Service problem brand new Cobalt

I've had similar issues over the years with GM products and dealers. I finally had to contact my local Toyota dealer..... problem solved.

Best of luck

That kind of cavalier attitude toward customers, who are the reason GM exists, is but one of the reasons that GM is headed down the toilet.

Nobody much left to listen. They used to have zone representatives who could and would help in situations like this. I dont believe these factory reps exist any more.

Why did you buy the Cobalt in the first place? This sort of treatment is now very common with GM.

If enough people stop buying their crap, they will eventually have to listen.

^^^^^^^^

was that intentional? :)

nate

....

Well, first off I agree that it sucks that GM won't honor the warranty at any dealership. It should not matter who does the work, the problem was legitimately diagnosed, and in fact the repair did fix the problem. It's too bad you didn't have the problems on the way back home as well, and a code logged in the car. The local dealer could then have "diagnosed" it again, and all would have been well.

That said, though I'm in no way defending GM in this decision, but that's one of the reasons that I buy locally. Although warranties are supposed to be honored at any GM dealership, there's just no substitute for that local relationship.

Yes, I used to own one-cracked head and cracked manifold. I bought the Cavalier new. GM is on my very naughty list (also for a repeatedly poor Buick transmission and for a -shudder- Vega).

If in fact the dealer that did the original diagnosis actually found a code, it should still have been there, unless they were stupid enough to clear the code. That would have saved the customer a lot of grief.

Any GM dealer will honor the warranty, that's not what this scenario is about. It's about the fact that some dealers have probably had a bad time with GM not paying for something, so I would imagine this dealer was a bit gunshy. This is definitely an American dealer problem, as this type of thing would not happen in our dealerships. We fix the problem, no matter what. The dealership that refused to do the work is only shooting themselves in the foot in the long term. As you can see from the responses here, nobody really cares what the dealerships problems are with GM, they just want their vehicle fixed at the nearest dealership...which is fair.

Ian

In reply..It wasn't my idea, my husband wanted the car and they were having a

4th of July sale so he bought it. I'm sure this is a problem for a lot of people who retire and have 2 residences but it shouldn't be.

When I had a problem with a GM warranty issue, I wrote the zone office listed in the owner manual. They said I should buy a new car. I did, a Hyundai Sonata.

I bought my wife a brand new Sterling Silver Hyundai Elantra for Christmas. What a GREAT car.Tried out the Chevy Cobalt but just didn't like it at all. Tried out a Camry too,nice car but over priced.My dad has had problems with GM on a few issues with his Jimmy as well. Besides with the Elantra I got the 5 yr. 60,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty/ 10 year

100,000 mile powertrain warranty and since they had a 1000 dollar rebate on '06s I bought the extended warranty for 1500 dollars which means I have a 10 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and roadside assistance including a loaner car as well as motel and food if away from home.. Thats what I call standing behind your product. Still got my 95 Silverado Z71 ext. cab though. >

It is quite common that people who have had a preference for a particular brand in the past often continue to stay with that brand. One of the long songs on this group is the poor treatment many of us have suffered at the hands of GM.

We have a very good local dealership for Buick and Pontiac, but even they cannot correct all the defects and failures when GM will not support them. I dont think we are likely to buy another GM until and unless their attitude changes.

I agree Ian - this is a GM problem, not a dealership problem. Can't expect dealerships to repeatedly do work that GM does not reimburse them for. That's what I was trying to say in my original comments. There was a day when this was not the case.

Perhaps there are bigger problems between GM USA and their dealer networks. I do know that up here in Canada, there seems to be a better working relationship between the District Service Manager's and the dealers. Everyone seems to want to make sure the customer is looked after (within reason).

Believe me, we deal with totally "unreasonable" customers on a daily basis. People way off warranty telling us what systems on their vehicle should last forever! And I'd say that we give away freebies to most of them.

We are one of the largest dealerships in Calgary, we are right downtown, Calgary has probably one of the fastest growing economies in North America....so we deal with a lot of "rich" people. Gotta keep em happy!

So far, I've seen only the usual cyclical downturns in work thru the shop due to time of year, weather...etc. We certainly are doing far less work on items like intake gaskets...and other problem areas that were so prevelant a couple of years ago. The newer engines are proving to be simply bulletproof when it comes to reliability issues.

Even the original poster's choice of car is fairly reasonable. The Cobalt is a good little car. We do not see them in the dealerships for much work at all. The transmission is a proven design now, I talk with the transmission guys in the shop, and they say they rarely work on them. The Ecotec engine has proven to be a superb little engine so far, not as smooth sounding as an import engine, but very reliable. Other then those two items, what's left on the car? Suspension and brakes, both seem to be well engineered (so far), and interior fit and finish (never has been GM's strong suit in small cars).

Having said all that, my wife and I are probably going to buy a Honda CRV sometime this year. Heh heh! But I'd recommend the Cobalt to someone wanting a small cheap car.

Ian

Last issue of Car and Driver calls the Hyundai Elantra more Camry then the Camry.

Saw yesterday that Hyundai has problems as well. They apparently have a good product now, but have used a lot of resources getting there.

Thank You all for your input. I will be calling GM's customer service line once more to see if they will compensate us for our problems. I doubt it but they did tell me to call back when the situation was resolved, so I will. If I don't get any satisfaction there I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Burea's Auto Line. Truthfully, I don't expect much there either but I want this registered in case we have the problem again.

Sue, There is also a website called

or similar. You might want to register your case there where a lot of people can see it. The BBB is incredibly impotent in cases like this.

My only suggestion is to buy a different product next time. GM has a long history of "managing" it's warranty reimbursement costs very aggressively and leaving dealers and customers stuck and frustrated.

Countless people have complained to them over the years and it never seems to change.

Honda, on the other hand, is much more reasonable with it's customer and dealers in my experience.

John

You may find yourself as the newest member of the Never Again Club!