The Failure of the faithful Saturn

To whom it may concern, Please note that I am a master tech, at points in my life I have been certified by most manufacturers and actually took in all the unsolvable problem cars from various manufacturers to repair and keep the customer appeased. Today I have a web based publication about automobiles. Not only do I write for my self but for others I have a weekly Automotive Radio Show. All these communications with the dealer were done via email as the service adviser not once answered his phone. I am know glad as I have a wonderful written chronology and communications between my self and the adviser. My web site is www.southeastwheelsevents.com my email, miguel@americanwheelsevents.com. My phone, please leave a message if I do not answer is 404 721 2352.

This vehicle has given 279,112 Miles of relatively little repairs except for normal were and tear items and routine maintenance, Over the last years some functions were failing some intermittent and then some things stopped working altogether, First the compass then the remote locks , This spring the we noticed the ac no longer came on. It was time to investigate. My research led to the conclusion that the body control module was failing. As the summer wore on the instrument panel gauges and lights started to malfunction, also when hot the security light would blink and the car would delay in starting until the security buzzer would stop, then the car would start. Needless to say that finances or the lack of has forced us to delay the repair.

On Tuesday July 26 the car would no longer start and the security system seemed to be on full disable for good.

I found and bought the part from Carl Black . I installed the Body Control Module and I had made an appointment to tow it over To Adean Chevrolet in Cumming Georgia to have it Programmed on Saturday morning 8 am on July 30. I did notice and I mentioned to Andean that it seemed this BCM unlike others in the past seemed to be pre programed as all the functions including alarm and all were already functioning.. The Andean Tech was surprised by that too. He could not get the system to communicate and was very honest that it may be beyond his training to diagnose. We left there and drove to Carl Black as some of the Techs that I knew from years ago when I worked there are still there I assumed that hey had the proper training and equipment to diagnose and repair the problem.

After two hours of not being able to communicate with the ECM they asked me to leave the car until Monday. My daughter had already lost two days of work and then I became her chauffeur, on Monday August 1st on Tuesday the 2^nd when on the way home from Atlanta the timing chain on our Buick broke. Now we had no transportation and had to be rescued by friend and driven to Atlanta's airport to rent a car. I was told on Tuesday the 2^nd of August, that they were not getting a signal from the Crank sensor, I was not surprised as an oil leak was dripping right on the connector and several times when it failed to start I cleaned the connections and it started immediately. They recommended replacing the sensor and the harness and gave me the option of overnight shipping witch I agreed to the harness as I was certain the problem was not the crank angle sensor, later verified when they put one in, with the same result. I agreed to pay the VOR overnight Charges expecting that the part would arrive on Thursday the 4^th. I was informed that the VOR had been canceled by the parts department and it would not arrive until the following week.. To say this was an inconvenience its a major understatement. I requested the name and contact information of the person who made that call and I was informed that it happened at GM not at Carl Black. I have not been given that information.

The part did not arrive until Wednesday August 10, to late to install. On Thursday August 11 they said that They still did not know, this is when they installed a PCM and a Crank Angle Sensor and still could not Diagnose the problem and offered me to pick up the car. I requested on Friday that they remove all the unauthorized parts that I would be picking up the car on Saturday.

On Saturday I went to pick up the car, and they could not find the key and the remote control. Also during the time the car was in Carl Black's possession they left the car outside with the passengers window open, in the rain. Additionally there was a new CD that was removed from the car while it was open.. Tommy, the service adviser offered to clean up the interior and dry it out. That was never done. 

Most of all it would be great if I do not have to fix it my self. I feel frustration in a system rely's on insistence of charging for parts until you get lucky and install the right one.

I am a journalist in good standing with all the manufactures, I am fair and balanced and I can assure you I will be no matter what the outcome is.