irmerm
07-18-2009, 09:02 PM
The following is the ongoing story about my clutch replacement on my car. Just need to vent a little:
Alright, so I got my car in late May from Carmax (used w/ 19k miles). About 3-4 days after I got the car, I noticed that the clutch starting to slip a bit on the highway. I checked my Carmax 30-day warranty and was delighted to learn that the clutch (including disc) is covered. Now, I know you might think I should upgrade, but you can't beat a free clutch replacement, even if it is the inferior stock unit.
Very late May: I take the car to carmax and they tell me that it does not feel like clutch slip to them. Also, their techs have never worked on an Evo X. They tell me that the car does seem like it's acting a little weird and I should take it to Mitsubishi Dealer to have it diagnosed and if the clutch is indeed the problem, Carmax will replace it.
2nd week of June: I finally get around to taking the car to the Mitsu Dlr. I drove 50 miles out of town, as the local Mitsu Dlr pissed me off when I was shopping for my Evo (They require a credit check to test drive an Evo and they're not afraid to lose customers over that). The Mitsu Dlr of course agrees with me that the clutch is on its way out. I call Carmax and they order the parts
Late June: Parts finally arrive (after two and a half weeks of waiting) at carmax. I ask Carmax if they will be doing the job or if the car will go to a Dlr or specialty transmission shop. Carmax confidently tells me that they can handle the Job. What's more, I am told that they should be able to get it done in one day.
Thurs, 7/2: I take the car to carmax the moment their service department opens and head to work. Later in the day, they call and say that they will not be done with the car till friday. No big deal at this point.
Fri, 7/3: Carmax calls to inform me that the technician who was working on the car is out sick because he pulled a muscle in his back the night before when he was working on my car. Carmax gives me a piece-o-crap loaner (Kia Optima) for the weekend
Mon, 7/6: Today is the first day of my week and a day long vacation, during which I intended to spend some quality time with my car. I go kayaking this day and pretty much don't worry about the car, since carmax is still working on it.
Tues, 7/7: carmax informs me that the technician is still working on the car and he is steadily making progress. The car should be done later in the day. Later in the day, they tell me the car is not done. Turns out it's a lot of work and a complicated job afterall.
Wed, 7/8: I get a call in the morning that the car is back together, but carmax ran out of transmission oil and they have sent someone out to go get some. Then they just need to allign it and it will be done. Later in the day, still no fluid and so the car does not get done.
Thurs, 7/9: Carmax finally gets the transmission filled, but their alignment machine does not have the specs for the 2008 Evo, so they are sending it to NTB to be aligned. Later in the day I call NTB and they say it's done and they are waiting for camax to pick up the car. At this point I am excited. A little while later I talk to carmax and they tell me that the steering angle sensor needs to be calibrated and neither NTB nor Carmax have the computer required, so it needs to go to the local dealer (the douchebag dealer mentioned above). So the car goes to the dealer at like 5 in the afternoon and I am told that they will try to get it done quick so I can get the car back today. This of course does not happen and I am told they will have to calibrate it in the morning.
Fri, 7/10: I call carmax and the dealership on multiple occasions and am being told that the car is being worked on and that the dlr is running into some trouble. So a little later in the day I call the service manager at the dlr and find out that the car won't take the calibration and they will need to diagnose it. They tell me they are busy today and will not look at it till monday. Now I'm getting a little ticked off, since I have spent almost my entire vacation driving a Kia Optima (Also, my first payment is due, and it ain't cheap). I run down to carmax to complain and they are very apologetic. I ask for another loaner (something better) and end up with a Scion tC, which at least is kinda sporty.
Monday, 7/13: Accepting that the car is probably not getting done today, I go to Six Flags and have a good time on the last day of my vacation.
Tues, 7/14: Back to work. I call the dlr to check on the car and I am told that the steering rack and subframe were reinstalled incorrectly and had to come off the car. Car not getting done today.
Wed, 7/15: I call the dealer and find out that they are still working on it
Thurs, 7/16: I am told that some seals had to be replaced on the rack and pinion and that a sensor also needs to be replaced, but the part is not in. Apparently, the rack was installed off center and this caused damage to some of the components. They will get the part friday and promise that the car will be done by noon on friday
Friday, 7/17: I call the dealer around lunch and am told the car is not quite done, but will be done in the afternoon. All this time, I am being told that they are actually working on the car. Later in the day, I find out that they will not be finishing it today, in spite of their promise from the previous day. The dealer tells carmax that the technician who is working on the car will make come in saturday (he usually does not work on saturdays) for the express purpose of finishing my car. Since carmax service is closed on saturdays, I am told I can pick the car up at the dealer when it's done.
Sat, 7/18 (today): I call the dealer around 10am (they close at noon, btw) and the service advisor working today tells me that he checked with the technician and the technician said there is quite a bit of work left to be done and the car probably won't be ready today. WTF?? I get off the phone with this guy and call the service manager at the mitsu dlr. He takes down my number and says he will call me back. About 30 minutes go by and I call again. The service manager tells me that the car will not be ready today, because there are about 3-4 hrs of work left to do of putting the car back together and doing the alignment. He explains that they had multiple "customer cars" come in this week and they get higher priority, bla bla bla. I tell him that I might well become their customer if I ever need work done on the car, but he does not care. He offers no apologies for any of the multiple broken promises. He tells me that my car is next up and it should get done on monday.
I hope they get the damn thing done on Monday. I think it's a shame that they choose to run their business this way. They are the only mitsu dlr in a 50 mile radius and I guess they are contempt pissing off potential customers. Needless to say, the car will NEVER EVER go there again, even if I have to pay to tow it the 50 miles to the next dlr (Automax Mitsu in Killeen, TX). At least they have a guy there with an Evo X (he's modded it too) that knows he's doing.
I feel better already just getting all that off my chest...
Alright, so I got my car in late May from Carmax (used w/ 19k miles). About 3-4 days after I got the car, I noticed that the clutch starting to slip a bit on the highway. I checked my Carmax 30-day warranty and was delighted to learn that the clutch (including disc) is covered. Now, I know you might think I should upgrade, but you can't beat a free clutch replacement, even if it is the inferior stock unit.
Very late May: I take the car to carmax and they tell me that it does not feel like clutch slip to them. Also, their techs have never worked on an Evo X. They tell me that the car does seem like it's acting a little weird and I should take it to Mitsubishi Dealer to have it diagnosed and if the clutch is indeed the problem, Carmax will replace it.
2nd week of June: I finally get around to taking the car to the Mitsu Dlr. I drove 50 miles out of town, as the local Mitsu Dlr pissed me off when I was shopping for my Evo (They require a credit check to test drive an Evo and they're not afraid to lose customers over that). The Mitsu Dlr of course agrees with me that the clutch is on its way out. I call Carmax and they order the parts
Late June: Parts finally arrive (after two and a half weeks of waiting) at carmax. I ask Carmax if they will be doing the job or if the car will go to a Dlr or specialty transmission shop. Carmax confidently tells me that they can handle the Job. What's more, I am told that they should be able to get it done in one day.
Thurs, 7/2: I take the car to carmax the moment their service department opens and head to work. Later in the day, they call and say that they will not be done with the car till friday. No big deal at this point.
Fri, 7/3: Carmax calls to inform me that the technician who was working on the car is out sick because he pulled a muscle in his back the night before when he was working on my car. Carmax gives me a piece-o-crap loaner (Kia Optima) for the weekend
Mon, 7/6: Today is the first day of my week and a day long vacation, during which I intended to spend some quality time with my car. I go kayaking this day and pretty much don't worry about the car, since carmax is still working on it.
Tues, 7/7: carmax informs me that the technician is still working on the car and he is steadily making progress. The car should be done later in the day. Later in the day, they tell me the car is not done. Turns out it's a lot of work and a complicated job afterall.
Wed, 7/8: I get a call in the morning that the car is back together, but carmax ran out of transmission oil and they have sent someone out to go get some. Then they just need to allign it and it will be done. Later in the day, still no fluid and so the car does not get done.
Thurs, 7/9: Carmax finally gets the transmission filled, but their alignment machine does not have the specs for the 2008 Evo, so they are sending it to NTB to be aligned. Later in the day I call NTB and they say it's done and they are waiting for camax to pick up the car. At this point I am excited. A little while later I talk to carmax and they tell me that the steering angle sensor needs to be calibrated and neither NTB nor Carmax have the computer required, so it needs to go to the local dealer (the douchebag dealer mentioned above). So the car goes to the dealer at like 5 in the afternoon and I am told that they will try to get it done quick so I can get the car back today. This of course does not happen and I am told they will have to calibrate it in the morning.
Fri, 7/10: I call carmax and the dealership on multiple occasions and am being told that the car is being worked on and that the dlr is running into some trouble. So a little later in the day I call the service manager at the dlr and find out that the car won't take the calibration and they will need to diagnose it. They tell me they are busy today and will not look at it till monday. Now I'm getting a little ticked off, since I have spent almost my entire vacation driving a Kia Optima (Also, my first payment is due, and it ain't cheap). I run down to carmax to complain and they are very apologetic. I ask for another loaner (something better) and end up with a Scion tC, which at least is kinda sporty.
Monday, 7/13: Accepting that the car is probably not getting done today, I go to Six Flags and have a good time on the last day of my vacation.
Tues, 7/14: Back to work. I call the dlr to check on the car and I am told that the steering rack and subframe were reinstalled incorrectly and had to come off the car. Car not getting done today.
Wed, 7/15: I call the dealer and find out that they are still working on it
Thurs, 7/16: I am told that some seals had to be replaced on the rack and pinion and that a sensor also needs to be replaced, but the part is not in. Apparently, the rack was installed off center and this caused damage to some of the components. They will get the part friday and promise that the car will be done by noon on friday
Friday, 7/17: I call the dealer around lunch and am told the car is not quite done, but will be done in the afternoon. All this time, I am being told that they are actually working on the car. Later in the day, I find out that they will not be finishing it today, in spite of their promise from the previous day. The dealer tells carmax that the technician who is working on the car will make come in saturday (he usually does not work on saturdays) for the express purpose of finishing my car. Since carmax service is closed on saturdays, I am told I can pick the car up at the dealer when it's done.
Sat, 7/18 (today): I call the dealer around 10am (they close at noon, btw) and the service advisor working today tells me that he checked with the technician and the technician said there is quite a bit of work left to be done and the car probably won't be ready today. WTF?? I get off the phone with this guy and call the service manager at the mitsu dlr. He takes down my number and says he will call me back. About 30 minutes go by and I call again. The service manager tells me that the car will not be ready today, because there are about 3-4 hrs of work left to do of putting the car back together and doing the alignment. He explains that they had multiple "customer cars" come in this week and they get higher priority, bla bla bla. I tell him that I might well become their customer if I ever need work done on the car, but he does not care. He offers no apologies for any of the multiple broken promises. He tells me that my car is next up and it should get done on monday.
I hope they get the damn thing done on Monday. I think it's a shame that they choose to run their business this way. They are the only mitsu dlr in a 50 mile radius and I guess they are contempt pissing off potential customers. Needless to say, the car will NEVER EVER go there again, even if I have to pay to tow it the 50 miles to the next dlr (Automax Mitsu in Killeen, TX). At least they have a guy there with an Evo X (he's modded it too) that knows he's doing.
I feel better already just getting all that off my chest...