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This spring I had some troubles with my Car, a 99 Dodge Intrepid. I was in town, and always have my car serviced at Gillis Motors, in Hayward, WI where I live. So I brought it there, they gave me a loaner vehicle and told me that they would call me the next day and let me know what was wrong.
They finally called three days later, letting me know that it was something in the engine, a part they would have to replace, and by doing so they would also have to replace the water pump to get to it. So I told them to of
course, go for it.
Two weeks later I finally stopped in to see what was taking so long. They told me that they had put the part in (the bill this far $900), but that it was not the problem after all -- it was my engine. It had a sludge build up, and basically had to be replaced or junk the car out. The obvious choice for most would have been to junk the car, but being that money is tight, and I still owed 3200 on the car -- I had no choice but to have them go ahead and put the new engine in. They told me that it should be done in about a week, and they would not charge me for the previous repairs.
Well, a total of two months later, my car was finally done, and a used engine put it. They had given me a quote of 3500. When I went to pick it up, they bill was 4200...because they put the new parts they had put on the old engine into the new/used one. Expensive, but at least I FINALLY had my car back.
About a week later, memorial weekend I was heading to Eau Claire, WI for my best friend's wedding. Not even 50 miles down the road my car started pulling to the right and soon realized my power steering had gone out. So, I pulled over and checked my fluids. They were all fine, but I noticed that me serpentine belt had come off -- not broken, but come off in one piece. Luckily I was close enough to a small town, so I drove it to a garage and let a note. The next week I called them and they told me that my tensioner pulley had worn down into the bracket, and it was going to be about 200 to replace it.
I called Gillis Motors immediately, being that the engine was only in for a week and it was supposed to come with a 30 day warranty. The man that is in charge of service told me that they had taken that whole thing off of my old engine put on the replaced one. He also go the number for the garage it was at, and told me he would call them.
Well, basically to wrap this up, Gillis would not agree to pay for it, or even pay for the parts (that had to be purchased through a Chrystler dealership).
In the end, I got the parts from the garage, and had a friend look at it. There was a piece on the back off the pulley missing, which is why it wore down and eventually froze.
The best part in the end is I found out that they charged me $500 over the cost of what they payed for the engine (the one it took them two months to replace), and they also money for the old engine (my original engine) when they return it, and I was not given any sort of credit for it. I also found out that the intrepids with a 2.7 ltr V6 engine (like mine) are known for having this problem with sludge build up -- and Chrystler is not doing anything about it, and the dealers will make it seem that you are at fault when really it is out of your control.
So, be careful when purchasing these vehicles, and be cautious when having your vehicle worked on here.
L W LaSavage
Hayward, WI
