LT V6 Motor is blown! With only 9,000 miles on the clock...need help!

[fastball]

Originally Posted by MyIBMssRS

Sticking accelerator pedals are cause for mass hysteria. An engine failing here or there out of THOUSANDS installed on multiple models is not a huge problem to a company the size of GM. (not saying it's not a problem at all) But they've got bigger fish to fry.

3 weeks unpaid leave?!? Are you f'n serious? What if that person was you? Would you still feel this way if you were sent home from work without pay for 3 weeks? Give me a break.

If it was due to something I did wrong on assembly it's a totally appropriate punishment. You build the engine exactly according to specs or find another job. Not that difficult.

If it is found that the problem was not due to something you did then you get all of your retro pay upon rehire.

Standards need to be set to perfection and anything less is unacceptable. Show me a Mercedes engine or a Honda engine that suffered catastrophic failure with 9,000 miles on the clock and no mods or abuse. Go ahead. Search. You won't find it, because there's a level of expectation demanded by those companies.

FYI, the sticking accelerators are more due to idiot drivers and bad floor mats than what the factory or designers did. It's been proven virtually all of the "stuck accelerator" fiascos were hoaxes. That guy who called 911 and had the police get in front of him to bring his car to a stop is lucky Toyota isn't suing him for slander because they could surely win.

[DarkneSS]

Btw guys considering my car will be in the shop from about 34-37 days would you guys think any of these requests from myself are outlandish in nature?

I'd like at least two or three total out of the list, I don't expect to get all of them but it would be nice.

1.) I want my car payment paid this past month.
2.) xx amount of free oil changes good at any dealership
3.) One Camaro accessory of my choice (exhaust/car cover/lip kit etc)
4.) Refunded the difference in value from my car with a rebuilt motor and a new motor.

Still no word on the car...

[Sax1031]

I definitely agree with #1 and #4 personally.

#2 you might get them to do.

#3 is probably out of the question.

And #1/#4 will be a fight probably between you and the dealership/GM.

[The_Blur]

You will not get your payment covered. All they are obligated to give you is a loaner or rental for the duration of your warranty work. This is exactly why you have a warranty. The car is still your property, and you are therefore obligated to pay for it.

Your dealership won't pay to let someone else change your oil. That's bad business. How do you expect them to execute this? Are they going to just write a blank check and assume you only use it for oil changes?

If you want an accessory, pay for it. Your dealer already sold you the car. They are doing whatever GM says is covered by warranty. That is the end of your dealer's legal obligation. Regardless of what kind of deal they made off of you on this car, it won't cover an accessory of your choice. For a business to be in business, it must be allowed to turn a profit. This is an unrealistic request.

Once again, your warranty covers this swap. As long as your warranty is there, your Camaro is just another Camaro on the street. You will have the benefit of a rebuilt or replaced motor. In the short term, that might actually increase your resale value because it would represent a major component of your car being replaced with a newer component, reducing the likelihood of failure.

Sometimes, I get the feeling that people expect that any complaint or problem should be remedied with free stuff. We live in a culture where people have a problem, get the problem remedied, and get gift cards, store credit, and stuff in the mail for having something bad happen. It is America's customer service culture. Companies go out of business for taking too much out of their profit margins to resolve customer complaints. There will be problems with every piece of machinery, whether it is built by GM, Apple, Nintendo, Sony, the Navy, Boy Scouts, or aliens. Something will eventually fail, and that is why companies offer warranties for undue failure. They are rare, and your case is especially disappointing, but that entitles you to take advantage of that warranty that came with your car. That is the only reason you have a warranty, and you are doing the right thing by at least asking for what you are entitled to receive. Now that you've asked, put yourself in their shoes. If you forgot to pay someone back or live up to a promise, are they entitled to sleep with your wife, take your furniture, and get paid for their time while they did all of this? It's not an apples-to-apples comparison. I know. Just try to consider that your dealer, stupid as they may be, do deserve to have jobs, business, and make enough for their families just like the rest of us. Taking this for granted, ask yourself how your very expensive demands might affect that and also whether those demands are outlined in your warranty.

[Sax1031]

I can't think of a situation where a car had to have the engine rebuilt below 10k miles and the resale value going up.

[DarkneSS]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

You will not get your payment covered. All they are obligated to give you is a loaner or rental for the duration of your warranty work. This is exactly why you have a warranty. The car is still your property, and you are therefore obligated to pay for it.

Your dealership won't pay to let someone else change your oil. That's bad business. How do you expect them to execute this? Are they going to just write a blank check and assume you only use it for oil changes?

If you want an accessory, pay for it. Your dealer already sold you the car. They are doing whatever GM says is covered by warranty. That is the end of your dealer's legal obligation. Regardless of what kind of deal they made off of you on this car, it won't cover an accessory of your choice. For a business to be in business, it must be allowed to turn a profit. This is an unrealistic request.

Once again, your warranty covers this swap. As long as your warranty is there, your Camaro is just another Camaro on the street. You will have the benefit of a rebuilt or replaced motor. In the short term, that might actually increase your resale value because it would represent a major component of your car being replaced with a newer component, reducing the likelihood of failure.

Sometimes, I get the feeling that people expect that any complaint or problem should be remedied with free stuff. We live in a culture where people have a problem, get the problem remedied, and get gift cards, store credit, and stuff in the mail for having something bad happen. It is America's customer service culture. Companies go out of business for taking too much out of their profit margins to resolve customer complaints. There will be problems with every piece of machinery, whether it is built by GM, Apple, Nintendo, Sony, the Navy, Boy Scouts, or aliens. Something will eventually fail, and that is why companies offer warranties for undue failure. They are rare, and your case is especially disappointing, but that entitles you to take advantage of that warranty that came with your car. That is the only reason you have a warranty, and you are doing the right thing by at least asking for what you are entitled to receive. Now that you've asked, put yourself in their shoes. If you forgot to pay someone back or live up to a promise, are they entitled to sleep with your wife, take your furniture, and get paid for their time while they did all of this? It's not an apples-to-apples comparison. I know. Just try to consider that your dealer, stupid as they may be, do deserve to have jobs, business, and make enough for their families just like the rest of us. Taking this for granted, ask yourself how your very expensive demands might affect that and also whether those demands are outlined in your warranty.

Under my state's law if I don't receive the car back today in working order I can enact my lemon law and request either a refunds or a new car. The requests I made, in which I added I'd be happy with two, are a chance for them to reverse this negative experience and keep a customer. A $400 cat payment is nothing to GM and will keep me using their business in the long run. If not then I'll consider getting a refund. I think they would rather throw me a bone than face that situation and honestly the crap that I'm going through I feel entitles me to a little something.

[Scrappy Doo]

Lemon law that car and get yourself a new vehicle of your choice.

[camaro1]

i work at a dealer and you would be suprised at what a customer can get in a situation like this, i have seen gm/dealer cover a car payment, free oil changes, and i have seen customers get free accessories while there car is in the shop. gm is still not out of the mud and they are going above and beyond to keep customers happy.

ok, now the other side,, why are people so mad about getting free warranty work done,, people get new engines and transmissions with cars that are out of warranty legally by time or miles,, they complain to gm and most of the time the customer gets the vehicle covered,,, then they ask for more and more , then they get pissed about how long the job takes or that they have to pay for a rental while there car out of warrranty gets a free engine or transmission!

you are worried about a reman engine compared to a new one,,, doesnt matter, you still have a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty when the job is done. and on new vehicles like this i have seen new engines or transmissions come labled reman just because they dont even have cores to rebuild yet. or a reman item comes in and it is actually 80-90% new parts anyways.

[Riderover40]

I really feel your pain dude ! I would be hurting if it was my baby in the service bays for that long. In so far as rebuilt compared to new ? Rebuilt usually refers to a motor that is worn and tired, gets rebuilt...... your engine is getting repaired. So long as the block is not getting reman'ed I wouldn't worry. Your engine will be like new. Any damaged if not all cylinder sleeves and bearings will be replaced along with your damaged parts! If they do not get it right it shouldn't last past the warranty period. This may be a time you have to suck it up! As far as the incredible time period youe Camaro was in repair GM will make up for that if you nudge them!

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by DarkneSS

Under my state's law if I don't receive the car back today in working order I can enact my lemon law and request either a refunds or a new car. The requests I made, in which I added I'd be happy with two, are a chance for them to reverse this negative experience and keep a customer. A $400 cat payment is nothing to GM and will keep me using their business in the long run. If not then I'll consider getting a refund. I think they would rather throw me a bone than face that situation and honestly the crap that I'm going through I feel entitles me to a little something.

If state law gives you the chance to use lemon laws, then that is between you and GM. Your dealer has nothing to do with this.

Many people don't understand the relationship between your independent Chevrolet dealer and General Motors. In the most simple terms possible, GM sells cars to your dealer who, in turn, sells cars to you. In other words, GM does not sell you a car. People post all the time that GM should fix my problem as if the local Chevy store represents GM. Just because there is a big GM logo on the building does not make that franchised small business a representative of GM.

Repeat after me:

My dealership does not represent GM.

When you have a complaint about your dealership's service department, find the service manager or general manager. When your salesperson is a tool, find the sales manager or general manager. When you have a problem with the car itself, be it a warranty problem, recall, or other manufacturer-related problem, it is handled by GM.

I will stop for a moment to point out something very important. Dealers love service work. They get this work from customers and the manufacturer. Customers pay for regular maintenance, and the manufacturer pays for recalls and warranty work. Either way, service departments get paid. Your service department wants to do as much work on your car as possible to earn that dough, and they are going to be eager to make sure that someone pays. If they can get away with a warranty claim—if they can convince GM to pay for it—they will try their best to get the most expensive work done so they can make the most money. Does that make sense so far? Basically, follow the money. GM sells the car to your dealer. Your dealer sells the car to you. If you have a problem with the car, it could be from GM (usually mechanical) or your dealer (usually cosmetic). Make sure you go after the right person.

You said that you want GM to fix your car (what they are obligated to do), cover your payment (what you are obligated to do), and give you expensive free stuff (what you want). In order to get what you want, you need to approach the appropriate authority. Contact GM, not your dealer, if you want free stuff. Your dealer does not represent GM. When you ask your dealer to give you free stuff, you are not asking GM to give you free stuff. When your dealer says no, that no does not represent GM. It represents your dealer.

When I said that your dealer is obligated only to fix your car, I meant that GM can do whatever it wants to make you happy, but your dealer isn't likely to do it. Anything is possible, and you're asking the right questions, but my advice is to ask the right people. Right now, you're asking your dealer things that you should be asking of GM and getting upset that your dealer, not GM, might find your request misplaced and say no. GM does want to keep your business, but it sounds like you're asking for a lot.

GM only wants your business if they can profit from you. That's business, and your requests so far are very costly. If your future business is going to be equally costly, it might make more sense not to meet your demands. Keep this in mind when asking for things. They want your business to profit in the future. If you aren't profitable, they don't really want to do business with you.

I hope this explains the business perspective of your problem. I have no interest in defending or attacking dealers. Your dealer, like so many others, is made up of idiots I'm sure. That being said, they have jobs just like the rest of us, and they deserve to get paid to do those jobs. Getting free stuff generally takes away from the whole getting paid part of the business equation.

[Bonanza7]

Camaro1...A few years ago, I was told by my dealer that if they replaced my engine with a new one, I would only get a 12 mo 12,000 warranty on the engine, even though the basic car still had nearly 2 years to go on the original 3 year 36,000 warranty. Has that changed?

[DarkneSS]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

If state law gives you the chance to use lemon laws, then that is between you and GM. Your dealer has nothing to do with this.

Many people don't understand the relationship between your independent Chevrolet dealer and General Motors. In the most simple terms possible, GM sells cars to your dealer who, in turn, sells cars to you. In other words, GM does not sell you a car. People post all the time that GM should fix my problem as if the local Chevy store represents GM. Just because there is a big GM logo on the building does not make that franchised small business a representative of GM.

Repeat after me:

My dealership does not represent GM.

When you have a complaint about your dealership's service department, find the service manager or general manager. When your salesperson is a tool, find the sales manager or general manager. When you have a problem with the car itself, be it a warranty problem, recall, or other manufacturer-related problem, it is handled by GM.

I will stop for a moment to point out something very important. Dealers love service work. They get this work from customers and the manufacturer. Customers pay for regular maintenance, and the manufacturer pays for recalls and warranty work. Either way, service departments get paid. Your service department wants to do as much work on your car as possible to earn that dough, and they are going to be eager to make sure that someone pays. If they can get away with a warranty claim—if they can convince GM to pay for it—they will try their best to get the most expensive work done so they can make the most money. Does that make sense so far? Basically, follow the money. GM sells the car to your dealer. Your dealer sells the car to you. If you have a problem with the car, it could be from GM (usually mechanical) or your dealer (usually cosmetic). Make sure you go after the right person.

You said that you want GM to fix your car (what they are obligated to do), cover your payment (what you are obligated to do), and give you expensive free stuff (what you want). In order to get what you want, you need to approach the appropriate authority. Contact GM, not your dealer, if you want free stuff. Your dealer does not represent GM. When you ask your dealer to give you free stuff, you are not asking GM to give you free stuff. When your dealer says no, that no does not represent GM. It represents your dealer.

When I said that your dealer is obligated only to fix your car, I meant that GM can do whatever it wants to make you happy, but your dealer isn't likely to do it. Anything is possible, and you're asking the right questions, but my advice is to ask the right people. Right now, you're asking your dealer things that you should be asking of GM and getting upset that your dealer, not GM, might find your request misplaced and say no. GM does want to keep your business, but it sounds like you're asking for a lot.

GM only wants your business if they can profit from you. That's business, and your requests so far are very costly. If your future business is going to be equally costly, it might make more sense not to meet your demands. Keep this in mind when asking for things. They want your business to profit in the future. If you aren't profitable, they don't really want to do business with you.

I hope this explains the business perspective of your problem. I have no interest in defending or attacking dealers. Your dealer, like so many others, is made up of idiots I'm sure. That being said, they have jobs just like the rest of us, and they deserve to get paid to do those jobs. Getting free stuff generally takes away from the whole getting paid part of the business equation.

I'd hate to respond to your long and though out post in such a brief way but basically I never had the intention to make the dealer give me the things I want. When I approach them about these requests I am going to state up front that I am nearly coming to them in the prospect of seeking a channel to GM directly. I guess I should have been more clear that these requests are for GM, not my dealer.

[greenrail]

We all know, that none of the other manufacturers have any failures in their vehicles, right?

Pardon my sarcasm. But, these are machines. They are designed by humans, they are built by humans, they are transported by humans, they are sold by humans, they are bought by humans, they are maintained by humans, they are operated by humans.

Get real here, you can throw in all the computer technology you want. But the bottomline is they are machines. They are not without fault. I don't care if it is a Bugatti, Chrysler, Ferrari, Cadillac, Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Hyundai, or whatever...

You get it fixed. The Manufacturer made an agreement with you the day your purchased the car.

It really makes no matter, whether you have a rebuilt motor or a replacement motor, you will still have your five year - 100,000 mile drivetrain warranty. probably extended to cover the difference form the original date of purchase.

I am sorry for the rant, here. But, to me this is just becoming another example of people demanding unrealistic compensation beyond the terms they agreed to when they purchased the car. It is one of the reasons why prices escalate so rapidly over time.

At the price point for these cars, you are getting a damn good vehicle that looks great and has pretty decent performance.

To the O.P. I feel bad about the problems you are having. I went through it when my Tranmission oil cooler split. But, I was patient, and worked through it. Do what you need to to get the car fixed. If not able to do so, then pursue the proper course for resolution.

Basically, do the right thing.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by DarkneSS

I'd hate to respond to your long and though out post in such a brief way but basically I never had the intention to make the dealer give me the things I want. When I approach them about these requests I am going to state up front that I am nearly coming to them in the prospect of seeking a channel to GM directly. I guess I should have been more clear that these requests are for GM, not my dealer.

You could have saved me a lot of typing!