Bad Service Alert - Nemith Motors, Colonie NY

I'm in one of those 'what was I thinking when I brought the car
here?' situations. Back in March
we were bringing our '88 240 DL in for service on the throttle body &
IAC, when the overdrive
stopped working en route. I asked them to check it over, especially the
kickdown cable, relay
(which I said I thought was ok) and wiring. Two days later were told
that 'The overdrive unit has
failed' and that we needed a rebuilt transmission installed for about
$3100.00. Yeah, right. I took
the car home, did some research, and it seemed clear that it was the O/D
*solenoid*, not the actual O/D unit (thanks to those here who helped
with that). I got the part for $80, and brought the car to an
independent Volvo/Saab shop to have it installed. They did so, and that
solved the problem (along with replacing a frayed length of wiring).
Total cost: slightly under $300.00. That wasn't the end, however...

The Indie shop found that the left hood hinge was broken, and the
kickdown cable O-ring
was leaking fluid. Since I hadn't opened the hood myself, I brought the
car back to Nemith,
explained the situation, noted the 10X inflated repair estimate, and
asked them to replace the
hinge, O-ring and pan gasket. I offered to pay for the parts. The
service manager wrote down
what was wrong, told me to leave the car, and gave every impression that
they'd fix those two
problems. We have had services performed there over the last six
years, including a power flush
last August (minor screwups, but nothing major) and I really thought
that they were going to make this right.

Wrong. First I got a message from the same service manager saying
that they would NOT
be performing any "free repairs" on the car, but would give an estimate
if I liked. His boss
offered to refund the $39.50 we had been charged for the estimate, but
said that they wouldn't
even have looked at the lower cable end, or the transmission at all.
Apparently $39.50 gets you a quick look at the throttle cable
connection, and they click the O/D button a few times, nothing more, but
on this they said I needed a $3100 rebuilt transmission. Or they DID
look at the cable, and managed to bend it enough to make the O-ring
fail. HIS boss backed him up.
He further said that when they gave a diagnosis, I could choose whether
or not to have the
repair made, and they had no responsibility for the accuracy. At one
point in our increasingly
heated conversation he stated that 'It might be more fun to let you sue
us' to get the estimate
refund.

So, after nearly causing us to give the car to charity because of a
misdiagnosed transmission
'failure', Nemith would rather have complaints filed against them with
the state Attorney General
and Better Business Bureau than do work that would cost them about $100
in actual labor. I got
the impression that this won't be the first complaint filed against
them, and they essentially don't
care. Let my misfortune be a warning to other people in my area...

--






http://www.albany.net/~mjc1/index.html

I found that they also launder lemons and resell them...Nemith Motors962
Loudon RoadLatham, NY 12110($2,248.50 in consumer restitution)
Nemith Motors962 Loudon RoadLatham, NY 12110($2,248.50 in consumer
restitution)http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:NZapfILXw5oJ:www.oag.state.
ny.us/press/2003/mar/lemon_law_list.pdf+nemith+motors,+volvo&hl=en


Nemith Motors962 Loudon RoadLatham, NY 12110($2,248.50 in consumer
restitution)Nemith Motors962 Loudon RoadLatham, NY 12110($2,248.50 in
consumer restitution)Nemith Motors962 Loudon RoadLatham, NY 12110($2,248.50
in consumer restitution)Nemith Motors962 Loudon RoadLatham, NY
12110($2,248.50 in consumer restitution)

"Michael Cerkowski" <mjc1.RemoveThis@albany.net> wrote in message
news:9b2dnZAJUvm4sQ3dRVn-sw@thebiz.net...
 > I'm in one of those 'what was I thinking when I brought the car
 > here?' situations. Back in March
 > we were bringing our '88 240 DL in for service on the throttle body &
 > IAC, when the overdrive
 > stopped working en route. I asked them to check it over, especially the
 > kickdown cable, relay
 > (which I said I thought was ok) and wiring. Two days later were told
 > that 'The overdrive unit has
 > failed' and that we needed a rebuilt transmission installed for about
 > $3100.00. Yeah, right. I took
 > the car home, did some research, and it seemed clear that it was the O/D
 > *solenoid*, not the actual O/D unit (thanks to those here who helped
 > with that). I got the part for $80, and brought the car to an
 > independent Volvo/Saab shop to have it installed. They did so, and that
 > solved the problem (along with replacing a frayed length of wiring).
 > Total cost: slightly under $300.00. That wasn't the end, however...
 >
 > The Indie shop found that the left hood hinge was broken, and the
 > kickdown cable O-ring
 > was leaking fluid. Since I hadn't opened the hood myself, I brought the
 > car back to Nemith,
 > explained the situation, noted the 10X inflated repair estimate, and
 > asked them to replace the
 > hinge, O-ring and pan gasket. I offered to pay for the parts. The
 > service manager wrote down
 > what was wrong, told me to leave the car, and gave every impression that
 > they'd fix those two
 > problems. We have had services performed there over the last six
 > years, including a power flush
 > last August (minor screwups, but nothing major) and I really thought
 > that they were going to make this right.
 >
 > Wrong. First I got a message from the same service manager saying
 > that they would NOT
 > be performing any "free repairs" on the car, but would give an estimate
 > if I liked. His boss
 > offered to refund the $39.50 we had been charged for the estimate, but
 > said that they wouldn't
 > even have looked at the lower cable end, or the transmission at all.
 > Apparently $39.50 gets you a quick look at the throttle cable
 > connection, and they click the O/D button a few times, nothing more, but
 > on this they said I needed a $3100 rebuilt transmission. Or they DID
 > look at the cable, and managed to bend it enough to make the O-ring
 > fail. HIS boss backed him up.
 > He further said that when they gave a diagnosis, I could choose whether
 > or not to have the
 > repair made, and they had no responsibility for the accuracy. At one
 > point in our increasingly
 > heated conversation he stated that 'It might be more fun to let you sue
 > us' to get the estimate
 > refund.
 >
 > So, after nearly causing us to give the car to charity because of a
 > misdiagnosed transmission
 > 'failure', Nemith would rather have complaints filed against them with
 > the state Attorney General
 > and Better Business Bureau than do work that would cost them about $100
 > in actual labor. I got
 > the impression that this won't be the first complaint filed against
 > them, and they essentially don't
 > care. Let my misfortune be a warning to other people in my area...
 >
 > --
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
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