911Hunter

Hi Guys,
I took my certified car to my local dealership for my free first oil change offered for my GM certified vehicle and mentioned to them several issues that the vehicle had:
1. Metallic flapping slight noise coming from the front, when I drive about 60 mph, kind of something lose that moves with the wind.
2. Rough ignition, takes some time to start in the mornings.
3. Home link stopped working.
4. The right vanity mirror gets lose from one of the hinges frequently.
5. Rubber on hatchback needs to be glued.
6. Check front wheels excessive wear from inside.
7. Check transmission and differential fluids.
8. Radio now keeps jumping songs without playing some of them from USB and very bad Pandora connection.

Only one month remains on my bumper to bumper warranty. But after two days that my car remained there on my Chevy dealership. The service guy didn't find nothing wrong, even that my wife and I noticed all issues. My free oil change they don't want to provide it because they mentioned that even that I have the certified document, that the prior dealer who sold me my C7 do not input that option on the system. After many emails and non answered calls to the Chevy dealer from where I bought my car finally they send me another document showing that my C7 is covered as certified. The homelink was covered only by having to pay the $100 deductible of my extended warranty and they are going to install a new rubber on the rear hatch today. But to get the free oil service, still I'm going to have to push that issue again today. My seller is 4 hours away from where I am, is not an option.
My closest chevy dealer charges $135 dollar the hour for diagnostic inspection, I didn't find it fair, so I went to this other dealer where they are ignoring all issues related to ny car. What a service headache.
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PatternDayTrader

You weren't actually thinking things would go smoothly were you ?

Marcho Polo

Sounds like you need to push the seller to get things corrected in the system so dealers can honor that certified coverage.

I know from experience that if you visit a dealer for the first time with only months left on the bumper to bumper and have a huge list of things you want fixed, they tend to get upset. You are wanting them to recondition the car for free just before warranty expires. Yes, it's all covered under warranty but they still get annoyed when it happens. I say from experience not because I have done this but because of my relationship with my service manager and what he tells me.

It's better if you have them address the most pressing issues and then mention the others and say you'll bring it back for those another time.

Anyway, your biggest issue is the selling dealer not adding the certified warranty in the system. Call the GM of the dealer and politely tell them that it needs to get taken care of.

Then find a different dealer to handle your issues, as the one you are going to is not treating you the way you should be treated.

911Hunter

Thanks for your advise Guys, in fact I was waiting for my first scheduled oil change service to bring my car.

I also used GM's official customer service web page posting my concerns, this was last Friday (4 days ago) and have not received any answer from them neither.

Marcho Polo

what part of Texas are you located? Curious what dealers are around you...

911Hunter

South Texas RGV area

Hate2Wait

#6 & 7 are not warranty issues. I would charge you to look into both of these concerns.

As far as the others go,

I would suggest a ride along of issue #1. I have been on several ride along's heard something with the tech, then the tech fixed it. Only to have the customer come back and say that the noise they were hearing was different. Getting a tech or shop foreman with you helps isolate the noise. unfortunately think of working on a car more like being a vet than a doctor. A vet has to get the information from the owner and not the patient. So getting information that is even slightly in the wrong area can send the tech down the wrong path.

#2 sounds like you would need to leave the vehicle overnight. If it is cold starts in the morning, leaving the car out back for 2 hours or even worse while you wait isn't going to allow time to help with anything.

#3 this can be challenging to diagas there are variables to the system. Is it the car or the garage door opener itself? I know when I get these concerns I tell the client that we will replace the homelink system itself, but that is a one time goodwill repair. Unless we can 100% confirm the repair it will be making use of the goodwill process, which has no warranty expressed or implied. This is done so that the homelink can't be used for lemon law.

#4 see above. Same story. Some times certified warranty does not cover trim parts. So I would probably lump this in with the goodwill on #3

#5 Same as #3 and 4. I wouldn't glue it, but would replace it almost with no question if I could even slightly confirm the concern. Spending time going back and forth with the owner of the vehicle is a waste of time. I would much rather tell the service manager how Im going to get 100% survey because the situation was handled. Plus 10mins wasted on a $100 repair is taking away from the time I have to sell the $1000 or $2000 repair.

#8 can be tricky because of the variables involved. If you can show someone that it is happening than that takes care of several steps. However, there are variables just with the usb portion such as your phone, and the cable you use. So if they test their phone with their cable and it works they are somewhat stuck on what to replace.



I'm sure your service advisor did a good job of relaying all this information, but figured I would take the steps that I would do if I was your advisor. I've worked for several German and Englist automakers over the last 8 years. I have not worked for a domestic so I don't know their CPO coverages. I know years ago Ford's CPO was a bit of joke. It was basically an extended Powertrain warranty. I'm sure that this has changed over the last 15 years as other companies have improved their warranties. I have never met an advisor that didn't want to fix a car. That is how we all get paid. I would love nothing more than to replace engines all day long for slight ticks, and have them be under 3rd party warranty. I would have the longest Christmas card list ever. However that isn't reality. Often more information is needed.

Good luck with the repairs.

911Hunter

Hi Guys,
My car still is in the shop, but just want to share you this in case something similar could happen to you:
My wife went back to the shop with my car, ( I was very busy at the time). I gave her the copy of the C7 certified document plus a copy which was sent by the Chevrolet agency who sold me the car mentioning that my Corvette had fully certified coverage. At first the local service attendant didn't want to see the documents, he just was looking as his computer, my wife asked him again if he just could glance at the documents, afterwards he went to see his Manager and there was a complete change of attitude from him afterwards. They noticed that the Chevy program in the computer of the selling Chevy dealer was older than the one of this agency which had a newer version, which was the reason that the full information wasn't showing up on their screen and then they correct it manually. Now is a night to day difference and we are getting full attention from them, my vehicle still there. Hopefully this would be a happy ending.

Bill Dearborn

You also have to be careful of what the service writer (adviser or whatever) writes on the repair order. You tell him the problem is X (which isn't one of the recognized set of words used to describe a problem), he interprets that as you meaning Y when he should have interpreted it to be Z and the mechanic is looking for the wrong problem. You need to make sure your terminology gets accurately converted to repair shop terminology. Going in and saying it goes bang when futz happens is unclear at best.

Bill

AORoads

His car has a Chev CPO warranty for one year. It is called, a "

• 12-Month/12,000-Mile Bumper-to-Bumper Limited Warranty "

I don't see why the OP's above points, 6 and 7, are not covered. (ck front wheels excessive inside tire treadwear; ck trans and diff fluid levels).

If you ask me, it is possible the program itself (Chev/GM CPO) is weak, the original dealer didn't put the right work/wording in the system, or the dealer OP is getting the work done at is derelict in doing the work. I'd suggest the OP look at and at least talk with other dealers in the event he needs a backup plan (aka a new dealer in the future at which he can comfortably spend his money).

While there's a reference here to Ford's old CPO program from years ago, today, CPO varies widely not only by car makers but also (and still) by individual dealers for each make.

The added comment in this thread's posts about dealers or service writers don't like to see a car come in at the very end of its warranty period, may be true for some car maker's dealers, but not the ones I've been to. I'd say it's a generalization. And I have two different makes right now, both of which are CPO cars. And one, I had to take in for a $1K+ repair with days left on a 3-year CPO program---no problem or weird looks (last year). The other has been trouble-free so far but has a couple years to go.

To summarize, just as dealers vary in their willingness to do work and competency, CPO can mean many things and take many shapes. It could also be that the same program at one brand of the SAME company (GM's Chev CPO vs. GM's Cadillac CPO) could be applied or done differently. Ex. a friend told me about his son's Subaru upgraded, CPO and I thought he was kidding until I read up on it.

Skid Row Joe

You bring to attention for those of us that bought our cars new and still in factory warranty. Dictating to your service advisor/writer, when checking in your car under warranty it is important to see that what you're describing is what is being written down that you sign AND immediately get a photocopy of what you stated and signed. This is vastly important to build your case against the dealer not fixing what you've clearly brought your car in for fixing. If it comes down to it, you can produce documents documenting exactly what you brought the car in for, when, and how long they held the car without your use of it. If a condition persists beyond the State's Lemon Law parameters, then you will have proof of an actionable case and condition(s) that were never fixed. Never rely on the verbal. Regardless what they say. Always get a copy of every document immediately upon signing check in order. The service order will invariably have a serial number too.

911Hunter

The metallic noise came from an AFM system malfunction (when engine switches from V8 to V4 function) at this point they opened the engine to fix the issue.

23/C8Z

Couldn't agree more with bill and others.

many variables (service writer's interpretation or having a bad day or just plain doesn't know what they're doing) or a tech in same circumstances.

just document everything in a running email to yourself and video from phone when you can in CASE the issue is difficult to replicate or understand.

a certified car is tricky. Brand new they jump over mountains to please you. Certified they should buy they dont because right off the bat they think "here we go... warranty = guy wants car to be new and these are wearing items that age and do things differently" even though you may be asking something reasonably.

as for the writer or tech who commented on "replacing the home link under goodwill one time repair" that's a mistake to think you're off the hook. When the owner may have 2 other same year GM vehicles that DO NOT show the same condition... then what? I would use that exact scenario for lemon law. Because when you REPLACE A PART OR REPAIR TO FIX AN EXISTING CONDTION you justify the complaint and Lemon Law is EASIER to use... "no problem found" "unable to duplicate" are the Lemon Law stoppers. that's what makes it tough if not impossible to use lemon law to resolve issue. I have gone through it and helped two others use same technique when their dealers got cute...

madrob2020

WOW! What a wife! That had to be hard for her (I know, stereotyping) facing down a bunch of know it all car jockeys. You are blessed & good luck!

4thC4at60

Which dealer? I'm familiar with service in the RGV on my C7.

911Hunter

I wouldn't like to burn them, because they are still trying to get the car right. They are Clark Chevy at McAllen. Let's see how this nightmare finishes. By the way the one on Mission Berg Ogden is the one that charges $135 per hour on their diagnostics, at the end I think that they seem to be a very expensive alternative for something that they should check for free for their customers. Just saw their sign and I immediately flee.

AORoads

Not sure I agree with you, 911, re cost/hr labor charge and diagnostics. I guess a diagnostic test depends on if the outcome is for a covered or non-covered part and if you eventually pay for the part replacement if it's not covered. Too many reports of non-coverage for dealer diagnostic test even w/in warranty.

As to the hourly charge at a dealer? Mine began charging $125/hr at least six years ago. I'd say $135 while expensive wouldn't be out of place in many places.

Both are debatable though and I hope we all respect the fact you named the dealer but don't want to throw him under the bus until the final outcome is reached. Or not reached in a professional manner.

911Hunter

The list continues. Engine head removed, lifters would be replaced

911Hunter

I would like to speak very hinghly about my local dealership Clark Chevrolet at McAllen TX, the service department pickup the problem and they did not finished until the job was done. Great job Guys! Hopefully now my car should provide many relaxed miles.

AORoads

Glad to hear it's all done and thanks for the follow up post on what happened! Good luck.