tdupuis

Dropped my truck off last night to have the steering wheel straightened out (first question is why is it off after only 9400 miles?). They say they'll do it and it'll be ready for me first thing in the morning. Call at noon, it's not ready, should be ready mid afternoon. Call at 3, they say it'll be done in 30 minutes. Show up at 3:50 as the guy's taking it off the alignment rack. I go with him on the test drive and he guns it, shifts at high revs etc. Mind you, engine is cold. I tell him to take it easy and he gets angry at me, saying he's an all-knowing diesel tech, etc. etc. After all that, the steering wheel is STILL off, this time to the right instead of to the left, and I don't have time to leave my truck with them (and their disrespecting mechanics) to get it fixed.

Meanwhile whenever my mom's taken her Volvo or Infiniti to the dealer it's ready when they say it will be, the people are courteous and respectful of the vehicles, and the problem is actually fixed. I think I'm going to find myself another dealer in the area and hope that they can fix stuff better. At this rate, I might as well fix problems with the truck myself! This is why I hate warranties.

midwestdually

why werent you driving?? and that sucks

tdupuis

I told him I'd drive, and he said he had to for insurance reasons (meanwhile I'm going it's my truck, I'm always insured while driving it). While this guy was trying to back up the truck in the shop three times in a row he hit 5th instead of reverse. I was really unimpressed if he was supposedly the best technician they had. I was a mechanic at a shop and whenever I drove a customer's car I drove it the way it needed to be driven to diagnose the given problem. Sometimes cars need to be driven hard to tell if you fixed the problem or not. With steering, not the case. When the customer is in the vehicle with you and specifically instructs you on how he wants you to drive the vehicle, DEFINITELY not the case.

Oh well. Anyone know of a good dealership in the Terre Haute area?

Hemi Cat

The best dealership I've ever been to for sales AND service is the Saturn dealers. They treated us like first class people and took care of all warrenty work imediately and gave us a car wash to boot. They were actually courteous to us when we asked to have warrentee work done!!!! Now our local Dodge dealer is just like they have been for the past 30 years

BigBlue

First off, if someone barked at me about driving my own truck, I'd whoop his rear end right then and there. It's my truck, I tell you how to drive it, not the other way around. Second, I'd be getting a hold of his boss, his boss's boss, and his boss's boss's boss. That's bull stuff right there.

signature600

I'm with BB on this one, it's YOUR truck.

riderdog

Took truck to 5 star for oil/service. Told them of fumes in cab and asked them to remove air intake and check holes for plugs. Said they would. When truck "done", I asked if they had done this-no wasn"t needed-got "theory of airflow" speech from mechanic 3 times. Also 70 mph vibration doesn't exist per air flow "engineer".
Should have known better, had previously taken 360/auto gasser in to them for bad stutter/miss at around 3k rpm. Same mechanic told me that "no one drives at that speed" and their resident "supertech" said "they all do that"-this after $300+ "tuneup" failed to fix problem.

R.M.THOMPSON

a 17mm socket and a 3/8 ratchet will fix the wheel being off, Just remember when turnig the coupling on the steering linkage is twice the amount by the time it gets to the steering wheel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took me three tries to home in on dead center ( a 1/4 turn on the coupling =1/2" on the wheel) As for the alignment, I'd find a top notch shop i the area you live and take it there with the right specs,it is critical on our trucks as the camber is very sensitive.

thames1948

My steering wheel is off center too. I know it was straight when I bought it. What causes it to to do that?

Hemi Cat

Wear and things setteling and bending causes the steering wheel center to move. The correct way to take care of this is to center the steering wheel and adjust the tie rods to align them with the rears. In other words do a front end alignment. You can do the pull the wheel and turn it and reinstall it trick but you also change the steering gear center position and will get into the loose part of the gear internals. The worm and sector shaft gears are on slight tapers to tighten the backlash when in center, and loosen up while turning to reduce drag and friction. This will keep the free movement in the steering wheel down to a minimum while driving straight. As far as the mechanic driving the truck like that, he should be fired!!

BigBlue

I remember when the new mustang cobras came out, some lady brought her's in for service saying it had low power. The tech took it out and ragged the ever living dog stuff out of it. Then he posted it on the internet. He was sued. Now, this guy didn't post on the internet, but I'd still threaten him with some kind of legal action. That, or a good old fashioned attitude adjustment.

tdupuis

Went by the dealership to complain. They didn't wish to do anything about it. Time to find me another dealership!

crobtex

tdupuis,

You sound like a really nice guy.............maybe too nice.

Get MAD! Get LOUD! Get their ATTENTION! You are in the RIGHT!

Geico266

I cannot agree more! Standing in the showroom floor talking LOUD, then LOUDER about a service problem will get it fixed.

Hounddog

You should really never fix a off center steering wheel by moving the steering wheel.It can also be straight on the alignment rack(floating plates were front wheels sit)and go crooked as it hits pavement.Usually slight wear or belt in a tire etc.Frustating to techs and happens a lot.The tech in this case is a argonant *** as LOTS are this day and age.The dealer I go to has TWO techs who are real class acts in the butt wipe dept.THEY forget who really PAYS their wages.Warranty or not.