1. I first brought my van in to Van Buren during the last two weeks of April 2005.
2. I was told it needed a new internal fuel pump. I was given a price for a rebuilt fuel pump and agreed to the repairs.
3. Van Buren called me mid-May to tell me the rebuilt pump was not working. They suggested I would be better off with a new pump for an additional $400-$500. I agreed to the repair.
4. The job was finished on June 2, 2005. They had found rust in the tank and cleaned it, changed the internal pump, the secondary pump, the shutdown celanoid and filter. The total was $3,355.07.
5. The bill stated that the van had been brought in on May 20 and finished on June 2. The van had actually been there for 7 weeks since the end of April, not May.
6. When I picked the van up on June 2 I was told there was a 12-month/12,000 mile warranty on the repair.
7. When I went to the gas station the next day I found they had broke off the locking gas cap and replaced it with a regular gas cap without mentioning it to me.
8. At the end of August 2005 I started to notice a slight problem with the way the van was running.
9. I brought it to my mechanic who checked the filter and found nothing unusual.
10. The van continued to run poorly so I called Van Buren who told me to bring it over in a week.
11. At that time I was also told that the van was garbage and asked to sell the van to a friend of his.
12. I brought the van in to be checked on the computer and they told me the problem was triggers for the pump, turbo and something else that I do not remember.
13. They added some lubricating cleaner to the gas tank took it for a ride and then told me it ran good. It was explained to me that sometimes the plunger (shut down cleaned) gets stuck. Thinking they had fixed it, I left.
14. Within two days the van was not running well again. I called Van Buren was again asked to sell my van to his friend and then told to bring the van back in three weeks as they were very busy.
15. I brought the van back in and for the first two weeks when I called at the end of the week I was told they were checking it out. During the third week I called everyday and was told the same, they were looking into it.
16. On Thursday of the third week the secretary told me they had not had a chance to look at my van yet. I was at this point upset.
17. On Friday of the third week I called them at 2p.m. and they told me the van was ready. After three weeks with my van the supposed repair apparently only took hours. Since they had not contacted me regarding the repairs I assumed it was under the warranty.
18. When I went to pick up the van I noticed that my front grill was now cracked. They told me I need a new plunger and they added more of the lubricating cleaner. They told me the repair would not be under the warranty because it had been gunked up with dirt from the gas. We argued over the terms of the warranty and he agreed to refund the plunger to my credit card. I also mentioned the cracked grill and the gas cap. I asked why they had not just called me for the key to the gas cap instead of breaking it off. I was offered a free oil change for the gas cap but told that he did not think they had broken the grill. I at this time paid another 414.61. After leaving I noticed the dates on the repair was marked Nov 9-11 when actually it was OCT 17-NOV 11
19. Two days later I began to have the same problems with the van. I called GMC and also complained to them about the gas cap and the grill on the front of my van.
20. GMC called Van Buren and then called me back and told me the problems would have to be resolved with Van Buren directly. I explained to them that I was not confident of their work and wanted to take my van to another GMC dealer but I was told that no other dealership would warranty the work if they had not done it themselves.
21. Put the payment for the last repair in dispute with my credit card company.
22. I called Van Buren to make an appointment to bring the van back in and was told to bring it in 3 weeks. I also asked about the return of the plunger that was supposed to be charged back to my card and was told they could not refund it because there was water in the plunger.
23. I brought the van in three weeks later and was told they could not take it because they were too busy. I was once again asked to sell the van to his friend and told to bring it back in three weeks.
24. I now brought the van to my own mechanic who checked it over and told me the internal pump was shot and that it should be warranteed and replaced by Van Buren.
25. December 20, 2005, I brought the van back to Van Buren, told him what my mechanic had found and was told that if that was the case and the pump was contaminated it would not be covered by the warranty and I would be responsible for the bill.
26. It took 4 weeks for them to call and leave a message that the fuel filter was dirty. I tried to return their call for a week but they never called me back.
27. I consulted my friend who is a head mechanic for Ford in Florida and he told me that he did not trust what they were telling me.
28. Van Buren told me they saved what came out of my filter to show me the problem, but when I got there he walked around checking coffee cups and cans and then told me he could not find it. I had him call my friend in Florida to explain what they had found that could have passed through a filter that I change every 2,500 miles.
29. My friend later explained to me that there were certain procedures that Van Buren should have followed if in fact the gas was what had caused the problem. I then went back to Van Buren to check the gas in the gas line of my van. We did find metallic particles in the fuel. I asked if we would find particles in any of the other vans if we checked them and was told that no we would not. We did check them and we did find particles also.
30. I now contacted the actual dealership and told the owner the problems I had been having with Van Buren. He asked me questions regarding the mileage at the time of the original repair and now. He told me he could not believe what was happening with my van and that I was still in the warranty period and that he would have the van brought to him and have the repairs done under the warranty. His service manager would call me back to make the arrangements.
31.After contacting Van Buren to make the arrangements the owner called me back to tell me that Van Buren had not used a GMC part and therefore he could not warranty it and that I should call the manager at Van Buren and see what he could do.
32. I called Van Buren and asked why they had not used a GMC part and was told that the part they used is GMC recognized. That the part that was there was the same. I told him this was a problem. When I bring my vehicle to GMC dealer I expect to get GMC parts and buying new I thought that was what I was getting.
33. It has now been 9 weeks since I have had my van that I use for work. I make at least $500 a day and have lost many days of work by not having my van to use. I was never told the new pump would not be a GMC part. I at this point am not even sure he did put a new pump in because they did not mark it down on the bill but charged me the extra money compared too there first estimate. Every time I bring my van there it is kept there for weeks and marked with shorter time periods on the bills. This dealer has a seperate location for truck service
I appreciate anything you can do
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