Crazy idea: What if GM took Camaro6 members almost as serious as their own techs?
 

I know this one is probably going to get blown away and is probably 100% unrealistic but this hypothetical idea has been on my mind for a moment.

The main cause of the matter is that, Several GM dealerships out there havent a slight clue about the product that they sell or service where as we as enthusiast have dug fairly deep about the mechanics of these machines. Now this isn't to say that everyone here outsmarts GM's master techs, no.. but it is to say that...I'm fairly confident with some of the technical knowledge we see on this forum that a good few people at minimum know alot more about these vehicles than GM gives us credit for.

GM of course has to follow a process and the process is to verify an issue with a TSB or recall or replicate an issue before any warranty related issues can be resolved. What my proposal is, is not to bypass said process, but to be incorporated into it.

What if certain Camaro6 members were able to "verify issues" on the 6th Gen and these issues be posted on a known issues bulletin on the forum, kind of like the warranty / recall section we have.. Then for a fee (probably donated by members) Camaro6 becomes a business partner with GM and their technical engineering team - these issues would be verified between the two teams and if considered legit, a TSP / recall / or repair process could be made for such issue - this time originating from a community of several users who have experienced and confirmed the presence of said issue instead of waiting for GM to acknowledge it as an issue.

The process would work something like this.
Example:
-- Your heated seats start malfunctioning intermittently
-- You take it to Chevrolet, go figure - the heated seats are working currently and Chevrolet cannot duplicate the issue thus send you home packing with no repair and cold seats.
-- You find several members on Camaro6 have run into the same issue thus you post your issue in the specified forum and reference the other posts you find about it on this forum.
-- This post is looked over by technical Camaro6 members and GM engineers to determine if there's enough evidence to conclude that you may indeed have a issue.
-- If so, GM authorizes the replacement of the most probable cause of the failure, and works from there if that does not work. (the probably cause will likely be explained in one of the aforementioned posts referenced in your thread.)
-- Said partnership is maintained by donations as to allow our opinions make more of an impact to GM.

Yeah I know...complete rainbow theory where unicorns fly... but I had to ask...

Yeah, dreaming......As much as they say that they respond to Internet stuff, the manufactures really don't care about the online community. Because They can't verify their sources… Especially when it comes to product/improvements/changes. They'd rather do their owner focus groups which are far more pure when it comes to data input.

Yes there are exceptions, Fbodfather and other people that occasionally show up, but it's not data that they look at.

GM used to have an account on here. I believe it was Chev Customer Service or something like that. The person's name would change bi-weekly, but they trolled around on here and if they found someone complaining about an issue they would tell them to send them a PM along with their vin and they would look into it. Don't think they actually ever helped anyone though.

This is the big reason it can't work.

I really like your idea a lot through.

as far as i know they are still here.

Great idea but it will never happen. Look at the fiasco that is still going on with the 11-13 Convertibles and top problems. Owners know how to fix these cars better than the dealerships. Hell, most dealerships farm out the cars to have the tops fixed and then they still are not done right. Honestly all I have ever had out of multiple Chevy dealership service departments is shotty service and not knowing what the hell is going on. A service manager blamed me for my top problems on my first 2012 that GM eventually bought back. He put it right on the invoice I put the top down wet. He ate major crow when Jack Pantaleo GM brand manager called him up and told him to order me a new car. Oops

OP maybe they do. I think the 2019 Camaro grill looks a bit like TopHatPlus :nod:

I ran into this from a G8 GXP owner. He was a forum member and told me there was no way the GM bulletin would fix his car. I performed the bulletin and sure enough he was correct!

It will never happen.

We already have the thing that's the closest we'll ever get to this: Ask Al.

And you know what? We got better because we get more thoughtful and better answers than we'd ever get from an over-laywered-up-warranty-paranoid-customer-service-filtered thread of copy/pasted answers all telling you to "take it to your dealer."

And yes I know the purpose of Ask Al is not to complain about problems...

Hahahahaha GM let you spend there money. Stop eating the mushrooms.:faint:

Good idea, except that's basically how it already works. Except the process is mediated via dealership service departments instead of internet forums. Like it or not, that is the system, and it isn't going to change. The best you can do is if you run across a dealer service department that doesn't do their job, post about it, write the local newspaper, BBB, and try to get them to change. You are right, there is a huge wealth of knowledge on this forum, and we do have an impact. Look at all the aftermarket companies who advertise and post here. They provide good customer service in part because they know if they didn't, it would be ALL over the forums here. GM is too big a company to respond to internet forums like that. However, I do think that having a GM representative here who's job was to deal with issues when the dealership fails, etc, would be awesome.

GM and every other manufacturer needs to start taking online communities seriously. There’s already a list of 100 year old brick and mortar retailers who didn’t and now they are either history or are hanging on to a thread. The future is only going to be more and more reliant on what people do and how people interact on the internet. Not only must car companies plan to provide sales and the complete purchase process online, but they need to start accepting online communities knowledge of their vehicles for service and repair. Camaro6 has members who know every nut and bolt of this car and whether or not sources can be “verified” GM techs and engineers should at least consider their input. If I was GM i’d pay someone a full time salary to monitor all of the enthusiast forums, take notes, and regularly report issues that are discussed for inspection and investigation. It can only improve vehicle quality and customer service.

If we are going to dream dream big I know I do every Wednesday and Saturday when the power ball numbers are called and every Wednesday and Saturday I am let down.

So yea this would be a great idea but no way GM or any manufacture would do this.