GM sticks me on warranty

[serows1]

Battery's are covered under the 3/36 warranty, I just checked the GM policy and procedure manual and there is no reference to battery leakage not being covered. It must have been a judgement call by the dealership.

Paul

[MIZL1]

My point exactly!

The dealer says, they won't get reimbursed, so it's a GM policy. The local rep confirms not covered. Pay $361 at the window please ....next.

[SAE05]

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It is known that batteries do get dropped at battery manufacturing plants and at vehicle assembly plants during handling. The act of a battery being dropped does not always prompt inspection as the individual is trying to get the product out the door. If not visually compromised or leaking, off it goes.

The issue then becomes whether or not the dropped battery was subject to a drop height and or the angle of the drop, that introduces a start point to the propagation of a crack. It is mostly undetectable by visual inspection unless it is actually leaking. With the battery now in the vehicle, what then happens is the thermal cycling starts to stress that weakened area of the battery as it expands and contracts to the point where a crack slowly begins to develop. It can take a couple of months or a couple of years before it reaches failure. It happens more than you may think and is an arguable point.

It would be interesting to inspect the old battery in the area of the leak to determine if there is any level of deformation to the battery case material. The battery case material has a level of elasticity such that it will rebound or deflect from a drop with hardly being noticed. However the material inside may be damaged taking a set based on the deflection or intrusion seen.
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[2SSJIM]

As Kids when my father was stationed in Germany, we used to hold light bulbs in our hands under the cold river water and they would bust. My 1979 TA'a back window shattered in the Garage (Not Heated) during the winter in here in AZ several years ago... all windows up, garage door shut and at 5am, car warm on the inside, cold air out equals shattered window. It is very possible that your battery got hot from your charger (and batteries do that) and when some cold air (Doesn't have to be freezing) hit it like when you opened the garage door... caused your crack which means NO... would not be covered under warranty. Long time ago, I worked at a gas station in Georgia, guy wanted to run his car through the car wash at 2am during winter.... guess what, his drivers side window blew out from the heat inside the car met that cold water on the outside (It was around 40 degress out) and that would have not been covered under warranty either.

[Mongojoe]

You'd think after you made over $100K in chevy purchases in a year or so they would be feeding you champagne and caviar while you waited for a free battery replacement. In the age of social media, no dealer or manufacturer can afford negative publicity. That goes double for GM.

I bet Graff will lose far more in lost business than the $360 they made from your battery replacement as a result of your post.

[TrekGTO]

When the salesman is selling you a new car its bumper to bumper 3/36. Cars should be equipped for climate they are sold in. My GTO came new with leaks around the battery terminals, known issue from AU but GM would of not replace the battery or fix body damage to tray or under tray, I had to replace Battery, the tray and fix corrosion and paint under battery. Just one of many known issues they would not fix. For me I would tell them to stick the battery @ that price and install an Interstate myself for half the price regardless of the PTA. What happens when there new one fails.

In 06 GM restructuring they said there were no district managers available to me. I went to 3 dealerships, the one that did the most damage to the car said I could sue them if I didn't like the damages. Everything was documented and photos taken. I don't think much of there crap would fly now.

For me I get to the point where its just not worth the stress and time, cut my loss and move on.

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by Mongojoe

You'd think after you made over $100K in chevy purchases in a year or so they would be feeding you champagne and caviar while you waited for a free battery replacement. In the age of social media, no dealer or manufacturer can afford negative publicity. That goes double for GM.

I bet Graff will lose far more in lost business than the $360 they made from your battery replacement as a result of your post.

Not likely unless there is at least a bunch of prospective buyers from Graff on this site.

And Chevy is still Chevy. I get way better treatment at the Cadillac and Audi dealers than I ever got at a Chevy dealer and that counts pretty much good experiences with Chevy.

Keep in mind you could buy a 100k plus Corvette and for a while at least GM sold more $50,000 plus vehicles than anyone because of the Tahoe/Suburban sales. Still Chevy service.

But again, tough to go viral with a "I know my warranty states this isn't covered but I think we should all band together and boycott Graff because they won't fix it under good will". The best way to get good will by the way is not go around making a public stink.

I hope the OP gets satisfaction on this. But trying to boycott or degrade a dealer that won't fix something that the warranty says isn't covered doesn't ring true for me.

[serviceguy]

Within the GM dealer "empowerment guidelines" there is a provision for items not covered within the warranty period, it's called "customer enthusiasm" . The warranty administrator simply has to select this box when submitting the battery claim for warranty. I'd look for another dealer. This is a no brainer !

[RobertRS]

Originally Posted by serviceguy

Within the GM dealer "empowerment guidelines" there is a provision for items not covered within the warranty period, it's called "customer enthusiasm" . The warranty administrator simply has to select this box when submitting the battery claim for warranty. I'd look for another dealer. This is a no brainer !

And how much would one have to spend at that dealer to be considered for this most prestigious consideration.

[RubberChicken]

This is ridiculous. If this is how GM treats their customers after a sale then my current Camaro will be the LAST GM car I will ever buy!

[95birdible]

You should read some of the horror stories of is vert owners. I was accused of damaging my own top at 1500 miles. Got the last laugh when GM bought my car back.

[No Excuses]

I have a Z/28 on order at the moment and my whole family has spent nearly 200k at the Chevy dealership this year, so if GM doesnt honor this like some of you have said this may be the last time I and my family spend money with GM.

[el ess A]

RTFW (w for warranty).

I'm still not understanding the REAL issue here, other than a battery that they say had frozen and nobody has had proof to show it was an actual case defect. Prove it wasn't frozen, and ACDelco should honor it.

If anyone doesn't want to buy another GM car because they don't do their research, then f***n' DON'T. I don't give a flying f*** how much money you've spent at your dealership. $$ shouldn't buy privileges. If your dealer and GM "good wills" you, then great for you. But if they don't, you are stuck with buying a battery (or whatever it is) out of pocket. Idle threats are futile. PROVE it. Wallet speaks louder than a keyboard. Even in all caps.

Next new car/truck I buy will be 99.5% chance it will be a GM. Even with all their pettiness in handling the ignition switch issue by trying to hide behind a bankruptcy proceeding (when they KNEW at the time they filed there were ignition switch issues). But if I ever get the feeling they're not going to take care of a reasonable concern by me or honor a bona fide warrantable item, nobody but me will know when I stop spending money on their cars/trucks. Mustangs and Challengers are still on the lots.

[djpelosi]

Originally Posted by Number 3

What they will likely stand on is the section in your warranty under "what is not covered". In there it says failures due to environmental and chemical exposure are not covered. Battery freezing would be due to environment.

Also doing just a little googling, GM battery warranty is covered by AC Delco. Here is your battery warranty and it also clearly says freezing is not covered.

http://www.acdelcotechconnect.com/pd...y_warranty.pdf

Go to the bottom and it also lists what is not covered. Surprised no one could find this for you. Not sure that would make you feel better though.

Sorry. Would be nice if it were covered but documentation says otherwise.

Only hope would be to be able to show it didn't freeze.

The dealer would have to prove that the battery froze and caused this damage, which IMHO don't think they could. When they denied him warranty on the battery for the crack is was because they THINK the battery may have been frozen, not because they proved it. What's proven > what's opinionated.

HOWEVER.... regardless of weather conditions, I think his dealer is correct in not warrantying the battery. They won't warranty a cracked windshield or bumper, torn leather or scratched dash in the 3/36, so why should they warranty a cracked battery?