It seems to me that a lot of people here are having issues getting the dealers to cover the repairs under warranty. It seems that if there is any remote possibility that the repair may no be covered for whatever reason the dealer tries to back out of the repair. Let me share with an experience I had with an Acura that has actually made me realize that the GM dealers have it all wrong.

So we have a 3 year old Acura and one morning the battery is dead, I jump it and took it to the dealer since it was still covered under the factory warranty, the service writer goes arround the car a couple of times and actually starts testing different functions, like seat and mirror movements, be sure all the windows worked 100%, etc. then they took the car to the back to replace the battery.
About 30 minutes later he comes over to were I was waitng to let me know the battery had been replace, and to ask me when it was convenient for me to bring the car back so they can replace the drivers side electric mirror that is sticking a bit and both front seats because they are showing to much wear.
At this point I'm shoked, but made the apointment for the following week and all the repairs were done in a day and oh btw they gave me a free loaner while they fixed the things.

In my view the differences is simple, the Acura dealer is looking out for the customer and keeping the dealer bussy and the mechanics employed in the other hand the GM dealer is laying off mechanics because they have nothing to do and pissing up customers, what is their goal I really dont know, why dont they welcome warranty work, I dont know either.

Any way just venting a bit..........

i think it depends on the dealer personally. the one i use(when needed) will do the same for me.

Not mine. The dealer I use drags out the problem and after you take it back a couple of times and ask if they know what there doing they finally fix it. But then wants you to let GM know when they send out their survey on the dealer what a graet place it is. They have a sign posted saying if you don't give us a satisfactory rating we can be shut down. I always send it back with a unsatiusfactory rating. It is only the truth.

I haven't been back to the dealer since I had an appointment to get my oil and fuel filter changed. I sat in the waiting room for almost 3 hours and they only came back once to want to change the tranny filter for 30 bucks plus a couple of quarts of ATF. I said no thanks. Then they didn't lube the door hinges, so I did that myself later. So, after paying around 150 bucks for synthetic oil change/fuel filter with bad service, I wrote off the dealer.

I'll do it myself, know it's done right, and for a hell of a lot less.

maybe acura acyually pays their techs a reasonable amount of time for jobs, gm screws themselves by being greedy.

Every warranty fix that the Acura/Honda dealer makes they get paid for by the factory. They make a flat rate for the repair, plus some profit on the parts. It's easy money for the dealer, and it keeps the customer happy.

I dont know about acura but we get paid by gm for warranty also but at a reduced labor time and reduced labor rate. so instead of $90 an hour we usually get. gm pays us around $76 per hour, thats less than they get to fix lawnmowers around here. and if a job pays 1 hour normally gm gives us whatever they want usually about half. not real profitable after theyre done paying everybody involved.

I dont know about acura but we get paid by gm for warranty also but at a reduced labor time and reduced labor rate. so instead of $90 an hour we usually get. gm pays us around $76 per hour, thats less than they get to fix lawnmowers around here. and if a job pays 1 hour normally gm gives us whatever they want usually about half. not real profitable after theyre done paying everybody involved.


That will explain it...I really do not understand were this company comes up with their business guide lines. Their only contact to the customers is through their dealers you will think they will try to keep them happy so they can in return keep the customers happy. But no they were number 1 so is their way or the highway and I gues the highway it was and it will continue to be. I love my truck just because of the truck, and I love my 66 vette also but it will be really hard for me to justify purchasing another GM vehicle in the near future.

I dont know about acura but we get paid by gm for warranty also but at a reduced labor time and reduced labor rate. so instead of $90 an hour we usually get. gm pays us around $76 per hour, thats less than they get to fix lawnmowers around here. and if a job pays 1 hour normally gm gives us whatever they want usually about half. not real profitable after theyre done paying everybody involved.


That will explain it...I really do not understand were this company comes up with their business guide lines. Their only contact to the customers is through their dealers you will think they will try to keep them happy so they can in return keep the customers happy. But no they were number 1 so is their way or the highway and I gues the highway it was and it will continue to be. I love my truck just because of the truck, and I love my 66 Vette also but it will be really hard for me to justify purchasing another GM vehicle in the near future.

Well this is going to be a bit of a rant, but its all based on my and my family's experience with GM since 1979.

GM has always shafted it dealers/mechanics on warranty work, but yet at the factory, they will let shit out the door, and "have the dealers deal with it". Not to mention GM has the least recalls and the MOST TSB's on trucks out of Ford/Dodge/GM.

The service we have received at 9 different GM dealerships in 3 city's since 1979 has been utterly dismal. But being brand loyal and liking the product (Trucks and Buick Cars) we kept on buying GM's. (Never again after my LBZ)

A good friend of mine who is a 13 year GM Journeyman, and was one of 2 Master Journeymen at his dealership (with all the GM certified crap inc Diesel) was recently laid off, because the new GM way of doing things, is one journeyman in the shop, and 15 parts changes who are NOT EVEN APPRENTICES! no joke, they are hiring kids from the high school shop classes and mint lubes to work on your $50 000 dollar trucks, and then when they ask to go to school, they get punted for one reason or another. My Friend was really upset about the whole situation but luckily found work in the Heavy Duty sector. But the story's he tells about the GM warranty and the quality of technicians/service writers/manager is just pathetic.

Sadly, Most of the Ford/Dodge/Toyota dealerships are the same, although I do know of a couple Ford dealers who have really good guys working for them, and are willing to do warranty repairs when asked and given an honest reasonable explanation. (still wouldn't make me buy a ford though).

As stated before, the only quality service these days, is from Hyundia/Acura/Nissan (Honda is questionable but OK I suppose) being there Dealer/Techs actually get paid the same rate/time for warranty as reg repairs. The quality of work done at these shops is also better than what i've seen at most other dealerships.

Just my .02

at least back in the day we could make money now its lose lose situation. they only give us .0 to .3 to diag problem cars, we could get olh added but hardly ever do. they save olh for the idiot that spends 2 hours diagnosing a problem that should have taken a half an hour to find. the flat rate system is broke and untill it gets fixed or goes away this is how its going to be. i used to be able to do 60 hour weeks now i wish i could make 40, i would take an hourly job in a heartbeat.

I found it varies by dealer. The local dealer here does not want to do anything for you at all, and if they find a problem, they note it, but don't verbally tell you about it unless you ask. Now the dealer 25 miles away is a small shop, and will actually fix stuff you didn't know was wrong with it unless it will take them longer than a day. If so, he will call you, tell you about the problem, and ask you if they can keep it overnight. They always give me a loaner, and have always had the repairs done when they say they will. That is service, and when I buy another GM product, guess where I am going? Not the local stealer, I will drive the 25 miles, they earned and want my business.

The manufactures are being represented by dealerships however I have firsthand experience with Toyota, GM and Ford when dealing with warranty repairs. I have to say GM is the most difficult one out of the three to deal with regardless of whether it’s during the warranty period or not. GM's customer service at the corporate level has gone out the window as GM is more worried about the bottom line and liabilities. GM is focused for the short term ($$$$$$$$$ now to pad the top exec’s pockets) rather than the long term. GM's top leadership apparently doesn't care about building relationships with their client base for long term profitability and sustainability within the market place. We, the client base, pay for their short term thinking (who in their right mind pays bonuses when the company performs poorly? Not only GM but several others does as well). Will I buy GM again; probably not unless their customer service and reliability does a 180 and who knows when that will take place with the greedy b******s at the top.

The manufactures are being represented by dealerships however I have firsthand experience with Toyota, GM and Ford when dealing with warranty repairs. I have to say GM is the most difficult one out of the three to deal with regardless of whether it’s during the warranty period or not. GM's customer service at the corporate level has gone out the window as GM is more worried about the bottom line and liabilities. GM is focused for the short term ($$$$$$$$$ now to pad the top exec’s pockets) rather than the long term. GM's top leadership apparently doesn't care about building relationships with their client base for long term profitability and sustainability within the market place. We, the client base, pay for their short term thinking (who in their right mind pays bonuses when the company performs poorly? Not only GM but several others does as well). Will I buy GM again; probably not unless their customer service and reliability does a 180 and who knows when that will take place with the greedy b******s at the top.

+1 on GM not giving a sh!t about their current customer base, no wonder they are in bankruptcy. shame as they make the most reliable 3/4 and 1 ton trucks of all the Big 3.

-Rob

I don't know how GM works with a dealer. But, I know that these trucks suffer several common problems; transfer case pump rub, iss clunks, brake sensors, transmission lines, etc. You pay a substantial amount for an "American made" vehicle. I use the dealer for regular service, which I would assume that is an advantage when you need warranty work but it isn't. When the truck was brand new, I call for an oil change and they say $75. After 2-3 oil changes, the price slips to $150 for an oil change, WTF. Takes a lot of oil but $150, how many techs does it take to spin on an oil filter?
So I get a transmission line leak 4 months past my 3/36 with 34k miles on truck. Not a big deal because I have 5/100k drivetrain warranty. Dealer jumps on "out of warranty" without taking phone away from their ear because 1. it is a common problem 2. dealer is fixed on refusing warranty work.
I needed it fixed immediately because I was stuck not working without wheels and it's blowing tranny fluid all over the place so I had dealer change small rubber hydraulic line. Plus, I'm gonna call GM and make a serious complaint. Short line, crimped conn so your talking about a $6 line. GM customer service is Rajiv or something ( so I don't have anything against India but there's plenty of people in Louisiana who can answer phones for $6 an hour) and says dealer needs to diagnose line before GM can consider covering fix. So dealer calls me, $350 and I figure I got better than a 50/50 chance that GM will cover it so I approve the fix. GM calls back and confirms dealer has the vehicle but they tell me not to have it fixed until they talk to dealer, WTF again. So GM tells me not to pickup vehicle until they talk to dealer? So GM calls me back to tell me they can pay half the cost. So I'm looking at $175 for a temp fix with the cheap GM hose just so I can use the truck. When I pickup the truck, service guys are all peeved so I'd guess GM doesn't pony up anything just makes dealer drop costs. Not that $175 is bad for a $6 line, labor and tranny fluid.
So I take truck but now I'm searching for either 1. a set of real braided
hydraulic lines or 2. a good deal on a ford.

I dont know about acura but we get paid by gm for warranty also but at a reduced labor time and reduced labor rate. so instead of $90 an hour we usually get. gm pays us around $76 per hour, thats less than they get to fix lawnmowers around here. and if a job pays 1 hour normally gm gives us whatever they want usually about half. not real profitable after theyre done paying everybody involved.

I have been in this business for 20 years, and I rank myself in the top 1% of what I do. I have worked at many dealers and independents and I have to tell you its not always the dealer or the shop its the uneducated people that the places they hire, most of the service advisors have no skills, they are order takers and don’t know how to deal with customers concerns, kind of like having taco bell personnel dealing with our complex vehicles.

You would think dealers would do these repairs even if they arent that profitable to gain your business later on. I agree good customer service in any industry is pretty much gone out the window these days.

wow! y'all have crappy service departments. the folks at wheeler Chevrolet know me by name and have taken care of my last truck for 8 years and now the new one

I have been in this business for 20 years, and I rank myself in the top 1% of what I do. I have worked at many dealers and independents and I have to tell you its not always the dealer or the shop its the uneducated people that the places they hire, most of the service advisors have no skills, they are order takers and don’t know how to deal with customers concerns, kind of like having taco bell personnel dealing with our complex vehicles.
thats because they dont want to pay for any experience.

From my last warranty experience I don't think it is the dealer who does not want to do the work, but the hassle they have to go through with GM to get it authorized. The last time mine went in the dealer had to take pics of the screen on the Tech II, send them in, then had to wait for the GM Field Rep to come by and look at it, then wait again for the GM Field Rep to get with GM. It took 4 days to get the repairs authorized, and that was only after I called a neighbor who is a GM Field Rep in a different GM District to call them and hassle them about it. The Dealer bent over backwards IMHO trying to get the work done, and put synthetic in it to try and keep me happy. They are a small dealership, so I can imagine what it would be like at a large dealership where they have to play middleman between GM and you (Just think you are 1 of how many they have to do this for) to try and get them to say yes. Mine was leaks, transfer case, main seal, front diff, oil cooler lines, and the drivers side seat creaks and squeks like no tomorrow. I would hate for something major to go wrong, at GM's pace it could take weeks to get them to cover it. I am still in my 3/36 and it should have been easier for all involved to get it done, and GM is still trying to figure out what to do with the seat.

The Chevrolet dealers in Tallahassee and Elko never balked at what little warranty work the truck needed. No complaints from me on these dealerships.

you guys are scaring me

I went to 5 diff dealer just to fix regen smell in cab. DPF SMOKING they said its fine & also said it wasnt getting that much oxygen & repro it. (still smokes when I step on it or haul/tow heavy.) They just dont care. They want you to pay for stuff.

gm feels the time should be low cuz they tell you how to fix it...you just have to do it.

this is a common thought among people who are not out there figuring this crap out.

gm's engineers are a bunch of overeducated college pussies who know nothing about fixing a car...it ain't as easy as plugging in a tech2 and finding the problem,folks.
many times it takes a real tech with real knowledge to find the open circuit or the injector return line thats leaking inside....computers are a help,but it still takes skill...skill car manufactures' are not willing to pay for,hence shoddy work.

the average tech plugs in his box,gets a code,and puts the related part on for that code and goes to lunch....the good tech gets the code,tests the circuits,looks for bulletins,and makes sure that said part will fix it.
trouble is...both techs just made the same money...hence,shitty work is rewarded.

gm feels the time should be low cuz they tell you how to fix it...you just have to do it.

this is a common thought among people who are not out there figuring this crap out.

gm's engineers are a bunch of overeducated college pussies who know nothing about fixing a car...it ain't as easy as plugging in a tech2 and finding the problem,folks.
many times it takes a real tech with real knowledge to find the open circuit or the injector return line thats leaking inside....computers are a help,but it still takes skill...skill car manufactures' are not willing to pay for,hence shoddy work.

the average tech plugs in his box,gets a code,and puts the related part on for that code and goes to lunch....the good tech gets the code,tests the circuits,looks for bulletins,and makes sure that said part will fix it.
trouble is...both techs just made the same money...hence,shitty work is rewarded.

This overeducated ***** would like to challenge you to a repair off. Seriously, the system is broken. The service manuals provide pretty good direction where to look but, it is up to the tech to ultimately find the chaffed wire, etc. If the tech just swaps the module and vehicle is on 100% parts return, the dealer will be charged for the part if it works properly. The majority of the technicans at GM come from dealerships. Most of them want to beat the crap out of the service engineers that develop the rate books.

I do know that gm does not pay dealers full shop rate when fixing a warranty problem but the thing that they dont pay the full time it took to do the job is kind of unfair, if the mechanic is going way over book time for no reason I can see why gm has to put some limits on it.

on my side of things (duramax owner) I have the lb7 and in November I thought my injectors were starting to go out, I had hard starting, they told me injectors were not the problem and it was probably something after market at the time I only had intake, exhaust and lift pump, I knew they were bs ing so I drove it a bit more until it was nearly impossible to start which was about a month, took it to a different dealer with all the same stuff on it, I had to argue with them a bit over the injector service bulletin about our extended injector warranty for them to even look at it but after a few minutes of me having more knowledge than the guy behind the computer at gm they checked my injectors and replaced them all under warranty.

This overeducated ***** would like to challenge you to a repair off. Seriously, the system is broken. The service manuals provide pretty good direction where to look but, it is up to the tech to ultimately find the chaffed wire, etc. If the tech just swaps the module and vehicle is on 100% parts return, the dealer will be charged for the part if it works properly. The majority of the technicans at GM come from dealerships. Most of them want to beat the crap out of the service engineers that develop the rate books.
tounge-in-cheek comment...you know the type i'm talking about...all theory and no dirt...anyway..

gm needs to figure out a way to reward its good techs and punish the bad.there is just no reward for hanging in there and finding a tough problem(other than your satisfaction,of course)...the system "rewards" the tech who throws a semi-related part at the ro complaint and puts her outside.
we need real rewards...and i'm not talking about a bomber jacket or coffee mug.
as mentioned,better service writers would help.
also..its only going to get worse folks..look at the guys who know what they are doing and really fix your car...we're getting old..old and fed up.No one wants to buy 50k (a conservative figure) worth of tools and train/study for years on this thankless crap for 60-80k a year.it just ain't worth it.

I've been thinking the same ^^ and I'm young, not a mechanic but its hard to come by a knowledgeable self invested young mechanic. but I think the younger guys will grow to be the older guys I hope...

This overeducated ***** would like to challenge you to a repair off. Seriously, the system is broken. The service manuals provide pretty good direction where to look but, it is up to the tech to ultimately find the chaffed wire, etc. If the tech just swaps the module and vehicle is on 100% parts return, the dealer will be charged for the part if it works properly. The majority of the technicans at GM come from dealerships. Most of them want to beat the crap out of the service engineers that develop the rate books.
I would take on an engineer anytime, they have no clue how to fix things they only know how to make it easy to assemble so the union boys and girls can put it together (ill hold my thoughts on them too). The dealer i work at gets all the broken brand new cars when they come off the train, lots of stupid mistakes made on assembly line. i have worked with field engineers a few times they arent that smart. they are the glorified part swappers. and as far as service manuals go gm has some of the worst (other than alldata, which we call somedata). if they were soo good there wouldnt be a need for the feedback link for us to tell them about all the mistakes in them. now lets talk about the young guys coming into the biz. most of them are just above retarded.we can barely find a decent lube tech that wont leave tires loose after a rotate. all the smart kids are doing something better with their life.

I would take on an engineer anytime, they have no clue how to fix things they only know how to make it easy to assemble so the union boys and girls can put it together (ill hold my thoughts on them too). The dealer i work at gets all the broken brand new cars when they come off the train, lots of stupid mistakes made on assembly line. i have worked with field engineers a few times they arent that smart. they are the glorified part swappers. and as far as service manuals go gm has some of the worst (other than alldata, which we call somedata). if they were soo good there wouldnt be a need for the feedback link for us to tell them about all the mistakes in them. now lets talk about the young guys coming into the biz. most of them are just above retarded.we can barely find a decent lube tech that wont leave tires loose after a rotate. all the smart kids are doing something better with their life.

I'm not sure what is meant by "easy to assemble so all the union boys and girls can put it together". If you mean so the vehicle can be assembled quicker so more work can be added, yeah you are probably right. Lots of "stupid mistakes" are because we are working in seconds and tenths of a seconds while you are working in minutes and hours. An example is a van I took to the dealer for bad paint on some lower dash panels. I saw the tech working for a good 15 minutes in trying to replace those panels and he finally came to me and said he had broken a fasterner on installation and would have to order another one. Curious as to the issue I walked over to where those panels were installed, we made the vans at my plant. Every 42 SECONDS the "union boy" put those panels on the van and had a few other tasks to do. Never saw him falter. Most mistakes in the plants are from faluires in the proccess at some point. We suffer from the same instalation issues the techs do. And many more. Time is a big factor for most of us. The guy on the line can't even go to the bathroom without raising his hand and don't show up with diarrea.

In the old days a foreman I had loved to tell us "If I want anything out of you I'll take the top of your head off and dip it out" :eek:

Things are improving. Assemblers have more input into quality than ever before. Since the union has input into the suggestion program, it's working as it was designed. Although it would be nice to have a vehicle hand assembled by you, most of us probably could not afford it. So we keep doing our jobs and improving the system where we can.

I'm a confirmed Chevy person and always have been but I believe the service manager and franchise owner are totally responsible for your treatment and service. If they lie, stall, cheat during their service your SCREWED and you better find another dealership. I go to one dealership and have to travel out-of-town to do so but when he says he has the part and will fix it in X amount of time for X amount - HE DOES and I'm satisfied. I've had the other kind also and almost went fists to cuffs with the SOB so I know of your frustrations! The mechanics or techs are the least of our problems and I think want to do a good job for us. Just my 2 cents at 62 years old.

When getting my DPF replaced (under the warranty) I got the run around many times. If it would not of been under the warranty I know they would of told me the 1st time, hey it needs to be replaced & itll cost $$$$. Because it falls under the warranty they try & drag it out as much as they can. Like said above I also believe that the service manager and franchise owner are totally responsible for your treatment and service.
I went to a dealer in an other state & they told me what was wrong & replaced it with no other BS.

Call GM & report any bad dealers & call & praise good ones.

NV GMC Diesel owners, stay away from Desert Buick GMC in Henderson NV. They dont know about Diesels.
NM GMC Diesel/Gas owners, A good dealer is Sisbarro Buick GMC in Las Cruces NM. This place replaced my DPF.