Champion Chevrolet, Reno, NV - purchased used 1996 Chevy Suburban - oil and temperature gauges not operating properly - unhappy with service received

Business Reply - December 16, 2004 - From: Email User Business

Dear Manager at complaints.com, This is the Internet Manager at Champion Chevrolet in Reno NV. And I was informed that you had two complaints on us on your web site. I want to know if you can please remove them from your site because we have done our research and found that they are untrue! We did not sell a 2003 Cavalier with animal hair. We make sure that things like that do NOT happen in our dealership. We don’t hold anything against your site, but would appreciate it if those two complaints weren’t on there. Thank you Champion Chevrolet

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on December 24, 2002:

From: Kerin, Jennifer [Email User]

RE: Champion Chevrolet, Reno, NV - purchased used 1996 Chevy Suburban - oil and temperature gauges not operating properly - unhappy with service received

Never before have I had such a great and awful experience in my whole life as at Champion Chevrolet on Kietzke lane in Reno Nevada. I have never been fond of car dealers as they always seem to want to make a deal no matter what it takes but for once I found the one car dealer who seemed to care what his customer wanted and needed. His name is Kacee Kanu and he puts customer satisfaction on top!! He really went out of his way to please my husband and I. But all good things come to an end. My husband and I are newlyweds who plan on having children one day, so we went out in search of an older Suburban with lower miles but in our price range (well, isn't that what most people look for). We went out looking on the lot and in the very back was a 96 Chevy suburban with lower miles and definitely in our price range. Great!!! We decided to take it, but I had heard Kacee say he didn't know if it was ready as it had just arrived on the lot. (Which should have been my first clue that something might not be right)? Well, he went and asked and came back and we wheeled and dealed and ended up taking our suburban home that night, very excited about our great experience. I was so excited that I wanted to write a letter to Champion about how, for once, I had really enjoyed a car dealer and the experience. Well, I am glad that I never had the time to sit down and write that letter because here I am writing a complaint. A few days later I noticed a black liquid sprayed along the side of the car and that the oil and temperature gages were not operating correctly. I called my husband (who is stationed in Oklahoma with the United States Army) and he informed me to call Kacee. I called and it was all set up to bring the car back to have it fixed. When he delivered the car back to my work, washed and full of gas =) , he informed me that as far as he knew, the problem was fixed. (Which should have been my second clue!) He informed me that there was a broken seal that lead to the oil leak, but they did fix that and it was done free of charge. Great! A few weeks later, the gages again, started going wacky. This was in November and my husband wasn't coming home again till December so I figured it could wait till he got home and he could take it in (as yes, he is a man, and they would probably not try to screw him). I did call and make the appointment to bring it in. He brought the car in on December 23, and waited for the call back with the diagnostic. When they called back with the $950.00 dollar repair bill, my husband and my mouth hit the floor!! We had purchased an extended warranty that should have only cost us $50.00 to fix anything! Well, the only thing not covered under the warranty was gaskets and leaks, which was exactly wrong with the vehicle. My husband immediately asked to speak to a manager who just made the problem worse. He absolutely insulted my husband's intelligence by informing him that he wasn't a mechanic so how did he know that the vehicle was sold to us in that shape and how did he know that we didn't cause the problem. This is the manager there!!!!! Well, Kacee informed us that he would talk to the general manager to see if they could fix it for any less and I got on the phone and immediately called other mechanics to get a price quote. I was astonished again after talking to a wonderful mechanic in Carson City who would charge us (for the exact same fix) $58.00 including labor!!! Well, let me think, 950.00 or 58.00, hmm, ?

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