Last week we reported on a story involving a Camaro5 user who had traded his 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS and 2011 Camaro SS in to buy a brand new Camaro ZL1. The car was brought to a local dealer, which has now been revealed as First State Chevrolet in Georgetown, Del. for a simple paint issue, but an employee proceeded to crash his beloved car on a joy ride.
At the time it wasn’t yet clear if the dealership was going to replace the car, but now the owner, John Hooper, claims General Motors and Berger Chevrolet in Grand Rapids, Mich. are going to help him out, Jalopnik reports.
According to a post on Camaro5, First State Chevrolet found a ZL1 which they felt was an appropriate replacement for Hooper’s crashed car, but he didn’t want it. The car had an unwanted sunroof, the wrong wheels, non-Chevrolet badges and too many miles. What’s worse, the car the dealer found him had no documentation whatsoever and had been crashed. They also wanted him to buy the car off them.
That’s when GM and Berger Chevrolet decided to step in and help Hooper out. The Michigan-based dealer is sending First State Chevrolet a 2013 Camaro ZL1 for Hooper to purchase. That’s right, they’re selling him a new car. The insurance companies are going to pay off the crashed car and a contract will be signed for Hooper to purchase the new car.
In a more upbeat turn of events, Hooper is receiving some free sway bars and some other parts courtesy of Pfadt Race Engineering and two other companies. The owner of Pfadt felt for Hooper, so he decided to send him a set of sway bars for his new car. Cold Air Inductions and Diode Dynamics are also hooking him up with a cold air intake kit and some custom LED lighting.
Comments
I’ve heard of Berger before. The same people behind the “Berger panel” on 1st, 2nd, and 4th gens.
More importantly, where First State walks away from this with a black eye, Berger gets good press AND further cements themselves into Camaro lore.
This is the kind of customer service New GM needs to show. My hope is behind the scenes, the GM regional manager for Delaware makes First State regret this situation… dealerly.
Get it, dealerly? Okay, no more puns today.
P.S. Courtesy Motors in Chico, CA crashed my G6 once. Rear ended a Subaru Forester (with towing accessory) into it. I feel the pain here. Thankfully Courtesy did things right and made the car better than when it came in.
Funniest part was when I showed the car to my adjuster. She chuckled “Yeah, they did that to my car too…”
Chevy dealer service guys busted my brother’s synchros in his ’74 Nova with 4-speed many years ago. Left cigarette butts and changed radio pre-sets. Anyone watch the show “Fast & Loud”? Someone crashed a customer’s million dollar Ferrari at the dealership.
GM should shut down First State! They rightfully deserve it! I’ve never had a dealer take my cars for a joy ride, because I track the miles. Hopefully this never happens again throughout GM dealers!
Yes, GM needs to yank the Dealership and I don’t think I’m being too tough on them. On a side note, thank God somebody stepped in and did the right thing for the customer.
It’s unnecessary to have this poor man go through all this crap. First State Chevrolet should take responsibility by making that employee liable for the damages to the vehicle, and also make sure the customer is 100% satisfied with a replacement vehicle, this crap is the main reason why a lot of people are unwilling to go to a GM dealer, the guys with the above comments have a point when they say that this dealer needs to be punished.
Having followed the comments made by Mr. Hansen @ 1st State Chevy, He Still Don’t Get It.
His current comment is Social Media has given us a Bad Reputation. Before it was We are not responsible once the car left the lot. I’m waiting for “It’s Bush’s Fault”
This should have been resolved before Mr. Hansen sat down with his family for Christmas Dinner.
Ya did your self in -Face It
It seems as though commenting individuals are not familiar with how the dealership model works. GM has little if any control over their dealerships, they cannot shut them down, and all they could really do to punish this dealership would be to allot fewer high demand vehicles to the dealership. Even that is a legal gray area. Dealership are independent, it’s a pretty serious issue. Let’s see if Elon Musk has any lucky in eliminating that model, if so, these dealerships won’t need to be punished. If they have to compete based on service and not geographic monopoly, then they’ll go out of business if they provide bad service.
@J, GM can do more than that, especially on the incentive front. It just is bad business to annoy who you buy cars from. And in the long run, it can sting to do so.
But, I agree that it would be nice to see mainstream brands be more active in supporting Tesla in their efforts to end the outdated, early 20th Century dealer model.
My wife bought all of her cars from Berger, in Grand Rapids Mi… where she is from. Now I can see why.
This story could not be further from the truth. First an employee did come in and steal this Camaro on a Sunday when the Dealer was closed. There was no trade in of a 1969 Camaro at any time it was sold privately at some point. Berger Chevy just allowed GM to rebill the Camaro to the Delaware Dealer not any help other than that. They did state that they did not want a sunroof, but guess what the new 2013 has one ! This story has more false info than you can imagine. The only thing that is true is that the owners of the stolen Camaro were going to be happy with nothing short of a new car. The Camaro owners did all they could to paint the Dealer as a bad guy . Don’t believe it just because it’s on the internet.
But if You put it on the Internet we are just supposed to believe You.
Traded In His 2011, SOLD His ’69.
Learn How To Read AND Understand What You Read.
It Is Called “ READING COMPREHENSION ”
I go through this all the time with My 4th grader.
So the Berger Spin of upgraded Wheels & Tires and such is all at the cost of FIRST STATE CHEVY “SWEET”
What is Chevrolet going to do to the Dealership in Delaware That John Hopper Own’s ? Nothing except help them out ?? And the EX – Employee, Just got fired, Nothing else ! Nice who’s losing on that deal !! Almost everyone. GM, THE ORIGINAL DEALER . And the POOR GUY WHO BROUGHT HIS CAR INTO LOCAL DEALER FOR A PAINT ISSUE ??, PLUS THE FACT THE DEALERSHIP & THERE INSURANCE CO. SHOULD PAY FOR THE WHOLE COST TO REPLACE THE CAR !! TO WHERE IT WAS , THAT CAR IS TECH A CLASSIC AND SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE ONE ! PLUS ALL COSTS THIS POOR GUY HAD TO PAY FOR A LAWYER, BECAUSE THE DEALER DIDN’T WANT TO DO A THING , Then later came to get him a used car with high MILEGE .. [ Thats like going to the dealership with a Camaro & they damage it the dealer & you coming home with a chevette }