I need advice and to vent....
01-10-2013, 02:58 PM
#21
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Member Since: Aug 2005
Location: Chandler AZ
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Chandler AZ. Have found several vette clubs near me. Will join one pronto!! Thanks so much!
01-10-2013, 03:01 PM
#23
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Member Since: Aug 2005
Location: Chandler AZ
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sherry:
When I purchased my '98 last July I took it to the local dealership, as I had no Corvette connections, and I spent way too much money. Like you I'm a woman who is unable to do her own repairs - so you're not alone there. I asked around on this forum and was given the name of an excellent mechanic who has cut my repair bills in half at least.
Go to the "Events & Regional" section under "Forums". Find your region and post a question asking for mechanic referrals in or near your city. I'm sure you'll get quite a few responses. Maybe finding a mechanic who charges realistic and affordable prices will help you make your decision.
Good luck.
When I purchased my '98 last July I took it to the local dealership, as I had no Corvette connections, and I spent way too much money. Like you I'm a woman who is unable to do her own repairs - so you're not alone there. I asked around on this forum and was given the name of an excellent mechanic who has cut my repair bills in half at least.
Go to the "Events & Regional" section under "Forums". Find your region and post a question asking for mechanic referrals in or near your city. I'm sure you'll get quite a few responses. Maybe finding a mechanic who charges realistic and affordable prices will help you make your decision.
Good luck.
01-10-2013, 03:26 PM
#24
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Oct 2005
Location: Apache Junction, Arizona
Posts: 2,505
Received 89 Likes
on
64 Posts
St. Jude Donor '12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Hi Sherry here is the link for National Council Corvette Clubs
http://www.ncccroadrunner.com/ there are 13 clubs in your region. Some may be sponsored by a Chev dealer. The club I am in is sponsored by Sunrise Chev and they offer all members 15% off parts and labor. Good luck with the car
http://www.ncccroadrunner.com/ there are 13 clubs in your region. Some may be sponsored by a Chev dealer. The club I am in is sponsored by Sunrise Chev and they offer all members 15% off parts and labor. Good luck with the car
01-10-2013, 03:27 PM
#25
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Member Since: Aug 2005
Location: Chandler AZ
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sherry, I see you are in the Phoenix Area. I'm down in Tucson. I will send you a link in a private message that will allow you to open it and see what car clubs are available. I used to belong to ACES, Arizona Corvette Enthusiasts, and there are other Corvette clubs as well. You are in a very good area as far as the popularity of clubs and organizations. Check your PM box and I'll send you the link.
That won't rip me off if appreciate any help you could send me. Sherry
01-10-2013, 03:31 PM
#26
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Feb 2007
Location: Oviedo Florida
Posts: 8,816
Received 1,254 Likes
on
817 Posts
2023 C2 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2021 C2 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2016 C5 of Year Finalist
Sorry to hear of your husbands death and the many problems
you have had with the dealer. The forum has given you good
advice.
Most dealerships take advantage of women. My wife had this thing
about going to the dealer instead of a good independent shop.
I could not convince her so I told her to call me before any repairs
at the dealer. She soon learned that the dealer would take
advantage of her when I would take her car that was ready to
blow up according to the dealer, to a independent dealer and
her car had NO problems at all.
Women beware of dealers the service tech works on comission
and the service dept. is a cash cow for a dealer. They will use
emotion to sell you service you do not need. Save your money.
you have had with the dealer. The forum has given you good
advice.
Most dealerships take advantage of women. My wife had this thing
about going to the dealer instead of a good independent shop.
I could not convince her so I told her to call me before any repairs
at the dealer. She soon learned that the dealer would take
advantage of her when I would take her car that was ready to
blow up according to the dealer, to a independent dealer and
her car had NO problems at all.
Women beware of dealers the service tech works on comission
and the service dept. is a cash cow for a dealer. They will use
emotion to sell you service you do not need. Save your money.
01-10-2013, 03:32 PM
#27
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Member Since: Aug 2005
Location: Chandler AZ
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I’m in agreement with the others that say to find a local mechanic and do away with the dealership. (flame suit on for my next statement) For all intents and purposes, the Corvette is just like any other car. There are a few jobs that take Corvette expertise but most repairs can be made by a competent mechanic so long as they know how to properly lift the car.
Many Corvette owners are fanatical about their car, but I’ll offer another perspective. Ask yourself if the repair is truly a problem or a nuisance. If it doesn’t affect safety / reliability / performance (in that order), then you likely have a nuisance problem. If you can live with the nuisance, wait until you have the funds to make the repair or consider waiting until you have a necessary repair so you can “bundle” the labor costs. If you don’t know if a problem is serious or not, utilize that trusted local mechanic, local Corvette club members, or this forum for guidance. Being an informed, not arrogant, owner helps keep costs down too.
An example of bundling; I had leaky rear axle seals. The leaks weren’t severe enough to cause much more than minor spotting on the garage floor. I waited until I had a slave cylinder problem before getting the seals replaced. In the meantime, I kept an eye on the fluid loss until the repair was made. (I placed a piece of plastic on the floor so I could monitor the spotting and then would occasionally do an actual check of the fluid in the differential. The losses were so minimal that I didn’t have to add anything between oil changes and not every oil change did it need filling.) I drove it for about a year this way.
In order to access the slave cylinder, the rear cradle (includes the differential and axles), the transmission, and the torque tube needed to be removed. While they had the car apart, I opted to have the axle seals, torque tube bushings, and torque tube bearings replaced. They also performed upgrades on my transmission. The labor costs for all of this work was not significantly higher than what it would have been to just replace the slave cylinder. If I did each item individually, the labor costs could easily have been double to triple.
Good luck!
Many Corvette owners are fanatical about their car, but I’ll offer another perspective. Ask yourself if the repair is truly a problem or a nuisance. If it doesn’t affect safety / reliability / performance (in that order), then you likely have a nuisance problem. If you can live with the nuisance, wait until you have the funds to make the repair or consider waiting until you have a necessary repair so you can “bundle” the labor costs. If you don’t know if a problem is serious or not, utilize that trusted local mechanic, local Corvette club members, or this forum for guidance. Being an informed, not arrogant, owner helps keep costs down too.
An example of bundling; I had leaky rear axle seals. The leaks weren’t severe enough to cause much more than minor spotting on the garage floor. I waited until I had a slave cylinder problem before getting the seals replaced. In the meantime, I kept an eye on the fluid loss until the repair was made. (I placed a piece of plastic on the floor so I could monitor the spotting and then would occasionally do an actual check of the fluid in the differential. The losses were so minimal that I didn’t have to add anything between oil changes and not every oil change did it need filling.) I drove it for about a year this way.
In order to access the slave cylinder, the rear cradle (includes the differential and axles), the transmission, and the torque tube needed to be removed. While they had the car apart, I opted to have the axle seals, torque tube bushings, and torque tube bearings replaced. They also performed upgrades on my transmission. The labor costs for all of this work was not significantly higher than what it would have been to just replace the slave cylinder. If I did each item individually, the labor costs could easily have been double to triple.
Good luck!
01-10-2013, 03:34 PM
#28
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Member Since: Aug 2005
Location: Chandler AZ
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I’m in agreement with the others that say to find a local mechanic and do away with the dealership. (flame suit on for my next statement) For all intents and purposes, the Corvette is just like any other car. There are a few jobs that take Corvette expertise but most repairs can be made by a competent mechanic so long as they know how to properly lift the car.
Many Corvette owners are fanatical about their car, but I’ll offer another perspective. Ask yourself if the repair is truly a problem or a nuisance. If it doesn’t affect safety / reliability / performance (in that order), then you likely have a nuisance problem. If you can live with the nuisance, wait until you have the funds to make the repair or consider waiting until you have a necessary repair so you can “bundle” the labor costs. If you don’t know if a problem is serious or not, utilize that trusted local mechanic, local Corvette club members, or this forum for guidance. Being an informed, not arrogant, owner helps keep costs down too.
An example of bundling; I had leaky rear axle seals. The leaks weren’t severe enough to cause much more than minor spotting on the garage floor. I waited until I had a slave cylinder problem before getting the seals replaced. In the meantime, I kept an eye on the fluid loss until the repair was made. (I placed a piece of plastic on the floor so I could monitor the spotting and then would occasionally do an actual check of the fluid in the differential. The losses were so minimal that I didn’t have to add anything between oil changes and not every oil change did it need filling.) I drove it for about a year this way.
In order to access the slave cylinder, the rear cradle (includes the differential and axles), the transmission, and the torque tube needed to be removed. While they had the car apart, I opted to have the axle seals, torque tube bushings, and torque tube bearings replaced. They also performed upgrades on my transmission. The labor costs for all of this work was not significantly higher than what it would have been to just replace the slave cylinder. If I did each item individually, the labor costs could easily have been double to triple.
Good luck!
Many Corvette owners are fanatical about their car, but I’ll offer another perspective. Ask yourself if the repair is truly a problem or a nuisance. If it doesn’t affect safety / reliability / performance (in that order), then you likely have a nuisance problem. If you can live with the nuisance, wait until you have the funds to make the repair or consider waiting until you have a necessary repair so you can “bundle” the labor costs. If you don’t know if a problem is serious or not, utilize that trusted local mechanic, local Corvette club members, or this forum for guidance. Being an informed, not arrogant, owner helps keep costs down too.
An example of bundling; I had leaky rear axle seals. The leaks weren’t severe enough to cause much more than minor spotting on the garage floor. I waited until I had a slave cylinder problem before getting the seals replaced. In the meantime, I kept an eye on the fluid loss until the repair was made. (I placed a piece of plastic on the floor so I could monitor the spotting and then would occasionally do an actual check of the fluid in the differential. The losses were so minimal that I didn’t have to add anything between oil changes and not every oil change did it need filling.) I drove it for about a year this way.
In order to access the slave cylinder, the rear cradle (includes the differential and axles), the transmission, and the torque tube needed to be removed. While they had the car apart, I opted to have the axle seals, torque tube bushings, and torque tube bearings replaced. They also performed upgrades on my transmission. The labor costs for all of this work was not significantly higher than what it would have been to just replace the slave cylinder. If I did each item individually, the labor costs could easily have been double to triple.
Good luck!
01-10-2013, 03:43 PM
#29
Team Owner
Yep, I have seen them and, in fact, just fixed one on the wife's '02 C5 over the holidays. It was actually a combination front timing cover perimeter and oil pan leak that combined to create some glorious drops on the garage floor occassionally. Car has ~35K on the odo.
I fixed a leaking water pump on it at the same time.
I fixed a leaking water pump on it at the same time.
01-10-2013, 03:53 PM
#30
Safety Car
Member Since: Nov 1999
Location: Green and Wet Western Oregon
Posts: 4,109
Received 919 Likes
on
465 Posts
2023 C7 of the Year Winner - Unmodified
2018 C6 of Year Winner
Sherry - contact Randy at HRW Motorsports. I believe they are in Mesa (or Tempe?) He is a Premium Supporting Vendor here on the forum and has a shop specializing in Corvettes.
01-10-2013, 04:09 PM
#31
Team Owner
Be careful who you trust, this is especially true at dealerships. They are the lowest life forms on earth.
You could have one of a few things going on to cause a leak. Yes, the Oil pressure sensor is a possibility, but going to a local auto parts store and getting a non-gm part, then getting that installed, should resolve that once and for all. It should be a 1 hour job for any competent mechanic.
PCV could also cause a leak, and it's more likely than a bad pan gasket. This is an item any member would gladly find/fix for free. Cost is roughly 0, time is almost 0, headaches when its not working is a lot. Engines just sweat out oil when it's (PCV) not working properly/plugged.
Find a local mechanic. I suppose a Vette specialty shop is fine too, but I don't advocate that a person needs to be a Vette mechanic to be a mechanic. Cars are cars. Your Vette is no more different than an Accord than my Pickup is, yet nobody would tell you to find a Pickup mechanic or Accord Mechanic. They'd just say find a decent mechanic. There are fair ones out there. Very honest folks. All they have to do is have a little common sense and not lift your car by the fenders (as shown in another thread recently). Just ask them if they know how to lift a C5, if they know that, they're probably fine.
You could have one of a few things going on to cause a leak. Yes, the Oil pressure sensor is a possibility, but going to a local auto parts store and getting a non-gm part, then getting that installed, should resolve that once and for all. It should be a 1 hour job for any competent mechanic.
PCV could also cause a leak, and it's more likely than a bad pan gasket. This is an item any member would gladly find/fix for free. Cost is roughly 0, time is almost 0, headaches when its not working is a lot. Engines just sweat out oil when it's (PCV) not working properly/plugged.
Find a local mechanic. I suppose a Vette specialty shop is fine too, but I don't advocate that a person needs to be a Vette mechanic to be a mechanic. Cars are cars. Your Vette is no more different than an Accord than my Pickup is, yet nobody would tell you to find a Pickup mechanic or Accord Mechanic. They'd just say find a decent mechanic. There are fair ones out there. Very honest folks. All they have to do is have a little common sense and not lift your car by the fenders (as shown in another thread recently). Just ask them if they know how to lift a C5, if they know that, they're probably fine.
01-10-2013, 04:18 PM
#32
Team Owner
01-10-2013, 04:19 PM
#33
Melting Slicks
Best of luck!
01-10-2013, 05:37 PM
#34
Intermediate
I used Corvette Culture in Mesa for an oil change on my 1994 vert with good results. I was looking at some of their beautiful cars as I was in the market a few weeks ago. Very clean shop and helpful. I can recomend them for at least an opinion on your problem. I think they have advertised here.
01-10-2013, 06:08 PM
#35
Burning Brakes
Years ago, when I took a job as a service director (at a Porsche, Subaru dealer that was dropping considerably in profitability), I had to immediately start monitoring all requests for service tickets (non warranty, customer pay repair transactions) because all but a few of the mechanics were raping customers on "repairs" that were not needed.
I had to fire one guy within the first week because not only was he recommending repairs that were not needed, but he also was sabotaging cars to add to the bill (one of his specialties (and the reason I posted) was creating fake oil leaks where he would loosen bolts on the oil pan, let it leak a bit, then recommend a labor intensive and very expensive gasket replacement.........then he would leave the car on the lift, go have a coffee or two and come back and simply tighten the bolts,.."problem solved, repair completed"). This is near criminal behavior in my mind.
I was also embarrassed to discover that women were targeted more than men because of the general perception that they knew less about mechanical things than males. Myself and the owner of the dealership had a meeting with the entire service department to address the issue (along with a new hire (a Master Mechanic) that became our shop foreman). Every ticket and need for repair would be double checked by the shop foreman (who was salaried, not on commission). This system cleaned up the business very quickly and we soon had a reasonable reputation and were profitable legitimately.
Many consumers do not realize that the service departments at dealerships make the business more money than the car selling, sales department.
If you believe that this type of behavior has occurred at this dealership, ask for an appointment with the service manager/general manager/owner to review all repairs completed at their facility........make photocopies of all the receipts and if you think you have been taken advantage of,.......contact the Better Business Bureau, the local TV station (Fox 5 On you side) or ask him to contact the Factory Service Representative on your behalf (ask when he will next visit their dealership, usually once every 3 months or so). This will generally get some goodwill action on their part.
Take the advice given by other members, find a good mechanic (found by recommendation) and stay with him.
I had to fire one guy within the first week because not only was he recommending repairs that were not needed, but he also was sabotaging cars to add to the bill (one of his specialties (and the reason I posted) was creating fake oil leaks where he would loosen bolts on the oil pan, let it leak a bit, then recommend a labor intensive and very expensive gasket replacement.........then he would leave the car on the lift, go have a coffee or two and come back and simply tighten the bolts,.."problem solved, repair completed"). This is near criminal behavior in my mind.
I was also embarrassed to discover that women were targeted more than men because of the general perception that they knew less about mechanical things than males. Myself and the owner of the dealership had a meeting with the entire service department to address the issue (along with a new hire (a Master Mechanic) that became our shop foreman). Every ticket and need for repair would be double checked by the shop foreman (who was salaried, not on commission). This system cleaned up the business very quickly and we soon had a reasonable reputation and were profitable legitimately.
Many consumers do not realize that the service departments at dealerships make the business more money than the car selling, sales department.
If you believe that this type of behavior has occurred at this dealership, ask for an appointment with the service manager/general manager/owner to review all repairs completed at their facility........make photocopies of all the receipts and if you think you have been taken advantage of,.......contact the Better Business Bureau, the local TV station (Fox 5 On you side) or ask him to contact the Factory Service Representative on your behalf (ask when he will next visit their dealership, usually once every 3 months or so). This will generally get some goodwill action on their part.
Take the advice given by other members, find a good mechanic (found by recommendation) and stay with him.
01-10-2013, 07:01 PM
#36
Race Director
LOL. Hope not! Have had the oil pressure sending unit replaced 3 times now by the shoddy shop I took it to, which is why I brought it back to Chevy!!! Over torqued it I believe. Causes it to fail and leak so I've been through that many times. This is the problem, I have to trust them that's what the leak is. They are already repairing it now or I would have taken it to get another opinion.
01-10-2013, 07:16 PM
#37
Melting Slicks
Just my 2 cents,like everyone else. If it's paid off and you love it like I do, keep it. It's still cheaper fixing it, than payments for 4-6 yrs on a new one. I've been thinking about new one myself, but LOVE not having payments. Now about the oil leaks, I just had two fixed by Corvettes of Houston. One was the oil pan, the other was the rear seal. Total was a little under $1800,this included a oil and super charger oil change too. The kicker is like everyone says, find someone in a club to help with labor, my labor was $1400. Good luck and keep the car,$1200 is still cheaper in a year than over $6000 in payments. L8R ZFLASH
01-10-2013, 07:44 PM
#38
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Member Since: Aug 2005
Location: Chandler AZ
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Also today's ended up paying 975 for the oil pan leak gaskets, it was top one leaking, oil, labor was 90% of cost. I will be definately looking for corvette club so this doesn't happen again. Thanks
01-10-2013, 07:46 PM
#39
Drifting
Funny all the references to women geting taken advantage of. I know some pretty gullible fellers too.
I agree with others about finding an independent. I have a bodyshop and some of the worst repairs I have seen came out of dealers. Far as the car goes it's 11yo. If you don't want to spend money on repairs....buy a Honda.
I agree with others about finding an independent. I have a bodyshop and some of the worst repairs I have seen came out of dealers. Far as the car goes it's 11yo. If you don't want to spend money on repairs....buy a Honda.
01-10-2013, 07:51 PM
#40
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Member Since: Aug 2005
Location: Chandler AZ
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just my 2 cents,like everyone else. If it's paid off and you love it like I do, keep it. It's still cheaper fixing it, than payments for 4-6 yrs on a new one. I've been thinking about new one myself, but LOVE not having payments. Now about the oil leaks, I just had two fixed by Corvettes of Houston. One was the oil pan, the other was the rear seal. Total was a little under $1800,this included a oil and super charger oil change too. The kicker is like everyone says, find someone in a club to help with labor, my labor was $1400. Good luck and keep the car,$1200 is still cheaper in a year than over $6000 in payments. L8R ZFLASH