A member of the CorvetteForum known as Z06Storm has had a rather dissatisfying experience with the dealership that he went to for service on his 2016 Corvette Z06. The Z06 was brought in for the 500 mile oil change and to have a “whistling noise” coming from the driver’s side window diagnosed. When Z06Storm returned to pick up his Corvette, he found that the dealership had driven it 150 miles. As you would imagine, he was pissed.
In order to make up for the mishap the manager apologized, and offered a free tank of gas and an extended 150 mile warranty, to which Z06Storm replied, “go to hell.” He is now considering taking the matter to small claims court.
We don’t see how this could have been accidental, and we’d be lying if we said we wouldn’t be outraged ourselves. We wonder what alternatives there are to taking the matter to small claims court… are there any at this point?
Edit: The name of the offending dealership is Hooman Chevrolet in Culver City, CA.
Comments
The headline is misleading. It should have stated clearly that the customer was in for both an oil change and a wind whistle. Although 150 miles might appear excessive it may not be. Having spent a few years as an apprentice repairing wind noises it wasn’t unusual to put mileage on a customer’s vehicle. The first thing I had to do is road test the vehicle to confirm the customer concern. Then in the shop it goes for an inspection and based on this, body adjustments are done and then it’s back on the road. Then repeat as required until the concern is resolved. I’ve had some difficult wind noises where I have spent a day or more trying to fix them. Our dealership was 2 miles form the nearest highway where I could legally and safely drive the vehicle at the necessary speeds to reproduce the concern, then add the driving time from one exit to another and back and mileage accumulates fast. I would have liked to see the technician time punches and the cause and correction statements on the repair order. The mistake this dealership made was that they didn’t advise the customer that the vehicle would have to be road tested more than once and that there would be a mileage accumulation. Our policy at the dealership back then was to include a statement on the repair order stating that the vehicle would have to be road tested several times if necessary and the customer initialed the statement.
The most reasoned comment on the web – ever! Thanks Marc Lamarche. I was outraged when I read this, and you have completely changed my attitude. I now wonder about “delivery miles”. I test drove a new car at a dealer, the test car had 57 miles on it. They then tried to sell me that very car, and I asked for a “new one, less than 10 miles on the odo” and I was told “don’t be a silly customer, you can’t expect that. If we sold only new cars, how would we sell these demonstrators?” I left. Should I be outraged, or is this normal?
You’re an idiot! The first thing you do is not to attempt to prove the client is lying. Open the door and inspect, it could be an obvious weatherstripping fix. Stop wasting the dealer’s time and good will.
I would never buy another vehicle from a dealer who would hire a dufus like you to ruin his goodwill.
Go sneak a ride in your own and stop stealing from others. We customers pay a lot of money to have something special. You’re fired!
150 miles? No way. If that were the case the dealer would have stated so and not been so quick to offer restitution in the form of a tank of gas. IMO.
One other thought, the Z06 has a data recorder. I’d be checking data items such as top speed on that day.
Let’s also be clear about what really happened here. The dealer manager then ADMITTED that the service tech took the car home OVERNIGHT as well!
No you are right in line for a logical purchase. When someone buying a new car goes for an UNESCORTED test drive, especially in a performance car, “what will it do” is on everyones mind. The less than 50 mile break in spot that a lot of test drives happen in is the WORST time for a new engine to be WOT for any length of time–so it is Logical to not want the beater to take home. I usually find something on the option list that I want that is NOT on the lot car, so that I get a “fresh off of the truck” vehicle. I usually can get a better price also since it is a quick turn around for the dealer financing folks also, so they are very willing to talk about $$ above or below cost, since cost of cars usually isn’t known until their volume discount is applied to the business they have done all year..
to look for wind noise just turn the heater A/C blower on high. use a soap solution around the window seals on the out side and look for bubbles
I put the dealer at fault on this incident. They should have informed the customer that the car would have to be road tested but 150 miles worth? Really? For me that’s a trip to Detroit and back, you are telling me that the dealer took it out that many times to listen for the noise? If that was the case, then the mechanic assigned didn’t know what he/she was doing.
i’m not sure what a small claims court is going to do for a matter like this. Usually that is for actions under $2000. Maybe the guy is going to sue the dealership, not sure how the judge will react to that claim.
I would be pissed to and talking in the manager’s face on this. I’d ask to have the mechanic explain why he had to drive so far to hear whether or not he fixed the problem. That probably would have shown the manage if a joy ride was evident or not.
bet if it was a Cruze or a Spark it would have been driven for about 1.5 miles.
I buy GM cars, but the Chevy dealerships are poor when it comes to service and sales departments.
Dr. F
Why don’t you publicize or mention the dealer’s name in the article. Those of us who own Corvettes would like to know of the dealers who continually abuse the customer.
We would if we could – StormZ06 doesn’t mention it in his post.
Yes he does (Post #27). Hooman Chevrolet in Culver City CA.
NOTE: GM/Chevy Corporate stiff armed him too. They are the clueless party that offered the 150 mile extended warranty. This is a new car in for its first oil change at 500 miles, and the dealership decides to increase the mileage by 30%. “the service manager tried to rationalize the mileage saying maybe the service advisor took the car home overnight.”
Ahh, thank you for that sir.
EJ, the Chevy dealerships themselves cost GM sales.
Why am I envisioning the parking attendants taking the Ferrari for a spin in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” …?
Same thing happened to me years ago when I took my Vette to a dealer. The service writer and I both noticed that it had exactly 3000 miles on the odometer. When I got the car back a week later it had over 350 additional miles on it. Fortunately I noticed it just as I was about to leave. The manager tried to tell me that the service writer had probably just but down the 3000 miles as a “round number”. I didn’t accept this and wouldn’t leave until he signed the miles at 3350 when I picked it up. I took my complaint to the Chevy Zone office and they investigated. They finally determined that a mechanic had taken it for a joy ride weekend.
Joy riding in someone else’s car without their permission is a crime.
http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/criminal-offense/what-difference-between-joyriding-stealing-a-ca
Having an irresponsible jerk take your car and hammer on it, man I would have called the police right there at the dealership. I would not necessarily press charges, but boy they would have negative three seconds to tell the truth and come up with something a lot better than a gallon of gas and a B.S. Warranty extension. Next I would be calling Chevy/GM HQ and get them in on it. If they dicked around then I would get them on the news. The ludicrous explanation above about the mechanic needing to drive over 100 miles to test for noise, is an example of the definition of denial and being incredibly naive. So that would be two hours at 70mph. No doubt it was driven well in excess of 70 mph. and they were not testing wind noise. Would have been real interesting if that car had GPS tracking activated, but anyone should be able to figure out what really happened here. It was taken our for some high speed joy riding, case closed.
I wonder why he doesn’t pull up his PDR and see what they exactly did?
First off I think everyone would be upset. But this guy is overreacting and it would be hard to prove anything in order to get something from small claims court. The dealer will just argue they were test driving the car in order to diagnose the problem. Is 150 miles excessive?, of course it is. Will the driver be compensated something worth the trouble of small claims court. Hell no! I’m sure this guy is a total jerk and most likely made a scene at the dealership. We have all seen guys like this. He should have taken what the dealer offered plus some more free goodies. The warranty and full tank of gas is a nice start but not enough. I’ve had issues with dealers and they have thrown in things worth $500-$600 of extras easy. What exactly is the monetary value of 150 miles anyway? Only way this becomes a factor is if this car is a collectors item that he plans on never really driving so he could sell it 30 years from now for big money. Anyway, if you are calm and collected and push the dealership they should take care of you. If you are a jackass and a load mouth and start to threaten the dealership with law suits right off the bat then you maybe in for a rude awakening.
RE: “The dealer will just argue they were test driving the car in order to diagnose the problem.”
The dealer already came up with this excuse: “the service manager tried to rationalize the mileage saying maybe the service advisor took the car home overnight.”
You can beleive whatever you want, the facts point very strongly that this car was either allowed to be used by customers to test drive it or most likely staff at the dealership took it for a little extra curricular test drive of their own. Either way that is a crime if that is what happened, and a judge will not take kindly to getting jerked around by someone not coming clean with the facts. To call the customer a jerk instead of the dealership I find ironic to say the least. My understanding of the way events took place is the customer lost it when the dealership played dumb, and did not take responsibillity for what happened in a way that demonstrated the seriousness of what was done. This certainly is an indication of a dealership that is not responsible for its actions and a business that is dishonest. I think what is happening here and on other Forums and Comments on other web sites is good old grass roots justice taking place. By all means take your car there for service. I imagine they are going to need your business.
I want to add something else that has not been mentioned, and that is breaking in a car properly. This has a direct impact on the longevity of the car, and a car like this demands proper care and respect. I buy my cars new, and with less than 15 miles on them. That is my choice and that is what I am paying for.
I have never owned a Corvette so I am not familiar with the recommended manner in which to break it in. As a general rule that I follow with my cars for the first 2,000 miles I keep it under 65/70 on the freeway and take it out at a moderate pace on twisties. No stomping on the gas, no seeing what the car can do. Ease into it, changing the RPM’s, knowing I am going to have plenty of time to play over the next 200,000 miles once it is broken in.
That is one of many reasons this situation is not funny. Another point that someone made on the Corvette Forum is that you are obligated under the terms of the Warranty to have this service (oil change) done. To essentially demand possession of someones property, and then abuse your responsibilities under these circumstances I think also makes this more serious.
Jeez, by my calculation, given the z06’s proven ability to blow its engine, this ride took 10% off the life of the LT4.
Anyone who lives in Los Angeles knows a 150 mile round trip surrounding Hooman Chevrolet Culver City includes places like Irvine, Santa Barbara and Lancaster; one way to San Diego and half way to Las Vegas. Consider those trips in a Corvette. Add to that someone treating the Z06 as a teenager in a rental car. Driving that far to diagnose wind noise in any vehicle is unreasonable, but driving this far in a Z06 is more than a joyride. The problem could have been confirmed driving no further than the 101 – and that’s a long trip. A tank of gas and free goodies from the dealership is not good enough to make this right. Something like this is hard to quantify because it diminishes personal value of the vehicle. Someone drove the vehicle unsupervised in excess of reasonable mileage needed to correct the problem. The customer was not advised of the possibility that 150 miles may be needed to diagnose and correct the problem. The customer was not given the opportunity to opt out of proceeding with the diagnosis. Was the wind noise fixed? There could be possible damage that won’t be uncovered for a long time. The Z06 was treated as a rental. To solve this problem, I would start with this solution: the rate for renting a Z06 in Los Angeles should be identified and the owner should be paid triple that number plus an equivalent amount of gasoline. I live five miles from that dealership. I have visited a few times as a potential customer during its several ownership changes. The last visit there was one of my worst ever at any dealership. I will never set foot on the land no matter who owns the place. The customer experience at that location has never been good for me. As for the customer treatment from General Motors, I’m not surprised there. I had a nightmare experience with a faulty tensioner on my 2013 Cruze. The dealer (not Hooman) and GM just threw me under the train and let it drag me a few days. A $50 part cost me nearly $600 and a week without my car. The dealer ultimately made things right for me. GM refused to consider amending the warranty with one word – tensioner – for 2017 vehicles moving forward so my misunderstanding wouldn’t be repeated with future customers. But hey, I LOVE that CT6. I just know what warranty to buy from GM when I purchase the next vehicle.
customer I have issues in the car with wind noise and a winding sound in the engine
service writer sir can you drive with the tech to help him solve the problem
customer sure
problem solved every mile accounted for .
150 miles are criminal .