Dealer dropped my C5 off lift -- need advice

[TheBlueVette]

Congratulations Dave. Do not post any of your thoughts as to whether or not you will accept this offer. As 67HEAVEN said, Now that you have at least $23K in your pocket let's go Vette shopping.

Yes!

My compliments to everyone who has chipped in here, what has been accomplished via this thread goes much farther than Dave getting fair treatment. Not only Stewarts, but GM and thousands of car Dealers around the world are watching this thread and you can believe that the next Dealer that screws up a customers car while it is in their care will go the extra distance to make it right.

Without violence, with out a court battle, Stewarts has caved in… good work everybody.

You can say that again, spanishvetts!

 

[TheBlueVette]

GM still bothers me

You know, I still think GM is making a mistake in saying there is nothing they can do about this. At the very least, they can advise all of their franchise dealerships on how to handle situations like this. They could do even more, and have a special fund for dealing with these issues.

I would think the return on investment in terms of customer good will and loyalty would more than compensate them. In my case, they could have practically created a legend. The Corvette is the American Dream Car - GM could have played to that by stepping in. It need not have been a new car -- maybe just kicked in a special discount or credit for a new vette. I'm sure that clever PR folks could come up with something that's a win-win.

If you want to, you could write to GM regarding Customer Assistance request 1-222298842

Richard Wagoner Jr.
General Motors Corporation
300 Renaissance Center
Detroit, MI 48265-3000


What do you think?

 

[Rob]

Ok lets consider this an accident.....Why should he have to lose money on a GM product that was serviced from a GM employee ???....Does a GM employee or franchisee have ANY sort of responsability or pride when servicing a top-of-the-line GM product?......Aren't GM employees better with GM cars?....Shouldn't Barendth have the right to go home with a vehicle that is worth as much as the day before he brought it in for servicing?........Before I get jumped on,I know it was just an accident and it's just a car.. ....You should go over to the sales dept. and tell THEM that..........seriously how many times do you think this will happen??..... Are the people involved scared that it will be a big problem with other clients????........I repeat..... this story stinks and I am very dissappointed in the way GM is dealing with it......They missed a great chance to give a client a break......Good luck Barendth.......I wish an attoney decides to take the case for free......Hey I'm allowed to dream right?

Quick correction here, a GM dealer service technician is not a GM employee. They do not work for GM. They work for the dealership which is independent from General Motors.

 

[Rob]

Dave,

What was the final status of the frame? Is it, or is it not cracked as the pictures seem to indicate?

 

[Vettelt193]

Quick correction here, a GM dealer service technician is not a GM employee. They do not work for GM. They work for the dealership which is independent from General Motors.

Who would have ever guessed Mr. Goodwrench doesn't actually work for GM, and can't operate a lift...

Honestly, it is technically true that the mechanic doesn't work for GM and the dealership is independent of GM... BUT A good lawyer can blow that away. GM advertises as a whole for their dealerships, they advertise for service as a whole for them too. You can't purchase a new Corvette from anywhere other than one of GM's dealers, and you can't have one serviced under warrantee anywhere than a GM dealer. GM's website even has links to inventories of each dealer, and helps you locate a dealer near you....

Technically, the dealer can do whatever they want... but because of the image that GM has built around the corporation and the GM network of dealers, GM can be held liable for the actions of one of their dealers. The more I think about it, the worse the outlook would be if GM were sued over this issue, or anther one like it... not only because of the image, but because of the stand they have taken.

I bet if you called GM direct to buy a car, you would get a response that redirected you to one of their thousands of dealers.

A money hungry lawyer should want to take the full GM case on, because it could go class action... for all people that have been treated the same way you have, and against all dealers who have done something similar to their customers.

 

[cruzer99]

Who would have ever guessed Mr. Goodwrench doesn't actually work for GM, and can't operate a lift...

Vettelt193,
Even thou you are on the OTHER coast, I like your attitude.

 

['04 Torch Red]

Incredible...............

I have taken my Vettes in for service or repair to Chevy dealerships for many years and I always watch the mechanics carefully place the lift mounts/arms/pads/etc. under my Vette, checking very carefully as to placement so not even a scratch will occur...I can't imagine this ever happening.......hope you get compensated fairly for the terrible mishap...

 

[TheBlueVette]

Dave,

What was the final status of the frame? Is it, or is it not cracked as the pictures seem to indicate?

Rob --
It was not cracked. That was a fluid leak. The body shop also put the vehicle up on a Genesis frame alignment diagnostic, and all measurements were right on, with the exception of one point that was off, but within factory specs.

- Dave

 

[TheBlueVette]

[QUOTE='04 Torch Red]I have taken my Vettes in for service or repair to Chevy dealerships for many years and I always watch the mechanics carefully place the lift mounts/arms/pads/etc. under my Vette, checking very carefully as to placement so not even a scratch will occur...I can't imagine this ever happening.......hope you get compensated fairly for the terrible mishap...[/QUOTE]
Thanks, '04 Torch Red! In this case, the technician did nothing wrong. The locking gears on the lift extender arms were worn down, and failed to properly engage.

- Dave

 

[Erik S. Klein]

I wonder how much that would be worth to them? A guy at work had his brand new truck wrecked at a dealership (someone crashed into it), and he put up a web site about them with pictures etc. They made him take it down, but they also gave him a new vehicle.

Erik -- what's your favorite dealership in our area?

- Dave

I really like Courtesy Chevrolet. They are owned by the guy that used to own Anderson Chevrolet and they are gunning to be the biggest Corvette dealer in the state, at least.

The last time I checked they had over 100 Vettes in stock.

3640 STEVENS CREEK BLVD SAN JOSE , CA 95117 -1292 Phone: (408 ) 249-3131 Fax: (408 ) 342-0926


Good luck!

BTW, tell me if/when you head over there. They are about 5 miles from my house and maybe I'll drive Sunshine over to meet you!

 

[ken erickson]

I really like Courtesy Chevrolet. They are owned by the guy that used to own Anderson Chevrolet and they are gunning to be the biggest Corvette dealer in the state, at least.

The last time I checked they had over 100 Vettes in stock.

3640 STEVENS CREEK BLVD SAN JOSE , CA 95117 -1292 Phone: (408 ) 249-3131 Fax: (408 ) 342-0926


Good luck!

BTW, tell me if/when you head over there. They are about 5 miles from my house and maybe I'll drive Sunshine over to meet you!

I have to tell you my experience with Courtesy Chevrolet in San Jose and my '99 ragtop. I took it in for warranty repairs – no cold air on upper vents. Get the car back after an extra day in the shop. The explanation for the work done was a cracked battery and acid eat the vacuum line that controls the vents. Everything appeared working next summer same thing no cold air on the upper vents. Since I was working in the Fremont area I took it to Central Chevrolet. I get a call from the service manager telling me that he’ll need to keep the car for several weeks while he replaces two of the main electrical wire bundles that run from the front of the car to the rear. When I asked what happened he replied that when Courtesy “repaired” the damage from the battery acid they really didn’t do the whole job that they “billed” GM for. The contacts on the cables where corroded and had to be replaced and that meant replacing the whole wire bundle. Needless to say I was very nervous when I got my car back that it would be put back together correctly as the whole car was in pieces; dash board guts removed and the likes. The only problem found after that was the cruise control disengage switch on the break was set to tight against the brake pedal and when I hit a “small” bump on the freeway the cruise control disengaged unexpectedly. Simple adjustment, in and out in minutes and working fine since then – 2 years ago.


When I went to another local dealer to have some warranty work done I found out several days latter that the exhaust hanger strap on one side was broken I went back to complain and their response was “it didn’t happen while it was in their shop”. I went to Central to fix the same problem the last dealer was paid to fix and found the same problem and a number of computer updates that needed to be done. They even fixed the broken exhaust hanger for free.

 

[Last Mrk]

I have no information on this similar incident but thought I'd post the link anyway.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1476370

 

[Erik S. Klein]

I have to tell you my experience with Courtesy Chevrolet in San Jose and my '99 ragtop. . .

It sounds like you had a couple of bad experiences with Courtesy service. I'm sorry to hear that.

I don't exactly remember, but I'm pretty sure the current owner bought the dealership only about two years ago. He sold Anderson about 5 or 6 years ago and was under a non-compete in the interim.

Maybe (hopefully) things have improved.

Best of luck!

 

[TheBlueVette]

...

When I went to another local dealer to have some warranty work done I found out several days latter that the exhaust hanger strap on one side was broken I went back to complain and their response was “it didn’t happen while it was in their shop”. I went to Central to fix the same problem the last dealer was paid to fix and found the same problem and a number of computer updates that needed to be done. They even fixed the broken exhaust hanger for free.

Sounds like pretty good service at Central, Ken. Wish I'd gone there....

-Dave

 

[TheBlueVette]

It sounds like you had a couple of bad experiences with Courtesy service. I'm sorry to hear that.

I don't exactly remember, but I'm pretty sure the current owner bought the dealership only about two years ago. He sold Anderson about 5 or 6 years ago and was under a non-compete in the interim.

Maybe (hopefully) things have improved.

Best of luck!

Sounds like I have a few places to check out, Erik. Thanks.

 

[TheBlueVette]

I have no information on this similar incident but thought I'd post the link anyway.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1476370

Ouch! I can relate.

 

[atmmac]

What are you driving right now dave? That Malibu still? Its gotta be rough hang in there im sure it will all work out.

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6168&item=2483629447&rd=1
You could drive this one home today!

 

[TheBlueVette]

What are you driving right now dave? That Malibu still? Its gotta be rough hang in there im sure it will all work out.

Yup, still driving the loaner. Actually, I'm starting to like it.

(only kidding! :L )

 

[TheBlueVette]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6168&item=2483629447&rd=1
You could drive this one home today!

Soon, soon...

Then when I wave, they'll wave back. My wife says that when I wave to Vettes from the Buick, they probably I'm crazy or trying to hit on them.