Auto manufacturer good will.

[shakenbake]

I am actually familiar with the Ford Focus issues in the front end.

Basically, you had the springs BREAKING prematurely. Made a hell of a raquet if memory serves as a coworker had this issue with his car. Could cause you to lose control of the vehicle = safety issue.

Should have been a recall, but Ford figured that if people complained, then they'd do something about it.

Shocks are a wear part, I'd be amazed if they offered to help.

Actually, it didn't break in my case. They replaced them due to surface corrosion. At least, i didn't notice anything wrong, and I practically live in the car with 240K on it. The springs were noticed at just before 200K, if you can call that premature.

You have to give Ford credit for being somewhat proactive, even if it was to cover their collective corporate ass.

 

[The Cunning Linguist]

I was once 3km over a warranty and the dealership refused to cover me. I was so totally pissed I never bought that brand again.

Similar story, although mine was a Buick Rendevous with that "head gasket" problem.

I was a loyal GM buyer ever since I was old enough to drive. My last 3 vehicles were bought brand new from GM, and before that, 3 used vehicles from a GM dealership. Had all my service done at the dealerships, even after the warranties ran out.

City Buick would not budge on helping me out on the head gasket.

I have since bought a Ford Edge, and every time they call and remind me I'm overdue for service on my Rendevous, I love to tell them I bought a Ford.

I figure at my age (49), I still have 3 new cars left in my future.

None will be a GM product.

f**k them....

 

[The Cunning Linguist]

So mmouse, you basically blackmailed them into covering the cost of your old vehicle's repairs?

Am I the only one that doesn't see something wrong with this?

Now if it was a recurring problem with all transports, and GM knew about it (re: dodge minivans and transmissin problems) then I could see doing this.

Not me. I see absolutely nothing wrong in using any and all means to get them to cover these repairs.

As long as he sticks by his word to the dealer and buys from him when in the market, and makes sure that the dealer knows about any business he sends his way.

Two way street IMO.

 

[Meister]

Not me. I see absolutely nothing wrong in using any and all means to get them to cover these repairs.

As long as he sticks by his word to the dealer and buys from him when in the market, and makes sure that the dealer knows about any business he sends his way.

Two way street IMO.

Even if he is lying to them and never buy the same brand again, it is still the manager's decision. He can refuse it and not feel bad about it, but in the end we are all greedy and sometimes get suckered in.
I can't tell you how many times in business I get the "carrot" dangled in front of my nose just to get me to make concessions. Sometimes I go for it sometimes not.

 

[mmouse_10]

So mmouse, you basically blackmailed them into covering the cost of your old vehicle's repairs?

Am I the only one that doesn't see something wrong with this?

Now if it was a recurring problem with all transports, and GM knew about it (re: dodge minivans and transmissin problems) then I could see doing this.

Actually you seam to be assuming that this was an old vehicle... at the time it was only 4 years old (not really old)

Ummmm not really sure why unless you are reading into it...

Actually I never did tell you the problem so for clarity if was a Rear seal typical (yet not discussed) problem with the GM 3.8l engine. After many hours of searching I discovered that is was common yet not repaired. I also noticed that of all the comments that I read on GM owners forums it was suggested that I try the approach that I did...

I still stand by my comments and still tell people that with a little perseverance not only GM but other manufacturers will cover items slightly out of warranty

MMouse_10

 

[mmouse_10]

Similar story, although mine was a Buick Rendevous with that "head gasket" problem.

I was a loyal GM buyer ever since I was old enough to drive. My last 3 vehicles were bought brand new from GM, and before that, 3 used vehicles from a GM dealership. Had all my service done at the dealerships, even after the warranties ran out.

City Buick would not budge on helping me out on the head gasket.

I have since bought a Ford Edge, and every time they call and remind me I'm overdue for service on my Rendevous, I love to tell them I bought a Ford.

I figure at my age (49), I still have 3 new cars left in my future.

None will be a GM product.



f**k them....

Umm sound like the same problem 3.8l engine ... in my case they did help me ... sorry about your luck thought...


MMouse_10

 

[mmouse_10]

Not me. I see absolutely nothing wrong in using any and all means to get them to cover these repairs.

As long as he sticks by his word to the dealer and buys from him when in the market, and makes sure that the dealer knows about any business he sends his way.

Two way street IMO.

Thanks Cunning... like i said in my post I have 1 friend who has purchased from the Dealer... and if all goes as planned I will be replacing my Van next year...

I also make sure to give all my business to this dealer (Even Oil Changes) 10 bucks more and they Wash and Vacumm every time...


MMouse_10

 

[james t kirk]

Umm sound like the same problem 3.8l engine ... in my case they did help me ... sorry about your luck thought...


MMouse_10

The dreaded 3.8 litre plastic intake manifold?

My 97 Buick's plastic intake manifold cracked back in 2002 I think. The car had 120,000 km on it and the engine was destroyed when the coolant mixed with the oil.

GM did shit for me, basically told me to pound.

So I sued them in small claims court.

In 2005, I bought a brand new Japanese car - my first ever.

I always bought GMs. My parents always bought GMs. My best friend was a GM guy. Now, none of us are. In my case, it was the plastic intake manifold thing and GM's behaviour on the issue that sealed the deal. My best friend is actually a mechanic and he got disgusted with how GM was cutting quality, especially in the drive trains.

 

[Doctor Zoidburg]

Got one free shock installed.

Just to finish off this story, I got one free shock installed. ( paid for the other one ) My car only has 57,000 km. on it and it is used as a second car. I use the company supplied car most of the time since gas insurance and upkeep is not my responsibility.
I saved myself over $300 in parts and labour, it pays to check into things.The car companies can not afford to loose customers, the business is so hard for them these days that Chrysler has gone to a lifetime warranty for the engine and transmission in the USA. ( they may do the same in Canada ) the cost of aquisition of a new client is 8 times that of keeping and existing client.

 

[The Cunning Linguist]

The dreaded 3.8 litre plastic intake manifold?

My 97 Buick's plastic intake manifold cracked back in 2002 I think. The car had 120,000 km on it and the engine was destroyed when the coolant mixed with the oil.

GM did shit for me, basically told me to pound.

So I sued them in small claims court.

In 2005, I bought a brand new Japanese car - my first ever.

I always bought GMs. My parents always bought GMs. My best friend was a GM guy. Now, none of us are. In my case, it was the plastic intake manifold thing and GM's behaviour on the issue that sealed the deal. My best friend is actually a mechanic and he got disgusted with how GM was cutting quality, especially in the drive trains.

My Rendevous was a 2002 model year. At around 95,000 KM, I started to notice a significant amount of "tapping" noise upon start-up after the vehicle had sat for several hours or over night. ( I should mention I changed the oil religiously every 5000 clicks) This was in late 2006. The vehicle was out of warranty (the 2002 model year had only 80k or 3 years). I notice that GM has now changed their warranty coverage in order to be competive with the Japanese and Korean car makers. I guess they knew they had a crappy product. I had an independent shop check this problem out for me, as the dealership (City Buick) told me not to worry about the noise. I knew I had lubrication problem, but they would not budge. The independent shop found coolant weeping around the gasket, and also had the oil tested to see if there was coolant contaminating the oil. The oil test was positive for coolant. When I took the results to City, they stone walled me for a while, but finally came back and told me I was out of luck. When I mentioned I was considering joining the class action lawsuit against GM over this problem, they told me to get off their property. I must mention that during all this time I never cursed or lost my temper with them, but I must say I was a real pest.

James, I was like you as well, lifelong GM buyer, as was my dad and my uncle, and I had friends who made their living with GM. I thought I was doing a good thing by supporting them, and our community, by keeping my money in Canada (so to speak).

In February 2007, I knew the end was coming with this vehicle, so rather than being caught without a vehicle when it failed, I went to the local Ford dealership just down the road from me. I explained to them that if they wanted to "steal" away a "GM man", all they had to do was be honest, be fair, and not leave me in lurch without a vehicle. So far I've had a positive experence with them, and they have been true to their word. I picked up nail in a rear tire in a place that was not repairable, and they lent me a loaner for 2 days while they special ordered the tire.

Curious...did you win your small claims court case?

PS...I just couldn't buy Japanese after seeing that video of how they kill dolphins and sharks in that link that was posted here several months ago.

Also, the Murano, which I liked, only takes premimum gas...NO THANKS...

 

[Doctor Zoidburg]

Fishermen have nothing to do with car manufacturing.

To say that you will not buy a Japanese car because the Japanese fishermen kill dolphons, is like saying that you will not buy GM cars because they kill seals in newfoundland.

 

[elmo]

If you had an expensive Lexus...maybe but not likely. A 4 yr old Corolla? Good luck.

 

[Diode]

Holy smokes...You guys are willing to pay 250/hour for a girl to bob your knob...
$20 a dance to whack your weenie
But gosh help you if YOU make a deal about warranty...and well ..You are too wussy to pay what you owe.....

Guys..you made a deal..40k 50k..100 k..
If its over the # PAY UP.....

 

[Doctor Zoidburg]

It is because I haggle and get things done out of warranty that i am able to afford to do the HDH thing. As far as lap dances, I am so cheap that I go to Montreal to get the $10 lap dances. The mileage is so good there that I have a trick where I pretend that I do not realy know what the hell is going on and the finger enters the pussy, they will just tell you: OH, No......you can't put your finger inside. The I do the gentlemanly thing and keep my fingers on the outside as requested!

 

[james t kirk]

.

Curious...did you win your small claims court case?

PS...I just couldn't buy Japanese after seeing that video of how they kill dolphins and sharks in that link that was posted here several months ago.

Also, the Murano, which I liked, only takes premimum gas...NO THANKS...

I hear what you say about the Dolphins, and there is also their hunting of whales. I think my next car may have to be German then.

As to small claims court. I settled with GM prior to going to trial. I had to go for discovery and their lawyer and I struck a confidential deal.

I donated half of the settlement to the Canadian Cancer Society out of respect to my mother who died of cancer.

My total out of pocket on the plastic intake manifold thing was $4,500.00.

Originally GM offered me nothing. Fuck you was their attitude, you didn't maintain your car (horse shit)

I wrote them a series of letters, they offered me $800.00 "good will"

Nope...

I took them to small claims court and received a confidential settlement that I can not reveal, however, let's just say it was good and I donated half like I said.

The funny thing about it all was that the GM lawyer seemed very interested in keeping me as a GM customer. She must have reiterated that about 3 times in our conversations.

No way, not after that BS.

If GM had just treated me with an ounce of respect when the problem happened, like said, "we know we have a problem with these piece of shit engines due to some moron's selection of plastic as a material for an intake manifold and we'll pay for half" I would have been thrilled and would still be driving a GM today.

But no, they basically laughed at me.

So fine, Nissan got my money, not GM. The first non GM car I had ever bought.

Now that I drive my Japanese car, I must admit, it is light years ahead of anything GM makes.

 

[james t kirk]

To say that you will not buy a Japanese car because the Japanese fishermen kill dolphons, is like saying that you will not buy GM cars because they kill seals in newfoundland.

I'm an animal lover and I have boycotted all things Newfoundland. Especially Snow Crab for example.

As to the Japanes, it bothers me their incredible cruelty to Dolphins and whales and I think that more North Americans took this approach - boycotting Japanese cars, then the Japanese Government would stand up and take notice.

So yes, it is a consideration.

Audi here I come.....

 

[Von Wigglestaff]

The reason that your friends Honda was covered was due to a service bulletin on the shocks on Civics....The shocks on 2001-2005 civics are garbage.

Sooner or later there had to be a deficiency, my 2000 Civic is the most reliable car I've ever owned. It's accumulated over 160 km and has still not had any major repairs.

I've bought several cars from my present dealership; we have an understanding - soak me once and you'll never see me again.

...haven't set foot in a Ford dealership since 2001, don't plan to anytime soon,