I have to trade in my 2010 Camaro for a 2011 and I will now lose money big time.
Mine is now broken and I need a new one. I tried to start my current Camaro today and it not only started like it's recent sluggish and slow turning over, but it turned over extremely rough and violently, stalling and not re-starting easily. It rocked the car left and right with the hood shifting back and forth before stalling hard with loud metallic sounds and thrashing about. I moved it one parking spot over and left it there all day, taking my wife's car instead.
I did not drive the Camaro all day as I had meetings that I could not be late for but I wanted to see if it still ran well at so tonight, I had a parent-teacher meeting for one of my kids. I needed the Camaro to get me 5 KM’s and I figured it could have settled itself during the day. I started it up, and once again, it turned over very violently, shaking the car back and forth trying to start but it seemed to be running on only ½ the cylinders and after about 20 seconds it stalled hard. Hoping it would correct itself after a short rest, I started it a second time and once again it violently shuddered, trying to start but stalling again very hard. At this point my car had drifted, moving slightly into the street (I park on a hill) and I HAD to get this car moved back into a better position so that I could take my wife’s car to this appointment. I started it a third time with the same violent shaking and shuddering but this time I gave it a little gas and it started to pull me out of the parking and onto the boulevard, but it was not “happy” as it was not running on all cylinders and it was sounding bad and running rough. The check engine light came on and I pulled over to the side of the road to a safe position, letting it settle down to idle for a minute.
It seemed to run smoothly after a minute or so, the check engine light stayed on and I was now late so I drove off to the school and it made it there OK without further incident. When I came out of the meeting, it started up this time without all the violence, but it did indeed “chug” slowly over, seeming to be “tight” but it ran relatively smoothly once it started up. When I parked it in a safe place on the inside of my parking, I stopped the engine and re-started it again, this time without any issue. Very odd, very unreliable and very unpredictable.
I am in active talks with my dealer and a GM representative to make this situation right. I want to trade in my 2LT to a 2SS but I am being low-balled by the dealer on my trade in. I hear the dealer talking that he isn't going to give me much more than $22,000 CDN for my car (plus reduced tax) on a car I bought last December for $34,000. I dropped over $12,000 CDN in cash and trade in value all to lose it on this trade 9 months later and 9 car payments of almost $600. I feel terrible and ripped off. I lose the use of my 18" Heritage winter wheels and tires, gotta buy a different set and lose money there. I lose on allmost all the dealer extras I dropped onto this car, with my Leather treatment, Paint and oil treatment and my anti-theft numbering of my car parts, the OEM mud guards that cost me $700 at full pop canadian ripoff-inflated prices. The only thing that I can recover is the floor mats and trunk mat that I had the pleasure of spending a whopping $489CDN for, because that, I can take and plop into my new Camaro.
You may wonder why I would pay such outrageous prices for these accessories, but that's the price for being Canadian and buying cars and car parts up here. The irony is that the Camaro is MADE in Canada to begin with! I understood the huge price differences when our dollar was at $1.45 US but it's almost at par people, for quite some time now so let's get things adjusted to reality! Everytime I ask a dealer WHY are our prices so out of whack with the US prices, it's all vague and "just the way it is" kinda rhetoric and it just doesn't add up. I just know that the suppliers, manufacturers and dealers all take a little "more" than thier American counterparts as "part of the deal" for everyone just being quiet about it. It cannot be justified on market share and customer ratios and all that. Our country buys alot of cars too, you know!
Our Canadaian dollar today is trading at:
On 16 Sep 2010, 1.00 Canadian dollar(s) = 0.97 U.S. dollar(s), at an exchange rate of 0.9733
My new Camaro 2SS should not cost me $50,000+, I want to pay for it in US dollars! Will you sell it to me in US dollars? Why is this the way it is? Does anyone have any idea why Canadian Camaros cost more in the country where they are made?!
I am not looking forward to re-negotiating a new Camaro, but I have no choice as it's in my near future!
eB