Hi everyone.  My wife and I are going through an unexpected conflict with a local dealership car repair shop, and I really need advice on what to do.  Here are the particulars. After several years of driving an old 15-year old unreliable beater Oldsmobile Moneypit, we finally saved enough ($5,000) to buy a decent used car, a 1991 Buick Century Custom.  Wanting to take really good care of our new pride and joy, we took it to a local Buick dealership to have their repair shop give it the once-over for us, and to get it tuned up. It was running smoothly already, except for a barely noticeable, very mild knocking sometimes, but we just wanted to know for a fact that we were starting out with our new car on the right foot.  We really wanted to take good, conscientious care of it, and getting it tuned up to specs seemed like a good starting point. The guy who handles customer relations at the repair shop

I think your idea about having a second shop investigate is a good one.  How did you pay for your bill?  In situations like this (actually, any more, just about any transaction I do) I pay with a credit card.  This gives you a bit more leverage than cash or a check would. I'd suggest taking it to another shop for a look over.  Don't tell them about your previous experience.  When they diagnose the problem, let them know about the previous work and find out if something done there could have been the cause.  If so, get them to put this is writing.  At this point you can go back to the original shop with some leverage to see how they would like to handle this.  In a worst case situation you could dispute the charge with your credit card company, submit a letter stating why you think the company should not be paid, and submit a copy of your statement from the second auto shop. Of course, the likely outcome of this is that the fates simply conspired against you and you're just going to have to suck it up and deal with all of this. I speak from recent experience here.  My 1989 Chevy Cavalier with 90k miles on it had a slight leak coming from the valve cover.  I took it into a shop to have the valve cover gasket replaced.  The car was running fine.  When I picked it up it ran fine for a few miles and then the valves started chattering like crazy.  Took it back in and the whole shop huddled around the car for an hour

Steve, I don't pretend to be an auto mechanic; I do know enough to be dangerous , as the saying goes. What you're feeling in the wheel is an engine harmonic. These can be felt when the engine idle may be too low, especially noticable on an older car where the manufacturing tolerances on valvetrain- and crankshaft-related parts, i.e. pistons, rods, rod bearings, etc. are near being exceeded or already have. I'd GUESS that raising the engine idle SHOULD squelch your vibration problem and your dealer should do that free of charge. If it doesn't, then it would have something to do with the engine timing and I'd venture a further guess that for $500, they may have adjusted it. If it is the engine timing, then you MIGHT have seen a slight difference in the engine performance. I don't mean to imply that it wouldn't have the same 'feel' in its acceleration, but it may seem a little sluggish when the car is accelerated quickly, e.g. if/when the transmission 'kicks down', then appear to have all its power after a slight brief sluggish moment. Unfortunately, if you haven't 'lived' with the car all that long, you may not have acclimated to its personality yet. If you were to review your receipt and notice that they may have adjusted the ignition timing, I'd bring it back and tell them you were told that the ignition timing needs to be readjusted to dissolve the harmonic you feel in the wheel. If they resist, complain to Oldsmobile. I had been in this situation (with a Toyota many moons ago) and it got rectified to my satisfaction pretty readily. Sure, I had to put up with the sneer from the Cuastomer Service guy, but I paid them; they're working for ME. By the way, I believe the preponderance of us live as 'day-to-day income folks'; I think others are the majority... Good luck; hope I was some help... Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Gene Costanza, Double A Funny Car Fan TRA #7107                            NAR #74503

By the way, I believe the preponderance of us live as 'day-to-day income folks'; I think others are the majority... Sorry, I meant the minority. Freudian slip?.... Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Gene Costanza, Double A Funny Car Fan TRA #7107                            NAR #74503

If they took off the fan belt, they could have reinstalled something incorrectly that is causing the vibration. My advice, learn to work on your own car. It's save you a ton of money. jh -  * WCE 2.1G1/2241 *