Another reason I'd rather have a 5/60 warranty than an $8,000 rebate

Back in May, I noticed that when stone cold in the morning, when cranking my steering wheel to the right I could feel something like a momentary lack of power assist. It would do it once or twice in the morning, and then go away. My steering rack had originally been replaced under warranty at 24k miles for a god-awful clunk it would make. Now, with 52k on the clock, it appeared something was wrong with this rack too. My local Pontiac dealer (not my own, mind you :D ) gladly took the car in, noting the prior repair, contacted the zone rep, and got the ok to diagnose the car. At that point, the problem was not obvious enough to make a proper diagnosis, even though THE TECH FELT THE PROBLEM. The zone rep told the service manager to tell me to bring the car back when the weather got cold again.

Fast forward to today. Now, with 60k on the car and the problem back again (only more so, because now its friggen cold), the same zone rep informed the same service manager that at best, GM might consider covering 50% of the repair because the mileage is now too high.

WTF was I supposed to do? I was told to bring it back when it got cold. Now its cold. Now I'm told because I put an additional 8k on my car, I'm screwed. What does this equate to? Assuming my rack is bad (which it likely is), a GM reman rack (aka the same POS as what's in it now!!!) is an eye-popping $800, plus labor, plus alignment. So call it $1,000 total, or $500 to me, to fix the damn car.

So what am I doing? Screw it...a reman aftermarket rack is a paltry $300 in comparison, so I'll drive it until I can't steer it when cold anymore, bring it in and for the same $500 get an aftermarket rack with a lifetime warranty installed, instead of the crappy 12/12 warranty the GM rack will have!!!! What is even cooler is that I did exactly what GM's own rep told me to do...BRING IT BACK WHEN IT GETS COLD. Good PR effort, General Motors. Can't blame the dealer...he did his best.

Just one more reason why I'd rather have a $500 rebate and a 5/60 warranty than a $2,500 rebate and a crappy 3/36...

Or, could it be the best excuse yet to buy a new $12k Elantra with a 5/60 standard, rather than spend $25k on a new GP with a 3/36? Sorry for the rant...things like this just p!ss me off, and don't make me wonder why, despite substantially improved CSI performance, GM STILL can't make up lost ground. You have to be BETTER than the others to win people back...not just better than the old crap you used to pull.

Back in May, I noticed that when stone cold in the morning, when cranking my steering wheel to the right I could feel something like a momentary lack of power assist. It would do it once or twice in the morning, and then go away. My steering rack had originally been replaced under warranty at 24k miles for a god-awful clunk it would make. Now, with 52k on the clock, it appeared something was wrong with this rack too. My local Pontiac dealer (not my own, mind you :D ) gladly took the car in, noting the prior repair, contacted the zone rep, and got the ok to diagnose the car. At that point, the problem was not obvious enough to make a proper diagnosis, even though THE TECH FELT THE PROBLEM. The zone rep told the service manager to tell me to bring the car back when the weather got cold again.

Fast forward to today. Now, with 60k on the car and the problem back again (only more so, because now its friggen cold), the same zone rep informed the same service manager that at best, GM might consider covering 50% of the repair because the mileage is now too high.

WTF was I supposed to do? I was told to bring it back when it got cold. Now its cold. Now I'm told because I put an additional 8k on my car, I'm screwed. What does this equate to? Assuming my rack is bad (which it likely is), a GM reman rack (aka the same POS as what's in it now!!!) is an eye-popping $800, plus labor, plus alignment. So call it $1,000 total, or $500 to me, to fix the damn car.

So what am I doing? Screw it...a reman aftermarket rack is a paltry $300 in comparison, so I'll drive it until I can't steer it when cold anymore, bring it in and for the same $500 get an aftermarket rack with a lifetime warranty installed, instead of the crappy 12/12 warranty the GM rack will have!!!! What is even cooler is that I did exactly what GM's own rep told me to do...BRING IT BACK WHEN IT GETS COLD. Good PR effort, General Motors. Can't blame the dealer...he did his best.

Just one more reason why I'd rather have a $500 rebate and a 5/60 warranty than a $2,500 rebate and a crappy 3/36...

Does not make any sense. If your warranty were 60k it would still be out of warranty. But even though it is out of warranty, the $2,500 rebate is $1,700 more than the cost of the repair. You saved $1,700 by getting the rebate, even after repairs.

A warranty is a bet, you are betting they did a bad job with your vehicle and they are betting they did a good job. Was that bet worth $2,500? I think so.

That was quite a rant, so I’m just ganna say I agree with you and that your situation pretty much sucks

:D

Thanks for your support :D It just reminded me of my thread from last week regarding warranties...

How much would an extended warranty have cost?

You can put the rebate towards that.

Back in May, I noticed that when stone cold in the morning, when cranking my steering wheel to the right I could feel something like a momentary lack of power assist. It would do it once or twice in the morning, and then go away. My steering rack had originally been replaced under warranty at 24k miles for a god-awful clunk it would make. Now, with 52k on the clock, it appeared something was wrong with this rack too. My local Pontiac dealer (not my own, mind you :D ) gladly took the car in, noting the prior repair, contacted the zone rep, and got the ok to diagnose the car. At that point, the problem was not obvious enough to make a proper diagnosis, even though THE TECH FELT THE PROBLEM. The zone rep told the service manager to tell me to bring the car back when the weather got cold again.

Fast forward to today. Now, with 60k on the car and the problem back again (only more so, because now its friggen cold), the same zone rep informed the same service manager that at best, GM might consider covering 50% of the repair because the mileage is now too high.

WTF was I supposed to do? I was told to bring it back when it got cold. Now its cold. Now I'm told because I put an additional 8k on my car, I'm screwed. What does this equate to? Assuming my rack is bad (which it likely is), a GM reman rack (aka the same POS as what's in it now!!!) is an eye-popping $800, plus labor, plus alignment. So call it $1,000 total, or $500 to me, to fix the damn car.

So what am I doing? Screw it...a reman aftermarket rack is a paltry $300 in comparison, so I'll drive it until I can't steer it when cold anymore, bring it in and for the same $500 get an aftermarket rack with a lifetime warranty installed, instead of the crappy 12/12 warranty the GM rack will have!!!! What is even cooler is that I did exactly what GM's own rep told me to do...BRING IT BACK WHEN IT GETS COLD. Good PR effort, General Motors. Can't blame the dealer...he did his best.

Just one more reason why I'd rather have a $500 rebate and a 5/60 warranty than a $2,500 rebate and a crappy 3/36...

Screw 5/60, I want B to B 8/100 or so...

But that sounds like bad customer service.

Sorry, but if ANY car is doing something outside of spec - even if it's just a noise or weird vibration, and you take the time to point it out to them, but they tell you they can't figure it out, then that should automatically mean that part is covered for life or at least damn near it. ESPECIALLY if they tell you to bring it back when they can more easily duplicate its symptoms. They TOLD you to wait.

Mr GM dealer, If you can't fix a minor problem now then the major problem becomes your liability in the future. Period. That's how customer service should work. If you just tell everyone 'can not duplicate' until their warranty runs out and then say you're screwed once the warranty is out then what the hell kinda good is a warranty??

Or just get a good power steering fluid additive. What's happening are the seals are getting hard and sticking....happened to my wife's GTP and her old Dodge Daytona...so it ain't just GM.

On your problem though, I thought that if a problem was documented that it fixed in time a date of complaint...so the complaint was made at the initial service and your were told to bring it back when the problem was more noticeable....so now that the initial complaint is verified, the problem should be taken care of.

PS...Zone Reps are @$$holes....but I guess they have to be to a certian extent.

Jason E, don't you work for a GM dealership?

A lot of people feel that...

Korean cars = suck but are worth the risk since they are cheap and have a bad ass warraty

Japanesse cars = better than ever one else, who cares about price or warranty these cars last 8312731874mi. and people will think your cool for buying one.

American = Unreliable (not true, check JD Power) and over priced (thank you inflated MSRPs)


To win people back, the big 2 needs value priceing and good warranties. Not everyone stays up to date on the latest from J.D. Power so GM needs a reason other than price to get those 70% of consumers that don't care about HP.

Or just get a good power steering fluid additive. What's happening are the seals are getting hard and sticking....happened to my wife's GTP and her old Dodge Daytona...so it ain't just GM.

On your problem though, I thought that if a problem was documented that it fixed in time a date of complaint...so the complaint was made at the initial service and your were told to bring it back when the problem was more noticeable....so now that the initial complaint is verified, the problem should be taken care of.

PS...Zone Reps are @$$holes....but I guess they have to be to a certian extent.

:bow: Uhm, yeah...can't argue with any of that! I'm not saying its limited to GM, or my own car. I realize sh!t happens. I realize GM doesn't need to be liable on a car that's 5 model years old now, if something random broke. It isn't like the CD player broke, and that I had NEVER had a problem with it prior. This is a damn steering assembly they already replaced once!

The problem came back 6 months ago. I brought it back, the problem could not be diagnosed because it went away so fast after start-up (which admittedly, it did), so I was told to bring it back later. I do, and now I get screwed. I will try some steering additive, and we'll see how long this rack lasts for and/or if that solves the problem. This car is my workhorse, not the garage queen. If it ain't entirely broke yet, it ain't getting fixed.

Lions,
Yes, I do. But I can't stand our service manager, and he can't stand me. I've lost a lot of repeat customers because he's simply an a**hole. Period. So I go elsewhere for my own service :D We don't talk much anymore, as a result :)

Does not make any sense. If your warranty were 60k it would still be out of warranty. But even though it is out of warranty, the $2,500 rebate is $1,700 more than the cost of the repair. You saved $1,700 by getting the rebate, even after repairs.

A warranty is a bet, you are betting they did a bad job with your vehicle and they are betting they did a good job. Was that bet worth $2,500? I think so.

I'm using hypothetical #s here, not literal. My point (which I didn't accurately portray here) is that GM keeps throwing $$ away to gain fewer and fewer sales. Rather than add value (such as an extended warranty, which would have few claims if the cars are built as well as they seem to be these days), they keep throwing $$ at the consumer.

I'd rather have a warranty, and finance a little more on the car because the rebate is lower, rather than make car repairs while I'm still making car payments! Keep in mind, the average person takes out a 60 month loan. A 60 month warranty would be a rather nice perk, eh?

....... Keep in mind, the average person takes out a 60 month loan. A 60 month warranty would be a rather nice perk, eh?

Ding, ding, ding....I think most of us would want the warranty to last the term of the loan....;)

Wouldn't it be nice if car manufactors had enough faith in their product to include the extended warrenty free.

Basically when you buy a warrenty it's just the seller saying, hey this peice of crap will probably break down in the future so we want money now and we hope it's more then our future costs might be.

A lot of people feel that...

Korean cars = suck but are worth the risk since they are cheap and have a bad ass warraty

Japanesse cars = better than ever one else, who cares about price or warranty these cars last 8312731874mi. and people will think your cool for buying one.

American = Unreliable (not true, check JD Power) and over priced (thank you inflated MSRPs)


To win people back, the big 2 needs value priceing and good warranties. Not everyone stays up to date on the latest from J.D. Power so GM needs a reason other than price to get those 70% of consumers that don't care about HP.
Quoted for emphasis.

As an aside for longer warrantees.......the reason DCX and others basically "lock you out" of the ECM...and the reason throttle by wire is gaining popularity are because of warrantee issues.

Traction control systems, etc... are all good ways of keeping you from breaking things.

I even imagine that one more reason we got the made of glass 10 bolts in our 4th gens was the fact that rear-ends are cheaper to rebuild than transmissions....and easier to blame the customer for breaking too. (of course I know the "official" reasons too.... ;) )