I am sorry to rant here, but I hope some of you guys could relate and maybe give me some advice on what I can do here.

When I married my wife back in 7/22/05, she came along with an 04 Monte Carlo SS with the Supercharged 3800 V6. Good looking quick car that she loves to death.

I have a 2002 Corvette that has never seen the dealership, because I have done all the repairs and maintenance personally since I purchased her. Saves money and its fun. I purchased the big 3 big red repair manuals and this forum has been a big help, probably better than those 3 big red books.

My father-in-law purchased the car for her brand new when she graduated college and it has only seen the GM Goodwrench guys since. She gets the oil changed every 3K and I haven't thought to take the car under my wing because its under warranty and I figured the GM guys have it under control. They do not, and never have.

The car just turned 32,180 and had its oil changed. A week after the oil change, my wife mentioned that its having a hard time starting in the cold mornings. I figure maybe its the air filter, so I pull it out. I have never seen a more dirty air filter in my life. I'll get a picture of it and add to the thread. I change the air filter and the car comes to life.

I get out the owners manual from the glovebox and read that the filter should have been changed at 25,000, along with a "supercharger service".

So now I'm worried, and I call the dealership and talk to the head service guy. I ask him why they didn't advise us that these services needed to be done. He said that we only brought our car in for oil changes, if we wanted to have the Maintenance I or Maintenance II schedule followed or any other services done, then we should have told them. He couldn't believe that the filter was missed and wanted to see it so he could "bonce it off one of his guys heads". At least he is passing the blame using a humorous angle. He wants me to bring the car in ASAP so that he can take care of this, but now I don't trust them.

Now I'm steaming mad, I call GM and talk to a customer service representative about this situation. They agree that this isn't correct, but there isn't a standard operating procedure for the service departments to follow. All they could do for me was call the department and ask them nicely to advise me better of any extra services the car may need. I obviously want to file a complaint, but GM doesn't care. bottom line: GM doesn't care and can/does not tell a dealer how to run its service department.

So now I have a car with a laundry list of missing services. As stated in the owners manual, missing these services is bad because any damage caused by failure to follow the scheduled maintenance may not be covered by warranty. To make matters worse, the car has the extended GM Protection Plan.

Did I do something wrong? What would you do?

 

I'm sorry to say this my friend, but it looks to me that in just the past few years (with a couple of pleasent surprises) American businesses and the way of DOING business has deteriorated to an unacceptable level whether dealing with health care insurance, Bank errors, car repairs,the cashiers at the grocery store, You all live in the same world, you know what I'm talking about. Not many people care enough about whatever task they are presented with anymore and just "take the easy way out." We have to monitor anything that requires action by "people" I was brought up to the standard that "anything worth DOING is worth doing WELL" Not the case anymore. My suggestion to you comes in two parts. 1st, find out from someone you can "trust" to give you the bare nessessities of maintenance required to satisfy your GMPP. Have it performed (even if it's a little late,better late than never) I'm guessing the S/C car has some small BS around 25K. This will put YOU more at ease. And 2nd As I am trying to "practice what I preach" Start to see the world we are living in, in a realistic way and adapt. Even if it means lowering our "expectations" IE; Don't EXPECT anything from a human being, and you will never be disapointed.

 

Well said, HOWEVER, I am sick and tired having to THINK for these people! Everything you do today you must think for these folks.
and they wonder why GM and the rest are in trouble. When they all get there asses outsourced to India or Mexico it will be to late....
Sorry for the rant, but there are people out there who believe in good work, you just have to find them. These dealers are the WORST!!
Got a ASE certification from the local night school? your hired, now go fix that Vette over there fast!!

 

I can remember when GM dealerships kept accurate records of your car and actually sent you reminders that a certain mileage or time has elapsed and it is now time for a number of maintenance items to be performed. However, I haven't seen anything like that in a long, long time. I guess they figure the schedules are in the owners manual and the owner should be responsible enough to look up the info and bring the car in for whatever needs to be done.

I've quite relying on someone else to tell me how to take care of my car. I regularly check the filters, oil, fluids, etc and change them as needed. I just keep documentation on what I have done should a warranty question arise.

My advice - keep track of these things yourself and document your maintenance performed. Not only will you know that it was done and done right, but you will probably save a ton of money in the process.

 

This is interesting. My dealer sent me notices of maintaince due on my 97 Z-28, and I have gotten some notices on my 03 vette. I have the same service write up guy each time. He will say, "you know that you need this or that done", and I will say yes or no to whatever he suggests.
They also send advertising notices of money off AC service, tranny service, oil changes, etc. I guess from the things I hear on the forum my dealer is different than others. Any work they have done for me has be done correctly and in a timely manner.

 

Your Dealer is on the ball. wish we had more like him.

 

Is there a special handshake to get that kind of service?

I get the advertising notices, but they are outrageous! I have one right here in my hand.

"Is your vehicle ready for winter? my lousy chevy dealership will make sure it is! Complete vehicle winterization"

for $39.95 (a $79.95 value) they will

• Check & Fill coolant
• Drain & fill engine with fresh oil
• Replace oil filter with new oil filter
• Perform 24 Point inspection
• Top off all fluids
• Check wipers
• Check battery & charging system
• Check belts & hoses
• Check tire pressure and condition
• Work done by GM trained technicians

Please present coupon when order is written. Offer expires 1/31/07. Valid on GM vehicles only. Additional charge for vehicles requiring more than 5 quarts oil or synthetic oil. Cannot be combined with other offers.


Doesn't this sound like stuff that should be included with an ordinary oil change service!?! Where is the winterization?

 

HA HA, this DOES NOT apply to a Vette! read the small print.

 

check tires-yep, they are there
check windshield wipers-yep, there too
check air pressure in tires-not flat
check belts-yep, I see them
top off all fluids-spray water on car
24 point check-steering wheel intact, floor mats intact, radio works, hood on car, headlights work I think

That's the kind of "checklist" you get now

 

It's gotten to the point where you have to be an expert in everything, because you can't count on the people who are supposed to be the expert to give good advice.

Rather than lowering our expectations as customers, why don't we start holding companies responsible for providing the service we are paying for? And making sure each of us does our job to the best of our ability.

 

Yup. Someone recently said to me, "Why do I have to do everyone else's job in addition to my own?"

 

I write letters to companies when they drop *****, but when I write a letter to GM I get a letter back asking me to call them. Then when all is said and done, they don't care.

Maybe Renault-Nissan will whip GM into shape after the purchase.

 

I think the words customer and service, when used together should be banned from the english language. Sadly very few companies are concerned about you. The only thing they care about is how to get what's in your pocket into theirs.

Now as far as getting notification of needed services for your vehicle I get them on the new Tahoe I bought for my wife. The Onstar system monitors the vehicle and I do get regular e-mails that remind me of the service schedules. After the first year if I want to continue this I have to pay a monthly fee.

Now let me see if I have this right? I pay them a fee to let me know when it's time to let them take money from my pocket and put it into theirs?

Just my two cents worth

 

I'm not trying to compare, (this '04 Vette is my first Chevy) but Ford does send service reminder cards, at the proper intervals. I've bought new Fords from many dealers, and they still send me cards with my estimated mileages, and I now live out of state from where I bought them. I brought my Corvette in for some warranty repair, and I found the service writer very much wanted to sell me the 30K service package. Trouble is, it contained services above what GM recommended, such as: throttle body cleaning, (I don't think so), Fuel injector cleaning, (at 30 K, I don't think so) I've owned vehicles with 240K miles and have never flushed the injectors, and replacing tranny and rear end fluid, both not recommended in the manual. Most service writers get a cut (commision) on their service sales, so some can be very agressive. I declined the service because everything listed I can do, and will, with better materials. For instance, I'll use redline synthetic in my tranny and rear, and come out spending less. I assume GM throttle bodies are coated like Fords to prevent sludging. Ford has a warning label on the TB telling you not to clean it. So there are two extremes here, too much sales, and not enough. I hope I don't have more maintenance, because I'm spoiled.

John

 

I would pay that in a heartbeat.

 

For a glorified 5 quart conventional oil service?

 

I do agree that mine seems to be in the minority. As a foot note I let them put my 68 Camaro (I am the only owner of it) in the show room for a month. They were running a special sale due to their birthday and how long in business. My salesman (the top guy in this zone) has a private little safe in his office. My 68's keys were locked in his safe. He was the only one allowed to move my car. So I do have a really nice relationship with them.

 

You do have a special handshake to get the level of service you need!

 

My dealer sends notices and e-mails about the vette and the Avalanche. When I take it in they tell me again what is needed. I can't beleive a dealer would give up the chance to get more money out off a customer.

 

My local Chevy Service Dept calls me about every 3 months saying you should be ready for an oil change. They also inform me about any specials they have, like coolant system flushes and tranny services. I don't take my car there for service, I have been there for warranty work though.