Hi All,
As the title states, I feel that GM is letting me and my family down. I just wanted to share my story for those that may be interested. The story does not yet have an ending, but I will post updates as more information becomes available.
A quick background. I am 32 years old and every vehicle I have ever owned since I could drive is a GM product. My father and grandfather have been nothing but dedicated Chevrolet owners. My grandmother retired from the truck plant in Flint, MI. My father’s company has a little over 200 Chevrolet trucks in its fleet. Hopefully this shows how much my family has invested into GM products and how much they have been a part of our lives. I also cannot express how happy I have been with my experience I’ve had with GM products and Chevrolet trucks in particular.
Last year my wife and I decided we needed to upgrade from our 2011 2500HD extended cab to a crew cab truck since our daughter was one year old and it is amazing how much room a small child can take up in a vehicle. We saved up our pennies and special ordered a truck that met our needs exactly. A 2016 3500HD LT crew cab 4wd Duramax. It arrived in December of 2015 and we LOVED this truck. A few weeks after owning it, my wife noticed what appeared to be a particle stuck in the clear coat on the hood. I noticed it as well, but I didn’t think it was worth worrying too much about. As time went on, I noticed what appeared to be rock chips but they were in spots that one wouldn’t expect there to be rock chips. In March of 2016 I finally contacted my dealer of an issue when I noticed a large piece of paint hanging from the fender which was caused by the headlight bezel resting tightly against the fender. It’s hard to explain, but the paint along the edge of the fender that rested against the bezel just came off in one long strip. I contacted GM and they told me take it into the dealer for their evaluation. The dealer agreed that it was a defect and that the fender would have to be repainted to fix. I also mentioned the dust particle on the hood and strange “rock chip” looking spots. After a much closer inspection of the truck, we both noticed that the paint was full of defects. Dust particles and bubbles were in the paint everywhere and in some places there was even hair and lint in the paint. This was in every body panel all over the truck. The dealer said the entire truck would have to be repainted to resolve the issue. Keep in mind at this time the truck had 5,000 miles on it and had only been on pavement or in my garage. We had not pulled any trailers or even hauled a cardboard box in the bed. The dealer told me they would contact GM of their findings and get back with me for a date to bring the truck in for repair. At this point I was fine with this decision.
Now the wait begins. There was apparently some kind of disconnect between the dealership, GM, and I. After a month of waiting to hear something back, I started emailing and calling both the dealer and GM to get a status update. It seemed at this point neither one of them were on the same page. One more month goes by and the dealer finally informs me that GM is only going to pay for 50% of the repair cost and that I am responsible for the other 50%. Let me reiterate, GM is holding ME responsible for 50% of the repair cost. The reasoning is because the spots that looked like rock chips are apparently deemed to be my fault. I tried to explain to them that the bubbles in the paint were flaking off every time I washed the truck. I also wanted them to explain how I got rock chips on the tailgate and on rear cab corners beside the rear window. Lucky for me, the dealer said they would renegotiate with GM for me. Finally on June 21st, I got a call that I needed to drop my truck off as soon as I had the chance so they get it fixed. I dropped it off on June 22nd with 8,055 miles on the odometer. After a week, I emailed the dealer for and ET on when the truck would be done. They replied that the work hasn’t started because GM put it on hold so they could send a field service engineer to look at the truck. I asked when that would take place, but they said GM wasn’t sure when since the service engineer for their area had quit. I also called GM and they couldn’t tell me when a service engineer would be there. 3 weeks went by and a field service engineer still hadn’t showed up. I finally requested to get my truck back since I was leaving for a business trip and I wanted my wife to have a second vehicle available to her. I cannot tell you how frustrated I was at this point.
I spent the next month calling GM and the dealer to see what was going to be done and when. GM’s standard reply was, “We are still reviewing the case with the dealer.” The dealers standard reply was, “We are waiting on GM right now.” I was livid. The condition of my paint kept deteriorating and I just wanted the truck fixed. The stress and anxiety of stringing this issue out this long had been too much at this point. The dealer finally informed me that they are going to try and order me a new truck just like the one I have. I said as long as my payments are the same I would be willing to do that. I talked to GM who also said that getting a replacement truck would be a good course of action to follow. Another argument that pushed me towards this course of action was when the dealer mentioned that if I had the truck repainted, the repair would show up on the Carfax and hurt the value in that manner as well. I made it explicitly clear to both parties that I would only be willing to get a new truck if my payments were the same. To my dismay, they were no longer accepting orders for 2016’s so I would have to wait an order a 2017.
When the order books finally came open for the 2017’s in September, my dealer called me in to place the order. I told them that I would not sign anything until I had it in writing that my payment would be the same. They danced around the subject for a while and said that it shouldn’t be a problem at all but they cannot guarantee it since the pricing hasn’t been announced yet. The dealer did say that GM has agreed to some trade in assistance. After some bickering back and forth with the salesman, a manager came out and told me flat-out that he doesn’t see how it would be possible for me to get the same exact payment, even with the trade-in assistance. He estimated that my payment would be $130 more a month that it currently is because my current truck is only worth $40,000. Hard to swallow when it was $61,000 new and I only have 10,000 miles on it. After many calls to GM, they cannot guarantee anything either. Their response to me last week when I asked them what they are going to do to help resolve the issue with my truck was, “I am not saying we will help you and I am not saying we won’t.” So now what am I supposed to do?
As of this writing, I am 7 months into trying to get this issue resolved. My family is also watching my issue very closely and my father, who apparently has more money than I thought, is going to swap his entire fleet over to Ford if GM doesn’t make this right for me. Some may blame the dealer, but the dealer didn’t put the bad paint job on the truck and start this whole issue to begin with. I am also hoping that someone within GM who cares will read this and get this information to someone who can help. I truly love GM trucks and would love to continue being a proud owner and supporter of GM products. I will keep updating this thread as more information becomes available to me and hopefully it turns out to be a happy ending. I just want the product I paid for, that’s all.
As the title states, I feel that GM is letting me and my family down. I just wanted to share my story for those that may be interested. The story does not yet have an ending, but I will post updates as more information becomes available.
A quick background. I am 32 years old and every vehicle I have ever owned since I could drive is a GM product. My father and grandfather have been nothing but dedicated Chevrolet owners. My grandmother retired from the truck plant in Flint, MI. My father’s company has a little over 200 Chevrolet trucks in its fleet. Hopefully this shows how much my family has invested into GM products and how much they have been a part of our lives. I also cannot express how happy I have been with my experience I’ve had with GM products and Chevrolet trucks in particular.
Last year my wife and I decided we needed to upgrade from our 2011 2500HD extended cab to a crew cab truck since our daughter was one year old and it is amazing how much room a small child can take up in a vehicle. We saved up our pennies and special ordered a truck that met our needs exactly. A 2016 3500HD LT crew cab 4wd Duramax. It arrived in December of 2015 and we LOVED this truck. A few weeks after owning it, my wife noticed what appeared to be a particle stuck in the clear coat on the hood. I noticed it as well, but I didn’t think it was worth worrying too much about. As time went on, I noticed what appeared to be rock chips but they were in spots that one wouldn’t expect there to be rock chips. In March of 2016 I finally contacted my dealer of an issue when I noticed a large piece of paint hanging from the fender which was caused by the headlight bezel resting tightly against the fender. It’s hard to explain, but the paint along the edge of the fender that rested against the bezel just came off in one long strip. I contacted GM and they told me take it into the dealer for their evaluation. The dealer agreed that it was a defect and that the fender would have to be repainted to fix. I also mentioned the dust particle on the hood and strange “rock chip” looking spots. After a much closer inspection of the truck, we both noticed that the paint was full of defects. Dust particles and bubbles were in the paint everywhere and in some places there was even hair and lint in the paint. This was in every body panel all over the truck. The dealer said the entire truck would have to be repainted to resolve the issue. Keep in mind at this time the truck had 5,000 miles on it and had only been on pavement or in my garage. We had not pulled any trailers or even hauled a cardboard box in the bed. The dealer told me they would contact GM of their findings and get back with me for a date to bring the truck in for repair. At this point I was fine with this decision.
Now the wait begins. There was apparently some kind of disconnect between the dealership, GM, and I. After a month of waiting to hear something back, I started emailing and calling both the dealer and GM to get a status update. It seemed at this point neither one of them were on the same page. One more month goes by and the dealer finally informs me that GM is only going to pay for 50% of the repair cost and that I am responsible for the other 50%. Let me reiterate, GM is holding ME responsible for 50% of the repair cost. The reasoning is because the spots that looked like rock chips are apparently deemed to be my fault. I tried to explain to them that the bubbles in the paint were flaking off every time I washed the truck. I also wanted them to explain how I got rock chips on the tailgate and on rear cab corners beside the rear window. Lucky for me, the dealer said they would renegotiate with GM for me. Finally on June 21st, I got a call that I needed to drop my truck off as soon as I had the chance so they get it fixed. I dropped it off on June 22nd with 8,055 miles on the odometer. After a week, I emailed the dealer for and ET on when the truck would be done. They replied that the work hasn’t started because GM put it on hold so they could send a field service engineer to look at the truck. I asked when that would take place, but they said GM wasn’t sure when since the service engineer for their area had quit. I also called GM and they couldn’t tell me when a service engineer would be there. 3 weeks went by and a field service engineer still hadn’t showed up. I finally requested to get my truck back since I was leaving for a business trip and I wanted my wife to have a second vehicle available to her. I cannot tell you how frustrated I was at this point.
I spent the next month calling GM and the dealer to see what was going to be done and when. GM’s standard reply was, “We are still reviewing the case with the dealer.” The dealers standard reply was, “We are waiting on GM right now.” I was livid. The condition of my paint kept deteriorating and I just wanted the truck fixed. The stress and anxiety of stringing this issue out this long had been too much at this point. The dealer finally informed me that they are going to try and order me a new truck just like the one I have. I said as long as my payments are the same I would be willing to do that. I talked to GM who also said that getting a replacement truck would be a good course of action to follow. Another argument that pushed me towards this course of action was when the dealer mentioned that if I had the truck repainted, the repair would show up on the Carfax and hurt the value in that manner as well. I made it explicitly clear to both parties that I would only be willing to get a new truck if my payments were the same. To my dismay, they were no longer accepting orders for 2016’s so I would have to wait an order a 2017.
When the order books finally came open for the 2017’s in September, my dealer called me in to place the order. I told them that I would not sign anything until I had it in writing that my payment would be the same. They danced around the subject for a while and said that it shouldn’t be a problem at all but they cannot guarantee it since the pricing hasn’t been announced yet. The dealer did say that GM has agreed to some trade in assistance. After some bickering back and forth with the salesman, a manager came out and told me flat-out that he doesn’t see how it would be possible for me to get the same exact payment, even with the trade-in assistance. He estimated that my payment would be $130 more a month that it currently is because my current truck is only worth $40,000. Hard to swallow when it was $61,000 new and I only have 10,000 miles on it. After many calls to GM, they cannot guarantee anything either. Their response to me last week when I asked them what they are going to do to help resolve the issue with my truck was, “I am not saying we will help you and I am not saying we won’t.” So now what am I supposed to do?
As of this writing, I am 7 months into trying to get this issue resolved. My family is also watching my issue very closely and my father, who apparently has more money than I thought, is going to swap his entire fleet over to Ford if GM doesn’t make this right for me. Some may blame the dealer, but the dealer didn’t put the bad paint job on the truck and start this whole issue to begin with. I am also hoping that someone within GM who cares will read this and get this information to someone who can help. I truly love GM trucks and would love to continue being a proud owner and supporter of GM products. I will keep updating this thread as more information becomes available to me and hopefully it turns out to be a happy ending. I just want the product I paid for, that’s all.
