Rydell Chevrolet GMC — Local services in Grand Forks

Rydell Chevrolet: A Tale of Sunglasses Carnage and BMW Woes

Like hailstorms during harvest, life throws curveballs—and so does my wife’s BMW. A coolant warning light popped on while she was in Winnipeg a few weeks back. It went away, but being cautious, land-anchored people, we figured we’d better get it checked out.

I’ve got history with Rydell. Not the good kind.

A while back, I brought my Land Shark in for a detail. It looked decent at first glance when I picked it up—until I noticed they hadn’t cleaned under the floor mats. Cupholders were still flaked with coffee rot. And worse? They’d gone through every cubby and glove box, scooping the contents into grocery bags like they were stripping it for parts at a chop shop.

Two pairs of sunglasses—Costas and Oakleys, $500 worth—tangled up and scratched to hell.

Should’ve walked away then. But my buddy works there, so against better judgment, we brought the BMW in anyway—despite having a regular import mechanic. They diagnosed a leaking radiator. Fair enough. Showed us a video. “Go ahead and fix it,” we said.

🚩 Red Flag #1: Parts delay. Monday job turns into Wednesday pickup. Not the end of the world, but annoying.

🚩 Red Flag #2: Wife picks it up Wednesday morning. Car’s running like it’s dragging a cultivator. No power. Stumbling like a cow on ice. We take it right back and go for a drive with Shop Foreman Mitch. His hot take? “Probably the turbo or the wastegate linkage.”

🚩 🚩🚩Red Flag #3: I ask to see technician notes. The entire repair order says just this: “Replaced radiator.”

That’s it.

No mention of BMW’s notoriously finicky coolant bleed procedure. No codes. No line-itemed steps. Nothing.

And I used to be a service advisor, where “stories are everything” was gospel. Documentation protects the customer and the shop—especially on European vehicles where skipping a step can fry the whole system.

So I ask about the lack of notes. Mitch shrugs:

“99% of people don’t care about that stuff.”

Then he tries to claim the turbo issue was pre-existing. I calmly explain that proper documentation isn’t about whether I care—it’s about doing the job right.

Then, I extend my hand for a professional shake.

Mitch refuses. January Steel. No handshake.

After some pointed conversation, they took the car to Gateway Auto Tech—a real import shop—for a second opinion.

Plot twist: Not the turbo. Not the wastegate. It was a bad ignition coil.

They fixed it—and, to their credit, didn’t charge us a dime. The car runs beautifully now.

So why two stars instead of one?

Because they made it right. Eventually. And I’ll give credit where it’s due. But between: • The sunglasses slaughter, • The barebones documentation, • The professional snub from a guy who’s supposed to lead the shop … it’s hard to justify anything higher.

Advice to Rydell: Write better stories. A single line like: “Performed BMW cooling system bleed per TSB XX-XXX” could’ve prevented this whole mess. Also? A handshake is not optional. It’s basic human decency.

Advice to BMW owners: Stick with people who understand European vehicles and document their work. This isn’t a Silverado.

Advice to anyone considering Rydell for a “detail”: Hide your valuables like you’re bracing for a tornado—or better yet, go literally anywhere else. Those sunglasses still haunt me. I can’t even proofread this review properly ‘cause the lenses are so...

I worked with Mike and Dave at the collision center. They were both very friendly! They explained the process of what they would be doing that day and gave me a time estimate. Even though I didn't need a ride, they offered a courtesy ride as to not interfere with my plans for the day. Overall, I was extremely happy with the customer service I received.

I tried to write a new review for my most recent experience with Rydell, but only had the option of editing my old review. Here is my addition:

I was in my first accident ever. A gentleman slid through a stop sign and ended up damaging my car so badly that, in the end, it was deemed a total economic loss. I had no idea what to do outside of contacting insurance. Right away, I new that I wanted Rydell to handle the estimate and possible repairs. Anne in the body shop was so amazing to work with. I had so many questions, and she had all of the answers! She arranged for my vehicle to be towed being that it was not able to be driven. She even arrange for a courtesy ride for me to pick up my rental from Hertz. Her positive attitude and bubbly personality made every interaction enjoyable. When I came to collect my belongings from the vehicle, she was very welcoming. She even grabbed an extra bag in case I needed it.

Mike in the body shop was amazing once again. He communicated progress on the estimate and walked me through some of the insurance issues. He explained everything so well. After the vehicle was deemed a total economic loss, he discussed what that means for me and some of the steps that the insurance would likely inform me of. He went so far as to ensure I had gotten my license plates, registration, and other belongings out of the vehicle.

Bob in sales was wonderful to work with. I had been given a deadline by the insurance of when they would stop covering my rental. I had an idea of what I wanted, but didn't think I could get everything situated in time to meet the deadline. He asked what I was looking for, and things just kept getting better the more we talked. He had my desired vehicle in the desired color with the desired interior! I was ecstatic. I total him where I wanted to keep my payments at, and he made sure he stayed within those parameters. Even though it was getting late, he made sure I got the vehicle that night (fully cleaned and fueled up).

Overall, as scary and overwhelming as the accident and following weeks were, Rydell's team took the best care of me from start to finish. I cannot say...

Yesterday I received a $7 bill in the mail for running a tollbooth in Texas. The funny thing is that I've never been to Texas in my life and the vehicle that the bill is for was traded in to Rydell Chevrolet several months ago.

I was not going to write a review of my experience purchasing from this dealership assuming my experience was probably not indicative of the dealership over all, but this was the last straw. My wife and I went in to purchase a vehicle on a Saturday with an Equinox in mind. The salesman we were paired with was accommodating enough to begin with, but after trying an Equinox and looking at some other similar vehicles and not being excited about anything we shifted to looking at cars. It was at this point that the reps attitude completely changed. He attempted to use some high pressure sales techniques to close us on one of the vehicles we already looked at, but we had already decided we didn't like any of them for various reasons. He was noticeably irritated with us in his body language and tone of voice and began giving short and curt answers to everything and then went and grabbed his manager apparently to try to steer us back towards the Equinox which I found extremely offputting as I'm simply not going to spend $30K+ on a vehicle I'm not excited about. In the end we actually purchased a Malibu, but this did not seem to satisfy the rep at all. He continued to act completely disgruntled toward us which made waiting around for all the paperwork to go through an exceedingly awkward experience. At the end he had the gall to tell us directly that the survey we would be getting would reflect directly on his paycheck so we needed to give him a perfect score and call him directly for any complaints. I don't know if he was just having a bad day and I'm sure many customers receive a perfectly good experience at this dealership, but mine was terrible and I will not be back.

I would not have said anything and had left the experience behind me, but getting a ticket in the mail for the vehicle I traded in when I bought through this dealership brought it all back and then some. I'm sure I can get this resolved, but frankly I'm furious that I'm going to have to spend time working through the dealership to correct whatever happened that the old vehicle is still registered to me over a lousy $7, but I clearly can't just pay it and then possibly get more charges in the future so what...