Need advice - Chevy not honoring warranty work

[2Fast4Mu]

Chevrolet Let My Warranty Expire While Working on a Problem and Now Tells Me It’s Out of Warranty

I need your help, please.

I know this is a little long, but it’s fairly simple – please be patient with me and hopefully you can offer some sage advice….
Just over three years ago, I purchased a new 2014 Chevy Camaro 2SS. Being the southern guy that I am, it was the fifth Camaro I’ve owned (yet only the second new one). Needless to say, I’m kinda fond of Chevy and Camaros.

From the moment I purchased the car, I noticed that the driver side speaker would turn on and off intermittently. At first, I figured it was a loose wire as it appeared rather random.
During the first year, I took the car into service several times but was unable to replicate this issue in front of a tech. In fact, they were gracious enough to ride around with me at least a couple of times – but could never witness the problem. I’m pretty sure they believed I was just imagining the issue.

Over the next two years, I kept insisting that this was a real issue. Since they were never able to witness the problem, I suspect they eventually assumed I was one of “those customers” who always complained about nonexistent issues.

After two years of no results, I decided to go to a different dealership and try my luck there. Once again, they couldn’t witness the problem. By chance, I was able to use my phone video and capture the problem in action and they finally believed me.
During this time, I finally found a pattern and I could make the speaker shut on and off – and it had something to do with the volume levels. The issue only shows itself at medium volumes. When I had techs ride with me in the car, we always had the volume on high so it could be heard…..but the high volume ensures the problem would not occur (proof to me, btw, that it was an electronics problem).

The second dealership was amazingly nice and they spent probably 20-30 hours of labor testing and inspecting the car. During these many, many hours, I sat bored in their waiting room, but I never once complained. I was just thrilled that finally, after 2.5 years, Chevy techs acknowledged the problem and were doing something about it. Though I’ve long lost count, I suspect I’ve spent at least 4 or 5 full days sitting in Chevy waiting rooms. In fact, I became so familiar with the employees, I often greeted them with boxes of donuts in the mornings as a friendly gesture.
After they tried replacing the driver’s speaker a couple of times (which had no effect), the service manager (currently no longer employed by the dealership) basically admitted that he had no idea regarding the cause of my issue. He told me that I should go home and he would begin talking to Chevrolet and see if any other cars had experienced this kind of issue and how it was resolved.

“I will call you back when I get some answers and we’ll go from there.”

He didn’t give me a time line so I didn’t know if he mean two days, two weeks, two months…..no idea.

Needless to say, days turned into weeks and I had not yet heard from him. I returned some weeks later to get the process started again ---- but was told that my warranty had expired while I was waiting his phone call on how he was going to proceed!

The manager told me not to worry and that they’d do their best to take care of me. During this time, I repeatedly returned to their service department every few days. They would look, find nothing, and tell me they’d call me back. Knowing the delays and lack of return calls I had initially experienced, I always asked them, “How long until you call me back? Can I call you back?” I never got return calls, so I was always very vigilant about calling them back to ensure this issue was being addressed.

Today – I finally got a phone call back regarding my problem. I was told that the problem was “probably the radio” (something I said months earlier) and that it probably needed replacing ---- but they weren’t sure if Chevy would cover it since the car was out of warranty.”


Yeah, this upset me a bit.

In summary ….

• Immediately after taking possession of this car just over three years ago, I noticed and reported this problem multiple times. Chevy techs refused to believe there was a problem since they could not witness the problem.

• Because I got no results at original dealership, I decided to take the car to a different Chevy dealership in summer 2017 (which was actually closer to me anyway)

• I was finally able to replicate the problem in front of techs. Once they witnessed the issues they began working on the problem (mostly by testing and replacing speakers….twice). This did not resolve the issue.

• I was told “We don’t know the source of the problem….we’re going to research it and call you when we have an answer.”

• When weeks passed and I had no communication, I returned only to find my warrant had expired.

• I was told by the manager to “not worry that we’ll make it right.”

• Nearly three months later (and probably 30+ hours of total labor), I’m told that the radio probably needs replacing but that there’s a good chance Chevrolet won’t cover it under warranty since my warranty is expired while they were working on the car.
 
• The service manager suggested that [COLOR="darkred"]because I bought my car at another dealership, maybe I should take it there.{/COLOR] He explained that if I had purchased my car at their dealership, he might be more flexible at how he handles my warranty.[/INDENT]
Soooo……

Disregarding the fact I spent 2.5 years trying to convince Chevy techs that the problem was real, the dealership finally acknowledges an issue and began working on it while it was under warranty. Communication was slow and the issue was not fixed. While I was waiting on their “research and response” regarding inability to fix the problem, the warranty expired -- and now they’re suggesting they can’t cover the problem because it’s out of warranty.

I’d like to say that this dealership and the techs seem to be very nice, care people ---- and that their hands hands are probably tied by Chevrolet policy. However, it’s not my responsibility that they were slow to communicate and slow to isolate the problem. Further, it’s a bit infuriating that they suggested I should take it to my original dealer rather than make them work on it “for reasons of loyalty”. My assumption is that any Chevy dealership can and should honor warranty work of any Chevy dealership regardless of the origin of sale.

I expressed much of the above to the service manager. He said he was going to run my case through some kind of service caclulator (I have no idea if that’s a computer program or a department of people with common sense) and would get back with me in a day or so.

Can anyone suggest a next move?

Does anyone know of contact information for a regional or district manager covering the Kentucky area. It is inevitable that this will have to be escalated within Chevy……or within a very public forum to let others know of my experience.

[JamesMyBoy]

If they documented the problem existed before the warranty expired, you should be covered.
I had the same type issue a few years ago with a starter. Luckily I had complained about the starter a few months before they (the warranty and the starter) crapped out.
This all may hinge on the service manager at the dealership however. I would certainly think that one of the dealerships that you've dealt with would have documented the problem.
Good Luck!

[chuckie669]

This was very well written and respectful of all parties. I would think since this was documented prior to warranty being up that it would be covered as well, but no telling of the previous tech who told you to go home while he researched actually did anything or built a supporting paper trail

This is a perfect example of something I would like to see the Chevy customer service person on this forum chime in here and offer assistance.

[MrChrisLS3]

Do you have any paperwork involving the work/diagnostics already done towards this problem? Or anything written saying that the radio may be the problem?

Either way, I would contact Chevrolet/GM directly. Having the paperwork will help in that it will have a repair order number that GM can see that it is a documented issue. Perhaps they can approve you for a new head unit of which any dealership can install.

Dealerships are independent businesses, and they are relying on being paid by GM for their work, and thus GM gives them some hoops to jump through. If there is not an exact diagnosis, using the trouble shooting protocol set by GM, the dealership is very afraid of not being paid by GM.