Bobby,
First off, let me say that I'm not in the Service Department at Plaza- I'm in Sales. In fact, you may not even remember, but we had a great chat about the CTS-V and some of Cadillac's other new cars while you were walking around the lot that day (I’m the young, bald guy
). Our Dealership does not have a representative from Service that posts here on the forums, but you seem like a great guy, which is why I spoke with them this morning to find out exactly what happened after reading your post here.
Please keep in mind while you're reading this that "written words" never come across properly in tone compared to two guys talking (like we did that day). People sometimes read comments on-line in discussion like these and take them as being accusatory or "finger pointing", but I assure you that isn't the case. The following is just what I feel happened, not an attempt to make an excuse or blame you.
Our Service Advisors are trained to note any requests that the customer makes in writing on the repair order. The paperwork we have on file for your car says the following:
"Customer states would like car repaired for the least amount of parts and money as possible". This is a common request, but what most people don't realize is that this basically prevents us from fixing the problem completely on the first visit, as we are honoring your request and not throwing on everything we think the car needs and creating a huge repair bill for you. In cases like this we normally do as little as we think we can get away with, but many times it requires a second visit and a little more money to do everything the car needs.
Apparently when your car first came to us, it had very little fuel in the tank, most of which was alcohol from the cans of injector cleaner you added. After filling up the tank to dilute the alcohol and starting the car, our Technicians found that the Hall Effect sensor needed replacing, as well as several parts of the ignition system (the wires were visibly arcing when they cranked the car). A good-faith estimate was given to you that detailed what we felt the car needed prior to us replacing any of these items. If you felt that the Tech was not being honest or that we were wrong in our diagnosis, you had every right to decline the work. We did not do anything to the car without your authorization.
After the repairs you authorized, the car ran smoothly without throwing any check engine lights or error codes, which is indicative of the repairs being successful. You took delivery of the car and seemed happy.
When you returned a few hundred miles later claiming that the car was running rough, we inspected the car and looked further than we had the first time. My records indicate that the spark plugs we installed on the first visit had become fouled, so they were replaced
free of charge. That is how we do business- the repairs we did the first time (trying to stay as inexpensive as possible, as per your request) had made the car run fine again, but something was still causing the plugs to foul. Since we'd missed something that caused them to foul, we replaced them for free. It is my opinion that
THIS POINT is where things went wrong, all due to a very common misunderstanding in the Auto Service Business.
You have a very clean car, and you obviously maintain it very well. Unfortunately, things like rotors, caps, plugs, wires, Hall Effect sensors and other items are going to need replacing after 20 years, regardless of how often you change the oil, wash the car, and do general upkeep. These items all degrade slowly over time, and it isn't until several of them all need repairing that you notice a problem. In your case, it is the professional opinion of my shop that your car was due for a good, thorough "tune up" that consists of plugs, wires, sensors, injectors, and several other items. For the sake of examples, let's say that your car needed "10" things to make it run like new again.
I believe that what happened is this: If my Techs had "carte blanche" to put whatever they felt the car needed your bill would have been about $500 more than it was, and they’d have just done the injectors the first time. They would have done all 10 things, and the car would have been perfect. Since you instructed them to do the
”bare minimum to get the car running" however, they simply did what they could to get the car running as cheaply as possible- at your request- which probably consisted of 8 or 9 of the 10 things it needed. That "10th thing" (the two injectors) were what was causing the car to not run perfect.
By the time you brought the car back to us however, you were angry and chose not to let us complete the job, taking instead to the other Dealer. They completed the last item and made the job complete, which leaves you feeling like the repairs we did were a waste of your money. Here’s where the misunderstanding comes in though: Had you gone to them first and just told them to replace the injectors, you'd still have been running on arcing wires, a bad Hall Effect sensor and cracked, fouled plugs. The injectors
would not have fixed your problem by themselves- they were only
part of the problem.
I apologize that this post has been so long and rambling, but after looking over the documents I honestly believe that my Service department acted in your best interests by honoring your request to get the car running for as little as possible. I understand how frustrating it to be left with the feeling that the final, inexpensive repair is all you needed in the first place, but it simply isn’t the case. I'm truly sorry that your vision of events makes you feel that you were "taken for a ride", because you seemed like a really nice guy when we talked, and we'd love to have you back as a customer.
Feel free to call me if there's anything we can do to make up for the perceived poor service. I don't represent the Service side (I'm in sales), but after being here for over 10 years, I have the ear of the Management. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you give us another opportunity in the future.
