[ZL1Kraut]

Well, I really didn't think my first post here would be like this, but I'm hoping to get some meaningful advice from you guys and also let you know how terrible the service department at Depaula Chevrolet in Albany NY is.

The backstory:





I was at a track day with SCDA at Watkins Glen on July 16th. 15 seconds into my 3rd session, going up through the Esses in 5th gear at 100mph, maybe 2500 rpms, just getting the tires warmed up. I was approaching the bus stop and the car just shut down like a failing generator. After nearly being rear ended by another ZL1 1LE behind me, I managed to get to the pull off area where I was pulled off the track by a tow truck. After waiting nearly 4 hours for a tow, GM roadside towed it to Elm Chevy. I arrived at 4:35pm only to be told the service dept. closes at 4:30pm and that I could leave my key in the drop box and someone would get to it tomorrow. I told the woman I was 3 hours away from home and would appreciate a loaner in the meantime so I could get home. She says ask a salesman as they are there until 7pm. So I get there and salesman Michael Kreb refuses to give me a loaner because "I don't have any loaners available and I wouldn't give you one if I did because you live 3 hours away from here. How am I supposed to get my car back?" Uhhhhh I don't know, I'm dropping my $60,000 car off here that is still under the bumper to bumper warranty for service and I'll give it back when mine is fixed?? After this he offered to sell me the ZL1 they have on their sales floor, but that "It wouldn't be in my best financial interest since I have no idea whats wrong with your car" Thanks Pal!

So I get GM Customer service back on the phone and they offer me a hotel for the night or $24 in Lyft credits to get to the nearest Enterprise rent a car. It just so happens that the Enterprise 2 miles away from the dealer has no cars and the only one that does is in Ithaca NY, an hour north of Elmira. Turns out the Lyft was $51 so I'll have to eat the difference, that's all Chevy was willing to pay for. I finally get to Enterprise and they try stuffing me in a 12 passenger Ford Cargo van. I'm like you have to be kidding me, but who cares, I drive a Chevy Express for work every day, I just want to get home. After some thought, Logan at Enterprise says he'll probably get in trouble for this, but will give me a Focus instead because if I take the van I will have to bring it back to that location, and the Focus could be brought to the Enterprise near my house. Keep in mind GM says they will only pay 24 hours for a rental, so for the first time someone was willing to go out of their way for me. Thanks Logan!

The next morning Kayla from Elm Chevy calls and says, "Now before we even get started, I have to let you know that because this happened at Watkins Glen, there is no warranty coverage and that you will need to pay an hour diagnostic at $109 an hour and then any costs to tear the motor down and repaired will be your responsibility." At this point I was really to blow a gasket but kept my cool and politely told her that I disagree 100% with what she just said, please don't touch the car, I will arrange to have it picked up.

So after a call to an old childhood friend who is a tech at Depaula Chevy, he arranges to have the car picked up that afternoon, 07/17. This is the first and only time Depaula has gone above and beyond for me. Regardless of the rest of the story, I am still very grateful for this. I'm told it will be a couple weeks before they can get to it, but no big deal at this point. I did ask for a loaner car and was told one was not available, but whatever, I was home and could drive my wife's MDX or my work van.

Fast forward to Friday, 08/09, my car is finally pushed into the service area. My car is beyond filthy from sitting outside on their lot for the past month and I'm certain will take many hours of detailing to get all of the scratches corrected once it's very delicately washed. I'm not happy about this and tell my service advisor Lynn that I'm not pleased to see this.

Monday 08/12 around 3:45pm I stop into the dealership and see the engine and transmission is pulled and sitting on the shop floor. The tech who is working on my car, Kevin McDevitt is super nice and after listening to him speak about the situation and cars in general, I'm very confident the car will be put back together perfectly. He seems to understand the situation and has calmed any fears I have about it being fixed properly. Keep in mind I've been a tech myself for 20 years now and have had my own shop for 5 years, so it was a great feeling knowing my car was in the best of hands. Kevin advises the next step is to tear down the motor and determine what happened. Pictures and a write up need to be sent to GM and and that we are at a standstill until that happens. After it's approved it would be 3-5 days for the new long block to be delivered from Michigan.






Thursday 08/15 I call and ask Lynn, my service advisor if there are any updates? She says no, that Kevin has been very busy doing customer pay jobs and that there hasn't been anything done to my car since Monday. I tell her this is very frustrating and that at this point I really feel like I deserve something nice to drive since my car has now been there for nearly a month. She agrees, tells me to come in tomorrow morning and she will have something set up for me.

Friday 08/16, 8:30am I arrive at the dealership. I am offered either a Chevy Malibu or Traxx. Disgusted, I say that is completely unacceptable and that I would appreciate something similar to my vehicle, a Camaro or Corvette to drive until my car is finished. Lynn tells me she doesn't think she can do that and I tell her I'm soooo beyond frustrated with the situation. She tells me that she is too and that if it weren't for her screaming about it, my car would still be outside untouched and that she thinks I need to speak to Gerry Rifenbark, the service director at Depaula. So I see Gerry milling through the service area, we even make eye contact and he knows I'm waiting for him as Lynn has now paged him 3 times to come up to the service desk area. We've also met every time I was in the dealership so he knew who I was and what I was there for. 45 minutes later, he makes it to his office where I express how disappointed I am and that I would like to be made a priority especially since my car has now been there so long, he says he will rearrange a couple things and get with Kevin to make it happen, but that no way, no how, under any circumstances would he give me a Camaro or Corvette to drive. After hearing every reason under the sun as to why, I'm rather pissed but respectfully decline taking the Malibu and leave.

An hour later I email the operations director, Jon Depaula to let him know what is going on and why I'm so disappointed in what has happened thus far. 2 hours later I receive what I consider to be the worst customer service experience of my entire 37 year life. Thomas Restino, vice president of operations calls and attempts to rip me a new one. He starts out the call by saying "I don't appreciate your email" "You are not one of my customers, you bought this car at another dealership. You are not and never will be a priority to me." I reply with, but I am a customer of yours, my car is there now and I also buy parts for my business through you guys all the time and I've referred countless family, friends, and customers of my own to you guys over the years, so how am I not your customer? Also, you're a GM dealership and my car is a certified pre-owned Chevy and what am I supposed to do, ship it back to the dealership I bought it from in Arizona and have them fix it? He replies with "I sell 850 cars per month and those customers will ALWAYS come first and if you don't like it, tough shit". I reply by saying I don't appreciate the way you're talking to me, I've made ZERO demands of you or any of your staff, I have not sworn or raised my voice like you just did with me and you are being completely unprofessional right now. He responds with "If it were up to me, I would put your car back together as is and push it out the back door and someone else can fix it! We have other customers who will be taken care of first and I don't care if your car ever gets fixed!" "Kevin is going to have over 30 hours into this job and we will only be paid for 20 and make no money on the parts. I reply by saying that is completely irrelevant and is not for me to be concerned about and that I just want my car back, it's been there a month and now that the engine is on the ground it just needs to be taken apart, info sent to GM and new engine installed, it's not too much to ask at this point, I just want my car back. He replies "I will get with Gerry and Kevin and just get it done as soon as possible. I want the car out of my shop now. I say good enough and he says "Have a nice weekend" like a complete prick. At 3:45pm, Kevin the tech sends me pictures of the engine torn down, spun rod bearings on cylinders 1 and 2, the motor is destroyed and he has put the claim in with GM.






SO! At this stage of the game I have a decision to make. As many of you are aware, after 30 days I have a signed, sealed, delivered case under Arizona Lemon Law because the car has been out of service for 30 days. I bought it on May 1st and haven't even had the opportunity to register it here in NY. GM Customer Service also advises that as of today 08/18 my vehicle qualifies for their buyback program. I'm torn as to what I should do because I do love the car to pieces, but I have many concerns going forward. First, the motor completely failed at 7700 miles doing things that it is supposedly designed, engineered and marketed as being capable of doing. How long will the next one last? Second, am I going to be told by the next dealer (clearly I wouldn't buy a zip tie from Depaula at this point) that I don't matter and that because I didn't buy the car from them that I can wait until the 12th of never to fix my car that is under warranty? It's just not fair what has happened at this point and I've been treated like absolute shit, so I have such a sour taste in my mouth not only for the situation, but Depaula Chevy and their staff as well as GM and the way they are allowing their dealerships to operate. Thanks for reading my book, I appreciate any words on what should do next.

My VIN Number : 1G1FJ1R61H0206873

[appleman22]

how does their buyback program work ? Would you get every dollar you paid for the car? If so, hell yeah let them have it back

[drfeelgood]

Hate to say it, but this is what I personally expect from GM, and it's why I never owned American cars until recently. Own a luxury car, get luxury service. Own a GM, expect GM service. Even the Cadillac dealerships I have been to were all kind of... ehh... Cadillac isn't real luxury, but it's sort of close to it.

None of the Maserati dealerships I have gone to have EVER treated me like this. Above and beyond, bend over backwards service. It sucks, but such is the reputation of GM

[BlaqWhole]

If you qualify for the lemon law or buy back then I suggest you take your money and run as fast as you can. Based on the way they spoke with you there is no telling that they will put it together correctly or intentionally damage it and claim they didn't. I would have no confidence in them at this point. Get your money back, file this up as a bad experience, look to the bright side that at least you got to bang around a Z for a while, and move on to something else.

[2ltrgsr]

I would save any correspondence from the douche you dealt with and forward them to GM Corporate. This is beyond unacceptable.
I'm sorry you had to go through this man.

[PROMETHEUS]

Agree, if the buyback $ is to your liking, take it and run! Chalk this up to one of life's little experiences, we all dread, but on occasion have to deal with. Good luck with whatever decision you make!!

[Joe Remi]

Buy-back and run. In spite of marketing and the car's intended capabilities, you're still in dicey territory when trying to get any kind of support from a manufacturer for damage on a racetrack. Get your money and GO!

[drfeelgood]

Originally Posted by Joe Remi

Buy-back and run. In spite of marketing and the car's intended capabilities, you're still in dicey territory when trying to get any kind of support from a manufacturer for damage on a racetrack. Get your money and GO!

memories of Nissan voiding their warranty if you use a feature on the stock car (launch control)

[Badmojo]

The Carfax will show the engine replacement and kill resell value.

[LT4]

Originally Posted by ZL1Kraut

.... Also, you're a GM dealership and my car is a certified pre-owned Chevy and what am I supposed to do, ship it back to the dealership I bought it from in Arizona and have them fix it...

...
As many of you are aware, after 30 days I have a signed, sealed, delivered case under Arizona Lemon Law because the car has been out of service for 30 days.

...I'm torn as to what I should do because I do love the car to pieces, but I have many concerns going forward.
...

A couple of things... how could your car qualify for any lemon law if you bought it used?

Also, why would you "love the car to pieces", or any car, or any mass produced object for that matter? There are thousands just like it, and you can get another one that isn't molested. If you can in fact dump that thing, do it ...fast.

----------------------------
EDIT:
Sorry didn't want to come across as a dick. I feel bad for your situation, but if you can get rid of it without too much of a loss, you should.

[pauly1119]

What month and year is your production date? Also what oil have you been using and how many changes? Just curious more then anything. Good Luck, really sucks

[ZL1Kraut]

Originally Posted by LT4

A couple of things... how could your car qualify for any lemon law if you bought it used?

Also, why would you "love the car to pieces", or any car, or any mass produced object for that matter? There are thousands just like it, and you can get another one that isn't molested. If you can in fact dump that thing, do it ...fast.

----------------------------
EDIT:
Sorry didn't want to come across as a dick. I feel bad for your situation, but if you can get rid of it without too much of a loss, you should.

I get what you're saying, but like many people I tend to make emotional relationships with my cars and this one was no different. I appreciate the sentiment however and do realize that it is not in my best interest to get emotionally attached to any object that isn't "real".

[ZL1Kraut]

Originally Posted by pauly1119

What month and year is your production date? Also what oil have you been using and how many changes? Just curious more then anything. Good Luck, really sucks

Production is 05/17

I just got the car on May 1st 2019 from Arrowhead Chevy in Peoria Arizona. It was certified pre-owned and only had 3400 miles on it. The car was absolutely mint minus a few stone chips here or there. The car now has 7700 miles, the majority of them driving it back home to NY. I haven't done anything to the car except having the windshield replaced by safelite as I caught a rock driving through western Texas on the drive home. It had whatever oil they changed it to just before I picked it up, I presume 5w30 Mobil1? The oil monitor showed 70% life left so I figured I would do the track day and then change the oil and a fresh set of tires when I got home.

[ZL1Kraut]

Originally Posted by 2ltrgsr

I would save any correspondence from the douche you dealt with and forward them to GM Corporate. This is beyond unacceptable.
I'm sorry you had to go through this man.

I really wish he had written this in an e-mail man, but maybe he would have thought differently had he actually typed what he said to me.

I know its a he said situation, but I have a crazy good memory and remember the entire conversation word for word. I have every intention on writing Mary Barra and Al Oppenheiser once this is all squared away and I have my money back. As much as it sucks, I agree with you guys. It's in my best interest.