A terrific dealer

[tbplus10]

Had bad luck this weekend hauling a 38' 10k lb trailer with my 97 2500 4X4 Suburban. Driving through Texas hill country the engine blew up. The engine's an 18 month old 7.4ltr Goodwrench crate motor with under 10,000 miles, Vortec supercharger running 12psi of boost, Pro Jection water, underdrive pulleys, dual exhaust with a crossover, and an Art Carr tow special trans. All installation, modifications, and most maintenance have been done by myself.

With the engine mods I knew I'd have warranty issues, my neighbor (a mechanic at Friendly Chevrolet) told me to call and see what could be done. They sent a truck to pick up the Suburban and completed a teardown of the engine before 3pm, then called to tell me they'd honor the warranty and should have the truck back together in a few days.
I was a little shocked at this news and asked why they decided to warranty, the service writer said they decided to for a couple reasons:
1) I bought the engine from this dealer.
2) It had been serviced by them a few times and I had receipts for the other services.
3) Even with the obvious engine modifications they felt the engine failure was due to inferior materials in the manufacture of the engine internals.
4) And in their opinion it was the proper thing to do.

The damage: #3 and #7 pistons desintegrated, oil pump failed, #2 piston rod starting to fail at the wrist pin, #2,3,4,5, and 7 cylinder skirts cracked and begining to fail, 2"X2" hole in the oil pan, all lower bearings scored and seizing, and cylinder walls on #2,3,4,5, and 7 scored. The mechanic had no diagnosys of why these items failed and was surprised I didnt hear the engine coming apart for weeks prior to the catastrophic failure.

I cant say thanks enough to Friendly Chevrolet of Dallas, Texas for stepping up to the plate and making this a hassle free warranty job.
They also called back later to remind me to submit my tow bill from Mason, Texas (350 miles) for reimbursement.

[TrailLeadr]

Had bad luck this weekend hauling a 38' 10k lb trailer with my 97 2500 4X4 Suburban. Driving through Texas hill country the engine blew up. The engine's an 18 month old 7.4ltr Goodwrench crate motor with under 10,000 miles, Vortec supercharger running 12psi of boost, Pro Jection water/alcohol injector, tweaked ECU with a piggy back chip, K&N filtercharger, underdrive pulleys, dual exhaust with a crossover, and an Art Carr tow special trans. All installation, modifications, and most maintenance have been done by myself.

With the engine mods I knew I'd have warranty issues, my neighbor (a mechanic at Friendly Chevrolet) told me to call and see what could be done. They sent a truck to pick up the Suburban and completed a teardown of the engine before 3pm, then called to tell me they'd honor the warranty and should have the truck back together in a few days.
I was a little shocked at this news and asked why they decided to warranty, the service writer said they decided to for a couple reasons:
1) I bought the engine from this dealer.
2) It had been serviced by them a few times and I had receipts for the other services.
3) Even with the obvious engine modifications they felt the engine failure was due to inferior materials in the manufacture of the engine internals.
4) And in their opinion it was the proper thing to do.

The damage: #3 and #7 pistons desintegrated, oil pump failed, #2 piston rod starting to fail at the wrist pin, #2,3,4,5, and 7 cylinder skirts cracked and begining to fail, 2"X2" hole in the oil pan, all lower bearings scored and seizing, and cylinder walls on #2,3,4,5, and 7 scored. The mechanic had no diagnosys of why these items failed and was surprised I didnt hear the engine coming apart for weeks prior to the catastrophic failure.

I cant say thanks enough to Friendly Chevrolet of Dallas, Texas for stepping up to the plate and making this a hassle free warranty job.
They also called back later to remind me to submit my tow bill from Mason, Texas (350 miles) for reimbursement.

That's awesome!!!!!:great:
Glad to hear there are still some dealers out there who realize their bread and butter is in the service, not the sale, and as such see fit to treat you right.

[dwill3015]

I need a tissue :lol: I wish all dealers were like that!

[Steve]

That's great. They've got some annoyingly toothy commercials though!

Drive Friendly!

(I guess it's catchy though)

[tbplus10]

Yea, their commercials have never convinced me to buy from them.
I was looking to add a Crew cab Diesel Dually to the fleet in the next few months, after this, and talking with them about what kind of price they can give me I might go with a new truck from their lot. We'll see in the next few weeks.

[Cableguy]

After such a bad thing happening to you. Its very refreshing to see a dealership do that. Thats stepping up and making a repeat customer. Now if they could all see that we'd have more GM's on road :biggrin:
Glad to see

[GaryL]

Glad you had good luck with this. Keep us posted on the details. I'll be in the Mason area this weekend, but I will be turkey hunting, not towing a 10k lb. trailer. I would love to get together with you and see this beast when it all gets put back together. Your big block has way more toys than my old 78 does.

[Steve]

That's awesome. Snap some photos of that bad boy under the hood and post them to everyone when you get it back from the shop.

Friendly Chevrolet is doing something right. They know their market and they promote to it. Their commercials maybe a bit tooth with their sales managers in white shirts wearing ties, but I guess they back it up which is what counts most!. :-)

This episode on here is enough to make me want to consider driving there when we're ready to trade in the Cavalier or the Trailblazer for an EXT or possibly another 'burban when we're ready.

[Steve]

I emailed them.


I run a website called GMTruckClub.com (with a large DFW membership base) and one of my members posted a message about their fantastic experience with Friendly Chevrolet.

Keep up the good work, and remember ... "Drive Friendly!"

Maybe they're want to come help sponsor the site! :happy:

[tbplus10]

I'll be in the Mason area this weekend, but I will be turkey hunting, not towing a 10k lb. trailer. I would love to get together with you and see this beast when it all gets put back together. Your big block has way more toys than my old 78 does.

Anywhere near Katemcy rocks?
It'll have to be right after I get her back, the decisions been made to sell the Suburban and buy a newer (00-06) Crewcab diesel dually.

[GaryL]

We are located the opposite way from Mason. About half way between Mason and Fredricksburg.

Be sure and take some pictures of that engine before you get rid of it.

[tbplus10]

Will do. Looks like I may have some garage pictures of the fully built engine before the install.
The guys at the dealership are making it easier to sell the Suburban, they gave me an 07 Crew cab Dually rental for the week. As much as I love my Suburban this rental truck is a pleasure to drive.

[Pakeboy2]

Show us the pics...

[Sandy72526]

that is awesome---I had an annoying experience with my dealer (they were bought by a larger non-GM delearr) and after almost of a year of complaining about a noise inside the dash board, I ended up diagnosing it myself....its hard to accept that a registered nurse knows how to diagnosis a vehicle better than the trained mechanics.......but I did end up with 2 years of free routine maintenance for my vehicle.

turned out to be an airbag connection

[Steve]

that is awesome---I had an annoying experience with my dealer (they were bought by a larger non-GM delearr) and after almost of a year of complaining about a noise inside the dash board, I ended up diagnosing it myself....its hard to accept that a registered nurse knows how to diagnosis a vehicle better than the trained mechanics.......but I did end up with 2 years of free routine maintenance for my vehicle.

turned out to be an airbag connection

Yikes, I do NOT work on airbags. I'd be upset as well.

[GaryL]

Looks like I may have some garage pictures of the fully built engine before the install.


I don't have a garage picture of my 454 when I built it, but here is one of my Pontiac 400 that I built for my Formula.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o10/GaryL_photos/TAC%20Pics/MVC-011F.jpg

[tbplus10]

Well, had minor issues to work through with the shop, mostly around the fact they didnt install the engine originally so they covered the engine but not the R/R. Since I have to leave town Wednesday thru Sunday the next 4 weeks for work I decided to pay them to install. Didnt get any pics of the engine out of the truck, they worked fast, I'm told it'll be ready for pick-up Monday afternoon.

Gary: That 400 looks good, not to much chrome, nice old school look.

[84fiero123]

Well, had minor issues to work through with the shop, mostly around the fact they didnt install the engine originally so they covered the engine but not the R/R. Since I have to leave town Wednesday thru Sunday the next 4 weeks for work I decided to pay them to install. Didnt get any pics of the engine out of the truck, they worked fast, I'm told it'll be ready for pick-up Monday afternoon.

Gary: That 400 looks good, not to much chrome, nice old school look.

Sorry to hear that you had to pay for the RR.

Have been following this thread to see how it went.

Save any receipts for the RR and bring it back to the original dealer for a refund.

Hope it’s ready tomorrow.

[tbplus10]

Sorry to hear that you had to pay for the RR.

Have been following this thread to see how it went.

Save any receipts for the RR and bring it back to the original dealer for a refund.

Hope it’s ready tomorrow.

It's a fair deal on the R/R, I bought the engine out the door and did my own install originally. The dealer doing the work is where I bought the engine, they gave me a good deal on the install this time, if I hadnt been rushed for time I'd have taken the new engine home and installed it too, I'm happy.
Called the shop a few minutes ago they were in the process of tuning it and then a wash job. I was suprised to hear they were tuning it on a Dyno, they told me they tune all Supercharged and Turbo engines on the Dyno tho.
If all goes well It'll be in the driveway by this afternoon.