Dealerships - A Rant

[Billy10mm]

I have one up the road from me. 1.9 miles to be exact, on the same road I live on. They have the best reputation of all the Chevy dealerships in a 20-mile radius. Tried to buy my 1LE there. We signed paperwork and I signed over the title on my trade-in, then they reneged because they couldn't figure out what an allocation was and didn't realize that they didn't have one.

I end up calling Becky at Rodgers (thank you Camaro5), and had a road-trip memory with my son that I won't ever forget. Proof positive that great dealerships do exist.

Anyway, I still have to get my car serviced occasionally, and so I am forced to go back to said local Chevy dealership for warranty work. First incident was a month after taking delivery of the car. Battery died when the car sat for a week. Called dealership, asked them to bring me a replacement battery and just pop it into the car in my parking lot. Can't do that. Asked them to send a tech over with a jumper box to help me jump the car so I can get it to their shop. Can't do that. Asked them to tow it over. Can't do that. While it's there, ask them to align it since the steering wheel has been skewed heavily since delivery. It gets aligned, wheel is straight, but car feels different. Go back and ask for specs. It's all over the printout since it wasn't originally given to me. Numbers are all over the place. Left and right sides are way off from each other. I sarcastically ask if their tech is using actual equipment to align the car or was possibly using something less accurate like The Force. Politely implied that he might need a few more hours with Yoda or Obiwan to complete his training.

About a year later I'm washing the car and notice some cracks in my right rear tail light. The light has a dimple in the center that's clearly some sort of casting/mold mark (both lights have it), but all of the cracking is centered around this dimple. Simple, stress crack, replace under warranty. Well, that's what you'd think anyway. Drop car off, get called back a few hours later and told that they won't be replacing the tail lamp since I cracked it. Huh? How did I do that exactly? I must have hit something backing up, they tell me. Go back there, ask them to show me where the "mark" is from where I hit it against something. They show me that ****ing dimple. So I leave work immediately, rush over there, and show them where it exists on the other tail lamp in exactly the same spot, then go over to the showroom and show them the same dimples on the Camaro in the showroom. No apology, no "you're right, our bad", just, "Okay, let me talk to someone and I'll get back to you." Go back to work and my phone's ringing as I'm pulling into the parking lot. Sorry, we're not replacing it because you caused it by abusing the car.

W

T

F

Take my car back, give my kids an "arts and crafts" project of making a doll that looks like the service manager, then spend that night poking the doll with safety pins and shoving it head-first into the toilet bowl.

Last week I read about this TSB for the clutch-stuck-to-floor problem. I have had this problem twice, but have done my best to ignore it, as the memories of burning the feet of the voodoo doll with a propane torch was a clear 5-year low-point for me. Anyway, armed with a TSB, I am less worried and I picked up the phone.

When I make the appointment, I give them the TSB number. Will they order the parts ahead of time so that I don't have to leave the car there overnight? Of course they won't. When I bring the car in, the new service manager I get this time clearly likes my car. Mentions he has a WRX that's about to get some under-the-hood TLC. So I bring to his attention the aforementioned tail light, the TSB, ask him to do a state inspection, and I drive him around for a few minutes to show him the front suspension no-rebound dampening issue that a few of us have had and this dealership has failed to reproduce multiple times now (haven't even bothered mentioning this yet as this debacle requires its own thread).

Success finally. They took care of the TSB and replaced the tail lamp. Not only that, but he is ordering a pair of suspension ears and wants me to bring the car back after he gets them so can document the suspension noise and send it off to GM. I had to leave my car there for 2 days and didn't get a loaner. But the fact that the dealership fixed TWO items and didn't break anything is a win of biblical proportions. Saying that, its my clear my standards are very low, but given the history, I don't think I can be blamed. This is the hand I've been dealt.

Why are things sooooo bad at dealerships? Where has all the competence gone? I had to bring my 2002 BMW K1200LT back to the dealership (BMW of Manhattan) a total of 13 times in just under 3 years for warranty-related issues. 3 of those were for real issues, the other 10 were to fix poor workmanship on the part of the dealership. I had a buddy with a brand new Suzuki SV-1000S bring it to the dealership for a 1500-mile service. They flushed the coolant (not required by the way, just something they added in to jack up the charges and tried to pass it off as part of the 1500 mile service), but forgot to refill. He didn't make it home; motor seized and was done. Shop claimed they never touched the coolant and refused to replace the motor. After all was said and done, my buddy had to cough up the dough.

Why do all manufacturers pay so little attention to the quality of the service departments that represent them? The majority of people I know who "swear off" a manufacturer, does so because of a bad service experience. This is so heavily frustrating. Rant off.

[Bizlipkick]

Well said. When we had my wife's lexus, a base model is250, literally the bottom of the rung , we would get a es350 loaner for even oil changes. Best dealership ever. Got her a jeep trailhawk, and our local dodge dealership makes me want to kick baby seals whenever I have to go in.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[SSMY1LE]

Billy, I too feel your pain as I'm sure almost everyone on this forum do. It really does make you wonder what has happened over the years. Below is a copy of the email I sent to my local dealer (not the one I bought from, its much closer) to respond to their service follow up email. Took mine in for its first free oil change.......what an experience ! I'm wanting to do the clutch pedal upgrade but cringe at the thought of it.


Just to follow up with the "service" received last week.

I have never been so angry with any dealership as I was during this visit. I brought my brand new Camaro SS 1LE in for its first oil change thinking it would be treated with care and respect as this was a very expensive purchase and something I've waiting to get for some time. Since picking it up in April, I have been very meticulous with the care of this car and been babying it during the break in period as I'm hoping to have it for a long time.

I knew it was going very wrong when I observed the technician running out to it and jumping up and down with excitement saying to another employee how he cant wait to drive it !! He jumped in and right away started the engine and revved it to extreme several times listening to the exhaust which immediately made my blood boil !! I was outside at this point and started to make my way over to ask him not to do that but was too late only to watch him take off in the car (at a high rate of speed) off the dealership property for a joy ride !!! He was gone several minutes and I could hear him, many times, driving the crap out of the car on the roads around the dealership. With the dual mode exhaust on those cars it is very loud and distinct.

He came back after some time and wheeled it in to the bay at which point I was fit to be tied. I have never been that mad. I confronted him at which time he said it was all part of the oil change procedure. If this is true, you can be assured you will never see me again. I find it very hard to believe that racing around in customers cars is in your dealerships protocol for an oil change and if it is, you need to seriously re-think it.

The service manager made an appearance at this time to see what the commotion was and asked if I wanted another technician to change the oil. At this point the damage had been done so there was no real point. From this point on the oil tech was very friendly and in his own way remorseful for what I'm sure he knew was wrong and I appreciated that.

I'm not looking to get anyone fired as I'm sure it was just a moment of stupidity which can happen to anyone. I am just still extremely angry with what happened and can't believe that this goes on. If I wasn't standing right there when it happened I wouldn't even know, makes me wonder what else goes on ?

Anyways, as a newly named dealership, I am sure this is not what you had in mind with the level of service in the "service department". I was very surprised not to get any sort of follow up with this incident and to add insult, the car now has an oil leak !! The garage floor now has a small puddle of oil and I get the odour of burning oil when driving.

I guess I'll need to bring it back in but still on the fence about which dealer to use.

To sum it up, this was the worst experience I've ever had with a service department. I currently own 5 cars, bought several brand new from GM over the last few years. I certainly hope this never happens again.

[Thor142]

LOL Typical.
My dealer argued with me about changing my oil at 1500 miles. Argued with me about changing my dif fluid (even though I was paying out of pocket to have it done.) Argued with me that the front and rear wheels were the same size and could be rotated. I actually had to make him google it.
Second time in had a new service manager. I wanted the rear tires re-mounted on the front wheels to even out the wear. He argued with me that the TIRES were specific to the front and rear and it could not be done. He hands me a print out of the wheel sizes. I gave up. They also damaged my wheels both times I had tires mounted. I'm either turning the lease in or keeping the car and gutting it for the track so I don't care.
So annoying.

[CapeCruisin]

I pray every morning something doesn't break that requires me to take it to the dealership to fix. I've been lucky so far. My AC smells like old sweaty feet but I'm willing to live with that, lol.

[Freddy G]

That's quit an experience, sorry to hear that man. The first Camaro I bought was trouble free until I traded it in. Maybe because my standard was low or didn't pay as much attention to detail, or maybe because I was 17yo when I bought the car. But I was always happy about the GM dealership I worked with. Now that I moved to Toronto, ran into some issues here and there, but nothing really frustrated me that much. And the GM customer service reps on this forum are awesome, I just booked an appointment to have my rear bumper fixed under warranty, if not with the pressure from GM Canada, this dealership will probably drag this repair till next year, or even till my warranty expires. But to be honest, GM dealerships are better than a lot other dealers ive been dealing with, from sales to service. (i.e god damn Dodge)

[Freddy G]

Originally Posted by SSMY1LE

Billy, I too feel your pain as I'm sure almost everyone on this forum do. It really does make you wonder what has happened over the years. Below is a copy of the email I sent to my local dealer (not the one I bought from, its much closer) to respond to their service follow up email. Took mine in for its first free oil change.......what an experience ! I'm wanting to do the clutch pedal upgrade but cringe at the thought of it.


Just to follow up with the "service" received last week.

I have never been so angry with any dealership as I was during this visit. I brought my brand new Camaro SS 1LE in for its first oil change thinking it would be treated with care and respect as this was a very expensive purchase and something I've waiting to get for some time. Since picking it up in April, I have been very meticulous with the care of this car and been babying it during the break in period as I'm hoping to have it for a long time.

I knew it was going very wrong when I observed the technician running out to it and jumping up and down with excitement saying to another employee how he cant wait to drive it !! He jumped in and right away started the engine and revved it to extreme several times listening to the exhaust which immediately made my blood boil !! I was outside at this point and started to make my way over to ask him not to do that but was too late only to watch him take off in the car (at a high rate of speed) off the dealership property for a joy ride !!! He was gone several minutes and I could hear him, many times, driving the crap out of the car on the roads around the dealership. With the dual mode exhaust on those cars it is very loud and distinct.

He came back after some time and wheeled it in to the bay at which point I was fit to be tied. I have never been that mad. I confronted him at which time he said it was all part of the oil change procedure. If this is true, you can be assured you will never see me again. I find it very hard to believe that racing around in customers cars is in your dealerships protocol for an oil change and if it is, you need to seriously re-think it.

The service manager made an appearance at this time to see what the commotion was and asked if I wanted another technician to change the oil. At this point the damage had been done so there was no real point. From this point on the oil tech was very friendly and in his own way remorseful for what I'm sure he knew was wrong and I appreciated that.

I'm not looking to get anyone fired as I'm sure it was just a moment of stupidity which can happen to anyone. I am just still extremely angry with what happened and can't believe that this goes on. If I wasn't standing right there when it happened I wouldn't even know, makes me wonder what else goes on ?

Anyways, as a newly named dealership, I am sure this is not what you had in mind with the level of service in the "service department". I was very surprised not to get any sort of follow up with this incident and to add insult, the car now has an oil leak !! The garage floor now has a small puddle of oil and I get the odour of burning oil when driving.

I guess I'll need to bring it back in but still on the fence about which dealer to use.

To sum it up, this was the worst experience I've ever had with a service department. I currently own 5 cars, bought several brand new from GM over the last few years. I certainly hope this never happens again.

That sucks man. That's why I always stay at dealership while they working on my car. Don't trust anybody at the dealer.

[Stormcloak]

Originally Posted by SSMY1LE

I'm not looking to get anyone fired

You're far nicer than I am.

[SS Blinder]

Originally Posted by CapeCruisin

I pray every morning something doesn't break that requires me to take it to the dealership to fix. I've been lucky so far. My AC smells like old sweaty feet but I'm willing to live with that, lol.

change your cabin filter, might work and its easy

[sherob]

You admit to owning a BMW tractor? At least your drive shaft hasn't caught fire like a friend of mines...

Stealerships are just that...

[snarky]

usually the good one is not the closest. i love mine. they actually care.

[CapeCruisin]

Originally Posted by SS Blinder

change your cabin filter, might work and its easy

hmm.. i did this on my old v6... kinda forgot about it. I'll give it a shot on the 1LE

[CCMADONNA]

I took my car in to get the Due Bill work done about a week after I bought the SS and when I picked it up in the afternoon, they had scraped the rear fender on a wall.

I was very upset and the service manager got me the Performance Exhaust (Borla) installed for free. Dealer said they would repair, picked it up two days later, rearview camera thingies were covered in paint. I left the dealer, took it to the body shop I always use and had them redo the paint. Had to talk to no one but the General Manager for about a week but he covered the cost of my body shop work and refunded me $1000.

I know it was hoping to keep my business but I have never returned. Not even for the free oil changes.

[Realist]

I have been very happy with my GM service over the years. 4th Gen SS, Avalanche, 13 1LE and 13 GMC Sierra 2500HD. In fact my 2500 was purchased as certified and the 3 year bumper to bumper was up in Feb. I bitched and the dealer was able to get 2 rims replaced that just started showing corrosion under the clear coat of the polished alloys. In Illinois you now have to pay a tax on work that is no charged if out of warranty. It was a $90 tax for the 2 rims to be replaced, asked to speak with owner, he was out, spoke with General Manager and dealership ate the cost = happy customer.

My biggest issue with GM service is scheduling appointments. It seems since the bailout of GM and all the forced GM dealership closings, on top of the increased sales of their heavily improved products, it's difficult to reach service to schedule an appointment and if they do answer, the appointment is out a few days or more, quite often. Coming from a service field I expect good, timely service. I don't find their service timely anymore. I'm in the burbs of Chicago, this is an issue at 3 surrounding dealers I deal with. I think GM should consider opening some of the closed dealerships as service only sites. I would hate to pay the type of $'s their going to ask for a new 1LE, ZL1 or Vette and continue to receive the service voice mailbox. Consider the above paragraph in bold.

To the OP, wishing you better luck in the future with your service visits!