Dutch Miller's Beckley Automall — Local services in Beckley

In the beginning of May 2023 I dropped off my 2015 Chevrolet Silverado which had approximately 55,000 miles on it. There was an error code that was P0307. The dealership fixed my vehicle within a few days and I was on my way. Nevertheless, just over 300 miles my vehicle began to have white smoke out of the tail-pipe and all the other symptoms related to P0307 error code returned. I returned on May 9, 2023. I picked up my truck on October 30th 2023. To put this into perspective this means I was without a vehicle for: 24 weeks and 6 days 47.67% of 2023. My initial claim fell under Beckley auto-mall. I was provided a vehicle for the first month. Once Dutch Miller took over the dealership the vehicle that was loaned to me was returned and I was given no vehicle. My family and I were left without a vehicle for 5 months. This was a huge hardship on me and my family. During this time I had to be my own advocate with the service department and my warranty. I would initiate three way calls so that the service department and the warranty could be on the same page. My conclusion is that the technician who worked on my vehicle made a catastrophic error. This error code of P0307 magically became a crack in the engine block. In researching I read Blogs, discussion boards, and spoke with technicians I learned if one does not replace a head gasket using the right torque and procedure a catastrophic failures will most likely occur. My belief is that the technician was/is being protected by the service manager (Traci) and the service director (Mike). I had to file a report with the "state of West Virginia Office of the Attorney General consumer Protection Division." I contacted GMC Corporate Office and filed a complaint, met with a lawyer And finally went to talk to the GM of the dealership needless to say the hours of phonecalls between the service department and the warranty. This took time and resources away from my life and caused tremendous amounts of anxiety. I am a veteran of the United States Army and served my country in Iraq. I have PTSD that I work very hard to control and to keep at bay as much as possible. I do not say this to get sympathy but it must be said that the anxiety and worry this situation has caused me is hard to explain. The sleepless nights thinking of how I would pay for a brand new engine, as it appeared that would be the outcome, caused my anxiety to skyrocket and contributed to more sleepless nights than I've had in several years. The discussion with the GM was good and he appeared to be genuinely concerned about my problem and seemed to be shocked that my vehicle had been in the shop (at that time) for 5 months. Within a day of visiting with the General Manager I recieved phone calls from the service department and a few days later an approval was issued by my warranty and the repairs were made. No explaination was given as to how this miracales chnage of events came to be. The AC compressor had gone out on my vehicle and the Service department had replaced it in the begining of May. On October 30th 2023, I received a phone call from Traci (the service manager) informing me that the battery needed to be replaced and it would cost me approximately $164.00 I told her to replace the battery. I called back within a couple of minutes feeling frustrated and told Tracy that she would be replacing the battery for free because my vehicle had been sitting for six months and that was likely the cause of my battery failure. One would have thought that I would have picked up my vehicle without any charges and my vehicle would have been detailed due to the cobwebs that had accumulated on it over the six months. The phone call from Traci should have been "hey your vehicle is ready we replaced the battery and you are good on the AC condesnsor. We are so sorry for everything." Instead they tried to get me to pay for issues they caused and gave no apology. I think Tracy and Mike are terrible people and I would not recommend taking your vehicle to Dutch...

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐚𝐫 (𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎): After having issues with my old car I was ready to upgrade to a newer model. This car lot had a 2016 LaCrosse and knowing how much I loved my 2013 model I decided to upgrade. My experience with the salesman (Chad Fox) was great. He answered every question I had, was available every time I dropped by, called, or texted. He was professional and friendly beyond measure. I literally CAN NOT speak more highly of how great of a worker he was and how much better he made my car buying experience, However, On the listing online and per the salesman himself the car came with Android Auto. Unfortunately, Once I bought the car I found out it did not in fact have that. Fortunately, after researching I found out that all I needed was a software update. What was surprising was they were not willing to cover the upgrade even though it was listed as the car having it but it was only a $50 charge so i didn't mind paying to get done what needed to be done. This car featured a "Push-to-Start" feature which I'm sure everyone is familiar with at this point except for the shop workers because when I took the car in to get the Android update they scraped my push to start button. Now with plastic buttons I'm sure its not that big of a deal but this is a powder coated metal painted button so when it was scraped it was engraved (probably someone not paying attention and tried to Jam the key in) and you could feel the scrape every time you pressed the button. When I called In and told them what happen they told me to drop by to show the manager of the shop. I get there and the guy is saying "We didn't do it sorry" for 5 mins straight until I say "well unfortunately for you I have pictures dated before and after you received the car". The tone quickly changed after that and the man walked away for a few and came back and said "Look we didn't do it, but we will take care of it to make you happy as a Customer". Me literally not caring about winning a fight just replied "Ok whatever fine" because all I cared about was just getting it taken care of and getting out of there. I attached pictures as proof. Here is my Advice for my overall experience for all 4 visits to this location:

•𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐒 •𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧

𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐫 (𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗): Took my 2013 Buick LaCrosse to two different locations to get my transmission checked. First a Firestone Location in Charleston WV. They told me the Transmission was a sealed unit and they couldn't even look at it. I Then scheduled an apt with this Buick Dealership in Beckley WV to have them look at the transmission. They ran the computer on it and although the computer may have told them some accurate information about a problem with the 5th solenoid once I got the car back from the inspection it was driving 3 times worse!! I didn't know what to do other than having a full transmission rebuild (Which is what Beckley Buick recommended and it still may need I'm not sure). however, a day later i was out to eat with a family member and he was pretty knowledgeable with cars. He offered to look at it and lo and behold This cars Transmission is NOT a sealed unit and it actually was OUT OF TRANSMISSION FLUID! There was a small leak and overtime it dripped out. HOW... IN THE WORLD... DID Both Firestone and BUICK NOT see this?... Look the people were pretty nice and all but I was about to spend $2800 for a transmission rebuild! and they couldn't spot that a hose connecting to the transmission was a little wet??? It begs the question did they even look at the transmission at ALL?? or did they just hook up a computer to it and scan? I understand if its protocol to do that but cmon guys this...

DO NOT BUY A CAR FROM THESE CROOKS!!! Transmission went out at only 40,000 miles! Was only two months over warranty! GM customer care practically laughed at me over the phone - wouldn't help me at all. They offered to do a "diagnostic teardown" of the vehicle that would cost me $1000, yes that was just to tear it apart to "find out" what was wrong with it. I was told I would be responsible for the parts laying all over the place afterward, and paying to put a defective transmission back together again to get it off the lot! I chose to take my vehicle to AAMCO in Princeton where I got a reman transmission for just a little more than the price of a "diagnostic tear down" - no probs since and it came with a 3 year warranty. This "Stealership" would not allow me to tow my own vehicle off the lot before I paid them a "parking fee" for every day it was on the lot - nearly $100 a day, and it had been there a week as they were deciding not to help me at all - CRIMINAL!! Can't believe General Motors took bailout to continue to pump out crappy cars and pass on the cost of fixing mistakes to their customers. But we are smarter and that's why your lots are free of potential customers these days - having to make money now with "recall" letter scams and "diagnostic fees" - $100 just to hook your vehicle up to a scan tool - SAD. If you're looking for a GOOD vehicle, do yourself a favor - go up the road and buy yourself a Kia with a 10 year and 100,000 mile warranty - GM would...