Ouch-Car owners beware

N747JB said:
All my service advisors have keys, they rotate opening the service lane at 6:30 AM, they also rotate closing nights as well. I'd say most dealership service advisors have keys, but very few take joy rides in customer's cars!! :mad2:
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On a Sunday? I think the article said the service writer came on on a Sunday and drove the car, which leads me to believe the ONLY reason he was there on a Sunday was to drive THAT car. Slime.
 
Hey John.. This is not a personal attack at all but I have got to ask you..

Why the big change in your take of this situation ? When I read this post from you..

"There are times when I don't like some of my fellow car dealers!
It should be a simple insurance claim, our guy wrecked it, it's worth $XXX, here's your check. Let the insurance companies hash it out if you don't want to get murdered in the press. It's no different than if it was stolen by the valet at the Cheesecake Factory, you are obligated to make the owner whole, no matter the nature if the business involved. Personally, I would most likely just get them a new car, swap collateral on their loan, so they would owe no more or less, and take the insurance proceeds. The rest is written off and maybe sue the fired employee for the money, if he has anything."

I thought now that is the type of car dealer that I would want to do business with. One that accepts responsibility for an accident that happened on his watch.

Then I read a few more posts down and just a few hours later you are posting this..

Just curious, Why the change of heart ?


N747JB said:
OK, let's say it was wrecked by the guy at Jiffy Lube, same demands? ;)
I said I would pretty much do whatever's as reasonable to make them happy, it is clearly the dealership's fault. My issue is that every time something happens at a dealership folks think they've won the lottery.:mad2: The car is worth what it's worth. Should the dealership in this case figure out a way to make them happy? Yes. I'm not sure how rare this car is, but I'm pretty sure there is another out there somewhere that can be bought, and that is what the insurance company has to find and pay the owner the replacement cost of a similar car. It happens everyday all across the country, cars get wrecked, cars get stolen, trees fall on them, if the car is so special that it cannot be replaced, it should be insured as you say for stated value.:D I'm sure they had a nice car, and maybe if the dealership had handled it better from the start, they would have been more cooperative, it's hard to know what happened with only one side of the story. I'm just glad it wasn't one of my guys!!:yes:
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Seems to me that if the dealer took the insurance money offered, ordered an optioned up black ZL1, swapped the debt out with the owners and presented them with keys to the NEW vehicle and made a huge press spectacle of it - had a car show for other Chevy's, free hot dogs, etc, he'd come out WAY ahead in the karma/PR department. . . . but what do I know.
 
Bill Jennings said:
On a Sunday? I think the article said the service writer came on on a Sunday and drove the car, which leads me to believe the ONLY reason he was there on a Sunday was to drive THAT car. Slime.
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I agree the service advisor is a POS. I'd say his ex boss thinks the same thing.:D
 
John,
Is it standard for the manufacturer to be involved in these deals, or are they in this one due to the issues and publicity? Updated storys I have seen show GM has assured them they will be made whole this week.
 
I think I said, or tried to say, I would have handled it differently and tried to make the customer happy. We are getting one side of the negotiation part of the story here, the dealership is clearly in the wrong and should make the people whole. I was pointing out that a lot of folks are unreasonable when they deal with dealership issues. I've unfortunately been involved in a couple issues over the years where we bent over backwards and the folks involved wanted the moon and we had to draw a line in the sand. I think this could and should have been handled by day 2 or 3 after the accident.
I'm not sure how big this dealership is, but I'd say they could potentially have lost 10-20% of their sales over the next couple years from the bad PR. It's not like the good old days where a bad article in the newspaper was gone with the next edition, this Internet stuff is forever! :yikes:
I think this may become a case study on handling customer issues! :mad2::mad2:

iflyatiger said:
Hey John.. This is not a personal attack at all but I have got to ask you..

Why the big change in your take of this situation ? When I read this post from you..

"There are times when I don't like some of my fellow car dealers!
It should be a simple insurance claim, our guy wrecked it, it's worth $XXX, here's your check. Let the insurance companies hash it out if you don't want to get murdered in the press. It's no different than if it was stolen by the valet at the Cheesecake Factory, you are obligated to make the owner whole, no matter the nature if the business involved. Personally, I would most likely just get them a new car, swap collateral on their loan, so they would owe no more or less, and take the insurance proceeds. The rest is written off and maybe sue the fired employee for the money, if he has anything."

I thought now that is the type of car dealer that I would want to do business with. One that accepts responsibility for an accident that happened on his watch.

Then I read a few more posts down and just a few hours later you are posting this..

Just curious, Why the change of heart ?
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us AAirways said:
So what happens if a customer totals a new car on a test drive?
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Big pizzing contest, depends on what happened, usually the dealership insurance covers it and if the customer driving was negligent, they go after his insurance.
 
us AAirways said:
So what happens if a customer totals a new car on a test drive?
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I don't know for sure, but I assume the customer would be responsible. What I do know is that around here, before they let you take a test drive, they photocopy your DL and insurance card.

Once I handed them the card for the farm truck, which has liability only, and they told me it wouldn't work. I had the other cards with me too...just happened to grab that one first.

Again I assume.
 
The manufacturers would normally stay far, far away from something like this, BUT, with a high profile issue they might put some pressure on the dealership to make a settlement. If the car owner is big in the Camaro world, I wouldn't be surprised in the regional manager made a car available that might normally be hard to get.;) It's bad to **** off a customer, but when the factory gets involved, stuff gets real.:yes:


Flymeariver said:
John,
Is it standard for the manufacturer to be involved in these deals, or are they in this one due to the issues and publicity? Updated storys I have seen show GM has assured them they will be made whole this week.
Click to expand...
 
N747JB said:
The manufacturers would normally stay far, far away from something like this, BUT, with a high profile issue they might put some pressure on the dealership to make a settlement. If the car owner is big in the Camaro world, I wouldn't be surprised in the regional manager made a car available that might normally be hard to get.;) It's bad to **** off a customer, but when the factory gets involved, stuff gets real.:yes:
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Thanks, thats what I thought. The customer has authored more than 1 book about Camaros, so yes probably fair to say big in that area :). The Camaro5 network has 53 pages going about this and seems more are for the customer than dealer. Check out firststatechevy.com. Not good for future business when they posted a statement front page.
 
Update:Just a quick update for everyone...

1. I never demanded a new car. I merely stated that I should not HAVE to be forced to buy a new [read "different"] car when mine was totaled through no fault of my own. If I had been driving the car, I would accept the loss.

2. The difference in price between a good, used 2012 ZL1 and a new 2013 ZL1 is only about $5-6K considering rebates, etc.

3. Yes, the OP really was to just let everyone know what happened to #1635 that appeared on the ZL1 registry many months ago.

4. We actually made 3 payments on the car while the car was in the dealer's possession while they tried to figure out what to do about the paint issues [read "left the car there for weeks on end without actually doing anything."] I believe the last time I drove the car was the weekend of October 25, 2013.

5. GM and Berger Chevrolet (Grand Rapids, Michigan) have stepped in and are paving [not paying] the way for a new 2013 ZL1 to be sent to First State Chevrolet for me to purchase.

6. We have apologized to many of the employees at First State for the actions taken by many of the people who have been infuriated by this whole story and have called First State to voice their opinions. Anyone who thinks the dealership has not been affected by all of this must have his head in the sand.

7. We want to thank everyone for their support. We never expected this to take on a whole life of its own. A special thanks goes out to the suppliers who have so graciously stepped up to provide parts at their own expense to help ease the heartache we have experienced in this ordeal.

8. I am not the biggest tech guy out there, and I have never made it a practice to post on forums, don't have a Facebook page, etc. But I do plan to stick around on this forum, and I hope to meet many of you in person at various events.

9. When the situation is resolved, I will post photos of the new car. I understand that it will be about two weeks before the insurance check is cut, the old car is paid off, the new car arrives, and a new purchase contract will be signed by my wife and I for the PURCHASE of our new ZL1.

Thanks,
JRH (jhoop302)
 
dweyant said:
Let me relate a different story.

We are all quick to yell when dealerships screw up (I have done my share, or more), but probably not as fast to speak up when they do the right thing
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I have a similar story from a good friend. He bought a brand new car (Audi A4) and it had a problem with the engine that the dealership couldn't fix. After several months and many lengthy times in the shop the dealer offered to give him a replacement that was one year newer. Unfortunately neither he nor the dealer realized that the mfg made the split folding rear seat (a must have for him) optional on this newer model and per Murphy the car was ordered and delivered without that. He tried to get the dealer to retrofit that option but they said it would be less expensive for them to just order another new car which they did. All of this (two brand new replacements) were at no cost to him other than the inconvenience.
 
Really confused here. A 2012 ZL Camaro is about a $33,000 car new. In fact you can buy a ZL 560 brand new 2013 which has an approximately $20,000 dealer installed option for less than $55,000. Something about the numbers don't add up. Should be simple to get an accurate appraisal and that is what the dealer owes, no?
 
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