Alright, here we go. A month and a half ago I took Dirty Red in to the dealership as soon as I noticed the fender liner was visibly damaged. I replaced the tire that was damaged on the whole opposite side due to a pothole. You know, responsible adult ****. I take my car in like I said for some very very faint vibrations, and the damaged fender liner. The dealer then kept my car overnight because they wanted to ensure that there wasn’t any mechanical damage to the front suspension. They called me the next day and stated the obvious, there is damage to the fender liner, cool, I saw it, I was the one who originally pointed it out, I will pay to have it replaced at the dealer. No big deal. Then my Service Advisor states, the vibration you’re feeling is from a bent rim. At that time the Service Advisor stated that rims were on backorder, again, no big deal as he pointed me in the direction of a local business that they use for things like this and they’re pretty good. I asked was there any other damage that I should be aware of, he said no. All of the wheel and suspension components were just fine. Asked me if my insurance would be paying for any of this, to which I stated why would they, I got this. So I had him order the fender liner and call me when it came in. Two days later, it’s in, they replaced it, I paid $240.00 and it was a done deal. Next order of business is repairing my rim. The company they sent me to had a rim in stock, rim replaced. Good to go. I start noticing the low humming coming from the front during certain speeds. I took my car directly to the dealer the next morning, before they even opened. Once opened I explained the symptoms, he asked if I could leave it because the actual tech is behind from the day before, I said no problem and my daughter comes and gets me and takes me to work, which is roughly 45 minutes in the next town over. I go into my office and within 20 minutes of being there the Service Advisor calls me and tells me that the Service Tech stated that the noise I heard was just road noise and I can come pick it up. He stated the tires are good, suspension is good, etc…. So after researching here and on the interwebs I asked if they checked the hub bearings, at least a good 10-15 seconds of silence on his end, so long in fact I asked if he was still there. He then said that they did, but if I wanted to be sure that they can set me up with an appointment on the 16th of May at 8 a.m. and I can have a Tech ride with me so he can hear the noise. So the 16th comes and I am pumped because I want my damn car fixed, I arrive at 7:15 a.m. and meet with the advisor who set the appointment, he said the Tech is two cars behind but he assured me that they would get to my car no later than the afternoon, Tuesday(today) morning at the utmost latest. I relent, and go to work, on my way I call and ask “since it’s there, can I go ahead and get ahead on my maintenance(oil change, replace filter(s), and a alignment, which my car was do for anyway) he says sure, we will make note of oil filter, cabin filter, air filter, turbo filters, alignment, and synthetic oil change(even though my Stinger isn’t high mileage enough, 2019 sitting at 41,000) but I’ll worry about the oil change once I get to that point. So then he proceeds to ask me if my insurance would be covering the cost of repairs? I am like no, why would they, especially if my car hasn’t even been diagnosed yet, and I was like, “you had my car twice and couldn’t and didn’t find any damage, and you stated to me as much” his retort was “well you had a fender liner replaced” and I said “yeah, and? you said that my car was mechanically sound, and you don’t even know what wrong” since they keep pressing me about my insurance I asked “if it turns out to be a hub bearing, is it covered under warranty?” Response: “normally, but we don’t know in this case because you had a fender liner replaced” at that point I feel like they’re trying to set me up for some BS, so I end our discussion and say I look forward to hearing what the actual diagnosis is. So today comes and goes, no call. So the dealer is on my way home from work and I decide to swing by, I drive around the service department and there Dirty Red is, sitting in the same spot I assume it’s been in since yesterday. I go in because I want to see what I’m up against. I go in and the Service Advisor is off today, and my original Service Advisor is apologizing because it’s just been him all day, and he’s behind and he doesn’t have info on my car, but he can look it up. He says that there is Tech assigned to it but hasn’t gotten to it yet because they got behind again, then I’m like is this how appointments work? He apologized and said at the latest they’ll call me tomorrow, and then I said, that’s what they said yesterday. My question, is the point I should get the “big wigs” involved, and if so, who and how? And if not, what would y’all do?
***Edit*** sorry if this was long, but kind of frustrated.
You see, I had no idea it was anything as simple as changing tires: didn't want to spend money on new tires until the tread was shot; and wasn't sure if it was a tire problem or something to do with the suspension; balancing and alignment didn't solve a thing, obviously, and I gave up trying to figure out was was causing the vibration pulling and noise: figured that if it wasn't an alignment or balancing issue, it must be something a lot more expensive, and I didn't have the money to pursue it.
