Oh goodie…

[Jeff]

The car in question is a 2000 Buick Le Saber Custom 3.8l V6 Series II. This car belongs to my 75 year old grandmother who is on a limited income.

I’m going to try and make this short.

So I was using her car one day, and noticed that the brake light was coming on either turning left or sometimes right. I figured it was low, and I was correct, so I topped it up. She asked me to take it to the local repair shop (Firestone). So I told her I would do that.

So I went to Firestone to have them do the free brake inspection, and they decided to do their free courtesy check as well, thought I didn’t ask for it.
After they tell us that the back brakes need replaced one is leaking fluid, and the car needs 4 new tires, she declined until she would be able to afford the work. They put a new tire on it last year, so it really only needed 3, so I went a head after a few days and bought 2 new tires from them.

After the tire visit is when things started going iffy with the car. We noticed it was getting only warmish air, and that the car was just getting hot quicker than normal and the temp gauge was nailed in the center and never went past that. (not normal for this car to get to the center mark). After going to the store and talking to my grandmother in the car we both hear gurggling and then a loud “dong” which was the thermostat opening bone dry…(though I didn’t think anything of it at the time). Never heard this with her car before. I also saw a small puddle under her car at the store, but didn’t think it was hers as another car had just left the same spot.

After driving the car for a few more days, it was giving off no heat and was getting hot. So I figure it just needed coolant.. Well come to find out the lower coolant hose was completely off .. I shoved it back on and took it back to Firestone and demanded they correct it, which they did. Just to note, this car never had a coolant leak until after the visit from firestone.

Cutting this short here.

After their fix, the car just dumped coolant like it was running out a tap, and I was buying coolant every few days. I ended up doing what I never do.. I dumped stop leak into it.. I couldn’t afford coolant every few days.. This stopped the leak for the most part..

I ended up filing a complaint with the BBB, and Firestone sent out an independent inspector to look at the car. Took them over a week of me emailing them to get a copy of the report only to find out they won’t take liability for this.

I have a few questions, and I am going to quote a few parts of the inspection.

There were also coolant stains running down the rear of the engine consistent with an active leak emanating the intake gaskets and oil and coolant puddles accumulated on top of the intake from the aforementioned leak. The inspector also observed the aforementioned stains were mixed with road dirt and debris indicating they had been active long-term and were not leaks that originated recently.

I underlined the part I thought was strange, between the BBB complaint, waiting on firestone to contact me, and then waiting for them to have someone inspect it took about a month. You would think that this is to be expected that it would have dirt and debris during the leak, considering it was being driven…

The inspector watched as approximately a pint of water was added to the cooling system until it was verified to be full in the radiator

Inspector did no such thing.. Inspector was outside on the phone…. Water?! I really hope not, that stuff freezes ya know, though I was there the whole time, really couldn’t tell what it was as the jug was dirty as heck….

The subject vehicle was started and the inspector verified it started and ran with no unusual noises or excessive smoke at start up;

Lies! Motor was shaking and revved up and went to normal idle, no more shaking… Yet doesn’t state this..

however, after running the engine to operating temperatures, white smoke – steam was blowing out the exhaust consistent with an internal engine problem.

White smoke started only after visiting firestone. internal engine problem.. wounder what caused that… oh firestone… duh.

The inspector verified when the A/C compressor engaged neither the engine nor the condenser electric cooling fan motors engaged or ran indicating problem(s) in the cooling fan system that will require additional testing and diagnosis to pinpoint the root cause and extent of the problem(s).

More lies! Never even tested this, so no need to put it down.. As for the fans, they work just like they should.. The A/C has never worked on this car… So no you did not look or test it….

The previous replacement of the tires courtesy check service and brake inspection were quality services that neither caused nor contributed to the external coolant leaks, coolant consumption or internal engine problem suspected.

When I tried to ask them why the cars hood was up during the tire replacement, they couldn’t or just wouldn’t answer me on that. Firestone also ignored me on that one too. They even tried to stone wall me a few times, trying to tell me that it could of happened once they topped up the coolant due to pressure. Well I’m not new to cars, I just don’t work on them cause I don’t have the space or tools required.. But if this was the case, then the liability would STILL fall on them. I never asked for their courtesy check and I didn’t ask them to top up the coolant.. :angry:

Sorry for the long post, here are my questions.

Is this car worth fixing? I’m sure its going to cost more than its worth if they have to pinpoint what the failure is caused by..
Should I take legal action? Considering nothing was wrong with the car before the visits to firestone?
Should I just try to replace the car? This will be a last ditch effort..

Topic

[Jeff]

[quote=”ChrisKaye” post=157812]For what it’s worth, you can get the time and date stamp from your photo if you *copy* it onto your PC and download a free program that reads EXIF information! A free program called “irfan view” or something springs to mind…
Keep the original photo on the phone as could be admissible as evidence if you ever go to court.
Good luck![/quote]

Yeah I still have the photo on my phone, and the properties on the photo show the picture was taken 11/13/15 at 4:21pm

[Jeff]

I’ve left reviews and have posted all over FB in local groups that are around the shops area. The comments were as I thought they would be, bad. I’ve now learned a lot of bad things about this shop, and I will try to keep spreading the word.

I am going to post the go fund me link, I hope that everyone understands that I only do this because my grandmother really needs help fixing this car.

https://www.gofundme.com/9dks97a4

If you can help, thank you. If you can’t help, I understand. All I ask is that you share it. This is kinda like the Fix it Forward project, only you are helping me help my grandmother fix her car!

(if this isn’t allowed or you just want me to remove the link, I will do so)

[Erin]

Radiator hoses are a PITA to remove even when you WANT them to come off. Maybe the tech had removed it and forgot to tighten it.

Firestone does kind of suck. I went there years ago for some deal on a coolant flush on a taurus i just bought. Figured the coolant could use service at whatever good price they offered ($40 maybe?). They came back and said I needed a new water pump, flush and fill, serpentine belt, and alternator. $400 for everything. The alternator was “just because” basically. No, “Just because” is a reason to give you other half the gift of fine jewelry when it is not a holiday.
I declined. The water pump and alternator lasted at least until we sold the car 30,000 miles later.

Moral of the story – avoid Firestone.

[Jeff]

Well figured I would give a little update here.

So for the last week and this week, the car has been having problems after starting. It will run for a few then starts having chugging and surging and a loud sucking sound can be heard, and sounds like someone opened the air filter box at times. Most times when it does this, the car stalls, and it can take up to 3 times to get it to stay running, and sometimes it still stalls when put into gear now.

Well today was one of those days, took 3 starts to keep it running and when I put it into R it stalled again. After that, I restarted it and it ran fine with no problems. However I had to pick up my nephew from his bus stop and drive him all the way to his fathers house, which is a 44 mile trip from where I pick up my nephew. Well half way down there the transmission started acting up, jerking and shifting oddly on the way there. It also happened on the way back as well. I think the fluid needs changed and the filter, however with the newest problem being the start ups and stalling, that will just have to wait.

I think it might be best to just find her another car….

[Author]

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