2 days ago I went to a dealership to get the oilchange and transmission fluid change. The car has 30k on it and I never rotated the tires on it so I thought that was a good time to do it. So anyway I get the car back and drive home which is 50 miles away. So I'm on the highway, doing around 80 and the car feels like ****. It vibrates and makes some horrible noises, coming from the passenger side. Brakes clunk when I get to the full stop, or take off from a full stop. So I come home and decide to check the lugnuts. Guess what I find: the lugnuts on the p. side front wheel are loose. 2 of them are ok, but the rest are completely loose. Oops.

Of course I tightened everything immediately, and all the noises and clunks were gone, but then it felt like I had a warped rotor. The next day I took it back to the dealership and explained the situation. They replaced the rotors immediately at no charge and it looks like they did it right this time because the car feels normal again. The tech who did the tire rotation of course denied everything, but the manager did believe me and and was nice and helpful.

So at the end I have no problem with the dealership, and I'll probably come back for service because I really have no better choice. What pissing me off though is the fact that you cannot trust anyone. I always check all the fluids after the oilchange, but it looks like now I'll have to buy a torque wrench and check the wheels after the tire rotation. So basically it's easier for me to just do it all by myself. The only problem is - I don't have the right tools or a place to work on my car.

GLad to hear everything is ok. When I took off my winter rims, I torqued the aluminum ones to the recommended 65-85 ft. lb range. I set the torque wrench to 70 ft. lbs, and found the fronts started coming loose after a couple of days. So I retorqued them to 80. Nothing worse that having some grease monkey torquing your nuts to 120 ft. lbs, so you have to literally jump on your wrench to loosen them. Well, I guess the only thing worse is having that same monkey torque them to 25???

I guess this serves as a very important lesson to everyone who has any kind of work done which involves removal of the wheels.

Every single time I've had to take my car in for service and the wheels came off, not ONCE were they ever torqued properly. I always had to loosen and re-tighten them each time. None of the lugs ever came loose with the expected force either - I always had to stomp on the cross-wrench just to get them off. Geez.

-N- :thumbsup:

glad to hear that nothing more serious happened.

just switch back to my summer wheels yesterday. nothing beats having a torque wrench!

I think the 65-85 ft lb range is to broad. I didn't even consider using the lower torque setting on our cars. I rotate our tires every oil change and use the 80lb setting.

...One more reason NOT to trust a dealership service to do ANY work on your car (yes, unless it's a recall or warranty work, that only they can perform)...

One more reason to use your own neighborhood mechanic that you trust and build rapport with.... And he'll let you stay with him (duh, they don't have a waiting room usually...) and answer your questions.

I'm ALWAYS just a bit uneasy when I leave the car with the dealership service people, no matter if it's my Sonata or my wife's Accord........

I use a 80lb torque stick at work and have never had any complaints :grin:

Miles

Well, my problem is that I tried several local mechanics and they all were even worse. I'm not saying that all of them are unprofessional. I just cannot find a good one :(

Not to defend the dealership because what they did wrong, and it could have seriously hurt you and any passenger in the car. I'm very glad your well.

The person who did the rotation has no defence, he will have a short career if he doesn't shape up.

My dealership will ask if you want a specific person to work on the car, it's on the bottom of the drop off slip. I would take the oppertunity to talk with the service manager and have a well known, good reputation mechanic work on the car everytime you come in. I would also buy a gift card ( about 5$ ) and leave it on the drivers seat with a note saying thanks for the close attention to detail. I give a Dunkin Doughnuts card everytime I go in and gotten great results. I spied on him one time and he covered the steering wheel, seat, and flooring with protective coverings. He treated it with real care. I saw him brag to the other mechanics about the gift card, and they were envious. He performed the oil change, tire rotation, and checked everything. Even the cab air filter. Wipped everything clean after he was done then parked the car so that no one else would dent the car. Not a bad deal for 5 bucks extra. It's well worth it.

Good luck, and maybe you should ask the dealer what there service satisfaction rating is. This would give you an idea where they stand in the national ratings.

Those measly $5 gift cards go a long way! That's because most of the people that dealerships/mechanics deal with are stupid, moronic, cheap b@stards. So, even a glean of kindness is remembered for a long time.

I wouldn't count on those $5 cards. I guess it really depends on the person who does the job. Just as an example - I used to own a car with some nice chrome rims. And one day I needed to replace the tires, so I went to a tire shop that was recommended by several people, and to make sure everything is done right I spoke to a technician, asked him to do a perfect job and gave him $100.

Well, a week later two of my wheel bearings failed, balance was wrong, to begin with. At least he didn't scretch the wheels :)

I actually drive to Manchester CT to get my work done, My girl lives in Chicopee. I stay over alot. They have treated me great.
I get free tires and batterys for LIFE. :banana:

Sorry to hear it hasn't worked for you. I left my uniform in the back on the first visit............ plus the bribery helped.

I rotate tires only when obviously needed - NOT according to some prescribed schedule. And - I ALWAYS do a quick check with a lug wrench when I get the car home. The torque spec for the 06 Sonata, for what it's worth is 80 lbs/ft.

Lastly, with the kind of help they get, treat dealer service with the kind of skepticism it deserves - the comments in this thread say it all.

[quote=kn5owa,Apr 17 2008, 02:11 PM]
I rotate tires only when obviously needed - NOT according to some prescribed schedule. And - I ALWAYS do a quick check with a lug wrench when I get the car home. The torque spec for the 06 Sonata, for what it's worth is 80 lbs/ft.


If you wait until the tires "obviously" need it, it is too late. If you rotate your tires every 6k or so, you will have pretty good wear out of them. Do you apply the same philosophy to the oil and transmission? Good luck. :offtopic:

Yeah that was somewhat strange. I think he has a Torque phobia :57:

This post has been edited by MiamiLX: Apr 27 2008, 07:14 PM