[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by 5senna5

Easy there buddy... I’ve worked at dealerships (Mercedes, Porsche, and Lexus) for 23 years. To say that dealer techs are the bottom of the barrel is patently wrong. They are the best paid in the automotive repair industry and can make between $80-150k. To think all we do is hire low level slobs with no talent is beyond hilarious. The well paying jobs are highly sought after and with a few exceptions, all of the techs I’ve ever worked with are consummate professionals. The dealerships are the only ones in the industry that are held to a customer service standard and have to operate accordingly. He got a bad tech on a bad day that didn’t confess he was lazy when he racked the car and damaged it badly. To think this is common is wrong, he doesn’t represent the vast majority of deraliship experiences. It’ll get fixed, it’s a car... If this is the worst thing that happened to him last week, then he’s doing just fine.

@ the bolded underlined - - you worked for companies who actually care about their reputation...

..big difference between them and Chevrolet, lets be realistic here.

[MiamiBlueCamaro]

Originally Posted by 5senna5

Easy there buddy... I’ve worked at dealerships (Mercedes, Porsche, and Lexus) for 23 years. To say that dealer techs are the bottom of the barrel is patently wrong. They are the best paid in the automotive repair industry and can make between $80-150k. To think all we do is hire low level slobs with no talent is beyond hilarious. The well paying jobs are highly sought after and with a few exceptions, all of the techs I’ve ever worked with are consummate professionals. The dealerships are the only ones in the industry that are held to a customer service standard and have to operate accordingly. He got a bad tech on a bad day that didn’t confess he was lazy when he racked the car and damaged it badly. To think this is common is wrong, he doesn’t represent the vast majority of deraliship experiences. It’ll get fixed, it’s a car... If this is the worst thing that happened to him last week, then he’s doing just fine.

.

[5senna5]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

@ the bolded underlined - - you worked for companies who actually care about their reputation...

..big difference between them and Chevrolet, lets be realistic here.

I’ve had a ‘17 SS 1LE, an ‘18 GS Vette, and an ‘18 SS 1LE, all three have gone to my local dealership (Elco Chevrolet) with zero issues or concerns over both the warranty and customer-pay work performed. There are bad techs and bad dealerships, however to paint us ALL as idiotic villains is an emotional response, not a logical one.

[Silverado57]

Originally Posted by 5senna5

... The dealerships are the only ones in the industry that are held to a customer service standard and have to operate accordingly. He got a bad tech on a bad day that didn’t confess he was lazy when he racked the car and damaged it badly. To think this is common is wrong, he doesn’t represent the vast majority of deraliship experiences. It’ll get fixed, it’s a car... .

Agreed. The GM dealerships live and die by customer service surveys. If you give a dealer anything less than "completely satisfied" there's a good chance someone will contact you to make it right. In fact, some dealers will follow up after a visit to make sure you were "completely satisfied" before you get the survey. If they don't - you might want a new dealer.

That all being said, if this happened to my Camaro I'd be flipping out too.

[Silveradoss573]

At the end of the day, It just a bunch of shit for this to happen in the first place. And add to the fact that they just gave it back to the OP like nothing happened just takes this to another level of B.S! Like others have stated OP, you've got them over a barrel it seems on this one.

[3.8TransAM]

Originally Posted by 5senna5

Easy there buddy... I’ve worked at dealerships (Mercedes, Porsche, and Lexus) for 23 years. To say that dealer techs are the bottom of the barrel is patently wrong. They are the best paid in the automotive repair industry and can make between $80-150k. To think all we do is hire low level slobs with no talent is beyond hilarious. The well paying jobs are highly sought after and with a few exceptions, all of the techs I’ve ever worked with are consummate professionals. The dealerships are the only ones in the industry that are held to a customer service standard and have to operate accordingly. He got a bad tech on a bad day that didn’t confess he was lazy when he racked the car and damaged it badly. To think this is common is wrong, he doesn’t represent the vast majority of deraliship experiences. It’ll get fixed, it’s a car... If this is the worst thing that happened to him last week, then he’s doing just fine.

I was keeping my mouth shut, but you put it up much nicer than I would have. Spent a decade+ sinning wrenches in the dealers. Hyundai, Jaguar and Infiniti for the most part. Paid for my house and quite a few toys. There are good techs and bad techs. The majority of us care and do whats right. Some are pretty damn stupid, just like any other occupation. Here is a massive clue for the seemingly uninformed that live on forums. The tech does not give a damn about your car unless you get a tech that happens to be a car guy, contrary to popular belief, most techs aren't car guys at the end of the day. So if you think you're special because you have an XKR Silverstone edition or a ZL1 1LE remove your head from the rear end because the guy behind the rack is just going "Oh look, another one of these pieces of #$!#@!$@!"

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

@ the bolded underlined - - you worked for companies who actually care about their reputation...

..big difference between them and Chevrolet, lets be realistic here.

That has nothing to do with it. The dealer can treat customers as they please(to a degree per manufacturer standards). Goodwill goes a long way towards fixing things, but some manufacturers are more stingy than others. This is why I tell people, if its down to a couple hundred bucks on the price of the car/truck, buy it where you will get it serviced. I can promise you this, at any place I ever worked, when something was out of warranty/possible goodwill issue/etc., the first question was always "Did they buy it here?" They want you to come back.



I also won't argue that Chevy does some dumb crap just like they all do. A little money spent on taking care of real customer issues again, goes a long way.

[donaldp]

Originally Posted by 5senna5

Easy there buddy... I’ve worked at dealerships (Mercedes, Porsche, and Lexus) for 23 years. To say that dealer techs are the bottom of the barrel is patently wrong. They are the best paid in the automotive repair industry and can make between $80-150k. To think all we do is hire low level slobs with no talent is beyond hilarious. The well paying jobs are highly sought after and with a few exceptions, all of the techs I’ve ever worked with are consummate professionals. The dealerships are the only ones in the industry that are held to a customer service standard and have to operate accordingly. He got a bad tech on a bad day that didn’t confess he was lazy when he racked the car and damaged it badly. To think this is common is wrong, he doesn’t represent the vast majority of deraliship experiences. It’ll get fixed, it’s a car... If this is the worst thing that happened to him last week, then he’s doing just fine.

You're taking what I said personally, but you shouldn't. You took what I said to mean every employee, but you shouldn't. I speak from many, many years of experience with dealers and the stupidity and carelessness that has occurred with my vehicles and others' I know. How dare you discount this as "it's a car and it will get fixed." This is inexcusable. You speak of the salaries to be made and you only support my point of this argument. You pay more, you expect more. Who should know your car best, the dealer and everyone who works for the dealer. You, likely, are a conscientious worker, but one good egg does not make a dozen, does it?

[Vanthios]

A big thank you to those of you who have newly joined this thread and those of you who have continued the conversation. I'm heading back to the dealership tomorrow (September 3rd) for a meeting with the general manager.

As I stated in my original post I'd like to just be free of the car. Nothing against Camaros; I had a 5th gen that was awesome, but the A8 in the 6th gen is simply bad.

I'd like to demand that the dealership purchase my vehicle at the price I purchased it. When I compute the cost of repair ($6K-$7K in parts, excluding painting and labor), plus anticipated loss of value ($5K-$10K), we're looking at almost 50% the original purchase price for the repair. Seems to me it'd be cheaper for them to buy the car off me and repair it themselves to mitigate losses.

If this seems too much, at the very least having the vehicle analyzed and repaired at shops of my choice is fair, right? I agree with some of you in that I have no reason to trust the judgement or ability of this dealer to analyze and repair my vehicle.

[Deputy Dog]

WTF? How? How dey do dat??

[95 imp]

Originally Posted by Vanthios

When I compute the cost of repair ($6K-$7K in parts, excluding painting and labor), plus anticipated loss of value ($5K-$10K),

So basically what you're now saying is your car is totaled?

[HDRDTD]

Aren't we getting a bit ahead of ourselves? Why not wait till your meeting at the dealership and see how it goes before jumping to conclusions?

They may just admit it was their fault and repair the damage at no cost to you at all.

Give the dealer a chance to respond before hiring a lawyer and demanding they buy your car back at your full purchase price.

[50MileSmile]

While the situation is totally unacceptable, your expectations are too high. You have moved from getting your car repaired to getting rid of it because now we find out you really don’t like it. That is not the dealer’s problem. Get it fixed, which is the dealer’s responsibility, and move on to your next vehicle. Also remember that in any condition, your car is no longer worth what you paid for it - and that any reasonable lawyer will not take a case like this because there’s no money to be made - unless you want to pay him a bundle for a result you’re not going to like.

[LT4Greg]

Yes if you go in there demanding that they buy your car back because of the damage then you are expecting way too much and that kind of thinking on your part will be a complete turn off by the dealership manager! Give the dealership a chance to get it repaired and then if you decide to get rid of it then do so and move on! I’m not condoning what they did to your Camaro but give them a chance to make it right and I’m sure they will.

[5senna5]

Originally Posted by Vanthios

A big thank you to those of you who have newly joined this thread and those of you who have continued the conversation. I'm heading back to the dealership tomorrow (September 3rd) for a meeting with the general manager.

As I stated in my original post I'd like to just be free of the car. Nothing against Camaros; I had a 5th gen that was awesome, but the A8 in the 6th gen is simply bad.

I'd like to demand that the dealership purchase my vehicle at the price I purchased it. When I compute the cost of repair ($6K-$7K in parts, excluding painting and labor), plus anticipated loss of value ($5K-$10K), we're looking at almost 50% the original purchase price for the repair. Seems to me it'd be cheaper for them to buy the car off me and repair it themselves to mitigate losses.

If this seems too much, at the very least having the vehicle analyzed and repaired at shops of my choice is fair, right? I agree with some of you in that I have no reason to trust the judgement or ability of this dealer to analyze and repair my vehicle.

Good luck with that... the dealership is most definitely not going to buy your car. Loss of value is going to be difficult to prove since it won’t go on Carfax ($10k deductible for their shop insurance) plus those repairs still wouldn’t establish $5-10k loss of value even if it did (Maybe on a GT3). Here’s a hint, if you think that you’re going to brow-beat and demand the sun & moon from a pack of hard-as-nails dealership service guys, you’re probably setting yourself up for disappointment.

Imagine your car is a forklift and you own a warehouse, if it was damaged when in for repair there would be calm rational discussion about getting it fixed. Becoming emotional, demanding, or indignant doesn’t have a place in the resolution. This by the way is how they are looking at it. If you remain calm, reasonable, and approachable the outcome will be significantly better for you. You’re going to be unsuccessful and counterproductive in any attempt to intimidate or leverage them (with a lawyer, heard that more that once) in to giving in to your (unreasonable in regards to buy-out or loss of value) demands. For a dose of perspective, think about how you would treat someone (like yourself in this situation) if you ran the service department or owned the dealership, there are always two sides to this. Be cool and all will be fine in the end.