Local TV stations down here love to run stories about people taking advantage of the elderly.

The only GM that should be involved is the dealership's general manager.

The dealership got back with us. GM has agreed to replace the engine for $7,900.

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GM has agreed to replace the engine for $7,900.

They want you to pay $7,900?

The dealer should be paying that. Sounds like a good deal, you should tell the dealer to take it!

No way I would pay a penny more than the price of the initially agreed to work on the truck. I would at this point expect the dealership to make the repair and eat the original charges as well.

At this point in the game I would be on the phone to every local media outlet I could find as well as on social media explaining how the dealership is trying to take advantage of your father.

Agreed the dealership should be paying that. You took the vehicle to them with the engine running and after a test drive, the engine blew ??? They have and pay insurance for that. Actually, that may be a good idea for you to contact your dad's car insurance and see if they can do anything. Just a thought. God Bless

Time for your Council to write a letter and make a phone call to the owner of the dealership

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Actually, that may be a good idea for you to contact your dad's car insurance and see if they can do anything. Just a thought. God Bless

That's not a bad idea. Ill have him call his agent.

I think at this point dad is afraid if we piss them off they will say the 7,900 deal is off. Then he would be left with a 20k+ bill.

He wants a new truck. But realistically he only has another couple years of driving left. He doesn't need to be going out and signing an 80k loan for 5 years.

What is their reasoning for that figure? Strange number, almost sounds like a 50/50 split parts and labor but I’m not current on parts pricing.

Sounds strange that General Motors would roll over without even a tear down of the engine to determine what failed.

May be time to consult an attorney.

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Originally posted by walker77:

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Actually, that may be a good idea for you to contact your dad's car insurance and see if they can do anything. Just a thought. God Bless

I think at this point dad is afraid if we piss them off they will say the 7,900 deal is off. Then he would be left with a 20k+ bill.

That's probably why they started it so astronomically high. They want you to eat the cost of their mistake and this makes it look like a good deal.

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Sounds strange that General Motors would roll over without even a tear down of the engine to determine what failed.

Not sure why GM would be involved at all unless it's a warranty issue, this would be the dealer rolling over not GM.

You getting involved probably changed the tune at the dealership, I'd ask to speak with the GM and ask him why your 80 year old father should be paying anything at all..

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Originally posted by walker77:
The dealership got back with us. GM has agreed to replace the engine for $7,900.

Ask, in a serious tone, if that is what they are willing to pay your dad for their mistake (plus replacing the engine) or better yet, pay $200-$300 for a lawyer to draft the letter for your dad.

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Originally posted by walker77:
The dealership got back with us. GM has agreed to replace the engine for $7,900.

See my comment about dealing with these idiots.

As in, CONTACT THE CORPORATE MANAGEMENT OF THE COMPANY THAT MAKES THEM!

Do now waste time with the dealership!

Did anybody tear this engine down yet? If nobody has I'm calling B.S. on GM offering any assistance even with owner participation of almost eight grand.

Speaking from years of GM dealership fixed operations experience I don't see them authorizing a major assembly replacement without a teardown when the reason for the failure is not evident like a hole in the side of the block. Even then they are going to try to determine why it happened, if it can be determined by abuse, neglect or improper repairs they will walk away. On the other hand, GM will step up at times reluctantly to assist when the problem can be traced back to the factory, sometimes requiring customer participation (money) or on GM's money.

If they can determine a vehicle has been damaged due to improper or lack of maintenance, abuse, unauthorized modifications, improper repairs, even under the warranty period they can deny any assistance.

Out of warranty it gets even tougher. You are assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. Ask the guys that used those add on Diesel tuners. GM determined that a spate of Duramax failures were due to add on tuners and or PCM reprogramming. GM engineers found "fingerprints" on the factory calibrations even though the add on tuners were removed or reprogrammed back to factory specs. GM had it down to specific types of damage to internal engine components. The TSB had photos attached to show what to look for. Any sign of tuning tampering, the fix was on the owner's dime.

Not going to tell you what to do but I think it would pay to run this by an attorney before you go much further.

Also, if you do have a meeting with the dealership upper level management and owner you may want them to involve the factory rep handling the case. If they make excuses why he cannot be there that would make me suspicious of the "offer" by GM, they just may be bluffing that they have factory assistance.

Or the story that they gave the factory rep is slightly different than you were told, not too wise on their part if true but never assume anything.

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Originally posted by walker77:

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Actually, that may be a good idea for you to contact your dad's car insurance and see if they can do anything. Just a thought. God Bless

That's not a bad idea. Ill have him call his agent.

I think at this point dad is afraid if we piss them off they will say the 7,900 deal is off. Then he would be left with a 20k+ bill.

He wants a new truck. But realistically he only has another couple years of driving left. He doesn't need to be going out and signing an 80k loan for 5 years.

Mechanical failure isn't covered under auto insurance unfortunately. Regardless of whether it was regular wear and tear or mechanics screw up.

Here in not-so-sunny UK a dealership took out a Porsche GT3 for a test run after its first service and totalled it in a ditch after driving through a patch of oil dumped in the road by a busted sump. Never found out the id of the dumper, but the dealership insurance paid up for a 100% replacement car - via their insurance - at a tad over $190K.

The owner got a freebie loaner of an identical car while he waited for Porsche Special Projects to assemble his replacement.

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Mechanical failure

But if it's proven that something was dropped into the engine or something the tech did caused this then I wouldn't consider that mechanical failure.

The dealership destroyed your engine. The dealership needs to pay. Period. That includes providing a loaner. You shouldn’t pay one penny.

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But if it's proven that something was dropped into the engine or something the tech did

Which goes back to why there shouldn't be lawyers, insurance claims, or anything else at this point. Also why anything that the dealership says needs to be recorded.

The damage needs to be investigated, and that investigation needs to be done by somebody other than the dealer or under the supervision of a third party. That will determine what went wrong and who's responsible.

It wouldn't surprise me if GM knows nothing about this, $7900 is dealer cost on the replacement engine and the service department is eating the labor.
Maybe ask to see this offer in writing from General Motors unless GM means the general manager of the dealership.
I'd be carefully documenting everything at this point including phone conversations if possible (looks like it's legal to do so in your state if you are one of the parties in the conversation).

https://pslawkc.com/blog/recor...-pospisil-swift-llc/