Any mechanics?? Help please!

[SingleWhiteFemale]

Recently, we were having problems with over 1999 Olds Bravada. Upon a trip from DC to VA Beach 6 months ago, we heard a loud "roaring" noise everytime you accelerated. It went into the dealership, and they deemed nothing was wrong (the noise stopped after returning home). Okay, fine, kept a watch on it.

Earlier this month, it came back. The noise was present upon acceleration and during travel--loudest at 55MPH+, but it was present from 30MPH and on up. I took it in, they ran diagnostics, and found nothing wrong. I told the tech to take it for a test drive and hit at least 55, and up to 80MPH (I have hit 80, and I thought the car was going to blow up at that point). He did, and heard it, hit a small divit in the road, and heard a huge popping noise. Come to find out, there was a lot wrong with the car. The small divot should have been nothing, but it in the end, the left and right front wheel bearing, upper and lower ball joint, pitman arm, steering linkage idler arm had to all be replaced. I was told that in replacing those parts, the alignment had to be redone--regardless of having it done a few months earlier at a different place. Okay, I understood, authorized them to do everything. Bill was $2339.14. The vehicle has an extended warranty through Diamler Chrysler, and they picked up $2239.83. I had a $50 deductible. However, the warranty did not pick up the alignment cost, as they're telling me they consider it "maintainence." Quite frankly, had there not been this problem and the mirad of parts replaced, the alignment wouldn't have needed to be done, and therefore is not maintance.

Long story short, I'm writing to appeal as this should have been covered. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what particular part(s) necessitated the alignment, and what would have happened had I left the shop without having the alignment done (what type of damage, if any)?

Thanks, I appreciate it!!

[Zelda Von Yitz]

I'd take the car to an independent mechanic.

I always thought that the roar during acceleration was the tranny.

[Cohl]

Ok I woke my husband up to get an answer for you. :D He is a tech for a GM delaer and said that all of parts with the exception of the steering linkage idler arm would require the car to need an alignment. If you had not had the alignment, the car would have more than likely pulled in one direction and you would have uneven and premature wear on your tires. He also said that GM warranties are the same way, they never cover the alignment. :rolleyes: HTH!

Nicole

[Atlanta_eBride]

Another note is that if you didn't have the alignment you would most likely void any warranty you have with your tires. I've been recently told you should look at having an alignment and your tires rotated when you do your oil changes to get the most consistent wear and longevity out of your tires. You're luck so much was covered under your coverage - I never seem to get that lucky.

[SingleWhiteFemale]

Cohl, thanks for waking up your hubby to help me out! Give him a hug and thanks from me ;) , as I wasn't able to get that much info out of my service advisor beyond "yeah, it has to be done before we release the car because we put in these parts so we have to do it." I was initially suprised that the alignment would be covered (I was told initially by the tech that everything would be covered, including the alignment... which I guess what cheeses me off, I was told my bill would be $50 and it's almost double!). I have a feeling that it too will be a losing battle, but I guess it never hurts to vent a little bit of frustration ;) A letter will only take 15 minutes and a $0.37 stamp--cheap therapy! :D

Atlanta_eBride, I guess I should look into having my alignment done this week when I take my other car in for an oil change--it has never crossed my mind to have it done (which is probably really bad, because I have no idea when it was last done, as I'm not the original owner). The problem I had with the Bravada, I was told, was extremely rare to have happen. The tech had seen it a few times before, once in a car with a mere 13k miles, but really in older cars and those with 170k+ miles, so it never crossed anyone's mind to check for these problems, as the car was at 64k. I'm counting my blessings that it happened now instead of in a year, because the warranty expires in March 2006. But, I got screwed with my Ford Explorer in the past 2 months--$100 to have the dealership look at it (and damage it), $200 to take it to an independant mechanic that cleaned the system in question (and then some, that was the one time I left the place feeling that I underpaid him for his time, effort and work) in an attempt to undo the dealership's damage, and later $240 to replace the truly faulty part Ford damaged that it was taken to them for in the first place (not replaced by them, though!). I guess it all tends to balance out!

Zelda Von Yitz, yeah, me too. But, apparently the transmission is in great shape and there's nothing wrong with it (I had it checked by my mechanic last time he did my oil change)--I know the dealer thought that I was nuts as they couldn't get the noise or find anything wrong. This dealer is better than the other dealer it used to go to, who replaced a part and in essence shoved a square peg into a round hole :eek: No wonder it wasn't working :rolleyes: Had the car not been under warranty, it wouldn't have been at the dealer--they're quite a bit more expensive than my mechanic, and even they admit to it (and recommended that a man go to Midas for his needed new brakes!)


Thanks everybody, I appreciate it! :D