Chevrolet Service Review - Koon's of Tyson's Corner Northern Virginia

[ChadG]

I'm going to start by saying that if you're not familiar with Koon's, this dealership is HUGE. I think they're one of, if not the, largest seller of Corvettes in the country. Normally when dealing with large dealerships that push vast amounts of volume, you are treated like a number and that they're doing you a favor by selling you a car and working on it for you while you're paying them your hard earned dollars.

I'm proud to say that the good folks in the service department at Koon's of Tyson's Corner break that mold. Most notably are Mr. Mike Kalman (service advisor) and Mr. Anthony Milanesi (technician), I highly recommend if you take your car to Koon's you ask for these two gentlemen by name. Allow me to illustrate.

I had been experiencing an intermittent squeaking noise from my HVAC system at low fan speeds during periods of extremely cold weather. Any time I had the opportunity to actually bring it by the dealership the symptoms were not present, so I brought it up during one of my scheduled services. The HVAC was of course working perfectly when I brought it in, but Mike and Anthony took my problem seriously when I expect that most places would have just blown me off and told me to bring it back in when it was making the noise. Anthony did some troubleshooting of the of the blower motor with a multimeter and found that there was unusually high resistance and replaced it under warranty. This my friends, is what mechanics do - real, honest to God troubleshooting. As always, Anthony returned my car in the pristine condition that I handed it to him in. This guy takes pride in his work and you can trust he'll treat your car just like he would his own.

Now comes the part that will blow your mind. For my 15k mile service I had scheduled my standard Mobil1 oil change (where I provide the Mobil1 oil and filter) and they just charge me a reasonable labor charge. Because I'm obsessive compulsive about my car, as many of you are as well, I also wanted to change out the rear differential fluid with Royal Purple synthetic and do a transmission flush just to clean everything out. The transmission flush is an expensive service, one that probably makes the service department a nice chunk of money. I was perfectly willing to pay the money just to satisfy my obsessive/compulsive impulses and know I had perfectly clean transmission fluid, but Mike and Anthony advised me to save my money and wait another 10-15k miles because it really wouldn't benefit the car. This display of honesty and integrity left me absolutely impressed. Other people would have gladly taken my money and performed the service (some probably would have taken my money and just told me that they performed the service).

So let me wrap up this long winded review, in hopes that it will benefit some of my fellow Camaro owners. If you're not satisfied with your dealership, or even if you have been to Koon's and been unsatisfied with your experience - call and ask for Mike Kalman and Anthony Milanesi. Their shop is full of more expensive Corvette Z06's and ZR1's, but they understand how much we love our cars (even my base model Camaro LS) and will treat you and your car with the attention and respect you deserve. Even when you're a pain in the ass obsessive/compulsive/demanding customer like me!

[The Stig]

Are they a mod friendly dealership?

[RUMBLBE]

Impressive! Lindsay Chevrolet is where I would go when I had a problem and got nowhere near this service. I have the exact same HVAC problem and was told the motor would need replaced and they didnt recommend doing it until it went completely out because the entire dash had to be pulled apart.

I really hope Koons is mod friendly because Lindsay definitely is not. We do not have many around here that are. It's frustrating to see a dealership look at cost and not cover parts unless your mods have GMPP on them.

[Tribute]

Thanks for the post. I had a bad experience at Koons, but would maybe have given them a second shot after your post. However, I ended up buying from Sterling. I've been very happy with Sterling Chevrolet, great service, great price, and they are a mod friendly dealer, in fact they do installs.

[xXSilencerXx]

Originally Posted by Lukeko

Thanks for the post. I had a bad experience at Koons, but would have given the a second shot after your post. I ended up buying from Sterling. I've been happy with Sterling Chevrolet. They are. A mod friendly dealer, in fact they do installs.

Seems every dealer has good and bad. Had a friend who had a horrible experience at Koons and made to feel like an idiot for what he wanted to pay for a Camaro, went over to Ourisman and got the same deal with no problem.

Lindsay's parts department was incompetent the 3 times I tried to order parts.

Radley's body shop can't paint to save their life.

Just my personal experiences so far.

[LWM]

Bump to Lukeko................regarding Sterling Chevy.

[Tribute]

Originally Posted by LWM

Bump to Lukeko................regarding Sterling Chevy.

LWM, I think I saw your car at Sterling a few months back, did you have some headers installed by them?

[Infern0]

Originally Posted by RUMBLBE

I have the exact same HVAC problem and was told the motor would need replaced ....

Replace the motor for a squeek in the fan? You think they were wrong? I noticed this in mine last week. I have 32K miles so I think I'm out of luck very soon when it comes to free replacements, right?

I typically go to Lyndsay as well, but haven't had any serious problems yet. Tire plugs, seat heater replacements, and replacement for a door panel.

Oh yeah RUMBLBE, think I spotted you on 234 a couple times.

[5thGenCamaroKid]

Originally Posted by stieger

Are they a mod friendly dealership?

Depends.

[5thGenCamaroKid]

Originally Posted by xXSilencerXx

Seems every dealer has good and bad. Had a friend who had a horrible experience at Koons and made to feel like an idiot for what he wanted to pay for a Camaro, went over to Ourisman and got the same deal with no problem.

Lindsay's parts department was incompetent the 3 times I tried to order parts.

Radley's body shop can't paint to save their life.

Just my personal experiences so far.

The problem is the location of Koons when it comes to the MSRP and ADM debate. Koons is located in a very affluent part of Northern Virginia; McLean, portions of Reston, Arlington/Alexandria...so naturally, they attract individuals who will pay higher premiums for vehicles rather than shop around for MSRP deals. They charge it because there are people who are willing to pay the ADM for a particular vehicle. Example - they have 3 allocations for the ZL1 - and you can bet there will be at least a $7.5K ADM on them. Hell, even the Camaro when it came out had the same ADM (TF3 edition had a $10K ADM on it). The benefit of making that relationship is they take care of you in the long run. Generally, when you purchase from a specific dealership, they're more inclined to help you out when it comes to a repair in the service department - ask me how I know.

Now, to acknowledge the counterpoint about Sterling Chevy and several others. They're all in competition, so naturally some will undercut others. I've never been to Sterling Chevy, so I can't speak to their exceptional, or lack thereof, customer service. What I do know is that Koons is one of, or the top (can't remember - I was just in talking to Tommy, the sales manager), the top dealerships on the east coast when it comes to overall sales. That, in and of itself, should speak to their reputation.

TL;DR - Every dealership has good and bad, like you said. But, pick one and stick with them - it will help you (I say you as a general statement, not specifically you) out in the long run.

[Tribute]

Originally Posted by 5thGenCamaroKid

The problem is the location of Koons when it comes to the MSRP and ADM debate. Koons is located in a very affluent part of Northern Virginia; McLean, portions of Reston, Arlington/Alexandria...so naturally, they attract individuals who will pay higher premiums for vehicles rather than shop around for MSRP deals. They charge it because there are people who are willing to pay the ADM for a particular vehicle. Example - they have 3 allocations for the ZL1 - and you can bet there will be at least a $7.5K ADM on them. Hell, even the Camaro when it came out had the same ADM (TF3 edition had a $10K ADM on it). The benefit of making that relationship is they take care of you in the long run. Generally, when you purchase from a specific dealership, they're more inclined to help you out when it comes to a repair in the service department - ask me how I know.

Now, to acknowledge the counterpoint about Sterling Chevy and several others. They're all in competition, so naturally some will undercut others. I've never been to Sterling Chevy, so I can't speak to their exceptional, or lack thereof, customer service. What I do know is that Koons is one of, or the top (can't remember - I was just in talking to Tommy, the sales manager), the top dealerships on the east coast when it comes to overall sales. That, in and of itself, should speak to their reputation.

TL;DR - Every dealership has good and bad, like you said. But, pick one and stick with them - it will help you (I say you as a general statement, not specifically you) out in the long run.

Yeah, Koons is a huge dealer in the area and can see why they are number one in sales. I think they sell just about every make and model.

Sterling is much much smaller and is run like a family operation, so it doesn't feel too dealership like, that's what drew me in. (Well, and price too). But it's good to have a Chevy dealer that understands mods and what does what, so that we don't get the shaft on our warrenties.

Before them I went to Jim McKay, the sales manager was a dip that couldn't leave his thrown to answer any questions. Ugh that bothers me.

The thing I didn't like about my experiance at Koons was the lack of Camaro knowledge and I know its most likely the salesman I dealt with.

[5thGenCamaroKid]

Originally Posted by Lukeko

Yeah, Koons is a huge dealer in the area and can see why they are number one in sales. I think they sell just about every make and model.

Sterling is much much smaller and is run like a family operation, so it doesn't feel too dealership like, that's what drew me in. (Well, and price too). But it's good to have a Chevy dealer that understands mods and what does what, so that we don't get the shaft on our warrenties.

Before them I went to Jim McKay, the sales manager was a dip that couldn't leave his thrown to answer any questions. Ugh that bothers me.

The thing I didn't like about my experiance at Koons was the lack of Camaro knowledge and I know its most likely the salesman I dealt with.

I see where you're coming from - lack of knowledge isn't something to hold against them though. I'd imagine they're expected to know the basics (i.e. what's in the brochure), and if that's what you're referring to then there's no excuse for that. There's also probably a lot of turnover in the car sales industry (especially in Tysons Corner), so there's give and take as with anything.

There are service advisors there that understand mods - I can't remember his name, but I was just in talking with him about mine (my Camaro is serviced at Koons), and he was very familiar with the shop that did the work to mine (ECS) - he had a Corvette done at ECS and had them tune his current C6Z.

Either way, glad to hear you found a shop that meets your needs and established that working relationship with them!

[SS4Fun]

I've never really had a good experience from Sterling Chevrolet and it's a shame since they're right around the corner from me. It's been awhile since I've been there.............. maybe they've changed. I make the drive out to Criswell Chevrolet in Gaithersburg, MD... that's where we buy our cars.

Haven't been to Koons at Tysons in forever either. Took our brand new firebird formula there because it was blowing blue smoke when you started it up. The service manager said it was normal. Star Pontiac in Leesburg fixed for us, not a single problem after that!!

Gotta go where "you" get treated right!!

[Tribute]

Originally Posted by SS4Fun

I've never really had a good experience from Sterling Chevrolet and it's a shame since they're right around the corner from me. It's been awhile since I've been there.............. maybe they've changed. I make the drive out to Criswell Chevrolet in Gaithersburg, MD... that's where we buy our cars.

Haven't been to Koons at Tysons in forever either. Took our brand new firebird formula there because it was blowing blue smoke when you started it up. The service manager said it was normal. Star Pontiac in Leesburg fixed for us, not a single problem after that!!

Gotta go where "you" get treated right!!

It is interesting, it really is a different experience at differet times. It should be consistant. I need to hit the lotto, that way i can open up an honest service shop that can take good care of all of us, no matter who you are or what day of the week you come. It seems like other areas have shops like this, NOVA seems to be missing out. But like you said, if they take care of "you" then stick with it.