Bump
Sorry for the aggression…but someone, please give me some advice because they just opened and they have limited hours today.
Thanks.
Let them set the tone for the conversation. Call them up and say “Hey, I just bought this car from you 3 days ago and now it overheats to the point that I don’t think I can drive it.” Their response will dictate the direction the conversation will go from there. If they ask about the trouble and want to work with you to resolve it, then great. If they tell you to pound sand, then you’ll know where you stand.
I have no idea what or if any laws are applicable to your problem in your state, but where I live, it’s now your car and your problem, unless you can prove that the dealer knowingly sold you a car that they knew to be faulty and deliberately hid that fact from you.
Friend bought 03 Subaru in 07. Drove it 30miles and it overheated. Headgasket. Whoops. Dealer said tough. As-is.
My advice is to approach the dealer in a friendly manner. People are much more receptive to kindness than they are to aggression. I’d like to add that you must be very careful to use the correct type of coolant in that Impala.–it has to be the pink kind-NOT the green kind from the store. Can you get to a Jiffy Lube or quickie oil place and have the coolant flushed and filled? I’d try that first. --I know it’s more money and I know that is hard for a college student, and I’m sorry. Like the other posters advised: start small. More times than not, you will find the simplest problem is the right one.
I’d also like to add that pep-boys can run a diagnostic on your check engine light for a much lower price than a dealer. You can start from there.
The next mechanic that looks at it should check for a blown head gasket...
I tend to agree with @Caddyman on this, unfortunately. The symptoms described are the exact symptoms that I experienced when my head gasket failed (overheating with no heat coming out if the vents when the engine is idling).
Ironic that both me and @Caddyman thought of the head gasket issue :).
As far as approaching the dealer, @asemaster had an excellent suggestion about letting the dealer set the tone of the conversation. Until the very last “Get lost”, I would also act as though I am confident that they are going to work with me and take care of the issue.
If they are not willing to help you at all, then I would also suggest contacting a local TV channel as well as posting on internet review sites to warn others. If it were a $3,000.00 car that they said “I got this on a trade today and I haven’t looked at it, but you can have it for $1,500.00 if you buy it now”, then my opinion might be different.
Only part-time people work on weekends…Start Monday morning…Be nice…Give them a chance to get things squared away…The strong, aggressive approach will get you nowhere…
Has anyone considered that the new thermostat might have been defective? Even if the car was “as is” the repair should be warranted.
"Check engine light was on. They looked, it was the thermostat."
Why would a CEL indicate thermostat in the first place?
I agree with @WesternRoadtripper - I’m not sure if there are any cars that have the CEL come on because of a bad thermostat.
P0125 and P0128
I’ve run into cars with MIL on because of these codes SEVERAL times. It’s not just GM that turns on MIL for this condition, by the way.
As you can see, the DTC doesn’t specifically state that the thermostat is faulty. It does state that there was an insufficient rise in coolant temperature within a given time.
Look on page 6, please. These are the actual DTC parameters for OP’s car.
the DTC doesn't specifically state that the thermostat is faulty. It does state that there was an insufficient rise in coolant temperature within a given time.
OK, that makes a lot more sense.
" It does state that there was an insufficient rise in coolant temperature within a given time. "
Wouldn’t that indicate an under-heating problem caused by a stuck open thermostat ? It could lead to an engine slow in coming up to operating temperature or not coming up to it at all, running rich, rough running, poor mileage, etcetera.
Op’s problem seems to be related to over-heating caused by a stuck closed or sticking thermostat that causes insufficient coolant flow and over-heating, a far more immediate problem.
Or the problem isn’t caused by a thermostat at all, but some sort of defect elsewhere in the cooling system, yet to be determined.
CSA
Sorry if this is a repeat, but did the CEL go off after the thermostat was replaced? And stay off? Remember that the CEL will go off if the mechanic resets it (or if the battery is disconnected), but if the problem isn’t actually fixed, it will come back on; but it might take several hundred miles of driving before it does come back on.
If the CEL went off and stayed off still after 250 miles say (and it comes on with the key in “on” but the engine not started which means the light bulb is working) then as mentioned above, the first thing to do is double check that thermostat replacing job they did. Maybe they didn’t add enough coolant, or didn’t thoroughly air bleed the cooling system. Both are common mistakes, at least from less experienced (or less responsible) mechanics.
What I’m saying is that it’s entirely possible the car is fine, and that the only problem with the car was the thermostat, and now it is replaced, but the cooling system still needs some minor touch work. Me, I’d go with that theory until something is proved otherwise.
@GeorgeSanJose I personally am assuming that the mechanic who diagnosed the thermostat cleared the DTC, therefore turning off the MIL.
You are absolutely correct about adding enough coolant and bleeding the cooling system. After any coolant system repair or service, I drive the car with the heater on full blast for several miles.
Then I do a final coolant level check before releasing the vehicle. Quite frequently I need to correct the level after the test drive. Sometimes I need to add a lot.
It is also imperative that the coolant pressure cap (whether it’s on the radiator or the pressurized reservoir) is the highest point when letting the car idle while warming up and filling the system. Doing this incorrectly can absolutely cause air pockets in the system. I have personally witnessed this.
As far as the thermostat being the cause of the problem and the MIL . . .
I posted a link to DTCs that I personally know can be related to thermostat operation.
None of us except OP were there at the time of vehicle purchase and subsequent overheating.
None of know for sure exactly what DTCs popped up
Therefore it’s all speculation on our parts.
I wish OP the best.
Your biggest fear is a head gasket leak. I suggest you have the coolant checked for exhaust gases by a nearby shop. If there is signs of that hopefully the sales place will take of you.
+1 Cougar.
Thanks for all the input, everyone. I am no car expert, but at this point I’m quite confused. As some of you say, the issue could be quite serious (blown head gasket) or something relatively minor (stuck thermostat). I won’t know until tomorrow.
I spoke to the dealership—they’ve indicated that they’ll be willing to work with me and I told them I would call back to speak with the salesperson I dealt with first thing tomorrow morning since he was not there. I will be diplomatic all through it until I hit a brick wall. I’m just wondering if I should have a mechanic check it out first before contacting them. That thing certainly cannot get back on the road in this condition.
You mention the head gasket, but we checked the oil and it is fine and uncontaminated. There is absolutely no smoke coming out of the exhaust. There were no bubbles in the radiator. The spark plugs appear to be fine. The engine did seem a bit funny, but that could also be attributed to the problems with the thermostat. Before driving off of the lot, the CEL did go off after they replaced the thermostat, and it has not yet come back on even after these problems commenced.
@LemonSqueezed if you have AAA premier, you can get a 200 mile one-way tow to that dealership.
Like the other guys said, do NOT drive that car to the dealer, no matter how well it may seem to be behaving at the moment.
At this point, you should be polite and give them the opportunity to help you and “make it right.”
I would be hesitant about mentioning any other guys working on the car after your purchase. The dealer may “correctly” say that since you didn’t give them the opportunity to correct the situation, they are now off the hook, so to speak.
The dealership may understandably get defensive if they hear that all these other mechanics and shops are accusing them of being unethical and incompetent. Then they may be less willing to help you.
But that is your call to make, obviously.
Not meaning to be combative here, but you state that you will remain diplomatic through it all until you hit a brick wall.
What happens if you do hit a brick wall; which I assume to mean the engine turns out to have serious issues and the dealer says they will do nothing with it?