CAMARO6 - View Single Post - Local Dealer Definitely Lost My Families Business

DorkMissile · 09-21-2018, 05:49 AM

I grew up in the area and actually have family who own a Chevrolet dealership in the area - when I lived there they had a great reputation. However the car business is COMPLETELY different than it used to be.

You may have bought X number of cars there, but they only make a couple hundred bucks of margin if they are lucky on each. It really means nothing. The last remaining place for the dealerships to make any decent money is in service, and that is how the OEMs tell them to do it. They over-book the service department because GM says they have to.

In the end, buy the car with the place that has the best deal on buying the car. When it needs warranty work, go to the dealer that has the best service. When you have to pay to get it fixed, dont even bother with the dealership.

I bought a new 1SS1LE on 8/16. Got it home and saw the hood wrap had some wrinkles and was actually torn where someone opened the hood with the wiper arms up. Also have some paint issues.

Reported that day, brought it back the 17th because that was what my sales guy told me to do (which was a Saturday). Turns out the body shop doesn't work on Saturday. No phone calls during the week, call the sales guy AGAIN, he get the body shop manager to call me - we set a verbal appointment for Friday at 10am to look at the car - I show up at 9:50 - she didn't even come to work that day. Assistant Manager sets an appointment for two weeks from the coming Monday to get everything fixed.

Call the day before the appointment - still no hood wrap. Dealer lies to me says it is on back order. I have other sources so I contact my nephew who runs the parts / service department at the families dealership in Michigan - runs a report on how many wraps are available on how long the back order is. Turns out there is a surplus - and there are no reported needs for a wrap in Minnesota (where I live).

I call Gm Customer Care - tell them all of the above. Ask GM how to lemon law a car - they contact the dealer, turns out they never ordered the wrap. Dealer has lied to me over and over, and this is probably the dealership in the Twin Cities Area with the best "Small Town" reputation (Main Motors, Anoka - 100 year old family owned dealer).

In the end - they dont care. The business is so brutal, its not that its greed, but they are basically in a "sell cars or die" situation.

The dealer doesn't care, your sales guy doesn't care, GM doesn't care.

It is now 9/21 - the hood wrap on my car is still jacked. Ive spent hours on the phone with the service manager, the sales guy, the finance manager, the sales manager, the floor manager and the owner AND GM customer care. I have had the car back three times (80 mile round trip each). I had to finally get a Lemon Law attorney to call the dealership and within 24 hours I went from dead in the water to a set appointment for 10/1.

I can't wait to see how this goes with the actual repair.

09-21-2018, 05:49 AM	#48
DorkMissile Drives: 18 1SS 1LE HyperBlue Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Twin Cities, MN Posts: 612	I grew up in the area and actually have family who own a Chevrolet dealership in the area - when I lived there they had a great reputation. However the car business is COMPLETELY different than it used to be. You may have bought X number of cars there, but they only make a couple hundred bucks of margin if they are lucky on each. It really means nothing. The last remaining place for the dealerships to make any decent money is in service, and that is how the OEMs tell them to do it. They over-book the service department because GM says they have to. In the end, buy the car with the place that has the best deal on buying the car. When it needs warranty work, go to the dealer that has the best service. When you have to pay to get it fixed, dont even bother with the dealership. I bought a new 1SS1LE on 8/16. Got it home and saw the hood wrap had some wrinkles and was actually torn where someone opened the hood with the wiper arms up. Also have some paint issues. Reported that day, brought it back the 17th because that was what my sales guy told me to do (which was a Saturday). Turns out the body shop doesn't work on Saturday. No phone calls during the week, call the sales guy AGAIN, he get the body shop manager to call me - we set a verbal appointment for Friday at 10am to look at the car - I show up at 9:50 - she didn't even come to work that day. Assistant Manager sets an appointment for two weeks from the coming Monday to get everything fixed. Call the day before the appointment - still no hood wrap. Dealer lies to me says it is on back order. I have other sources so I contact my nephew who runs the parts / service department at the families dealership in Michigan - runs a report on how many wraps are available on how long the back order is. Turns out there is a surplus - and there are no reported needs for a wrap in Minnesota (where I live). I call Gm Customer Care - tell them all of the above. Ask GM how to lemon law a car - they contact the dealer, turns out they never ordered the wrap. Dealer has lied to me over and over, and this is probably the dealership in the Twin Cities Area with the best "Small Town" reputation (Main Motors, Anoka - 100 year old family owned dealer). In the end - they dont care. The business is so brutal, its not that its greed, but they are basically in a "sell cars or die" situation. The dealer doesn't care, your sales guy doesn't care, GM doesn't care. It is now 9/21 - the hood wrap on my car is still jacked. Ive spent hours on the phone with the service manager, the sales guy, the finance manager, the sales manager, the floor manager and the owner AND GM customer care. I have had the car back three times (80 mile round trip each). I had to finally get a Lemon Law attorney to call the dealership and within 24 hours I went from dead in the water to a set appointment for 10/1. I can't wait to see how this goes with the actual repair.