Stealer lied

DotNetReloaded · September 9, 2004

I bought my 2001 silverado dually 8.1 a few weeks ago. When I got it, the dealer told me about 100 times that this was a certified truck and the it went through like 130 point inspection blah blah blah. Today I went to another dealer for service because one of the drive pulleys started to squeek a few days ago and I get a vibration in the steering wheel when going over bumps and making turns. Both items are in all data tsb. Anyway the guy ran it tru gm computer and said that its not a certified truck. So I get on the phone and call the dealer I got it from who by the way is a cpo dealer and I got ahold of the manager. He said that neither mine salesman nor used car manager were in today and that tomorrow he will try and rectify this misundersatnding. The only warrantee I have from what I was explained was a 3000K miles in house warrantee which is like 200 miles from where I live, thats where I got the truck. But originally I was told that warrantee was good at any gm service center. So basically I lost a day of work and did not get anything fixed. Is there anything I can do on my part to rectify this issue, because I was lied to? Would calling GM office directly resolve anything? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

whitesnake01 · September 9, 2004

Calling Chevrolet is probably not going to help. The dealer is most likely independently operated. How they do business might be regulated in the state where you bought it, such as how they are required to disclose terms, defects, etc. In general, the onus is on you to be paranoid and ask for everything in writing.

The first thing to do is to get a handle on what certified really means. No matter how many points are included in an inspection, the thing that really counts is a warranty that covers problems. In that sense, the inspection is for the dealer's benefit, not yours. They inspect to limit the risk they are going to be called on a warranty repair. I doubt a dealer will try to match all known TSBs on vehicle without a factory warranty to charge it against, as part of an inspection. As you know, unless you have a mandatory recall, a dealer will only apply a TSB if the customer specifically reports a problem that can be solved with that TSB. As long as you have factory warranty or a transferrable extended warranty, the risk turns more into an annoyance if something breaks. If you get a dealer "special" warranty, it might be tied to the dealership, not to GM or an umbrella insurance program.

When I recently looked at a Ford Excursion with a freshly expired factory warranty, the dealer first claimed it could not be certified, because some conditions could not be met. Later, they changed the story and said it could. But when I asked what sort of warranty came with it, it was nothing more than a limited 90-day drive-train warranty. This meant that I had to pin-point each problem with the truck before I signed the deal or be ready to cover many typical problems out of my own pocket. I did some due dilligence by looking up all known TSBs for that truck as a source potential problems, before I got ready to make a bid for it.

That said, you might find that your current 30/3000 warranty is not significantly worse than whatever warranty you might have gotten if it was "inspected", which sort of makes the point of it being inspected somewhat moot. The question is if your problems can be repaired by any authorized dealer, or if you have to go back to where you bought it. The Ford dealer I talked to, appeared to cover their 90-day insurance themselves, meaning I had to go back there to get things fixed.

It will be hard to prove anyone at the dealership intentionally mislead you. You basically have to rely on that dealership's business integrity to do the right thing or be prepared to spend lots of personal cycles with limited return, perhaps donig things like calling the BBB. Whatever you do, get things in writing and make sure you read all they give you. Read everything you've got so far before you get into a conversation with the dealership. Above all, be calm and factual. Do not burn bridges too fast.

Good luck!

blue2kzr2 · September 9, 2004

If I'm not mistaken, CPO stands for Certified Pre-Owned. That's not the exact term GM uses, but it's close. The site refers customers to the local dealer for info. It's a grey area to determine if that means you must go to the selling dealer or if you can go to any GM dealer. Did the truck have over 60,000 miles on it? That's the max GM allows on its "CPO" vehicles.

My dealer gave me a 3 month, 3,000 mile warranty when I bought my truck in Dec. It had over 60,000 miles, so this was a selling-dealer only thing. I made use of it, dead battery after 2 weeks, bad fan clutch and a torn tie rod boot.

ktmjim215 · September 10, 2004

Mileage? Do you know the original "In Service Date"? List the details if you can.

DotNetReloaded · September 10, 2004

Thanks for replies guys.

When I bought the truck it had less then 41K miles. I checked the hours on the odometer and it was only little over 1500 hours. Apparently, one of the local fellas leased it in 2001 for his landscaping business and returned it in 2004, thats in PA. I know lanscapers only do most of business in the summer and part fall, so hours seem reasonable, but then again who knows if thats a true story or not.

I think according to gm policy if the truck has over 39K miles they only give out 3K or 3 months. When I talked to the manager today he said that he is going to lift all paperwork on the sale and figure out why the truck is not listed as certified in gm system. I also requested all of the service records that they have on this truck. Well tomorow, Friday will show if he is a man of his word or he is full of prunes.

On a separate note, I just spent 2 hours waxing it, and then it rained like half hour after I was done

THE BIGPUNN · September 10, 2004

dealers have lots of ability through gm to warranty over 60K. a good friend of mine is a service manager at my local gm dealer. he can work "magic" with gm, pressure your dealer! especailly for know TSB issues.