My front end noise problem finally fixed. Guess what it was?!

[FlaAveo5]

IF anyone has interest in it. It was my front wheel bearings, AGAIN! Original ones went bad at about 4 years and 11K miles. Chevy didn't care. So that was a $600 replacement back then. Now about 8 yrs later and a huge 22K miles of use, BAD again!!! Don't these things last for 100K-200K miles on cars. Or is that only on Toyotas?
I don't drive like a nut, or abuse my car, everything upfront, except the damn horn is NEW! So this was $1,080 today. NOT ON MY DIME though!

IF any one shows interest ill go into details, on ALL the repairs and these final ones, the bearings. And how I didnt pay for them. The VERY first thing I told these idiots to check was the front bearings, on my first visit. I know that noise! They proceed to replace most of my front end and run up a $1,600 bill, replacing almost everything,except the bearings. Then today after 4 days of it still sounding horrible, they come up with 'it is your rear tire, because the rim has a TINY dent in it', I know this for 12 yrs. So it is that, I need a new wheel, $150, and a new tire, $75, and the tire on it is 2yrs old and has 4K miles on it.

So as I wait for a 'manager' to show up and order the wheel, someone else comes to me and asks me 'did you EVER have your bearings replaced??, the THIRD mech. that just drove your car, says it is the bearings,and we all agree.' 10 mins. ago it was the rear 'bent rim and the tire'. NOW it is the bearings,...that I told them that 4 days ago, and 8 other 'repairs' ago.
They insisted it was NOT the bearings. It was the control arms, the bushings were all rotted, THEN it was I had the wrong size brakes on my car,...for the past 2-3 yrs??, they are SO oversized, 'so they have been scraping the rotors, for 2-3 yrs?, and the rotors are warped and the pads belong on a truck, like a F-150,so need a full brake job. $300 gone. HOW is that possible?? Anyone??

How i didnt pay for these bearings today, how I plan on getting all those other 'repairs' for free, I will go into, if anyone has any input on this post. After such a short time and only 20K miles, the bearings, again? How do they go bad THAT fast?? And these only have a 1 yr warranty on them. Thats the longest I was told there is on bearings. The last pair also had a 1 year warranty on them. But I was told they would last 100-200K miles. So how do they go bad SO fast? HOW

** Well guess my posts are to long or boring, sorry. Now I am waiting to get a FULL refund of all the work done to my car, except maybe the serpentine belt ,because I did ask for that to be done. BUT everything else was NOT needed to make the front end noise go away. It was the bearings, as I told THEM on day 1.
I told the corporate office I am not paying 1 cent of my charge card bill, and I might just bring in the BBB to investigate them, for this practice of just doing any repair till they get it right, to run up the bill. (They,don't know how little or much I know about my car

So waiting on a $1,600 refund, going to see how close to that much I get. Got a very understanding lady on the phone today, and it is amazing how much you get done, if you 'cry' and act dumb,especially as a guy

[slayerized6]

You'll be paying for repairs, that's for sure. They'll put a mechanic's lien on the car if they don't get their money. At the end of the day, whether or not it was the right repair, you still authorized all this work to be done.

[FlaAveo5]

IF anyone comes across this older post...this is the outcome. Cost me NOTHING!! Well it cost me $100. To have my lawyer type up a nice legal letter to 'Tires Plus Corporate/Firestone Corporate', telling them WE are filing with Fla. small claims court...for doing 'unnecessary repairs to my vehicle, and causing me extreme mental anguish, putting my in debt', etc....well the bill is now $0. Took a long time, but so what. So just letting anyone know if anyone looks in here the outcome.

I wont be going back there anytime soon, although with this in my file, they would either kiss my a-- and bend over backward to do every job right. OR they put pin holes in my brake lines and I end up in an accident in a month, and it gets blamed on age. So...not rushing back anytime soon

So...thats that. Just letting eveyone know.

[slayerized6]

- You can also make authorizations over the phone; it will be their word against your word.
- Check the brake pads and rotors they have back; see if any part numbers are still listed on them and reference them to whatever vehicle they go to
- 4 hour job completed in 2 hours is not uncommon. They usually over estimate time to account for unforeseeable things such as seized bolts, delays in parts arriving, etc. Plus, they probably already had the bearings on hand because they knew you were coming in
-A dented wheel can cause vibration issues

[slayerized6]

You will have a good case if your original invoice states "customer states check wheel bearings"

[FlaAveo5]

Matter of fact the only thing the 9 pages of repairs listed and prices says is....'Other notes, thumping noise when turning front wheels, sounds like a flat tire. Wants estimate for 1 wheel/wants to replace both washer pumps and washer reservoir'. That was my windshield washer, that they SAID they replaced 3 times, and the rear pump would not work with the 3 new ones put in, OR by using the good one for the front wiper, it wouldnt work for the rear wiper, it has been dead for like 7 years. That was a repair I wanted, and would be thrilled to pay! But they say nothing worked, it must be electrical. I have checked the fuses and they are all good for the wipers. So...dont know what the hell the problem is. But no charge for that work. NO other notes for ANY OTHER charges of work to be done NONE! Except on the 5th repair 'guess'. 'Test drive of vehicle. Getting noise from the front end. Wrong brake pads were installed on vehicle, causing the rotors to overheat and warp, because the brake pads are to thick and rubbing the rotors, resulting in vibration'. Courtesy Check.

I kept those pads, forgot the rotors, but they said the PADS belonged on a truck, and were in constant contact with the rotors, thus making the front end noise. Well after 3 other repairs, it sounded like a plausible thing to me, BUT from rubbing all the time, for almost 3 yrs?! And they didnt get red hot, melt all the rubber parts around the brakes from the heat? Didn't crack the pads and fall off the car? When I washed the car mins. after stopping, which I did often. Who waits, you just wash your car. Car washes do it that way all the time. They dont say, 'we have to wait till your brake pads cool off in a few hrs'.

The rotors didnt literately melt off the car, from the super heat that must have been building up all the time from constant rubbing and then when I applied the brakes. No smoke, no smell of burning rubber or metal when I stopped. Tell me...what would any of you expect if your brakes were doing this? Is it even possible?? How do 'truck sized pads that are constantly rubbing the rotors, causing the noise/vibration', fit onto a Aveo? Don't brake pads only fit maybe 1-3 different cars? Each size/shape pad only fits 1-3 cars. right? Are F-150 pads going to fit, and be able to be installed onto an Aveo?!

And yet the car runs, and 'brakes', but for 3 yrs, they don't disintegrate? Or turn bright red from heat? Anyone here actually believe this?? That was a $297 repair. I assume this 'repair' was even done. I cant get the wheel off to tell,...but it was not needed, it didnt fix the front end howling noise that I took it in for. It was the 4th 'guess repair', ....and it didn't work. The 4th mech. with the 4th guess. On the 3rd day. So...opinions on truck pads on an Aveo making the noise and them fitting to begin with???

I got my call from an asshole of a guy at corporate Fri. After 20 mins. of trying to explain what was going on,he said he would talk to the store manager, who he had already talked to and they said they 'think very highly of me, and I am always a pleasant customer', and I said I liked them to, BUT they did 4 'guess repairs' that had nothing to do with the front end noise, and I told them the minute I walked in the door on day 1, it was the front bearings, and I was told, 'Stan dont worry it wont be that'. And then the 'guess repairs began. It took till I reached my credit card limit, that the store manager that i had never met till that day, when HE said it was the rear wheel with the tiny dent on the rim that was causing the noise in the FRONT. But that 'opinion changed 20 mins. alter into 'have you ever had your front bearings replaced....' Isn't that amazing?? Now the fight is on. I never got a call back on Fri. as promised, I called the head office and told them I never got a call back, its now 6pm Fri. So nothing will happen till Monday at the earliest. I was told I would get a call Fri. And...I don't want to hear from THAT guy again, he is rude and a jerk! Get me another guy to talk to. The customer service person told me SHE read on her screen that ,that guy, 'Chet', called the office and said he contacted the local area manager,here in Ft.Laud., and he was to call me after he talked to the store manager,and figure out an answer. So I said 'you know more than me, at least i know that now'. So now I wait till Monday. But like I told her. I am not paying 1 cent,till this is figured out. so...figure it out! This is better than a soap opera! Except I'm in it.

I am ALMOST willing to pay for the bearings work, even though I have a SIGNED receipt that says it was a FREE repair! To get all that work done, that was NOT needed. To get $1,600+ repairs for $504, for the bearings. But thats it! Opinions?

[FlaAveo5]

You will have a good case if your original invoice states "customer states check wheel bearings"

As I said in the other post, it just says 'test drive car for front end noise that sounds like a flat tire'.....the main guy i deal with all the time i told him 50 times, it is the front bearings,and they just kept doing all these other repairs that had nothing to do with the front end noise. The rear wheel rim dent had nothing to do with the front end noise, the front brakes had nothing to do with it. The 'left side CV axle assy'. had nothing to do with it. (I was told it was making a vibration in the gas pedal, i never felt it, EVER, but I was told it COULD be what is causing the problem, so it should be replaced,they were guessing. IF they ever said, 'its a shot in the dark'. I would have done none of it. No one ever said that, EVERY repair was THE FIX!. But they were not

[andyfisk]

You'll be paying for repairs, that's for sure. They'll put a mechanic's lien on the car if they don't get their money. At the end of the day, whether or not it was the right repair, you still authorized all this work to be done.

They won't get a mechanic's lien if they already charged the credit card and if I were him, I wouldn't be talking to anyone until I had filed a dispute with the credit card company and they started their investigation. As long as the shop has his money, they have no motivation to do the right thing.

I once explained to a mechanic that I give my customers a quote for work before I start and if I screwed up the quote I eat the extra costs. He looked at me in horror and said "I'd be out of business in a year if I did that".

Can you imagine going to a doctor that does diagnosis by replacing parts until they find the right one! It always bugs me when I watch House, if he was such a brilliant doctor, wouldn't he get it right the first time (or even the second).

[Hoosiertrucker]

You'll be paying for repairs, that's for sure. They'll put a mechanic's lien on the car if they don't get their money. At the end of the day, whether or not it was the right repair, you still authorized all this work to be done.

My thinking would be that if you authorized repairs, you did so based on the mechanic's recommendations assuming that those recommendations were based on facts, and not guesswork, but that just my opinion. I really hope that you get this all straightened out, and get refunded. Remember, you can always dispute the payment with your credit card company, and keep in mind that refusing to pay your credit card bill only affects your credit card provider, and ultimately your credit score, as they have already paid the repair shop.

I worked as a shift manager at an auto parts store for years, and I can tell you without a doubt that F-150 brake pads will NOT fit on a Chevy Aveo.

On a side note; I used to own a 2007 Impala, and when it needed some repairs that were covered under warranty, the warranty company told me that I could take the car to any repair shop that I wanted to, EXCEPT Firestone Complete Auto Repair...HMMMMMMMMM......

Anyway, keep us updated, and best of luck.

[Hoosiertrucker]

Oh, one last thing...usually when someone takes their car to a repair shop, and says something like "My wheel bearings are bad, please fix them." That's what they should do, not second guess what the customer says, and if the customer comes back, and says, "That didn't fix the noise...what do we do now?", THEN, it time to start looking the car over, and make recommendations based on FACT, not on, well let's try this, and start running up a huge bill.