Shady Dealership Service Turns Into Nightmare for Hellcat Owner
After a brake service at a dealership, an unsecured bleeder screw caused wheel and paint damage on this widebody Hellcat.
If you’re new to JunkyardDave‘s YouTube channel, this video might come off as a little bit whine-y. But rest assured Dave Nenno is a thorough Mopar fan and gearhead. The Challenger Hellcat Widebody he owns was built from a salvage title. His resurrection of this beast was nearing completion when a dealership service turned sour.
Given that the car was roadworthy, Nenno took the ride – sans hood – to the drag strip for some fun. It was there that he’d notice a loose bleeder screw on one of the front calipers. Fluid leaked inside the rim and then flung all over the side of the car. Not only was the wheel damaged with bubbling paint, but the car’s paint also had etching in it from droplets of brake fluid. Add on to that and a wheel lug was missing from the wheel with the troublesome caliper. This happened after he’d taken his Challenger to a dealership to have the brakes serviced, along with a few other things. Understandably, he was upset.
“Today is the day the dealer is coming to pick the Hellcat up to inspect all the damage that was caused by the brake fluid when they left the bleeder screw undone,” Nenno says. But then, two weeks pass and nothing was really done with the car except the one wheel was re-finished. “I’m going to go talk to the manager, see what they are going to say about the Hellcat, and then we’ll kinda decide what to do with it,” a pensive Nenno remarks.
He had reason to anticipate a bit of pushback from the dealership. After they inspected the car, and claimed that brake fluid wouldn’t damage paint like that, they offered to have the car buffed. After that didn’t work, Nenno then took the offensive and asked the dealership to pay up for damage caused by their mistake. Their offer? $400.00.
“Dealerships are supposed to be the best thing, and they always pride themselves on how they are better than mom-and-pop shops. I bet if I had taken this to any backyard mechanic, they would have done a better job,” is a message Nenno wants us to hear. That’s fine with us, because we like working on our cars but it is frustrating to see a lesson learned like this.
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