Gm Not Standing Behind Their Warranty

Airdoc 1 · June 21, 2011

I know this is just a rant , but I just have to complain about GM not standing behind the 100k warranty.

I bought a 2008 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLT with 50k mile on it about 7 months as a tow vehicle for our RV. I really like this truck and have no other major complaints about it. This is not a daily driver and I only put about 50 miles on it in a week. I start it up one morning and notice a " ticking sound" coming from the engine bay. I found the drivers side, rear most bolt broken off. I know this has been an issue for the prior generation but have not heard of it on the NNBS trucks. I look at my warranty booklet and it says the manifolds and cylinder heads are covered. I call the local dealership and take it in. After they look at it, they say it will be $ 280.00 and it is not under warranty. I ask how could this not be under the powertrain warrnaty and they say bolts are not covered. I let them go ahead and repair.

The next day I call the GM customer service and they say they will look into it and give me a claim number. Two weeks and a couple of calls later and they let me know they are not going to cover this. I would think they would do the right thing and repair but I guess I was wrong. It sad to see this great company go down the tubes over the last 2 years. I do plan on keeping the truck ( which will be for atleast 10 yrs ) and using it for its intended purpose, but if would have known about thier NON warrnty I would have went with an older Chevy or GMC. I guess this just boils down to I have always been a GM loyalist and have owned at least 10 GM products. I'm not sure I will leave the brand, but I just wish they would stand behind their promise

Stevens03 · June 21, 2011

Dealer should have stood behind it without question.... IMO, thats where the blame falls...

Wingnut · June 21, 2011

Yeah...I think it should have been covered. But two things.

1. This is commonplace across all brands, and it's been going on much longer than two years.

2. $280 is a pretty good price for digging a bolt out of a head. It's a pain in the balls with the head laying on a bench, I can't imagine how hard it would be if it were still on the truck, especially the back one.

Hell...I'd almost pay that instead of messing with it myself if I had this issue.

ChevyTech77 · June 21, 2011

Yeah...I think it should have been covered. But two things.

1. This is commonplace across all brands, and it's been going on much longer than two years.

2. $280 is a pretty good price for digging a bolt out of a head. It's a pain in the balls with the head laying on a bench, I can't imagine how hard it would be if it were still on the truck, especially the back one.

Hell...I'd almost pay that instead of messing with it myself if I had this issue.

Granted, my area of real expertise lies in chassis and electrical systems but I would even have paid the $280 to have the bolt dug out before I took that job on myself. After you see a seasoned heavy repair technician loose his cool mutilple times over trying to dig one of these bastards out, you learn real quick that it isn't something that you'd really

want to do yourself.

cliobogger · June 21, 2011

agreed. i think you got a good price. even though it should have been covered.

Fobroader · June 21, 2011

While I agree under $300 for drilling a bolt out that would be an absolute whore to drill out is a great deal, this should have been covere. Fail on the part of the dealer and GM.

wavery · June 21, 2011

While I agree under $300 for drilling a bolt out that would be an absolute whore to drill out is a great deal, this should have been covere. Fail on the part of the dealer and GM.

GM is pretty strict about warranty issues and goes straight by the book (I know, I was a GM Service Manager for toooooo many years).

The dealership did give you a fair price and I doubt any dealership would do it for free (if not covered).

I used to work for a mixed franchise, in the early to mid 80s (Pontiac/Honda). It was amazing the difference in warranty policy. This is how Honda has gained such a great reputation and ended up building such great cars. For the most part, if something broke, they would cover it if the owner complained, well out of warranty. This drove up warranty costs and forced Honda to choose between sacrificing their reputation and just building a better product. They chose to build a better product...... GM chose to cut costs and tighten up policy....... The end result is clear.

redvett · June 22, 2011

GM warranties the drive train internal parts for failure but not the bolts, cases etc. unless there is a failure caused by internal parts.

Stevens03 · June 22, 2011

While I agree under $300 for drilling a bolt out that would be an absolute whore to drill out is a great deal, this should have been covere. Fail on the part of the dealer and GM.

GM is pretty strict about warranty issues and goes straight by the book (I know, I was a GM Service Manager for toooooo many years).

The dealership did give you a fair price and I doubt any dealership would do it for free (if not covered).

I used to work for a mixed franchise, in the early to mid 80s (Pontiac/Honda). It was amazing the difference in warranty policy. This is how Honda has gained such a great reputation and ended up building such great cars. For the most part, if something broke, they would cover it if the owner complained, well out of warranty. This drove up warranty costs and forced Honda to choose between sacrificing their reputation and just building a better product. They chose to build a better product...... GM chose to cut costs and tighten up policy....... The end result is clear.

Your entitled to your opinion... and maybe in the 80's your statement was true.. but todays American cars are much better. Quite frankly with the issues I've dealt with over the years, there's been a few calls that the dealer could have handled very easy to keep the customer happy but chose not to. The dealerships are the face of the company. When I've had dealings directly with GM, I believe the issues where handled fairly in the end. I'm sure the dealership could have handled the OP's issue very easily to keep a customer happy. But... with that said, the price WAS fair for what was done. It could have been alot worse.

I do agree that GM is choosing to draw the line pretty deep in the sand when it comes to some very minor issues that could be/should be covered under warranty. I know service managers have the ability to do Good Faith repairs and choose not to. And that alone will push people away leaving a bad "taste" towards the manufacturer.

Airdoc 1 · June 22, 2011

The 280.00 was not the issue. If it hadn't been under warranty, I would have been thrilled to pay this. I know how difficult this job could be. The GM warranty info provided with the truck does not say anything to the effect that it excludes bolts or fasteners. I guess this is my biggest gripe. Also this issue has been happening for 10 years now. You think they could get this right by now.

Stevens03 · June 22, 2011

The 280.00 was not the issue. If it hadn't been under warranty, I would have been thrilled to pay this. I know how difficult this job could be. The GM warranty info provided with the truck does not say anything to the effect that it excludes bolts or fasteners. I guess this is my biggest gripe. Also this issue has been happening for 10 years now. You think they could get this right by now.

Hey it took GM 10-12 years to get rid of the intermediate steering shaft issue, and another 8 years to almost get rid of the slip yoke issue that still pops up from time to time for people... what do you expect

And I agree, the bolt should have been covered

wavery · June 22, 2011

While I agree under $300 for drilling a bolt out that would be an absolute whore to drill out is a great deal, this should have been covere. Fail on the part of the dealer and GM.

GM is pretty strict about warranty issues and goes straight by the book (I know, I was a GM Service Manager for toooooo many years).

The dealership did give you a fair price and I doubt any dealership would do it for free (if not covered).

I used to work for a mixed franchise, in the early to mid 80s (Pontiac/Honda). It was amazing the difference in warranty policy. This is how Honda has gained such a great reputation and ended up building such great cars. For the most part, if something broke, they would cover it if the owner complained, well out of warranty. This drove up warranty costs and forced Honda to choose between sacrificing their reputation and just building a better product. They chose to build a better product...... GM chose to cut costs and tighten up policy....... The end result is clear.

Your entitled to your opinion... and maybe in the 80's your statement was true.. but todays American cars are much better. Quite frankly with the issues I've dealt with over the years, there's been a few calls that the dealer could have handled very easy to keep the customer happy but chose not to. The dealerships are the face of the company. When I've had dealings directly with GM, I believe the issues where handled fairly in the end. I'm sure the dealership could have handled the OP's issue very easily to keep a customer happy. But... with that said, the price WAS fair for what was done. It could have been alot worse.

I do agree that GM is choosing to draw the line pretty deep in the sand when it comes to some very minor issues that could be/should be covered under warranty. I know service managers have the ability to do Good Faith repairs and choose not to. And that alone will push people away leaving a bad "taste" towards the manufacturer.

I retired from being Service Manager in '98. I am still very close to the industry and have friends still in the business. Trust me....... not much has changed.

A dealership Service Manager does have some discretion but in a case like this, had he submitted it as a warranty claim (as it was presented here) the claim would have been denied and the dealership would have had to eat the charges. I doubt that many GM dealerships are too thrilled about eating anything right now.

However, I do agree....... It should have been covered and it really sucks that this (and many other) issue hasn't been sorted out by now.