LaFontaine Cadillac Buick GMC

Unqualified Service Manager(s). Four-Disc Brake jobs are EASY on vehicles after 2005. Provided one uses bleeder check-valves on caliper bleeder valves while relieving the hydraulic- Four-Disc Brake jobs are EASY on vehicles after 2005. Provided one uses bleeder check-valves on caliper bleeder valves while relieving the hydraulic-lock to retract caliper pistons to get the caliper off the rotor. Rotors just pull right out after that. The rest is how well the calipers are hung with safety wire, and visual inspections of rigid and flexible brake lines, caliper seals, etc. Thereafter, removing spent brake pads "per axle" (both sides) at a time, and installing new ones with caliper grease on the backs of pads, on pad-glides, cleaning contact surfaces, gap-feeler-gauge check, and re-coat white lithium grease on caliper bolts, fastening calipers within manufacturers torque specs (torque-wrench). Replacing rotors is more cost-effective vs, 'turning' them, including manual de-glazing new rotor surfaces which takes a few minutes, for each. After installation of rotors and makeshift lock with one lug nut, calipers re-installed, hydraulic pressure applied, and sufficient purge of line-end brake fluid including sufficient bleeding. Everything is done, including engine-on brake-test looking for brake light (combination valve), if none, then it's good to go. Re-install tires back on and set lug nut torque to manufacturer specifications. This includes all torque specs for caliber bolts, etc. The Service Manager(s) at LaFontaine Buick in Lansing, seem to think removing a rotor should take one shop hour! lol More like 1/60 of a shop hour OR LESS to remove EACH pull-off rotors x 2 or TWO MINUTES, after calipers have been freed from rotors, without introducing air into the lines (bleeder check-valve installed during procedure). The service manager(s) at LaFontaine Buick are NOT Licensed Mechanics and over-charge for simple steps within EASY maintenance tasks such as: Replacing brake pads and rotors on all-disc braking systems. I myself am a Licensed Mechanic, but I'm no longer doing this for a job, as I've moved on to a university engineering program as an older student, now in my senior year. I just did not have any time or place to work on my car, so I took it to LaFontaine Buick, since Glenn Beuge used to be the previous owner, same shop, and I made an assumption that the Service Managers were also qualified MI State Licensed Automotive Mechanics, in the likes of how Glenn (Buege) ran his shop. Not even close! LaFontaine is from out-of-town (not from Lansing) and is too corporate and less negotiating with customers. However, LaFontaine Buick in Lansing, their Licensed Mechanic(s) is/are highly qualified and personable, as I spoke with him while my car was hoisted, and we discussed techie talk for a bit while under my hoisted car. LaFontaine Buick, in my experience does have good Mechanic(s), but their Service Managers are all bean-counters, and not licensed Mechanics, which is BAD for business! It should take no more than 0.5 hours to replace all pads and rotors, do combination valve test and get tires back on PER AXLE! Plus at over 100,000 miles, who in their right mind would want to use OEM parts, when they should be using Aftermarket Parts! All in all, a $200 brake job costed over $400 at LaFontaineBuick in Lansing, for just ONE AXLE, and managed by Service Managers that have NO CLUE about Automotive Technology! If they did, they'd know it DOES NOT take an hour to remove two rotors, more like TWO MINUTES!!! lol But I will re-state that LaFontaine Buick in Lansing, do in fact have good Mechanics with decades of experience, school and licensing, so no issues with maintenance qualifications and/or quality. Car dealers typically make deals with customers who are Licensed Mechanics and also know that Service Managers are best recruited from veteran Mechanics, working their way up from the shop floor into management as Service Writers. So keeping labor-rate bills as "fair" as possible is customary of qualified Service Managers who are veteran Mechanics. Car dealerships make MOST of their profits by selling cars, not fixing them, WITH THE EXCEPTION of maintenance overhauls for RE-CERTIFYING used cars back into the market. Aside from these two functions, Licensed Mechanics and Maintenance in general is seen as a "necessary evil" especially by corporate shop owners. All industries tend to exploit Mechanics anyway, and most Mechanics these days work as contractors not direct employees for many different companies and shops. I think the Michigan Secretary of State has strict laws regulating automotive repair shops and it is the customer's right to demand that a Licensed Mechanic overseas the minimum shop hours needed to complete a maintenance task. Although, if the customer is not a tradesman or mechanic, then I don't see the point, as Service Manager(s) could tell lay customers anything, (e.g. "muffler bearing" and "turn signal fluid", lol). On four-disc automotive braking systems, once the calipers are freed from the rotors (which shouldn't take more than 15 minutes for entire "axle"), simply pulling the rotors off the bearing studs is ALL THAT IS REQUIRED! It should not take more than two minutes to pull off two rotors! Charging an entire HOUR to pull off two rotors is HIGHWAY ROBBERY! LaFontaine Buick in Lansing does have a good facility, and good mechanic(s), no problem there. Their billing department is also friendly and not rude at all. But LaFontaine Buick in Lansing has a serious problem with UNQUALIFIED SERVICE MANAGER(S) who know nothing about cars and functioned as belligerent bean counters to say the least. If they were not, they'd agree that it should take no more than five minutes TOPS to pull off two rotors! I had to get in the face of one of the Service Managers or Parts Managers to a near yelling match before my bill was dropped from nearly $500 just for one EASY "axle" down to around $400. When this job should have costed no more than $350 using OEM parts instead of Aftermarket parts! If LaFontaine Buick does something to reform their Service Manager(s) and gets to the level of professionalism that Glenn Buege's Service Managers had, (all of whom were Licensed Mechanics as well), then I can see LaFontaine Buick in Lansing gaining higher customer reviews, and attracting in more customers pertinent to automotive repairs and maintenance. I'm sure LaFontaine Buick in Lansing is competitive and has many happy customers in regard to selling cars. But I would have to say their Service Manager(s) and repair/maintenance billing is seriously SKEWED on the high end of the Bell Curve toward OVER-CHARGING for repairs!!! Constructive criticism is how business improves its craft, and ultimately customers determine business markets, provided more information pertinent to industry practices are available. When I was a Licensed Mechanic, I'd get the best deal for the customer, based on repair procedure, mileage and parts, as this would attract in more business. In a real Service Management operation, NO ONE is allowed give repair advice and determine PRACTICAL WORK ORDER TIMES except Licensed Mechanics. Manufacturers do set flag-hour times for specific procedures typically as maximum-times, but these are also subject to discretion from shop to shop. I'd be embarrassed to tell a customer that removing rotors will take an hour! If the customer is ignorant and knows nothing about maintenance, they'd think this is "normal", which is an anathema against good business practices! More

#fraudulentfamilydeal,com On December 18, 2019 I purchased a used truck from LaFontaine. Approximately 4 days later the check engine light came on and I noticed on cold star On December 18, 2019 I purchased a used truck from LaFontaine. Approximately 4 days later the check engine light came on and I noticed on cold starts there were ticking noises coming from the exhaust. When I originally looked at vehicle they had it started for me. It was cold that day so I didn't think much of it. I used the auto start on the vehicle for the first few days. when the check engine light came on the auto start stopped working. That is when I noticed the ticking sound. When I signed the paperwork for the truck, I declined the extended warranty they tried to sell to me. The finance department told me it was "as-is" and that I should buy the warranty. I told them no and I was happy with the 3 month or 3000 mile warranty they advertised. Again I was told here is no warranty . I told them to go check with salesman because there was a warranty sticker on the window. He did and was not very happy when he came back. He had the sticker in his hand. I had to ask for a copy of it. I could tell he did not want me to have a copy. On Monday, January 13, 2020, I called to make a appointment with service department. I had already had the check engine light codes read (P0441 ,P0456, and P0305). But I didn't have them deleted as I wanted the dealer to see the same codes. I told the service department I was bringing truck in for warranty work. He told me there was NO warranty on this vehicle. I replied that there was and he said he would check with sales. When I dropped off truck on Tuesday, January 14, 2020 I asked it they got warranty paperwork figured out. I was told once again, there is NO warranty. Initially, I was not concerned because I had the paperwork at home and I would just bring it with me when I picked up truck. I was told he would find paperwork on warranty, if there was one. At this point I was starting to be concerned so I talked to salesman and he confirmed with me there was a warranty and it would be honored for anything covered under warranty. I called service department on Thursday, January 16, 2020 and I was informed it would cost $1900.00 to fix my truck. I asked if any of work was covered under warranty. His response was "I didn't know you had a warranty" and " It will depend what your warranty covers" . On the only warranty paperwork I have it says "Limited warranty. Ask the dealer for a copy of the warranty, and for any documents that explain warranty coverage, exclusions, and the dealer repair obligations". I have made several requests for this paperwork to the salesman, the sales manager, and the service department representative. The service department rep told me that based on the description on the advertisement, the repairs should be covered. I tried to set up a meeting between service manager and sales manager. They would not do this. My request was dismissed. I explained several times my position and my interpretation of warranty paperwork that I did have. I asked several more times for the documents which detail the warranty coverages. And he said "it does not exist". I could tell at this point they had no intentions of honoring the warranty. In fact, the sales manager told me this vehicle never should have had that warranty sticker in the window and it was a mistake. The sales manager's utter lack of knowledge and his inability to provide basic warranty contract provided by LaFontaine was very disheartening. He offered to split the difference of the $1900.00 for truck repairs. I declined and told them this was unacceptable. I questioned if they knew about problems with the truck at the time of sale that they did not disclose to me. He showed me the work performed on the truck when they bought it on a trade-in. The paperwork indicated no codes. I explained how it was strange after having truck for only a few days 3 codes come up. The sales manager also offered to have me trade-in the truck I had just purchased. When I asked how much would they give me, he asked to take it for a quick drive. I said yes and I could tell at this point he was getting annoyed with me and wanted me to leave. Especially when I asked to see warranty paperwork detailing the extended warrant coverage that I refused when I purchased the vehicle. I was curious to compare the wording of the coverage areas. They told me if I bought that warranty it would be covered but refused to show it to me. Increasingly annoyed with me, he asked for keys to my truck for the test drive. I handed him the keys and he asked if there was anything he should know about in the vehicle. I said no and that is when he told me he had a CPL. Why would he say that? Was he threatening me? When he returned with my truck he offered me much less than I paid for it a few weeks prior. I refused. As much as I wanted to push the issue of the warranty, I was feeling very uncomfortable having been informed about a possible weapon. It seemed he was trying to intimidate me by implying he was armed. It was time for me to leave and see if i could get in touch with the general manager, Shadrick Bennett. I left him a message on Friday. I tried to explain the urgency. I have no response, only a broken vehicle. I don't believe they ever intended to honor the warranty given that they told me they put on the vehicle by mistake. I believe the codes where on the vehicle when it was traded in. I believe they deleted the codes to sell the vehicle and that is why they came back on after me driving vehicle for a few days. I am trying to contact previous owner of the vehicle. If he can tell me if the check engine light was on and gas cap light. I could have a fraud case. I will contact him on Monday and see where I go from here. At this point I think legal action may be my only course of action. But I need a vehicle to drive so I will have to fix it. Take out a $1900.00 personal loan. I believe LaFontaine knowingly and fraudulently knew there was something wrong with the vehicle. I believe the sales manager at LaFontaine knows they are responsible for this warranty work. And I believe he is trying to cover up the fact that they put a warranty on a vehicle that they were not supposed to. I believe the sales manager at LaFontaine purposely tried to intimidate me by telling me he had a CPL. LaFontaine should be ashamed and embarrassed because they are responsible for their unqualified, unethical employees More

WARNING. I recently traded my 2017' ram for a used truck from Lafontaine Automotive Group's Clinton township store. This vehicle was falsely advertised as in great condition. Prior to making this trade. I from Lafontaine Automotive Group's Clinton township store. This vehicle was falsely advertised as in great condition. Prior to making this trade. I was reassured the used truck went through a thorough 172 point inspection that confirmed the claim it was in great condition. Unfortunately, this used truck had a blown head gasket. The blown head gaskets should have been caught during the 172 point inspection due to the fact that there was existing bars leak gasket repair in the engine coolant. After nearly a month of non stop phone calls, letters to ownership, meeting with management, and several trips to the dealership. I was over $1000 down in rental truck fees and towing fees. Lafontaine failed to come up with a fair solution, and I had no choice but to take there $1250 offer to help pay for the $9600 repair. The public needs to know how Lafontaine handles a situation like this. Whether the major issues were missed by the service dept. during the inspection? Or Lafontaine knew of the existing bars leak in the coolant? It was me who paid for it! It nearly put me out of business, and destroyed my credit. Consider taking your business elsewhere. More

Back in July I bought a 2014 GMC Sierra. The online discrption said it had 114,000 on when we got there to look at the truck, it actually had 115,000 on it and nobody could explain where the 1,000 mile discrption said it had 114,000 on when we got there to look at the truck, it actually had 115,000 on it and nobody could explain where the 1,000 miles came from, which really wasn't a big deal for the price I was paying since I needed a new truck. The big problem started in the way home, 3 hrs. into our trip, we started smelling exhaust fumes. My wife, son, and I started getting a headache. Not only that, the transmission was making a weird noise. After talking to Jason Lamirand and a few others at the dealership, they said they would have their senior mechanic look at it. They sent up a loaner while they had it for 2 weeks. The guy that had drove my truck down even told the dealership there was something wrong! After 2weeks they said they found nothing wrong, even did a supposedly smoke test on the exhaust and said the transmission was fine. Got the truck back, took it to one of our mechanics he discovered the trans fluid was xxxx near black. So at a time of $280.00 later for the fluid change, their senior mechanic missed that! Then I go to get new tires, and asked our mechanic again to see if he could find out where the exhaust is leaking from! Sure enough, not one leak, but 2 places it's leaking, the flex joint and one of the manifold gaskets.! Jason agrees to pay for the flex joint, which was $352 and some change, but not the manifold gaskets, and $50 towards a detailing job, since the inside of the truck smells like exhaust real bad, I have to drive with my window down so I don't get carbon monoxide poisoning, until I get the other leak fixed and it's my only transportation to work! $50 won't cover getting that smell out of the interior, and it's going to be another$280 or so to fix the other leak! This dealership is a joke, don't even think the " senior mechanic" did squat, otherwise the problem would have been found, our mechanic found it in less than 5 minutes of having up on the hoist! This is very bad business, to go through this nightmare buying a vehicle, I will never purchase another vehicle from Lafontaine, nor would I recommend them to anyone. Very sad More

Terrible customer experience I scheduled a test drive for a Chevy Equinox that My daughter was looking to purchase. I followed up the day before to ensure that I would be test dr I scheduled a test drive for a Chevy Equinox that My daughter was looking to purchase. I followed up the day before to ensure that I would be test driving the specific my daughter wanted. When we arrived at the dealership after a one hour drive, the salesman notified us that they no longer had that vehicle. They did, however, have several other similar vehicles......for $4,000 more. After looking for other vehicles for about 45 minutes, I asked to see the manager. The Sales Manager offered to take some money off the more expensive vehicles, but they still did not fall within my daughters budget. He offered to continue to look for vehicles and get back with me the next week. He never did. I called Dales Manager several times and left messages, but he never returned my call. I called the salesman several times and left messages, but he never returned my call. I emailed the person who schedule me the test drive, but she never replied. I then emailed the General Manager, after he sent me an email thanking me for coming in and test driving a car, but once again, he never replied. Very poor customer service from top to bottom at this place...at least in the pre-owner vehicle department. The General Manager, Sales Manager and Salesman all failed horribly. More

Disgruntled & Angey Custome I purchased a SUV from this dealership about a month ago. The vehicle is supposed to be GMC certified however after having the truck for about a week, I purchased a SUV from this dealership about a month ago. The vehicle is supposed to be GMC certified however after having the truck for about a week, whenever I reach a speed of 75/80mph, there is a buzzing sound in the windshield area. I took the the vehicle back to dealership and they said that they couldn’t detect that anything was wrong. They said by law they couldn’t drive over 70mph on the road and that no one from the dealership could ride with me so I could point out the sound. So here I am with a vehicle that is supposed to be “GMC Certified”and it has a defect. I drive with my children in this vehicle and praying that nothing ever happens while I’m on the rode with them. This vehicle is under warranty but the problem still exists and I have to hear it everyday. To say that I’m upset is an understatement. On top of this, after getting home and carefully looking through the vehicle, the vehicle was filthy. The front and back was vacuumed but the hatch had what looked like pet hair, long strands of hair in the cushion of the front passenger side, and underneath the seats was debris. The tracks of the seats had dirt and debris as well. I’m taking my vehicle to have it professionally cleaned. I will absolutely never ever purchase a vehicle from LaFointaine at any of its locations. If you’re thinking of purchasing from this dealership, please reconsider before purchasing from this dealership! I received a response by email telling me to call the dealership. I’ve already done that and NO ONE REAOLVED MY PROBLEM. Someone should be reaching out to me to rectify this problem! More

Great sales agent, excellent follow up Edit: Mike called and arranged to have the car brought in so they could look at the door. While it was there, they tried to fix the rear wiper blade a Edit: Mike called and arranged to have the car brought in so they could look at the door. While it was there, they tried to fix the rear wiper blade and discovered that there was a pervasive wiring issue. They sent it out to be fixed and did not charge for us that, even lent us a loaner for the 7+ days it took to repair. All in all, we received the service that we had expected from the outset and are very happy customers. Original: I should have driven the car straight to a mechanic for a real inspection before signing on the dotted line. In less than 5 days, the driver side door doesn't open from the inside, the windshield wipers were complete crap and had to be replaced, ran out of windshield wiper fluid, rear wiper doesn't work at all, car takes forever to heat up, and we somehow missed an unsightly gouge in the rear door. I called to see if they could take a look at the door not opening and they were going to charge me for the diagnostics. I'd had it only a few days. I understand that it's a used car and I bought it, problems and all - there's still a certain level of trust you have to place in your dealership, and Lafontaine missed the mark hard. More

Terrible customer service DO NOT BUY A USED VEHICLE FROM THIS DEALERSHIP. As soon as you’re off the lot you will never be able to get in contact with them again. Had questions DO NOT BUY A USED VEHICLE FROM THIS DEALERSHIP. As soon as you’re off the lot you will never be able to get in contact with them again. Had questions about my vehicle and would have countless phone calls ignored and many voicemails. Even when I did get a hold of them they would just give me the run around until I was tired of dealing with them. Worst customer service I have ever received. Unless it’s a deal you can not pass up, do not buy a vehicle from this dealership. More

Salesman great, used vehicle purchased not happy Tim was a great salesman. The vehicle listed had higher miles when I went in. Start having problems with the vehicle right away. Seatbelt needs to Tim was a great salesman. The vehicle listed had higher miles when I went in. Start having problems with the vehicle right away. Seatbelt needs to be replaced & brakes needed replacement. Battery post had to be cleaned by a ford dealership. I feel as though this vehicle was not give the proper inspection. Too many things wrong. Purchase vehicle in December 2018. Not a happy customer!! More