I took my car here for the first time for an oil change and tire rotation/balance on Saturday. Almost 2 hours passed when the service coordinator came out and asked if I had trouble with my ignition because a pin had come out of my key fob. I made an off-comment about how I was the only one who could turn my car off. I was then told they had to find a new fob and it was hooked up to the computer to be reprogrammed and it shouldn't be too much longer. Almost another hour later, I was told that I was ready to go. I paid for my service and left. Not even 10 minutes down the freeway and the key fob falls off my key onto the floor. I call the service dept and the gentleman tells me, oh yeah, I forgot to show you how to work that. I turn around and head back to the dealership. I was told they couldn't fix it and that I just had to put the fob on the key and turn it. I was sent on my way with 3 things: the key, the separate/broken fob, and a pair of needle-nose pliers to get the key out of the ignition. The next morning, Sunday, I went to get groceries. After parking my car, the key fob breaks more and just spins around the key. I try for 10 minutes to turn the key using the needle-nose pliers and the key absolutely will not budge. I called the dealership and spoke at length with the finance officer, Brandon. He told me to drive up there and he'd try to help. I live an hour from the dealership so I've now made 2 trips in 2 days. On my drive up, my low tire pressure light comes on (I had a tire rotation/balance the day before). When I get back to the dealership, even their own employee can't get the key to turn and the car to shut off. He ends up having to pull the fuse for the fuel pump. They loan me a car and I leave my car at the dealership. On Monday after work, I start to drive up to Columbus, and something tells me to call before I do. I was told that they didn't do anything to fix my key and fob and that it was still in the same shape it was on Saturday. Which means, that I was going to have to use needle-nose pliers (which didn't work before) to get my key out of the ignition. I ended up being transferred to the parts department when I asked how much a key was. A very nice woman by the name of Tonya did her best to help me, even though there was really nothing she could do. She said to keep the loaner car until I got the spare key being mailed to me from an out of state family member. She said she'd also speak with the GM on Tuesday. By 2pm on Tuesday, I hadn't heard from her, so I called the dealership back and left a message. Shortly after that, Tonya called and left me a message saying the service manager would be calling me. By the time I left work, no one had returned my call, so I called him. After a lengthy discussion in which the random comment I made about being the only one who could turn my car off (although that's not actually true as the dealership in SC where I just moved from had no trouble and the employee at a hitch company that just put a hitch on my car less than 2 weeks ago had no problem turning my car on or off) was continuously brought up as to the reason why THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT broke my key, I was finally told that they would order a replacement key for me. All I know is when I arrived at the dealership, my key worked perfectly fine. It wasn't loose or bent (although during the lengthy phone conversation with the service manager, I was told it was), and I had NO difficulty getting my car to turn off or on. If not for the fact that they finally decided to replace the key THEY broke, I would have given this dealership 1 star. I'm glad I'm only in the area for a short time due to work. I wouldn't take my car back to AutoNation again.
Lynde Shaw
Mar 27, 2018
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