I am done buying GM products!!

[LouSiffer]

A little background about me:

I was a certified tech for Toyota, Honda, Nissan and GM. I was also a service write for about a year and a half. I know my way around cars very well. I don't know everything, but, my mechanical skills are very strong.


September 2005 my wife fell in love with this bright yellow Chevy Cobalt that was made to look like it came off the set of " Fast and the Furious ". Notice I said "look". This thing wouldn't go fast if it was drug behind a 747.

It was listed as a demo with only 32 miles on it. Me knowing how this program works asked the salesman how long ago it was activated. He told me just 2 weeks ago. With only 32 miles on it, it seems logical.


Fast forward to February 2008. The car has 25K and change on it. Babied by my wife.
Check engine light goes on and the car developes a dead miss with no power. Take it to the dealership since it is covered under the 3/36,000 warranty........ or so I thought.

Come to find out the car was activated November of 2004 and the warranty was expired. I get a estimate for $960.00 plus tax. Error code 202 and 203 which means misfire on 2nd and 3rd cylinders. I was told it was diagnosed as a bad coil pack. The parts they were replacing was the coil pack, the thermostat and 2 plugs.

First: Where the hell did the t-stat come into play. The car has never overheated nor underheated.

Second: Why only 2 spark plugs? If you are going to ram me in the ass, at least replace all 4 for fucks sake!!

I talk to the service writer about this. I call him back and I inquire why he was charging me 6 hours labor to do this as it only takes about 30 minutes tops ( including pulling the car into the garage and getting your tools ready ) and why is he hitting me up for $450.00 in parts when I just priced them at YOUR parts department for for a shade under $300.00. Remember these prices.

The guy is dumbfounded. He didn't realize the guy that brought this particular car in was probably more knowledgable than his own technicians. Scratch that, I am more knowledgable, I will get into that in a few.

I order said igntion coil housing and 4....yes, I splurged and got ALL 4 plugs!! I ordered this stuff from gmpartsdirect.com for just a shade over $110.00 ( markup is a MoFo at dealerships ) with shipping. Genuine GM parts, only concern is that the coil pack at $85.00 is non-returnable except for defective exchange.

I get the parts, take everything out of the packaging and begin the repair. I pull the plugs. Yup, numbers 2 and 3 were fouled all right, but, there was something else, the ceramic insulators were cracked. You have got to be fucking me. For shits and giggles, I replaced just the plugs and it ran perfectly with the old parts. I can't return the new part. Even after a couple of e-mails and begging, it was a no-go.

I take that car home and call GM customer service and very politely explained this situation. She sounded like a scratched record saying " you are out of your warranty " and I was eventully asked " What would you like for us to do for you?"

I replied that 1: I was misdiagnosed and want my diagnostic fee back. 2: I want paid my own diagnostic fee for a correct diagnoses. 3: I want refunded the cost of the parts minus the spark plugs since they were bad. I would even ship them the new parts if they footed the shipping. 4: I want to see something done about the dealership ass raping customers by overcharging to give them enough cusion so that if suspected parts are not bad, they got enough money to replace other parts and cover their asses. Also, 6 fucking hours to replace 4 damned spark plugs?!?!

The girl really bent over backwards for me and offered me a free oil change. Fucking bitch. She kept saying I was out of my warranty.

Me: "I know I am out of my warranty, but, you mean to tell me your parts are only good for around 25,000 miles? Had this been Toyota or Honda, they would have covered it no questions asked"

Her: " Sir, I find that hard to believe, why would they do that?"

Me: " Ma'am, believe it. I know. I worked on both sides of the fence. I have seen Toyota replace entire engines at 60,000 miles for customer as they know their engines are designed for 200,000 plus miles. And to answer your question of ' Why would they do that?', thats easy, they take pride in their products."

Her: " Sir, I offered you a free oil change."

Me: " Ma'am, I can guarantee you will never buy a GM product again if we do not resolve this issue in a proper manner. I am not asking for anything that is more than fair. I am jsut asking for what is right."

Her: "There is nothing more I can do."


Well, thats it. No more GM for me. Done.-Lou

[CharvelRocker]

I sense something odd. I never knew those were out in 2004. I thought they came out in 2005/2006, but I'm behind on this stuff.

On a side note, American I4s are SHIT. We built awesome V8s, good if thirsty V6s, but can't build a 4 to save our lives. Every American 4 we've had has been a total piece of crap.

EDIT: On another side note, crap like this is why we quit buying American made cars. The Japanese build 'em better, and, holy crap, CARE about their customers.

[RacerX]

In all fairness though, Lou, the Cobalt is well into the shitty side of GM's offerings.

I would've asked to speak to that lady's supervisor - always take your complaints up the chain.

As for now, maybe take this to one of your local TV station's consumer reporters? They would eat your story UP!

[bonghits]

EDIT: On another side note, crap like this is why we quit buying American made cars. The Japanese build 'em better, and, holy crap, CARE about their customers.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I have owned two Nissans in the past and now own two Toyotas. Very happy and satisfied with the build quality, reliability, and customer service on both especially Toyota.

[drockilles]

the dealership tried pulling some shit on me when i had two cylinders misfiring (chevy s-10). i think they are paid to look into the more costly parts for repairs. i told them i thought it was the spark plugs. i may not be able to work on cars for the most part, but i have some basic knowledge. what do they do first? pull the cylinder coils and the catalytic converter. nothing wrong there. six hours later they come back to me and tell me it was the spark plugs. wtf?

[rjohnstone]

Similar situation with my 2000 Silverado.
I had the 4.8L V8 in mine and it went through 2 quarts of oil between every oil change. I always wondered why they put a 7 quart oil pan on such a small engine... now I know why.
I bought it brand new (1.5 miles on the ODO).
First they tell me that's normal during the break in period... I called BS on that. I've built nearly a dozen engines from the ground up in my lifetime and not one of them burned oil during the break in period. A few leaked, but that was my fault.

Long story short, after 20k miles of this crap and GM telling me there's nothing wrong, I finally had it and traded it in on a new 2002 Toyota Highlander. almost 6 years and 65k miles later and it's never burned a drop or left me stranded on the side of the road. Rock solid engineering in that engine.

[toejam]

I'm glad my '98 Cavalier is still running great with 125,000 miles.

[Cygnus X1]

My mother in law's "check engine" light came on, with only about 14k miles on it after
five years of dealer service. I went through it myself, just normal tuneup, plugs, wires,
O2 sensor, and a few other things. She takes it in for the code (I didn't have an OBD2
reader at the time). We were in a restaurant when the service manager called and said she would need plugs and wires, amongst other work. I got the phone from her, told them not to do anything just yet, we drove back and I had a few words with the service manager. I walked over to the car, OPENED the hood, and showed him the new Delco wires I had just installed. The fucktards had apparently not even looked under the hood before calling to BS her about what work was required. I believe a coil pack was in the works, also. Drove the car over to Auto Zone, had them get the code (uncleared O2 sensor), cleared it, and no problem.
This was a 1996 Olds 98.
Other dealer shops (GM), here have been ok to deal with. I figured it was a problem with that particular one. She now takes the car to the dealer where she bought it from, no problems from them, either.

[mwm70]

IMO, it sounds like the real problem is with the dealer who not only lied at the time of sale but then was dishonest with regards to the repair. I have owned 5 GM products that have been very reliable. Minor problems with one but nothing major. I agree GM should do something about it's dealers practices.

[UFORocks]

I have a local mech. that I take my cars to for service, warranty or not. If the problem ends up being warranty work he gives me the details of the problem and exactly what to say to the dealer's service writer. He's saved me thousands of $ over the years. I've been going to his shop since I was 16 and I've never had a bad experience. In return I have gotten just about my entire immediate family (and the in-laws) to bring all their auto work to him, and I throw his cards around every chance I get (when I think about it at least).

[Deneb]

Civic 1; 166K miles...life ended by a red light runner.
Accord 1; 158K miles...life ended by a red light runner.
Accord 2; 127K still running great!

[zeegler]

I've suffered through ownership of many GM vehicles enough to know I'll never buy another one. Actually, I said that last time, and caved in and bought our Pontiac Montana. The CD player quit working, the grill fell off, the seat back adjusters came apart in my hands, the rear wiper quit, and the tailgate doesn't open anymore. Some of it is poor workmanship, but a lot of it is just bad design. Who the fuck makes a seat back adjuster out of plastic?

[SEEGERMANY]

I consider GM products to be the "Gibsons" of the auto world. Sometimes you get a dud, sometimes a jewel.

Back in 1998, my Suburban's "rear-end" basically disintegrated. According to the mechanic and the district parts representative, the housing was fitting with ball bearings that were produced in Mexico. Apparently, these bearings had "burrs" which promoted premature failure. Even after admitting this, do you think they helped me on the repair costs? Granted, my vehicle was 2000 miles past the warranty, but damn! Seems to me that if you know there was a problem, the manufacturer should replace the failed parts at no charge. Who the fuck am I kidding!

[JACKS0NESP]

Problem 1- You bought a ricer.
Problem 2- It's GM.

Some cars/trucks made from GM are good, but most are shit. This is for old and new.

4 cyl cars aren't the greatest source for power

[Spivonious]

Looking fast is more important than going fast for people who obey speed limits

As far as GM quality goes, can't comment on that since I've only had Jap, German, and other American cars (Ford, Chrysler). You should have asked for the lady's supervisor.

Dealerships are always out to get you on service though. I've stopped going to the dealer since they fired all of the nice helpful front desk people (one of whom got me a new AC compressor installed out of warranty for $200 total, because I was a nice repeat customer who was out of warranty by about 5000 miles. Last time I went in there was for inspection/emissions because I had a coupon. They said the OBD wasn't ready and kept losing its memory. I suggested that maybe the 5.5 year old battery was the culprit. "No, that can't be it. Pay us $85 an hour so we can poke around at things." No thanks. Read the OBD code and saw "low battery voltage". Got a new battery and took it to Midas for the inspection/emissions. Passed just fine.