Atlanta BEWARE!!!

Terry Cullen Chevrolet made a mess of my truck.
I’ve got a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ 4x4 with a bunch of subtle (some not so subtle) customizations. This is obviously not a regular work truck. I been in several shows and the neighbors say I’m “going to wash the paint off it”. I actually spent a couple hours on my back washing the entire undercarriage before the last show about a month ago.
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I travel the country for work, so it’s always guesswork which dealer will make sure the work is done right.

I heard a noise when put into 4wd and took it to Terry Cullen Chevrolet in Jonesboro, GA. The service writer explained to me they would charge me to find the problem if it wasn’t covered under warranty and I didn’t get the work done, but they thought it would be covered. I told them to go ahead with an oil change and got pricing on their other fluid services. ($500 in extra work)

I had an appointment, but it still took an hour waiting for the truck to be moved from the front of the shop. The tech drove it down the street, then picked me up to go on a ride with him. Well, he told me not to shift into 4wd while moving. This truck is equipped with electronic 4wd on the fly. The manual says it is designed to switch to 4wd at any speed. When I told him that, he said I shouldn’t do it.

Then, the tech told me the driveshaft angle is causing the noise and the lift voided the warranty. Remember, all he did was drive the truck down the street and back.

We got back to the shop and the service writer told me this is not covered and it would be a $89 charge. I told them I wasn’t paying for a full hour for this guy to drive my truck 2 miles. The manager split the difference and I paid $45. Still not happy about it, but figured they have to pay the tech. I’ve NEVER been charged for a test drive before.

Since the Manager was fair, I decided to go ahead with the oils change while I was there, paid the bill and when on my way.

Wondering about the 4wd problem, I looked under the truck and WOW oil was everywhere! Remember, I just spent hours cleaning the road grime from under the truck. The truck has no leaks and never had and oil anywhere on the truck. The undercarriage looked brand new before these guys got hold of it and I have pictures to prove it. The oil tech let the oil run down the lift components and left a puddle on top of the skid plate. When I drove down the road (a couple miles back to work) the oil got blown out of the skid plate and covered the underneath, down the satin polished driveshaft all the way back to the rear end.
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I gave Terry Cullen Chevrolet an opportunity to make it right. They pressure washed with such a high pressure, it removed some of the protective coating on a couple areas and failed to get all the oil off.

I showed Terry Cullen’s Service Manager how oily it was under the truck and after having a few choice words for him, he refunded my money.

I took it back to the dealer after talking with Terry Cullen himself. The owner admitted to me he instructs his guys to automatically deny warrantee to vehicles with ANY modifications. Makes me wonder why the service manager said he thought the repair would be covered and then tried to charge me $89 for a test drive.

They hand washed the oily areas until back to where it was before they touched it. I have about 8 hours of my time on the phone, writing emails and waiting in their shop to get this corrected.

Having a problem uploading the other pictures. Will add soon.

 

Got the other pictures up.... try not to puke.

 

How much lift do you have? Those are some long U-bolts and tall spacers.

 

I like how you stayed with it to the point of getting the guy whose name is on the sign involved. I hate sloppy work like that. I'm sure it's possible that draining the old oil invariably involves some getting onto brackets or whatever that you don't want it to when removing the filter, but it's possible to be careful enough to avoid the problem. I'm sure 99% of their customers never look at the underside of their cars and couldn't care less if some oil splashed up onto part of the undercarriage. They made the mistake of assuming that that would be the case with you. One look at the truck should have told them otherwise.

 

Those are 6" spacers.

 

The factory service manual says to remove the Z-71 skid plate prior to the oil change. The lift on the truck retains most of the factory components. Pretty basic stuff.
I've never had any issues with oil changes, even with the 10 minute guys.

 

Nice looking DMax! There was once a time that I did all my own work. Now I'm a bit older, less agile and not having a garage, I'm taking my truck to a local guy here and give him the oil and filter that I get from Cummins and let him do the job. Good dealers are hard to come by. When I had a new S-10 in 1995, I was almost always going back to the dealer for something at least once a month. It got to the point where the service guy got mad at me for "abusing the loaner car service" when it was more like fix it right in the first place and I won't be coming back again and again. Like I loved driving an Astro van............

 

i wouldn't call that a dealer problem.

 

Well, your right, it's the service department. Owned and instructed by the guy that owns the dealership. The service center can make or break the dealership, as far as I'm concerned. I was in houston getting some warranty work done on the same truck last fall. My wife and I took a walk through the new cars and ended up buying a 2010 SS/RS Camaro while I was in for service. Munday Chevrolet service was really good to us and the salesman was straight forward and got all the answers to my questions quickly. Granted, not alot of negotiating room on the Camaro's at that time, but it was quick and somewhat painless.