Good Dealership Experience (For A Change) -- NY Westchester Area -- Plus Snow Pics

[EHS]

We all post the negative experiences with dealers, and there are many, but for a change, in case anyone is looking for a dealer with a good service department, I suggest you give Country Chevrolet in Warwick, NY a try. The service manager is Bill Hanlan, but everyone there was super nice. Had a nice loaner car (clean Impala with 6,000 miles -- they are a Chevy dealer, after all) for the overnight it took to do the work.

In addition to cleaning up the work "done" by another dealer (you may remember my column lock recall post), they replaced a faulty oil sensor and air check valve (requiring removal of the intake manifold). All done under the GMPP warranty, no fuss, no muss, the car was absolutely properly repaired. Even the radio station was still the same, and the volume wasn't cranked up, which, as you know, isn't always the case when you pick up the car.

In addition, they troubleshot some codes, and checked all the fluids (diff, tranny, cooling, etc.), and actually told me nothing more was required, which was the right answer, since all those fluids had been changed about 30,000 miles ago. Two weeks ago, another dealer (I believe we now call them stealerships here) had told me that I needed a "brake system flush," a "differential flush," a "radiator flush," and a "transmission flush," each for about $140 x 4 = $560 worth of "flushing."

Again, it's nice to have a positive dealer experience for a change, and to share it with you all. Give them a try. Warwick, NY (near Greenwood Lake), and the roads to get there are Corvette heaven (Route 17A).

Oh, the pictures -- took these on the way home tonight after leaving Country Chevy:

Yes, the car has snow tires on it, it's a convertible, and it drives just fine, and handles very well in the snow:

Merry Christmas, everyone!

 

[LT4man]

Great story! Great pictures!

You are so right. We only hear about the bad ones. These guys sound like they take their jobs seriously. I betcha they never used your hood for a break table! :L

What was the deal with the column lock recall? Did you finally have the parts replaced?

Save The Wave!

 

[EHS]

...What was the deal with the column lock recall? Did you finally have the parts replaced?

Here is the link with the saga (and the resolution):

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59686

When I got the car back, it had a terrible squeak from the dash (every bump, every seam). No way did I want to take it back to that dealer, so Country Chevy in Warwick, NY was nice enough to do it today. All it took, according to the service manager, was to take off the center console panel (the one around the radio), and reseat it properly. It worked.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Beautiful pictures!
Chrismas card material if I ever saw it.
Good to hear of your positive experience getting your column lock fixed. I bet that your Vette handles great with snow tires.

 

[mrm1149]

Gorgeous pics particularly the 2nd one down........glad you found a good tech...............

 

[DRTH VTR]

It looks like you have your traction control turned off. Is that right? Does it drive better that way, or is it just for play?

 

[Patrick]

That is a very happy ending, EHS. As many horror stories as we've heard about mishaps involving Corvettes while at Dealerships, it makes hearing the success stories that much sweeter. If you belong to local Corvette club, the best thank you I think you could give County Chevrolet a big plug to the members of that Corvette club, and steer some business their way.

And Merry Christmas to you, too!


-Patrick

 

[MsSchroder]

Those are fantastic photos! Thanks for posting them.

I'm glad you found a dealer you're happy with.

Tammy

 

[BulletTime]

Those are incredible pics; you should make a calendar out of them!

 

[EHS]

It looks like you have your traction control turned off. Is that right? Does it drive better that way, or is it just for play?

---> Thanks for all the compliments, everyone.

Regarding traction control off (but active handling on, i.e., competition mode), you need some rear wheel spin to keep going through snow, or on ice. Without that, the car will just bog, as it tries to prevent wheel spin, and you will get stuck.

Here's an article that explains it:

http://www.forbes.com/2001/12/17/1217feat.html

"Furthermore, if that car has traction control, you'll probably be stuck forever unless you turn it off. Why? Most traction control is designed to stop wheelspin while the car is moving (preventing skids). But if your wheels can't spin when you're stationary, and there's very little traction available, your car won't budge because the electronic brain is designed to stop the wheels from turning; when there's very little traction, they need to spin at least a little bit for you to have any chance of getting going.

We've parked cars with the best of these systems on icy blacktop and unless you turn the traction control off and use that tried-and-true method of spinning the wheels and shifting a lot between first gear and reverse, you're going nowhere.