I took my car to the dealership this morning to have a few minor rattles and squeals fixed. Those were:
1. Driver's side window makes a screeching sound 90% of the time when being lowered, sounds like the rubber squealing on the glass.
2. There is a wierd little rattle coming from the driver's side dash someplace.

Do you know what they told me? The told me that MY EXHAUST has caused excessive vibrations in the car, causing the dash fittings to loosen, creating the little rattle. NOW they want to charge me for the inspection (2 hours, 72/hr), and they are denying warranty coverage for that and the window (although they have yet to explain to me WHY the exhaust vibration would cause the window seal to squeal).

What in the name of all that is holy should I do? Do I just go directly to SoA, or what? To add a little fuel to the fire, this dealership lost my business originally when they farted around with my preorder. I ended up buying it in Jacksonville so that I could get the first in florida.

take care,
rob

Tell them to say hello to your little friend:

:monkey:

The dealers have to prove that an aftermarket part caused the failure/warranty claim. Ask them for written documentation describing how an aftermarket exhaust, mounted using rubber exhaust hangers, could transmit vibrations into the chassis, through the chassis, etc. That'd be a good read.

Just tell them to QUANTIFY their claim - as in provide difference in vibration measurement btw stock & your a/f mkt exhaust. Also, tell them to provide upper and lower limits (tolerance) of vibration specification for different components of your car. That will shut them up.

Tell them your lawyer seems to think that they're misinterpreting the scope of the Magnusson-Moss Act, and that you'd be happy to file suit against them in order to clarify it for them.

This is a shining example of what I've been talking about on warranty claims!!! The dealer doesn't give a RAT'S A$$ about the Magnusson-Moss Act, or proving that the exhaust caused the problem!

They blame it on an aftermarket part and refuse to fix the problem under warranty. Your options are to actually take them to court and pay out of pocket to fix the car, or take the car to another dealer and hopefully they'll be more reasonable.

Since most people don't have the time to take the dealer to court, they win and they realize this.

Theory is nice, but it's not reality... Be very careful when modifying your car...

OK, the dealership has come to their senses. I spoke to the general manager, and he treated it as if someone was telling me a joke. They lubed my window seal a little and the rattle was a loose clip. When I asked what they meant by the exhaust, he said, "Someone was very confused." When I asked if the exhaust was a problem, he said "well, we can't warranty any exhaust problems you have." I think someone was trying to make a fast buck or something and got repremanded. Well, at least I got a profuse apology out of it.

Makes me wary, though.

Excellent resolution! :D

I found out how to fix the window screeching problem.

I did not have this problem when I bought the car but started happening after a couple thousand miles.

The problem was: DIRTY WINDOW!!

I am not sure if this is true for other people, but when I had cleaned the front windows with windex, inside and outside, the sound was gone. I know it will happen again when it gets dirty and this isn't the permanent fix, but it works.

Make sure you rub off all rubber off the windows.

...funny, my window squeeks when it's not dirty. I always figured it was my car screaming for a dusty gravel road :)

Originally posted by Star*Child
...funny, my window squeeks when it's not dirty. I always figured it was my car screaming for a dusty gravel road :)

Logging road run in Duvall? ;)

:lol: ...it's been a while since my last run and my window is getting squeeky again. ;)

Originally posted by Conduit
OK, the dealership has come to their senses. I spoke to the general manager, and he treated it as if someone was telling me a joke. They lubed my window seal a little and the rattle was a loose clip. When I asked what they meant by the exhaust, he said, "Someone was very confused." When I asked if the exhaust was a problem, he said "well, we can't warranty any exhaust problems you have." I think someone was trying to make a fast buck or something and got repremanded. Well, at least I got a profuse apology out of it.

Makes me wary, though.

hell yeah! good to see they came through. If I EVER have them make up some rediculous excuse like that, I'm gonna freak!

-C

I'm happy to see you were successful. But I fear you were just lucky. It's a shame that you had to go through that.

I don't care what anyone says if you make some noise they will fix the problem. Just don't do any major engine mods and you will be fine. My dealer is cool about my mods. A couple of the mechanics have STi stickers stuck on their tool chests and most of the time they jump to work on mine. They like me and my car so they do me right.

Every dealership has a dummy (well, not mine...yet). If you wind up dealing with this guy, you're going to freak out. Always go over someone's head until you get the answer that you want is today's valuable lesson.

Glad it all worked out. FYI, I've had my car in for service to fix a minor rattle, and all my dealer wanted to know is how I liked the Cobb cat-back. :lol:

Kevin