Michigan Lemon Law Help

M1Tanker · January 18, 2007

Howdy Folks...Newbie here and I wish it were under better circumstances

I purchased a 2007 Silverado Classic Ext. Cab Short Box 4x4 at the end of September 2006. I would like to say that I am a proud owner but that only lasted the ride home.

I purchased the vehicle 70 miles from home because the dealership I bought it from refused to do a trade with my local dealer...no beef here as they cut me a pretty good deal.

I learned my first lesson about picking out a vehicle at night when I got home and noticed at least 4 good scratches in the paint. Three return trips to the dealer and I now have a vehicle that has some real nice swirls in the clearcoat...except the GM customer service rep sided with the dealer who told her it was done to GM standard...even though the blend line looks like a bubble scar across the door. The dealer that I bought the truck from told me that he is done dealing with me on the truck and I have not been back since.

The vehicle was also delivered with the alignment out of spec...I attribute it to the fact that on the lot it had 20 inch tires and when I requested that the stock 17" be placed back on the vehicle...they may have never reset the alignment. My mistake with this was that I took it to an alignment shop rather than the local GM dealer...actually I took it to the local GM dealer first but they told me it drove fine and never checked the alignment...then I went to the alignment shop and they showed me that it was set out of GM Spec.

The next problem popping up is vibration in the steering wheel that occured after the local dealer rotated the tires during my first regular service (Maint 1 at 5000 miles). I took it back to them after a trip to Iowa (1000 miles round trip) and they found two tires out of balance. The problem is that the Road Force didn't eliminate the vibration and I am taking it back to my local dealer on Friday to have them further troubleshoot the problem and the brand new problem of the temperature display cutting out on me.

After seeing the posts on vibration I fear that I am in for a long bout of problems and I have begun researching the possibility of using the lemon law if they cannot fix the problem.

After a long story my questions to those unfortunate souls who have also had problems:

Do I have to be dealing with the dealer where I purchased the truck or is it sufficient that I am dealing with the local GM dealer for these problems (especially since the jerk that sold me the truck turned his back after my wife and I signed the paperwork)?

Should I call GM customer service to establish a record of the problem for each time I take the vehicle in for service for vibration or the temp sensor?

I know that a good lemon law lawyer could help but I figured that there seemed to be some folks who went through this here so maybe those folks could chime in on what I should be doing.

Sorry to introduce myself on such a sour note but I would appreciate any help or advice any of you had. I really do like having the truck and it is the first new vehicle purchase for my wife...just seem to be so disappointed right now.

Thanks for listening and I would greatly appreciate any advice.

NorthernNJ · January 18, 2007

I recently had GM buy back my 2004 Canyon under the NJ lemon law. After evaluated several trucks, I opted to move up to a 2006 1500.

In short, no you don't have to deal with the dealer you purchased from. Any dealer can provide the warranty service.

Check your state laws. In NJ you need 1 repair item to occur within the first 24K miles or 18months that remains unresolved (no limit on mileage or time) after 3 repair attempts. This can 'qualify' you under lemon law. Again, this varies by state.

Best bet, is to keep taking the vehicle in as long as the repairs remain outstanding. I often bundled a trip to the dealer with many repairs as that would save me time and often resulted n the truck being out of service for multiple days.

The more days your truck is unavailble due to service, the greater the liklihood of some type of settlement.

Two most important points:

Keep copies of ALL SERVICE RECORDS... TAKE NOTES ON ALL CALLS.

You do not need to contact GM direct.

If you THINK you qualify under your states laws, find a lemon law attorney. This will cost you nothing as Federal law mandates they be paid by the car factories. If a settlement is reached, they are paid after you. They have no incentive and as they only are paid if you reach a settlement, they won't typically take a case unless it appears 'solid' to them.