Bear with me while I rant. My father retired from GM parts in the mid 80's, after 30 years in the Parts and Service departments. I grew up as a child, learning how to work the parts counter, doing some service advisor stuff, and learning the in's and out's of the automotive dealership. I made lot's of extra money, helping out in the dealerships. We always owned or drove all GM products, nothing else.
Later in life, I switched to Toyota's. I had a 90 mile commute one way to work, and bought Toyota Tacoma's. I put over 300,000 miles on one truck, changing a few belts, batteries, brakes, etc, but nothing more than regular maintenance. I owned 2 Tacoma's for a total of about 500,000 miles, with never one warranty issue, or broken part.
The downside was the power of the truck's small engines, and my growing family, was not conducive to pulling some large trailers on long trips. I had to up size to a full size Chevrolet Crew Cab, Silverado 1500 with a 5.3 gas engine.
The truck drove like a dream, and pulled whatever I needed it to.
The first week I owned it, the console latch came off in my hand, the first time I tried to use it. The dealership refused to warranty it. The outside temperature guage displayed in the rear view mirror, shows 20 degrees higher than what the actual temperature is. The passenger mirror fell off. The lower radiator air deflector fell off driving down the freeway, All were refused to be warrantied. I lived with some of the problems, and just called it a loss, after several discussions with GM. 2 months after owning my new truck, both rear shocks leaked, and I had not even loaded the box, or pulled a trailer, in fact, it was driven on the roads like a car.
Now, the final straw. It was -7 here, a blizzard, with 30 mph winds, and 8" of snow, causing 3-5 drifts in spots. I put my truck in Auto 4wd, and only had 2wd. I tried to switch back and forth, but the indicator stuck in Auto.
I called the dealership. They said not covered under warranty, and they charge a minimum of $98 for a 'diagnostic fee'. It would additionally cost parts and labor to repair the problem, once they did the diagnostic fee.My truck has 32,000 miles on it. I made the appointment, then had an inspiration to call OnStar from my truck.
They did their little on the fly diagnostic check, but had no way to monitor the transfer case, although he did say my truck showed that it did not have a software update for the ECU. He asked me to pull off the side of the road, shut off the truck for 2 minutes, and he would send the update, which would reflash the computer. He stayed with me on the line while he did this. After a couple of minutes, he said the update was sent, and to start my truck up. I did, and the problem with my 4wd was fixed! He just saved me at least $100 from the dealership. I was thinking of dumping OnStar, as I don't use their nav system, but for the money they just saved me, I might consider keeping them.
When my truck is paid off, I do not think I will be returning to GM products. I think Toyota is the way to go. (My friends have Ford Powerstroke diesels, but they have lots of motor and transmission related problems, and Dodges just don't ride smooth enough for me, but that is my opinion)
What happened to customer service?? Warranty work?? Why such a big deal to warranty defective things? The dealership gets paid from GM for warranty work, it is not like they are doing it for free!
Later in life, I switched to Toyota's. I had a 90 mile commute one way to work, and bought Toyota Tacoma's. I put over 300,000 miles on one truck, changing a few belts, batteries, brakes, etc, but nothing more than regular maintenance. I owned 2 Tacoma's for a total of about 500,000 miles, with never one warranty issue, or broken part.
The downside was the power of the truck's small engines, and my growing family, was not conducive to pulling some large trailers on long trips. I had to up size to a full size Chevrolet Crew Cab, Silverado 1500 with a 5.3 gas engine.
The truck drove like a dream, and pulled whatever I needed it to.
The first week I owned it, the console latch came off in my hand, the first time I tried to use it. The dealership refused to warranty it. The outside temperature guage displayed in the rear view mirror, shows 20 degrees higher than what the actual temperature is. The passenger mirror fell off. The lower radiator air deflector fell off driving down the freeway, All were refused to be warrantied. I lived with some of the problems, and just called it a loss, after several discussions with GM. 2 months after owning my new truck, both rear shocks leaked, and I had not even loaded the box, or pulled a trailer, in fact, it was driven on the roads like a car.
Now, the final straw. It was -7 here, a blizzard, with 30 mph winds, and 8" of snow, causing 3-5 drifts in spots. I put my truck in Auto 4wd, and only had 2wd. I tried to switch back and forth, but the indicator stuck in Auto.
I called the dealership. They said not covered under warranty, and they charge a minimum of $98 for a 'diagnostic fee'. It would additionally cost parts and labor to repair the problem, once they did the diagnostic fee.My truck has 32,000 miles on it. I made the appointment, then had an inspiration to call OnStar from my truck.
They did their little on the fly diagnostic check, but had no way to monitor the transfer case, although he did say my truck showed that it did not have a software update for the ECU. He asked me to pull off the side of the road, shut off the truck for 2 minutes, and he would send the update, which would reflash the computer. He stayed with me on the line while he did this. After a couple of minutes, he said the update was sent, and to start my truck up. I did, and the problem with my 4wd was fixed! He just saved me at least $100 from the dealership. I was thinking of dumping OnStar, as I don't use their nav system, but for the money they just saved me, I might consider keeping them.
When my truck is paid off, I do not think I will be returning to GM products. I think Toyota is the way to go. (My friends have Ford Powerstroke diesels, but they have lots of motor and transmission related problems, and Dodges just don't ride smooth enough for me, but that is my opinion)
What happened to customer service?? Warranty work?? Why such a big deal to warranty defective things? The dealership gets paid from GM for warranty work, it is not like they are doing it for free!