Look, the local dealership is an independently owned business. Apparently there is no contract with GM that forces warranty work to be done.

This is American.

The dealer can do whatever he wishes with his business.

And I think most or all makes of auto dealerships can do this.

I'm not saying they should, but it's their money invested, the owner can do as he wishes.

 

Post the e-mail of the dealer, so I can write them some lines......

 

This is true.

And the great thing is, we as consumers have every right to communicate our displeasure with such company practices, both privately and publicly!

My view, for a $50k+ car this is rediculous. I think this reinforces the argument that the Corvette needs to be seperate from GM dealerships and attached to the Cadillac division. Stories like this and several others that deal with inadiquacies of "normal" GM dealers abilities to service Corvettes scare a lot of people away from a purchase. How many stories have there been of cracked rocker panels when lift pucks were not used? Now the bad faith decision of not allowing warranty service on corvettes not purchased at the dealership.

My feeling is any dealership with this practice should be publicly exposed and be held accountable in the court of public opinion.

 

I'd be interested if knowing if this policy applies only to Corvettes or to all GM cars not purchased there.

If its all cars, we can forget some of the arguments I've seen. There's a business decision being made for some reason. I wish we could get detailed reasoning from the dealer side on this, it is difficult to understand.

If they're just being jerks then I get it.

 

This is why I stopped buying Fords in 1987. Same problem - my wife and I bought a Mustang GT at a dealer across town because the local dealer in Phoenix did not have a color that we liked. The local dealer refused to service it and Ford backed them up. Sold it the next year and I have purchased 14 new cars since then - none of them Fords.

 

BUBBA is right on this one. IF BUBBA can do it I will do it too.
Unreal they would not do warranty work...heck, I even bought the extended warranty.

Email sent in 5 minutes.

 

rdefelice@circleauto.com

I just used google to find them.

http://www.circleauto.com

 

What kind of service do you get with your C6 in Germany?

 

I believe there are a lot of dealers that are unhappy about the discounts offered by the national (forum) dealers. I also believe there are a lot of dealers unhappy that other dealers will honor GM supplier discounts for new Corvettes. I have had at least a dozen Chevrolet dealers lie to me saying NO Chevrolet dealer will honor a GM supplier deal on a Corvette. When I correct them and name specific dealers in the area that will..... well it pisses them off.

It would seem this refusal to provide service might be related to fact that some of these non-competitive dealers are trying to find a way to force you to buy a car from them without a competitive discount.

I guess I am lucky. I bought my 07 out of town (using my GM Supplier Program) but have it serviced by a local dealer and they do a very nice job. Hopefully the a-hole dealers are limited in numbers and you can find another Chev dealer near by that will service your vehicle. Sorry about your problem and good luck getting it resolved.

 

What dealership was it?

I see you are in Freehold, NJ. Was it Pinebelt Chevrolet?

 

Upon hearing that you have Service problems to the point of not doing service work on cars that were not bought there, I have decided to buy and service all my GM cars elsewhere. I just moved to the area and was looking forward to a long and happy relationship with a local GM dealer, I'm not sorry to say after learning through the Corvette forum that you turn away service work for non purchased cars from your dealer, I too will look elsewhere to spend my money.

Good Luck,
Mike
ps ( Cars that I have bought in the last five years, in order
2002 Camaro SS Convt
2004 SSR
2005 Corvette cpe
2006 Corvette convt
2006 Corvette Z06
2007 Trailblazer
<<<<>>>>>>>

My letter to that dealership that I just emailed! Lets see what they do if we all send emails to them.
Mike

 

This is implying the "let's get Corvette to be a stand alone dealership/brand or part of Cadillac". It's a great thought, but if you think there aren't enough Chevy dealers now who will service your Corvette, in or out of warranty, think of how many Cadillac dealers there are. Not as many as Chevrolet.

And as to a stand alone Corvette dealer, A) it won't happen and B) there'd be even fewer of those dealerships spread around the country. Remember: all those Chevrolet dealers that sell maybe 5 Corvettes per year. There would certainly be no Corvette dealer in that town or neighborhood to justify 5 sales per year.

This dealership described by OP is being stupid, along with some others. I used to think that any dealership that turns away biz is dumb, but maybe, just maybe it's not so dumb. We've all read about the problems right here on CF.

Maybe they really DON'T HAVE the techs to do the work properly.

Maybe they haven't read up on how to lift, service, etc. a new Corvette and have screwed one or two Corvettes up in the past with their high technician turnover and lack of training.

And maybe, just like in older cities like New York where A) you can't afford to leave a built up neighborhood and you can't afford to expand and B) you have 40-year ago space for so many more 2007 car buyers--- you literally don't have enough room to have techs and lifts for all the cars you've sold and have to service every week, month, year. Agreement or no agreement with GM.

Yes, it's dumb biz practice to turn away any biz. And in most cases, it's just plain dumb. But sometimes it needs to happen until, and unless you can accommodate all this wealth of new business.

Finally, I wil say this: in traveling cross country and on numerous long trips for many years, I've never been refused service----mostly in foreign cars (don't take that as a negative). But even in a foreign car, I've gone into a Chev dealership in the middle of 10 below zero weather to have my car warmed up and serviced.

I would not, therefore, worry about long trips in any make of car. And I never have. And I've traveled using a new $1600 car and a new $50K car.

The overall good nature, common sense, and compassion (you can call it humanity or "The American Way," whichever you prefer) extends to service departments for the unlucky few who need help along the road when they are far from home. That's the truth.

But I empathize with the OP and will send an email, too.

 

This is a vexing problem but I just thought I would add a little perspective.

I bought my car from Kerbeck which is near my shore house. I will have it serviced there or at a dealer which is within walking distance of my primary home. The latter is happy to do it and they have an excellent service department. In fact, it is going in Monday for a check on a buz in the AM radio band. I also buy parts from them when they are competitive on price, which they often are.

From the many posts on this website it seems as though the vast majority of us have no problems getting warranty work done at the dealer of our choice. I am also certain that GM would intervene to find an appropriate dealer, if needed, to get work done. I have never had a problem getting warranty service at a GM dealer when travelling.

 

Has to be simple-mindedness. Think I just made up a new word.

 

Totally understandable... I just don't understand the mentality of it all.. Not only are they losing your current business.. How do they expect you to buy a car from them in the future.. Some people are just idiots..

 

Alan,
Looking at your location, did you buy your vette from Kerbeck? Whenever I need service, I make the 110mi trip to AC. Their service dept knows how to handle vettes and I have no worries. You get to go lose some cash at the casinos too.
The local Chevy dealer up here has no problem servicing my car, but it's a matter of trust on my part. My tonneau cover was stuck one day and instead of pulling the manual realease, they were yanking on the cover. I had to step in and stop them.
Also you might want to try Oasis Chevy on route 9. They seem to sell alot of vettes. They also had no problem with me bringing my vert in.

 

What...by telling you how it is...by telling you the truth. The sad fact is it is likely the same situation with the independently owned dealership of any make of car...domestic or foreign. You just happened to hit a shortsighted dealer.

My local Chevy dealership has always offered a loaner car for any vehicle I bring in for warranty service (when the work will take longer than a day or so). Remember, GM pays for the loaner car...not the dealership. The dealership simply facilitates getting the loaner from a local car rental agency they use.

From my experience, my local Chevy dealership does as well or better than the Cadillac dealer....or the BMW dealership for that matter. Some may be better than others but in my experience all dealerships suffer from the same type of problems.

I've never seen the service department of any new car dealership work through the night but if your's does that's great.

This is your prerogative but you might just be cutting-off your nose to spite your face.

BINGO!!! Dealerships simply hate Interweb car dealers....Interweb car sales....it takes food off of their table(s). Their refusal to provide warranty service is still shortsighted from a profit perspective but I guess they're voting with their 'pocketbook' as well....similar to the OP saying he'll never buy another GM product.

If all things considered you love Corvette and your other GM products, I suggest you don't be as shortsighted as the dealership you had the misfortune to find....go to another dealership and enjoy your GM products.

 

Just read on the Corvette forum that your dealership does not perform warranty service if not purchased from you. Seems a bit odd since warranty service is one of the reasons so many of us purchase GM products. Seems to me if all GM dealerships were to follow your policy they would be out of business sooner than anyone would expect. Maybe I’m missing something. I was of the belief that U.S. auto manufacturers, and their dealers, stood solidly behind their products! I have owned eight Corvettes and I can assure you that if the dealership, where I purchased them, would not do warranty work I would have either purchased them from someone who would honor the warranty or purchase a different make. The policy seems indifferent and arbitrary to GM buyers. Although you’re under no “legal” obligation to perform warranty service it certainly does not seem to be a selling point that any dealership would want to inform a potential buyer of. I know what my decision would be! Please enlighten me on the policy and I will gladly post your response on the Corvette and other GM forums. The policy you have instituted is already making it onto other forums faster than a “virus”!

Thank you,
Paul

E-mail just sent to Circle Chevrolet. I'll be waiting for their response. And waiting, and waiting, and waiting.........Thanks for the "heads up".

 

I have owned seven Corvettes, stories like these just make me wonder will there be an eighth? I almost purchased a Cayman S but instead went with the C6 mainly because it is American made, and I have always loved Corvettes. My wife and I like to do road trips so the fact that there are thousands of Chevy Dealerships factored into my decision. I guess it could be pot luck from what I have been reading regarding actually getting service at a Chevy Dealership. I can tell you that the local Chevy Dealership near my home does send me service notices, tho I bought my current Corvette in Copperstown NY.

 

i don' t know about tou guys , but , stories like this