[18Black2SSinAZ]

I purchased the car in August of 18 with just under 6000 miles. Sent it with my brother (GM mechanic, in Illinois) for an oil change one day and he also did the fluid change in the transmission because he was aware of the service bulletin on that even though I wasn’t having any issues with it back then. Then I moved to Arizona, where I started having issues with the rear dif, and ultimately ended up having a new one installed under warranty. Now I’m back in Illinois and a couple months ago started noticing the shudder and occasionally a very hard shift. Had tires balanced hoping that was the problem since the car does badly need front brakes. The car sat for a year in AZ till I had it shipped back here to Illinois and I was told the rotors likely warped from sitting, and tires could go off balance from that. Since I won’t be driving it in the winter, I’m not going to replace the brakes till spring just to have them sit and go bad again. Anyway, I took it to the dealership and was told I need a new torque converter. The car was out of warranty in January so it’s all on me. It’s currently got just under 18000 miles. The quote is almost $5000. Only here can I expect you to understand how much I’d like to throw $5000 at this car, but not like this! So the question is - what would you do? Suck it up and pay the dealership? Try to find a smaller shop to do the work? Or ??? I love this damn car too much, and now it’s making me wanna cry.
#girlproblems

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by 18Black2SSinAZ

I purchased the car in August of 18 with just under 6000 miles. Sent it with my brother (GM mechanic, in Illinois) for an oil change one day and he also did the fluid change in the transmission because he was aware of the service bulletin on that even though I wasn’t having any issues with it back then. Then I moved to Arizona, where I started having issues with the rear dif, and ultimately ended up having a new one installed under warranty. Now I’m back in Illinois and a couple months ago started noticing the shudder and occasionally a very hard shift. Had tires balanced hoping that was the problem since the car does badly need front brakes. The car sat for a year in AZ till I had it shipped back here to Illinois and I was told the rotors likely warped from sitting, and tires could go off balance from that. Since I won’t be driving it in the winter, I’m not going to replace the brakes till spring just to have them sit and go bad again. Anyway, I took it to the dealership and was told I need a new torque converter. The car was out of warranty in January so it’s all on me. It’s currently got just under 18000 miles. The quote is almost $5000. Only here can I expect you to understand how much I’d like to throw $5000 at this car, but not like this! So the question is - what would you do? Suck it up and pay the dealership? Try to find a smaller shop to do the work? Or ??? I love this damn car too much, and now it’s making me wanna cry.
#girlproblems

$5000 for a stock converter is ludicrous. Find an independent shop or transmission shop and get some competitive quotes. These dealers are out of control. It would be one thing if they were cranking out top quality work, but that sure as heck is not the case the majority of the time.

[MT-SS1LE]

Agree with above. Never use dealer for anything other than warranty work. You are guaranteed to pay 2X or 3X as much as an independent shop and get subpar work.

[SomeGeoffGuy]

Did you have the correct fluid put in it? The service bulletin specifies a specific grade of trans fluid that GM developed just to get rid of the shudder problem. When I had the service procedure done on my car the dealer told me it was $20 a quart. I had mine service at 15,000 miles and the convertor was fine, too.

-Geoff

[arpad_m]

Tell that dealer to go pound sand. The nerve to quote $5000 on a $375 part... even with 10 hours of labor, which I highly doubt would be necessary, it should be half of that.

Also, the point Geoff made about the fluid is very salient if your brother performed the fluid change prior to about February or March 2019, because the only correct fluid (Mobil 1 Synthetic LV ATF HP, part number 19417577) came out at the end of January 2019.

[18Black2SSinAZ]

Originally Posted by SomeGeoffGuy

Did you have the correct fluid put in it? The service bulletin specifies a specific grade of trans fluid that GM developed just to get rid of the shudder problem. When I had the service procedure done on my car the dealer told me it was $20 a quart. I had mine service at 15,000 miles and the convertor was fine, too.

-Geoff

My brother did the proper fluid change back in 2019, only because he was aware of the bulletin. I wasn’t having issues back then. So in theory, I shouldn’t be having problems now. Also the dealership told me they wouldn’t do another fluid change since it had already been done.

[18Black2SSinAZ]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

Tell that dealer to go pound sand. The nerve to quote $5000 on a $375 part... even with 10 hours of labor, which I highly doubt would be necessary, it should be half of that.

Also, the point Geoff made about the fluid is very salient if your brother performed the fluid change prior to about February or March 2019, because the only correct fluid (Mobil 1 Synthetic LV ATF HP, part number 19417577) came out at the end of January 2019.

I’ll have to check the quote but I’m pretty sure they said 15 hours of labor.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by 18Black2SSinAZ

My brother did the proper fluid change back in 2019, only because he was aware of the bulletin. I wasn’t having issues back then. So in theory, I shouldn’t be having problems now. Also the dealership told me they wouldn’t do another fluid change since it had already been done.

This is just a conjecture, but if he didn't have access to the Transflow equipment the bulletin calls for, some of the old fluid may have remained in the trans, which could result in water accumulation over the years, leading to shudder eventually.

The TC replacement should still be way, way cheaper than what you were quoted.

[JDono]

My17 developed that dreaded shutter at 30k miles. Covered under extended warranty was about $4,000 to replace through dealership. Id figure since its a known manufacturing issue that GM would pay to replace those vehicles impacted?

[18Black2SSinAZ]

Originally Posted by JDono

My17 developed that dreaded shutter at 30k miles. Covered under extended warranty was about $4,000 to replace through dealership. Id figure since its a known manufacturing issue that GM would pay to replace those vehicles impacted?

I did find (on line) a class action lawsuit about this including the 14 different vehicles this A8 is in, that I believe is in the works in Michigan, but I have no idea what the current status of it is or how to potentially get involved.

[79 TransAm that never was]

Originally Posted by 18Black2SSinAZ

I purchased the car in August of 18 with just under 6000 miles. Sent it with my brother (GM mechanic, in Illinois) for an oil change one day and he also did the fluid change in the transmission because he was aware of the service bulletin on that even though I wasn’t having any issues with it back then. Then I moved to Arizona, where I started having issues with the rear dif, and ultimately ended up having a new one installed under warranty. Now I’m back in Illinois and a couple months ago started noticing the shudder and occasionally a very hard shift. Had tires balanced hoping that was the problem since the car does badly need front brakes. The car sat for a year in AZ till I had it shipped back here to Illinois and I was told the rotors likely warped from sitting, and tires could go off balance from that. Since I won’t be driving it in the winter, I’m not going to replace the brakes till spring just to have them sit and go bad again. Anyway, I took it to the dealership and was told I need a new torque converter. The car was out of warranty in January so it’s all on me. It’s currently got just under 18000 miles. The quote is almost $5000. Only here can I expect you to understand how much I’d like to throw $5000 at this car, but not like this! So the question is - what would you do? Suck it up and pay the dealership? Try to find a smaller shop to do the work? Or ??? I love this damn car too much, and now it’s making me wanna cry.
#girlproblems

I brought a out of warranty vehicle to a Chevy dealership for a torque converter issue. After the 'mechanic' (I use that term loosely) took the vehicle for a test ride I asked for a quote for repairs. The moment he told me it would be a $500 'diagnosis fee' to tear into the tranny to give me an accurate quote, I laughed and GTF out of there. $500 for a quote ain't happening, so I took the vehicle to a transmission shop a mile up the road, they did a 'free' diagnosis, and gave me a free quote immediately. They installed a new torque converter and had it fixed 24 hrs after I walked in their door.

I won't let the dealership touch my car unless it's a recall issue, or a warranty repair. I didn't bring my Camaro in for the free oil change. So letting them tear into the transmission is out of the question. Get your car out of the dealership and ask around for a reputable transmission shop. You'll save money, time, and aggravation.

[18Black2SSinAZ]

Originally Posted by 79 TransAm that never was

I brought a out of warranty vehicle to a Chevy dealership for a torque converter issue. After the 'mechanic' (I use that term loosely) took the vehicle for a test ride I asked for a quote for repairs. The moment he told me it would be a $500 'diagnosis fee' to tear into the tranny to give me an accurate quote, I laughed and GTF out of there. $500 for a quote ain't happening, so I took the vehicle to a transmission shop a mile up the road, they did a 'free' diagnosis, and gave me a free quote immediately. They installed a new torque converter and had it fixed 24 hrs after I walked in their door.

I won't let the dealership touch my car unless it's a recall issue, or a warranty repair. I didn't bring my Camaro in for the free oil change. So letting them tear into the transmission is out of the question. Get your car out of the dealership and ask around for a reputable transmission shop. You'll save money, time, and aggravation.

I paid the $175 diagnostic fee, which I know was just a test drive, and they said that would be taken off the total IF I committed to the work within 30 days. Which isn’t going to happen. Now I just need to figure out where to take it.

[CHASLT1]

I think most of the cost is the time it takes to take the whole car apart like on a C7 as the whole back end has to come off. Find a speed shop to do the work.

[ember1205]

Long shot...

Call your brother and discuss with him not only what he did but what he may have notated in the file for the car. Since it would have been under the bumper-to-bumper at the time, and it should have been noted that they took proactive action, a failure "now" might be able to be pushed back into the lap of GM to make them cover the repair.