Weasel and Jack Miller Isuzu (KC, MO)
As some of you know, I recently purchased a Proton for the hunny. I flew from California to Kansas City, MO (surprisingly, my plane ticket there cost less than it did to rent a car for the day). The inspector who I paid to make a pre-purchase inspection noted a lot of leakage from the tranny pan gasket and oil pan gasket. So I wanted to get both of those squared away, along with fluid changes, U-joints lubed, safety check, etc. done before driving it the 1400+ miles back to Cali.
Around the same time I arranged the flight, I did a google search of dealerships in the area, and came up with Jack Miller Isuzu, in Kansas City, MO. Then I did a search on this site, and found nothing for Jack Miller Isuzu in KC, MO. But I did find a post where anotehr dealer recommended the Jack Miller Isuzu dealership in Olanthe, Kansas. So, I'm thinking if one Jack Miller is good, the other has a good chance of being at least adequate.
Since I don't have alot of choice in locations anyway, I make an appointment with Ken, the Service Manager, to drop the VX off the night I purchase it. (The service department is closed by this time). All is good. Plans are made. Now for the follow thru:
My traveling companion on this trip is my mother, who always wanted to drive across country with one of her kids, as her parents often drove from Michagan to CA when she was growing up. We get up at 4 am for a 7 am flight and fly. We arrive at 4 pm and get the rental car. We fumble our way the 26 or so miles east of the city to the small dealership where the car is before they close up shop. Mom's first reaction: "Is that your new car? It's cute!" All goes rather smoothly. Until we get lost trying to find Jack Miller Isuzu, as the directions on their website are for sh*t. Minus point on that one.
But, we have their phone number and nationwide cell phone minutes, and tho the service department is closed, one of the salesmen (a great guy who's name escapes me) graciously talks us in, spending about 20 minutes on the phone, until we have been guided to the service department parking lot. Immediately the Proton is approached by another salesman, who wants me to trade it in, or sell it outright, as "These are rare, especially that color." So points both for customer service and knowing what a VX is, and that Protons are rare.
I drop the key in the night box and head off to the motel. Next morning, I give them a call to find out what the status is. I'm hoping that everything can be done by noon, so we can get on the road because we need to make Glenwood Springs (760+ miles away) by that night.
Ken tells me "Did you know this is a salvage title?" I say "Yes, it's why I could afford to buy it and fly to MO to drive it home." He says "There's no frame damage or anything. I can't see why it'd be salvaged at all." I reply that it was salvaged in Oklahoma, which issues a salvage title for stolen vehicles. (Thank you, Carfax. ;) ) He tells me they have looked it over and that a) The oil pan silicone isn't leaking, it's the oil drain plug gasket and b) they don't have Mobil One synthetic oil or ATF on hand but they will get it.
We wait. We check out of the motel. We wait some more (Quality Inn on Macon St. in KC, MO isn't a bad place to stay, they let us hang around their lobby and watch a movie and drink their coffee and hot chocolate after we checked out). About 1:30 pm, no call, so we go over to Jack Miller Isuzu, because they also conveniently have an Enterprise rental car place at the lot, and that's coincidentally the type of car we rented. Also, we are impatient to get on the road and figure if we're camping out in their waiting room, they'll be more likely to finish quicker.
I show up, Ken apologizes for the car not being ready, but he is waiting for the synthetic fluids as the place they usually get it from was out of stock and had to get it from somewhere else. Meanwhile, he takes me back to the vehicle and has Andy, their head Isuzu mechanic, put it up on a lift and show me all the little details of what's going on with the VX.
Andy has been working on Isuzus for nine years. He shows me where and how to look for frame damage, where the leak was, why I don't need to pay them to resilcone the oil pan, and explains that the driver's airbag wasn't connected, as it was supposed to be. When I ask him to replace the oil cap gasket (because of a recommendation by someone on this forum), he offers me a whole new oil cap, gasket and all for free. When they replace long blocks they get new oil caps which don't wind up on the trucks they're being put in because the old oil caps work perfectly fne. I note there's an aurora of grime around the brake master cylinder, and that worries me. Andy insists that probably happened when the vehicle hit the deer (for which it wasn't totalled, but is probably what required most of the body work that was done). It's old grime, not new, not wet. Don't need to pay to fix what aint broke.
I return to the waiting room very much reassured that this purchase is not a bad investment. Andy and Ken are both impressed with how well the VX runs and how little damage it has (Torn up eye bolt, some crinkling under the fender but not visible outside the engine bay).
Once the whole rental car thing is squared away, it's after 4 pm. Andy comes out and tells me that he's put new oil in it, run the VX for over 45 minutes, and found no evidence of seepage so it looks like it was only the drain plug gasket, not the seal which was suspect due to the pattern of oily grime on the undercarriage. But Andy also points out that my windshield wipers are trash and should be replaced before I head off across country.
While he's swapping them out, Ken tells me "I have a yellow Vehicross too. Want to see it?" Surprised, I say "Sure!" He pulls out a Matchbox Proton from his pocket, which he kept on his desk. He collects Matchbox cars. He has two other VX's at home, so he gives me this one. Gives it to me. I'm blown away. Demonstrative Californian that I am, I actually give him a hug.
Andy finishes, I pay (About the same amount I paid my local dealer to do a tranny fluid change). We get on the road, but by this time it's far too late to make Glenwood Springs at a reasonable hour, so we shoot for Denver. I check the oil every gas stop. Absolutely no leakage. Not from the tranny pan, not from the oil pain, not from the master cylinder.
1500+ miles later. No leakage.
Yeah. I recommend these guys.
