GM CATCH CAN Warranty Denial PETITION

[motorhead]

This whole thing is nuts to me. I was looking forward to replacing my current ZL1 with the gen6 version, but I now say "Why would I?". With new car prices being ridiculously high and companies trying to escape their responsibilities, why would I want a new car? If I use the extra performance that is supposed to be promised with the upoming ZL1 and I have an issue, I will mostly get denied. "F" it. I'm done wasting money on new cars. They aren't worth it. Im getting out of this game. I'll keep the hot rods I have. These companies have priced themselves out of the market for most consumers. If the piece of mind is gone, what is the point of buying new? You know, we wouldn't even be having this conversation, if they would build oil pumps that hold up. I think that is why so many are pissed over this case. It is very well documented across several boards that this motor has known oil pump issues. Maybe GM should hire Copeland Compresor Company to design and build their oil pumps. I have compressors that have been running up to 20hrs a day or more for the last 30 years that are still keeping things cold. That is quality GM.
Oil pump failure should NEVER happen in any car under 150,000miles period. It is too cridical of a part to not make sure it is right. Well, unless you just don't give a crap as a manufacturer.

[Camaro Dude]

Originally Posted by Mr. Stacy

I am ditching the petition and apologize to the OP if I hurt his chance for a resolution.

I'll also apologize to the 600 people who signed, commented and circualted the petition for wasting their time and efforts.

Thank you for your support, however misguided it may have been.

If you want to keep your warranty from being voided, ditch the mods, any mod. And yes, GM would rather see your Direct Injected engine valves, caked with gunk, than allow you to use benign prevention measures like a catch can to prevent it. Must be why power-train warranties are downgraded to 60k miles now. That's all GM, or any other major maker, expect them to last.

Disposable cars. That's what we are buying. If GM has no faith in their quality, why should we?

I wouldn't apply ALL major manufacturers to the list on this.

I see more and MORE people buying Kia's, and Hyundai's, etc, when I look at our work parking lot.

When I pose the question to many of those owners, with a simple "why the switch", they immediately reply because of this. Copy and pasted from Kia's website:

WARRANTY
10 years. 100,000 miles.
CARS BUILT TO LAST. WARRANTIES TOO.
We have a lot of confidence in the quality and durability of every new Kia that rolls off the assembly line. So much confidence, that we offer an industry-leading Kia 10-year or 100,000-mile warranty program.

Kia not the only one with this type of warranty.

Ouch.

[bobby35ny]

Originally Posted by motorhead

This whole thing is nuts to me. I was looking forward to replacing my current ZL1 with the gen6 version, but I now say "Why would I?". With new car prices being ridiculously high and companies trying to escape their responsibilities, why would I want a new car? If I use the extra performance that is supposed to be promised with the upoming ZL1 and I have an issue, I will mostly get denied. "F" it. I'm done wasting money on new cars. They aren't worth it. Im getting out of this game. I'll keep the hot rods I have. These companies have priced themselves out of the market for most consumers. If the piece of mind is gone, what is the point of buying new? You know, we wouldn't even be having this conversation, if they would build oil pumps that hold up. I think that is why so many are pissed over this case. It is very well documented across several boards that this motor has known oil pump issues. Maybe GM should hire Copeland Compresor Company to design and build their oil pumps. I have compressors that have been running up to 20hrs a day or more for the last 30 years that are still keeping things cold. That is quality GM.
Oil pump failure should NEVER happen in any car under 150,000miles period. It is too cridical of a part to not make sure it is right. Well, unless you just don't give a crap as a manufacturer.

+1

[pcguy2u]

[Mike.Ss]

Guess i need to take the fuzzy dice off my mirror, just in case my oil pump dies

[qcman]

Originally Posted by motorhead

This whole thing is nuts to me. I was looking forward to replacing my current ZL1 with the gen6 version, but I now say "Why would I?". With new car prices being ridiculously high and companies trying to escape their responsibilities, why would I want a new car? If I use the extra performance that is supposed to be promised with the upoming ZL1 and I have an issue, I will mostly get denied. "F" it. I'm done wasting money on new cars. They aren't worth it. Im getting out of this game. I'll keep the hot rods I have. These companies have priced themselves out of the market for most consumers. If the piece of mind is gone, what is the point of buying new? You know, we wouldn't even be having this conversation, if they would build oil pumps that hold up. I think that is why so many are pissed over this case. It is very well documented across several boards that this motor has known oil pump issues. Maybe GM should hire Copeland Compresor Company to design and build their oil pumps. I have compressors that have been running up to 20hrs a day or more for the last 30 years that are still keeping things cold. That is quality GM.
Oil pump failure should NEVER happen in any car under 150,000miles period. It is too cridical of a part to not make sure it is right. Well, unless you just don't give a crap as a manufacturer.

My feeling in a nutshell. My car is tuned and I did it knowing and weighing the risks and understand that that is on me. It only has a bit over a year of the PT warranty left now anyways. And PT warranties are pretty much useless for what little is covered in them. So I can live with that.

But this oil pump thing is just stupid.... It is a known Achille's heel for the LS3 in particular. They ran the guys car with no oil pressure or how else would they know it was making a noise?

I hope the OP gets satisfaction and I really hope we did nothing to hurt him. I held off signing til nearly the end as I struggled with the petition being a wise thing or not but in the end I was so disgusted I had to sign it and stand by that.

I really hope we hear the outcome for good or bad and if its bad then we continue to post about our dissatisfaction with it and how we intend to respond with our money spent in the future.

I too Motorhead won't be buying a new Camaro from GM either. Could I afford it you bet up to any model! There are a large group of older members here with a good level of disposable income for these sorts of cars ( I am one too) and alienating those types of consumers over something as silly as this is just bad business.

They are cowards! Oh sure if you have a rattle a GM CSR will post offering to help you but blow your motor with a known defective oil pump and crickets!

I'll be watching the Mustang's improvements in response to the Gen 6 closely....

[BlueStreakHouTX]

Originally Posted by mlee

This goes beyond just catch cans and onto things like cold air intakes, coolant tanks etc. The line from the top has always been "No modifications if you want warranty", especially when talking about track warranty. Other car makers tow this line to the tee without question and so does GM.

It's been a general consensus that certain mods like catch cans, catback exhaust and cold air intake installed correctly will not void warranty. This mis-conception happened from our collective experience at the service departments and resonates to this day except it's never "truly" been the case. Once a major issue like this one is escalated, the company line is adhered to and here we are.

Heck I had a supercharger replaced for a bearing squeal, during a time when I "considered" my car bone stock. I had catback, CAI and catch can. Many others had the same. Then we all go tell the next person that these mods that won't void your warranty and pretty soon it's just the norm. I've told many people that a CAI with no tune won't void your warranty. Boy was I wrong. Now I think I owe GM some money.

This discussion has certainly gone much differently that I expect, MLee... I followed this topic from the very beginning, and after reading the OP's first post, I honestly (albeit naively) believed GM would step up and make this right, especially considering the "dealership's" (and boy, in this case I use the word "dealership" loosely) blatant negligence... HOW is it that dealership who ran this car with no oil pressure is yet to be held accountable? Sounds like they washed their hands by delivering the 'basket case' THEY created back to OP.... reprehensible. BTW, this is what I have read in all the posts so far, so if I have this wrong, someone with additional knowledge please step in and let us know the facts on this matter.

I believe OP when he says he delivered his car in a condition that could have been easily repaired by cracking open the engine, looking at the oil pump and saying "yeah, it failed", and replacing the oil pump... I am waiting to see what happens when OP finally gets someone independent of GM to look at the engine and oil pump and shows the oil pump failed. What will GM's stance be then?

I have not modded my SS for this very reason, and kept mine stock only so I could use the 5/100 powertrain warranty if I have catastrophic engine failure... now I find out the only thing GM does well is issue recalls for such critical issues such as (NOT going to mention them here), and yet when it comes to oil pump failures, their stance is "pay no attention to the many documented issues with our poorly engineered oil pumps that are well-known for taking out your whole engine, you modded your car so thats that"!

Personally, I was considering trading up on my SS to either a 2017 ZL1 or even a used ZL1.... now it will be an arctic day in the subterranean abyss where the red guy with the horns and pointed tail conducts his business before GM will EVER see one cent of my money.

[EMB135Driver]

Just got an E-mail to this effect....what happened....did they Send HD black SUVs to silence that guy?

[Superman09]

I have heard a final resolution from GM.
However, first I want to say a huge thank you to everyone in here, I was simply hoping to air my story and see what happened. I never dreamed it would turn into what it did. The idea of a petition never crossed my mind, and I am very grateful for Mr Stacy and the things he did for me in this. I am grateful for everyone who signed the petition, and those that didn’t sign, but offered words of encouragement or advice, and the ones who sent me PM’s to encourage me. As anyone can imagine this whole situation felt like a kick in the nuts, and everyone here has really helped me pull through it.

GM’s final verdict is that my entire powertrain warranty will remain blocked, and they will not fix my car. The catch can may or may not have been the causes of the failure, but according to the owner’s manual any modification can void your warranty. I knew going in to this, like everyone, else that what I was doing could void the warranty, but I listened to the stories online of “I have X, Y, and Z mods and I got warrantied”. I took a calculated risk that adding the catch can would not void my warranty, and I was wrong.

Now before everyone goes and blames GM on this please understand something. I also greatly believe that your relationship with your dealer, as well as the knowledge of the dealer plays a HUGE part in what does and/or doesn’t get covered. Like several have mentioned I had my car taken to a GMC Cadillac dealer who may not have had much experience with the Camaro and the LS3. That lack of experience and knowledge about the car may have led them to believe my car was more modified than it was. Your experience may vary at your dealership. Your dealer may have more knowledge, and may know you better, and may cover your car with a catch can and a cold air intake. However GM’s stance is that modifications void your warranty, and I understand and agree with that.

GM will not be fixing my car, and I understand and agree with them on why they won’t. If they fix mine because I only have a cold air intake and a catch can, where does it end? What about the guy who only has intake and shorty headers but no tune? What about the guy who has only this or only that? Where do they draw the line? GM drew the line at NO modifications, and that is ok with me.

Now again before ya’ll rush off to sell your cars or burn them down or picket GM, please understand something else. I did not take what I was told by GM to be if you have fuzzy dice on your mirror your warranty is done or if you have different tires, or used none GM fluids. I took it to mean that if you added modifications to the vehicle. If you added something that was not originally there or significantly altered your vehicle with none OE equivalent parts then you were voiding you warranty. I took it as so long as the parts used were OE or OE equivalent replacements you would be ok, and that makes sense to me, and I agree with it.

Could I continue to fight this and take it all to court? Sure. However I don’t have the money, time, or energy to go to court over this. I need my car up and running, and can afford to do so, so I will be fixing my car myself. I greatly appreciate everyone who donated money to the GO FUND ME (you should be getting a refund) but I don’t want to fight this in court.

On a positive note, now that my warranty is done, I am free to mod to my hearts (or atleast my wallet’s) content. Again THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me in this, I cannot express how helpful all of this was for me. And please don’t let this shake your faith in GM, they are a company that got put in an awkward situation and had a choice to make, and made the one that protected them, and I do not blame them at all. GM still makes a great product, and I will probably continue to be a customer in the future.

[sherob]

Originally Posted by BlueStreakHouTX

Personally, I was considering trading up on my SS to either a 2017 ZL1 or even a used ZL1.... now it will be an arctic day in the subterranean abyss where the red guy with the horns and pointed tail conducts his business before GM will EVER see one cent of my money.

This.

The 6th gen ZL1 and z/28 was growing on me big time... my wife was even showing me pics of the ZL1, saying how "bad ass" it looked. She has been a Camaro owner up until we got married and had kids... but always owned GM cars and SUV's afterwards.

I bought my first Camaro, and new GM product last year. This has been a real eye opener for me. I'll probably not be buying another GM product going forward.

[qcman]

Thank you Superman09 for the update. My hats off to you and your level of calm in a very frustrating series of events. I still think this was wrong and will choose to vote with my wallet if/when the time comes. That is power we as a consumer can hold on to.

I would suggest the gofundme money still be provided to help with some of the repair costs. If so I will gladly contribute to it knowing it will go to aid in a rather bad decision on GM's part that I cannot abide. Does anyone else agree with my suggestion on that?

[chain777]

What happened? I just noticed the threads disappeared. I saw a few things posted on other sites regarding this, but didn't want to post what might have only been rumors. Guess there was more to the story...

[qcman]

Its in the Warranty/TSB section of the site. Bottom line right from the OP repair was denied due to modification, warranty blocked for good.

I am pissed with GM and I will be shopping competitors should I decide to purchase a new car. They can go pound sand!

[two_wheel_mayhem]

Originally Posted by chain777

What happened? I just noticed the threads disappeared. I saw a few things posted on other sites regarding this, but didn't want to post what might have only been rumors. Guess there was more to the story...

There are always 3 sides to every story.