Dealer warranty experiences

[cobber112879]

Not trying to start a mechanical post. Just curious about users experiences with dealerships and the age old dilemma of Faulty Components vrs Customer abuse. One of our vehicles is a 2002 Saturn SL1. This car is primarily my work commuter car. Last week it developed a horrible engine noise. Three teeth broke off the timing chain cam gear. 38000 kms. Dropped it off at Saturn. Get it back with a crappy look and a lecture from the service manager. He said warranty will be difficult because I do my own maintenance and I do not use a 21000872 SATURN Oil Filter (made by Fram). I explained that I keep my own records of date and mileage of oil changes. I service all 3 of my cars every 3500kms. I also explained that the Puralator filters I use filter to the same micron level and use the same anti oil drainback. This was not satisfactory in his opinion. I asked if they had changed my oil and filter then. He said no because everything was nice and clean in there. I see no reason to be treated this way. These guys must get so much shit from warranty admin. over engine repair.

[Alpine Autowerks]

not all dealers treat warranties the same way. Try taking your car to northeast saturn, they have even warranty modded cars, you doing oil changes yourself should be no problem

[CalgarySS]

Brutal.

Take the car to another dealership and write a polite letter to the owner of the first dealership explaining why you went elsewhere.

Make sure to explain that everyone that you know and everyone that you meet will hear this story.

Perhaps provide a link to this thread...

[cobber112879]

Thanks for the advice. They still fixed my car, however he had to be a dink when he gave me my keys. Just left a bad opinion of the place in my head, and I feel the whole discussion was unnecessary. Why did he feel that I needed to leave pissed off. Some people are just miserable I guess.

[cocoabrova]

My family has bought 4 cars (2 personally) from Sunridge Mazda in the last 2 yrs. and I've never had anything but good experiences with their service, whether it was warranty or routine maintenance. I also do my own servicing/do my own installs, and it has never caused a problem with any warranty issues I've had:thumbsup:

[cobber112879]

I know the shop foreman at Sunridge. Jerry is a great guy and a very knowledgable tech. I have absolutley no doubt you have great experiences there.