup. I live literally right down the road from them, so I picked it up, it was running great, parked it in my driveway and that was that for the night. Early this morning, 630, I was leaving my house for work, about 2 miles away from the house I noticed slippy trans, IT NEVER EVER SHIFTED EVEN SLIGHTLY STRANGE!!.. I kept driving about another 5 miles and get to a light, luckily it was green because I then had neutral, absolutely no trans!!! I pulled over, pulled the hood lever... got out of the truck and instantly noticed trans fluid dumping from the front of the truck... pop the hood to instantly notice... THE TRANS LINE WAS NOT CONNECTED TO THE RADIATOR!!!!!!! I got it towed to the same shop, they brought it right in the shop, put the trans line properly in the radiator... filled with trans fluid, said it should be okay, common sense prevails after 8 plus miles no fluid...something is hurt! sure enough the mechanic gets back from test drive says its slipping like an SOB. later in the day he had a trans tech come, says that it may just need a solenoid. now the issue where I need advice! he says monday he is going to have the solenoid installed and see if that helps. On top of that he says he will do a trans flush and filter change, said that will be billed to me. Now, he says if none of that works, the tranbs will be ripped apart. If there are signs of wear from old age, he will not pay to repair the trans!! To me this makes absolutely no sense in the world 2 days prior the truck ran like a brand new one, now its my fault the trans went? Please give me your thoughts, maybe similar experiences? I compare this to getting an oil change and young kid at the shop forgetting to tighten the drain plug, draining oil and engine going...that is the shops fault!! Any advice would be appreciated!!

[Dudbird113]

They said it was done and didnt have the line hooked up. The trans is on them now.

[LTb1ow]

Originally Posted by Dudbird113

They said it was done and didnt have the line hooked up. The trans is on them now.

This.

And if its an alli don't machine flush it.

[sweetbmxrider]

That is crazy. You really need to speak with them before the truck is touched. You should have the truck taken to a shop capable of diagnosing and repairing the issue properly, not trying a solenoid, a flush and filter, and if not using "worn parts" as a cop out to doing right on their wrong.

[NjbadSS]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

That is crazy. You really need to speak with them before the truck is touched. You should have the truck taken to a shop capable of diagnosing and repairing the issue properly, not trying a solenoid, a flush and filter, and if not using "worn parts" as a cop out to doing right on their wrong.

I absolutely agree with you! They claim they have a Trans technician who will be handling it in house. I feel as if he will just come up with excuses why it's not their fault and at that point I will really be screwed. Like I said earlier... It's like going for an oil change and them not tightening the drain plug, oil drains out engine goes boom.... That's the shops fault! Doesn't matter if the car is brand spanking new it a 1980 with 200k miles. They are saying my truck has 136k miles, and that's high miles for Trans and that's why it went. All bs

[B4C]

A solenoid? I would think it would have burnt out the clutches running without fluid. They messed up and admitted to it, a replacement or rebuild so be on them. Sounds like they are just trying to slap a band-aid on it with the solenoid. Keep all paperwork, conversations, emails ect.

[madness410]

i would also go to your local pd and see if they would be able to pull a report for you. who knows if this will end up in civil court one day, best thing to do as stated earlier is document everything from here on out and accumulate a paper trail.

sorry for your unfortunate situation.

[NjbadSS]

Originally Posted by B4C

A solenoid? I would think it would have burnt out the clutches running without fluid. They messed up and admitted to it, a replacement or rebuild so be on them. Sounds like they are just trying to slap a band-aid on it with the solenoid. Keep all paperwork, conversations, emails ect.

I said the same thing they are trying to doctor it up so it drives out if the parking lot then it's not their concern. I will be making calls tomorrow to try and figure this out I will keep you guys posted how I make out!

[MyFirstZ]

from the shops I have worked in that would definitely be on us if something like that happened if not a high percentage of the cost. Almost pro rating it.

If they are taking it out and disassembling it why wouldn't they just eat the extra for the rebuild kits out there since they will have to reassemble it anyway.

I would also want them to go over the components with me in person if they blame the age and explain why exactly why its not there fault.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by NjbadSS

I said the same thing they are trying to doctor it up so it drives out if the parking lot then it's not their concern. I will be making calls tomorrow to try and figure this out I will keep you guys posted how I make out!

Check with the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs.

[Grifter]

Unfortunately mistakes happen. I'd be lying if I said a trans line never popped off on me or if I never doubled gasket'd an oil filter before. Luckily no damage happened due to it but nobody is perfect. Has the trans line been reconnected and the trans filled since? At all the shops I've worked on it would be covered by the shop and since you are a past customer(who just spent a lot of money with them) they should help you out.

[NjbadSS]

Update...after going back and forth many times...the shop agreed to fully cover the cost of the Trans!!! Not only that but agreed to give me a 3 yr full warranty on it, because of my fear that it would have a bandaid put on it and returned to shut me up. Thanks for the advice guys, I am yet to get it back, Monday I will with all brand new parts!

[sweetbmxrider]

That's great to hear. There was no way you should have had to pay for their mistake.

[Jersey Mike]

Great news, Jason! Glad there's a happy ending here

[MyFirstZ]

Awesome, Glad they stepped up. I'm sure the mechanic got an assfull

[1320B4U]

That is good to hear.