Action: Car owner gets some bad news

My complaint is against two Chevrolet dealerships, Michael Holley Chevrolet in Lakeland and Register Chevrolet in Brooksville. One of them needs to take responsibility for what happened.

I purchased my car, a 2001 Cavalier, on March 13 from Register Chevrolet. I purchased the extended warranty and have only had my car serviced at Register. I had the oil changed at 3,000 miles, and again at 6,000 miles. At 7,200 miles, I had to return to the dealership because it had failed to tighten up the oil filter all the way and oil was leaking into the engine, causing it to smoke. During that same visit, I also mentioned a noise coming from the driver's front side tire area and when the brakes were applied, the noise stopped. The mechanic looked at the car and could not find anything wrong. This is noted in the paperwork, but the way it was written up was we complained of a noise around the engine on the driver's side. This is incorrect; it was around the tire.

Now this brings us to July 23, when my wife was involved in a car accident. She ran into the back of another vehicle. The car suffered damages estimated at $8,000 and had to be towed, first to an impound lot and then, on July 31, to Michael Holley Chevrolet. I have full coverage insurance, so I thought this was not going to be a problem.

Everyone at Michael Holley was very nice and helpful, and everything seemed to go just fine. It took three weeks for the car to be fixed. On Aug. 20, I got a call that it just needed to be taken for a test drive and would be ready to be picked up on Aug. 22. On Aug. 22, I got a call and was told that after the test drive, the dealership found a problem with the brakes and the driver's side brake caliper needed to be replaced. The next day, the dealership called again and said there was a serious problem with the brakes. This is where the problem begins. The technicians had found that the brake fluid had been contaminated. This had compromised the entire brake system. All the seals and gaskets were swollen; all the brake lines closed; everything ruined. The entire brake system had to be replaced. The Michael Holley service technician said he couldn't understand how Register Chevrolet could have missed this. The parts alone cost around $2,000, so he advised me to call Register and see what it wanted to do.

I immediately called the service manager at Register. He said there was no way this could have happened at his shop. I then called Michael Holley back and talked to the collision manager and two service managers. All these men denied any acceptance of blame and insisted it had to be Register's fault. I called the Register service manager again, and again he insisted it was not Register's fault. He suggested I call Chevrolet customer service, so this is what I did.

I was referred to a specialist. My situation is investigated, and a GM representative checks out my vehicle. The specialist then calls me back and says she is very surprised at the way things turned out, but Chevrolet was not taking any responsibility for this and the problem was not covered under warranty.

My next step was to talk to the general managers of both dealerships. The bottom line is that both deny the problem could have happened at their dealerships. They advised me to call my insurance company. The insurance lady said that since there had been no vandalism and there was no police report, it could not be filed under my comprehensive coverage. She could not believe that both dealerships were refusing responsibility.

This is when I decided I needed help. I have contacted everyone I can think of, including you. I eagerly await and look forward to hearing from you. Steven Joiner

Response: Oh dear, unless some other party you contacted had success, we're afraid you're not going to like the resolution we achieved: none.

Tom Paroz, body shop manager at Michael Holley Chevrolet in Lakeland, said that though the company is sympathetic to your situation, the brakes were never part of the estimate on items to be repaired. Something other than brake fluid appears to have contaminated the brake system, he said, causing the rubber hoses to swell and shut off the flow. How or when this happened is unknown.

Tom Wiley, general manager of Register Chevrolet in Brooksville, said he feels your claim that his dealership is somehow responsible for the failure of the brake system is unfounded. There are two reasons for this, he said. First, you brought your car in to the dealership because of an oil leak at 7,300 miles, and the accident did not happen until nearly 2,000 miles later. He said the contaminated brake fluid that caused the rubber seals to swell might have allowed you to drive 500 miles, but never 2,000. Second and more importantly, he said you reported to him that the car had brakes at the time of the accident. Thus, it was only after the accident that the problem arose. The question, he said, is that if the car had brakes at the time of the accident, why didn't it afterward? He said it is possible that a brake line was broken as a result of the accident and that this could have caused the lines to swell.

With regard to the noise you had reported earlier, he said the car was checked and nothing was found to be wrong. Given that it was under warranty, and that the manufacturer pays the dealership $68 per hour in labor charges for warranted repairs, there is no reason not to repair a car under warranty. In this instance, however, there was nothing wrong.

If you have a question for Action, or your attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write: Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, (727) 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, (800) 333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request for Action. Names will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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