MWG2

Do you all remember a member who went in for the 30K service and the dealer charged him to "Flush and change the Power Steering Fluid?" Well...

My neighbor had it happen to him last week on his 2006 HHR.

HELLO GM! When are you going to wake up and put some pressure on your dealers to be HONEST??!!!

GM's own HHR marketing literature states: “EPS (Electronic Power Steering) eliminates the use of an engine-driven power steering pump, as well as the corresponding fluid reservoir and plumbing, reducing both fuel consumption and the potential source of an environmental contaminant.”

Since my neighbor paid the invoice, it now constitutes fraud because money was exchanged for something that was never performed nor could ever be performed. He has spoken with his attorney and they are filing a complaint with the State Attorney General and also suing the dealer for fraud.

Generally, I loathe litigation, but when a dealer charges for something that can't be performed because it's not there...well...that really, truly is wrong. (Like the dealer years ago that charged me to fix my car's Air Conditioning when the car didn't have an Air Conditioner!!!)

The dealer my neighbor went to is giving Chevrolet a bad name...a really bad name. This is one of those dealers that I hope DOES bite the dust. They have no business being in business.

oneton

Was it listed and charged as a separate service or as part of a 30K service as one price? What did dealer say or did he asks? Did he ask before work was done what was done on a 30k for X $xxx.xx ?

MWG2

One price, and the Power Steering Flush was listed as one of the items that was performed.

He did not say anything to the dealer when he got the invoice; it was "after hours" and only a cashier was there, no service person was available and he needed to pick up his car.

You asked a VERY GOOD question above: "Did he ask before work was done what was done on a 30k for X $xxx.xx ?"

I just called him a asked him that and he said that he did ask the service advisor and the answer was "The 30K service as stated in the car's manual." And as you know, the HHR manual does not state to flush the power steering fluid (because there isn't any).

solman98

Might have been some sort of service package that can include a list of things. And they only do what is required for a particular vehicle....

Kinda like all those that state "chassis lube" when most are a sealed system anyway. dunno

hhrcrafty

Why doesn't he just go back and ask for his money back first?

SandyBeach

My next trip to the dealer will be for the 30K service. They already told me it would be around $500. Kind of excessive, don't you think?

InkTheFlesh

With EPS, you have to flush the electrons, and add new ones.

MWG2

Because it is unethical to charge someone for work that was never performed. You have to nip-it-in-the-bud. What if a person doesn't know there isn't any Power Steering Fluid, pays for it and that's it? The dealer then has ripped-off a customer and was paid for something that was never performed. That is just plain WRONG. There is no excuse for what they did.

BigMOCats

Might just be a general list of services offered at that mileage. Does not necessarily say they performed it if it was all combined into one package. I'm not a lawyer but I think I could letigate this dealer out of any responsibility. Hope his lawyer was his brother-in-law and he's doing pro bono work!

hhrcrafty

It's also unethical for a lawyer to file a frivolous claim with the courts. If he really wants to sue, he needs to go through small claims. The AG isn't likely to do much because of the value of the loss, and any judge with a full docket will probably dismiss the case and tell you to file it in small claims.

Seriously, he's better off asking for his money back first. When it comes to trial, the first thing the other side or even the judge is going to ask him is whether he did that or not. If they tell him to go pound sand, that's one thing, but keeping a silly case out of the system is another. The other problem you run into is that the description of services performed is always going to vary in scope from vehicle to vehicle. A large truck with locking diffs and 4WD is going to require different service procedures, but if they're charging the same amount for more labor than they do on the HHR, they're essentially making up the loss on the profit on the HHR. That's generally considered good business practice and courts are wary to screw around with that.