Well today I about heard it all. A customer calls me in a hurting mood, he has just purchased a 2007 Z06 with about 14k miles on it from a Chevy dealership in Texas. He drives it home without any problems. For the next couple of weeks the car runs great and performs well for another 4k miles. The other day while just cruising down Highway 14 at about 75 MPH he hears a ticking noise from the engine. Suddenly the ticking becomes louder and before he is able to pull over the engine is knocking.

The car is towed to a local dealership here in Vancouver called Curt Warner Chevrolet. Once at the dealer tears into the engine, they decide to deny the owners warranty. Their basis of the denial is because the tires are relatively worn out, in their words they said they were bald. They insist that the owner either over reved the engine or downshifted from a high speed into third gear, in their words "from at least 120 MPH" !! Mind you the car is from what I see bone stock, it doesn't even have a KN filter or headers.

When the customer went to pick the car up, he was told that his warranty is cancelled and that he would be getting something from GM in the mail to confirm that fact. The service writer her name is Cerita, tells him that she knows that he raced it, and that his car was a POS and he should have purchased a Cadillac. What is really funny is that they don't even sell Cadillacs at that dealer I have no idea as to why this person would say something like that, jeez what happened to common courtesy and customer relations.

The customer tows the car to me for inspection, I look at it and the tires are far from bald. The look about right for a car with 18K miles. You know how these damn EMT tires on the vettes wear! The problem in the engine was that one, and I mean ONE valve spring broke which cause the valve to drop into the cylinder causing the piston to impale the valve back into the head. The piston wasn't damaged too much but it will require replacement.

I called the dealer that I work with on cases such as this. The car was towed there today and the shop calls me to assure me and the customer that the engine will be replaced under GM warranty at absolutely no cost to the customer! The service manager there tells me he has no idea why Warner would not or would attempt to F**K this customer over. Instead of gaining a new customer and some form of respect they will lose a customer and possibly more as a result. If you want good and fair service contact the Carr Auto Group in Portland. I assure you that they will do a good job. By the way Curt Warner the owner was a NFL player from I can't remember what team, but that is his claim to fame before becoming a Chevy dealer. When I was ahout to buy a new Z, I called them to see what they wanted for the one they had on their showroom floor, which they had and still have since May. It was going for 20k over sticker, but they told me I could have it for 10k over.....what a joke, now I am real glad that I didn't buy from them especially seeing what their customer service is like.

 

Wow. I would call GM's headquarters and report that.

 

That sucks!
I always try to buy GM. I hope they are looking at this.
This is why folks don't buy GM, not because the Cars suck but the Service is
ABSOLUTELY ******* HORRIBLE or hit and miss to say the least.
That goes for Cadillac as well.
I know I have one.

 

Thanks for the info. When my WS6 gets tired and I put it away for refurbishing I'll be getting a Vette or possibly new Camaro. I hate going into the Metro area to shop but some things are not available locally in any variety. It's nice to know where not to go. Bad word of mouth is more expensive than just the money they try to save. When one customer is happy, they may tell a few people. When one customer is pissed, they tell a LOT of people, and they don't stop...

 

Thats what happens when a washed up qb gets his hands on a GM dealship

 

hey, that head is still servicable aint it? and did the rocker stud get ripped out or was it taken out?

 

Curt Warner was a running back, not a QB. He played for the Seahawks all but one year of his career. His last year he played for the Rams.

 

I've been saying for YEARS that Curt Warner Chevrolet is the root of all things evil when it comes to GM dealerships. This is the **** they pull on just about every one of their customers at some point. I had a very bad experience with them back in 2000, and have denied them my business ever since. The funny thing about it is that back when they were Vancouver Chevrolet, they had a great reputation. I actually bought my Z28 from Vancouver Chevrolet and it was a complete pleasure doing business with that operation.

My .02.

Mike

 

LS7 heads do not have studs like a standard SBC or does it have the support rail like a standard LS1. These have has rocker pedestals that supports one rocker arm each, with offset rockers for the intake side.

 

There is a reason all his dealer ships went belly up in our area.

 

What I don't really understand in this case and in similar cases I've heard about is that the dealer gets paid by GM to do warranty work. So why would they not want to do this and in the process hose over a customer. Just doesn't make since to me, but I guess that's why they'll go out of business.

This is just another example of why I really don't mind not having a factory warranty...I don't have to deal with the dealer's BS.

 

Well, it goes like this. Although GM pays the dealer to do the work, the dealer has to go by GM's labor guidelines and also GM doesn't pay full price for the parts. The dealer makes some profit off the parts but not nearly like what they make off a retail customer. They will charge FULL LIST price for what ever parts they use, and when doing a "customer pay" job the allowable labor time goes about 25% higher than what they get from GM. So it is in their interest to sell customer pay jobs, but NOT in the way of threatening the customer with denying their just due warranty of their cars!

I worked for GM many many moons ago, and when it is justifiable to deny warranty I can agree with it. In cases of just plain abuse and if its very obvious I can understand in cases such as that. I too have denied a few warranty claims during my tenure with GM, but I can also so it was in cases where it was very obviously NOT COVERED. One case that come to mine was way back in the late 70s on a 1/2T 4x4 pick up. This guy has his truck lifted and had HUGE tires installed, mind you this was way back when 17s, 18s, and any tire size larger was non exisitent. The tires was 14 inches wide and 38 inches tall, so large that when the tires were turned back and forth you can see the frame flexing on dry pavement. All this stress caused the steering shaft seals on the steering gear to leak. We covered it once, and a couple months later it was back for the same thing. You could actually see the shaft moving back and forth laterally

 

Stories like this make me wonder why it's been so hard for me to land a service writer job, with my customer service background and how I treat customers.

I remember the shop foreman, of a Subaru dealership I worked at, doing inspections of all the WRX and Legacy GT Turbos we had in for oil changes for "modifications", to document later in the event they came in for warranty work and had changed it back to stock. Boost controllers I'd understand but a muffler? They were over the top.

Stories like this make me sick. If I ever treated one of my portrait customers like this, what little money I made from photography would dwindle to nothing. Because all my business is is word of mouth. Which lately has been getting better and better

 

Cerita needs a kick in the crack.
I used to take my car and tahoe to Carr all the time in Beaverton was always happy with their service.

Wow dual valve reliefs?

 

TTT, just want to make sure everybody avoids this shitty dealership.

 

Tom-

You don't have enough hi-perf automobiles.

Your carbon footprint wins!!!!! You are, without doubt Al Gores Lex Luthor....nice.

Thanks for taking care of one of ours.

Mark

PS. Congrats on the new Z

 

I like being Gores Lex Luthor. But not on a level where I am a totally irresponsible I enjoy the clean smell of a spring day in the woods as much as the other guy. But I also like ripping through the woods on my dirtbike, but undestructively and with being respectful of others and the enviroment. After all I would like it if my son (some day) will be able to enjoy a day in the woods unhindered by AZZ holes like Gore trying to close the woods to all of us.

I have been to other countries where their lands are totally polluted. I am glad that we have some degree of protection otherwise we would be wearing surgical masks anytime we go outside for a walk. Much like many people in China, The Philippines, Indonesia and other dumps where I used to work. I can tell you of times after a long day out shopping in Shanghai, where once you get home and wipe your nose out with a white Kleenex only to have it come out BLACK from the nasty exhaust fumes of their diesel cars, trucks, and two stroke motor bikes running around the city by the thousands. Not to mention the industrial waste and human waste that pollutes their streams and rivers. Yes, there is no place like home, in the good old U S of A!

 

So.......how's the new Z?

Details man, i want details!

M

 

PS. Although i appreciate your travels (which are far, far more extensive than mine) mother nature always wins...you may not be alive to experience it, but she is magnificently resilient. She's been around a long time...hell, she outlasted the dinosaurs and whatever environmental issue that killed them.

Hang on......i'm falling off the right side of my chair.

M

 

The new Z is doing well. She is about ready to go under the knife. But LPE wasn't able to get my heads done this week so I am still waiting. I just sent a spare set of LS7 rocker arms to Harlan Sharp to do their bearing and trunion mod on them. I have the new cam in my hands now, I was going to do a LG G6X5 cam in the engine but I don't want to give up the excellent drivability of the car as it is now. So I came up with another grind about 8 degrees less intake duration, so that should tame it down a bit without loosing much in power gains. Cory Harris ported a spare LS7 intake for me and will also be supplying a ported 90mm TB for the car. I am planning on a Halltech or a LPE CAI and of course headers which will be American Racing. I am looking for around 560+ RWHP so wish me some luck