Sears screwed my car up!
Sears screwed my car up!
So, yesterday, i took my 02 GS430 back to sears (Sears of Bowie, MD) for the 3rd time so they could do an alignment. The only reason why i let them do my alignment is because i got my Michelin Pilot Sports A/S tires from them and they mounted and balanced them. They told me i needed an alignment as well. The first two times, the alignment was perfect for the first day, then the next day it would be off again. So, thinking that it could be my steering rack bushings because they said my steering was was moving, i got the Daizen steering rack bushings installed by my trusted mechanic. Well, he told me to take it back to them for an alignment(i have the alignment warranty with Sears) to get my steering wheel back on center after he installed the bushings. I took it to Sears yesterday morning at 8:00. There was only one tech there. He finally gets to my car around 10:30. He does the alignment, we test drive it, but the steering wheel is off center to the left a little. He takes it back and say's he'll do it again. The second time we test drive it, the car is drifting some and the steering wheel is still off center. So he say's, "i probably need to do something with your tie rods." He puts it back on the alignment machines, and starts messing with stuff. Then, he takes off my front left wheel and brake calipers and starts screwing with something. I'm asking myself why he needs to do all of this. He then balances my two front wheels again because he said that he may have knocked off the balance which is why the steering wheel is shaking. We test drive it again and the steering wheel is still shaking, plus there is a noise coming from my front right brake! He takes it back, and finds that he didn't torque the wheels tight enough. Another test drive and there is a clunking noise from the brakes. He takes off the wheels again and the brake caliper and tries to grease up some stuff or whatever. He say's something about the brake sensor so he has to move some stuff around. All in all, he couldn't figure out what the noise was. He said to take it somewhere else to get it fixed, and he'll tell his manager they have to pick up the tab. I drove away with the noise still there and the steering wheel still shaking.
Well, i took it to Lexus of Annapolis. They told me that guy put the brake pad on backwards. I need new front brakes and rotors ($735). They did an alignment and Road Force balance. They also said that there is some rear camber bolt that is frozen and can't be turned, so in order to do the alignment the bolt would have to be replaced. The labor would include taking apart the whole suspension and would be about $700. The Lexus guy said that Sears could not have been doing an alignment if they have never even turned that bolt. Well, there is gonna be a very big bill. I called the Sears manager and informed him of the bill, and he said that "we can do the brakes for much cheaper, the dealership is always going to try to take us to the cleaners when they found out we did something wrong." The Sears manager hasn't approved anything yet so he told me to get the dealer to fax him an estimate of the stuff that was wrong. He sounded as if he wasn't going to take full responsibility of the cost of items.
Can anyone provide me any guidance or course of action in this matter?
Thanks
Well, i took it to Lexus of Annapolis. They told me that guy put the brake pad on backwards. I need new front brakes and rotors ($735). They did an alignment and Road Force balance. They also said that there is some rear camber bolt that is frozen and can't be turned, so in order to do the alignment the bolt would have to be replaced. The labor would include taking apart the whole suspension and would be about $700. The Lexus guy said that Sears could not have been doing an alignment if they have never even turned that bolt. Well, there is gonna be a very big bill. I called the Sears manager and informed him of the bill, and he said that "we can do the brakes for much cheaper, the dealership is always going to try to take us to the cleaners when they found out we did something wrong." The Sears manager hasn't approved anything yet so he told me to get the dealer to fax him an estimate of the stuff that was wrong. He sounded as if he wasn't going to take full responsibility of the cost of items.
Can anyone provide me any guidance or course of action in this matter?
Thanks
Pole Position
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 376
Likes: 0
From: Washington
So, yesterday, i took my 02 GS430 back to sears (Sears of Bowie, MD) for the 3rd time so they could do an alignment. The only reason why i let them do my alignment is because i got my Michelin Pilot Sports A/S tires from them and they mounted and balanced them. They told me i needed an alignment as well. The first two times, the alignment was perfect for the first day, then the next day it would be off again. So, thinking that it could be my steering rack bushings because they said my steering was was moving, i got the Daizen steering rack bushings installed by my trusted mechanic. Well, he told me to take it back to them for an alignment(i have the alignment warranty with Sears) to get my steering wheel back on center after he installed the bushings. I took it to Sears yesterday morning at 8:00. There was only one tech there. He finally gets to my car around 10:30. He does the alignment, we test drive it, but the steering wheel is off center to the left a little. He takes it back and say's he'll do it again. The second time we test drive it, the car is drifting some and the steering wheel is still off center. So he say's, "i probably need to do something with your tie rods." He puts it back on the alignment machines, and starts messing with stuff. Then, he takes off my front left wheel and brake calipers and starts screwing with something. I'm asking myself why he needs to do all of this. He then balances my two front wheels again because he said that he may have knocked off the balance which is why the steering wheel is shaking. We test drive it again and the steering wheel is still shaking, plus there is a noise coming from my front right brake! He takes it back, and finds that he didn't torque the wheels tight enough. Another test drive and there is a clunking noise from the brakes. He takes off the wheels again and the brake caliper and tries to grease up some stuff or whatever. He say's something about the brake sensor so he has to move some stuff around. All in all, he couldn't figure out what the noise was. He said to take it somewhere else to get it fixed, and he'll tell his manager they have to pick up the tab. I drove away with the noise still there and the steering wheel still shaking.
Well, i took it to Lexus of Annapolis. They told me that guy put the brake pad on backwards. I need new front brakes and rotors ($735). They did an alignment and Road Force balance. They also said that there is some rear camber bolt that is frozen and can't be turned, so in order to do the alignment the bolt would have to be replaced. The labor would include taking apart the whole suspension and would be about $700. The Lexus guy said that Sears could not have been doing an alignment if they have never even turned that bolt. Well, there is gonna be a very big bill. I called the Sears manager and informed him of the bill, and he said that "we can do the brakes for much cheaper, the dealership is always going to try to take us to the cleaners when they found out we did something wrong." The Sears manager hasn't approved anything yet so he told me to get the dealer to fax him an estimate of the stuff that was wrong. He sounded as if he wasn't going to take full responsibility of the cost of items.
Can anyone provide me any guidance or course of action in this matter?
Thanks
Well, i took it to Lexus of Annapolis. They told me that guy put the brake pad on backwards. I need new front brakes and rotors ($735). They did an alignment and Road Force balance. They also said that there is some rear camber bolt that is frozen and can't be turned, so in order to do the alignment the bolt would have to be replaced. The labor would include taking apart the whole suspension and would be about $700. The Lexus guy said that Sears could not have been doing an alignment if they have never even turned that bolt. Well, there is gonna be a very big bill. I called the Sears manager and informed him of the bill, and he said that "we can do the brakes for much cheaper, the dealership is always going to try to take us to the cleaners when they found out we did something wrong." The Sears manager hasn't approved anything yet so he told me to get the dealer to fax him an estimate of the stuff that was wrong. He sounded as if he wasn't going to take full responsibility of the cost of items.
Can anyone provide me any guidance or course of action in this matter?
Thanks
Good Luck
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,645
Likes: 1
From: Richmond
well, I don't know but how much does it cost for a lawyer to deal with this? because I'm always thinking it'll be much too expensive to deal with anything under 2K... There's a small claims court for things under a thousand here I believe, but it'll also be much of a hassle to go through and take the time so I've coughed up quite a few things in life already including the recent problem with a local shop with my suspension install leading to problems...
damn.. that sucks. take legal action and i'm pretty sure they will be more than happy to pay for what they damaged.
i had a problem at sears here in CA, but not as bad as you. all they had to do was change my tire (on some 15" TOM's wheels I had) , but instead, they scratched my lip, actually, more like they carved a peice of my lip off. And the dude tried to tell me its not his fault, but when I take it there, I'm risking that. And I was like WTF?!? And I asked to talk to his manager, and he told me that he was the manager. (full of BS).. and I was already pissed since he messed up my rim, and hes being stupid with me. So I shoved the mechanic, pulled my right arm back quickly, made him flinch because I was about the knock the **** outta him, but then my homie put me in check and stopped me. (my temper was really bad at the time) Then we went inside looking for the REAL manager, he finally came out, I explained the situation, and the manager offered to pay everything, the cost of repairs, and my money back, then he talked to the stupid mechanic. But yeah.. I never went back to sears after that whole situation like 5-6 years ago.
i had a problem at sears here in CA, but not as bad as you. all they had to do was change my tire (on some 15" TOM's wheels I had) , but instead, they scratched my lip, actually, more like they carved a peice of my lip off. And the dude tried to tell me its not his fault, but when I take it there, I'm risking that. And I was like WTF?!? And I asked to talk to his manager, and he told me that he was the manager. (full of BS).. and I was already pissed since he messed up my rim, and hes being stupid with me. So I shoved the mechanic, pulled my right arm back quickly, made him flinch because I was about the knock the **** outta him, but then my homie put me in check and stopped me. (my temper was really bad at the time) Then we went inside looking for the REAL manager, he finally came out, I explained the situation, and the manager offered to pay everything, the cost of repairs, and my money back, then he talked to the stupid mechanic. But yeah.. I never went back to sears after that whole situation like 5-6 years ago.
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I have this too. I align my car about once every two months at various different Firestone locations around my area. I make sure they print out camber spec sheets so I can see they actually fixed something.
Update:
UPDATE
Well, i was supposed to fax the estimate from Lexus to the Sears manager. What do you know, the fax number he gave me doesn't work! So i called him and he told me that he'll call the dealership. He spoke with my service advisor which told him that in order for them to do the brakes, the front rotors have to be replaced because they were down to the minimum. He also told him that they can't do an alignment because that bolt is stuck. The bolt is $60, but the labor for it would be $520.
The manager from Sears called me back. He said that he was on his way out and we could talk more tomorrow. But he did tell me that he has nothing to do with that bolt, since they didn't touch it. My thing is, how have you been doing an alignment if you haven't been touching that bolt? He said that in most cases, they can heat up the bolt till where it turns. But the service advisor from Lexus said that doesn't work all the time. The Sears manager told me that he would refund me for the alignment that i got last year and this year. He also said that the rotors were not his problem, because they are only responsible for the brakes. But since Lexus will not do the brakes without doing the rotors, then that is a decision that i will have to make. He said, i can bring the car back to him and they can do the brakes without doing the rotors.
We are supposed to talk more tomorrow, but it sounds as if ima get screwed. My time for taking off of work and this headache obviously means nothing to them. The way i look at it, Sears should pay Lexus for everything! Or, if they can do it cheaper, they should order me new rotors, brakes, and perform the labor on that bolt all for free. I don't want to back off of this.
I'll keep you guys updated.
Thanks for your responses
Well, i was supposed to fax the estimate from Lexus to the Sears manager. What do you know, the fax number he gave me doesn't work! So i called him and he told me that he'll call the dealership. He spoke with my service advisor which told him that in order for them to do the brakes, the front rotors have to be replaced because they were down to the minimum. He also told him that they can't do an alignment because that bolt is stuck. The bolt is $60, but the labor for it would be $520.
The manager from Sears called me back. He said that he was on his way out and we could talk more tomorrow. But he did tell me that he has nothing to do with that bolt, since they didn't touch it. My thing is, how have you been doing an alignment if you haven't been touching that bolt? He said that in most cases, they can heat up the bolt till where it turns. But the service advisor from Lexus said that doesn't work all the time. The Sears manager told me that he would refund me for the alignment that i got last year and this year. He also said that the rotors were not his problem, because they are only responsible for the brakes. But since Lexus will not do the brakes without doing the rotors, then that is a decision that i will have to make. He said, i can bring the car back to him and they can do the brakes without doing the rotors.
We are supposed to talk more tomorrow, but it sounds as if ima get screwed. My time for taking off of work and this headache obviously means nothing to them. The way i look at it, Sears should pay Lexus for everything! Or, if they can do it cheaper, they should order me new rotors, brakes, and perform the labor on that bolt all for free. I don't want to back off of this.
I'll keep you guys updated.
Thanks for your responses