REVscene Automotive Forum - Dealer abuses Camaro

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Dealer abuses Camaro

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When you own a sports car, you inevitably get a little paranoid about how it's treated when in the care of strangers. One South Carolina man was worried enough that when he took his 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS in for service at a Chevy dealer, he hid a voice recorder in the car. He was right to be worried: The recorder caught mechanics doing burnouts and discussing how to make the owner pay for a ruined clutch the car didn't have before coming in. Now the Internet Justice League has taken the wheel. UPDATE: Case closed.William Clark says he took his Camaro to Best Chevrolet-Kia in Easley, S.C. for a clunking noise in the car's six-speed manual transmission. After a previous visit to a different dealer, his Camaro had died shortly after Clark retrieved it; while he suspected the staff at that dealership of joyriding, he had no proof at the time.

This time, the voice recorder hidden in the door pocket catches employees doing several burnouts and hard launches in the Camaro; Clark later says the techs drove it harder in 20 minutes than he had in three years. Once back in the shop, the mechanics realize the Camaro's clutch has been fried, and come up with a plan to blame the damage on Clark, saying to "write it up as him buying a (expletive) clutch," while saying another part failed under warranty so that General Motors would pay for its replacement.

Clark says he's taken his evidence to the dealer and Chevrolet customer service; the dealer offered to reassess the damage or take the Camaro as a trade-in on another car, but refused Clark's demand to buy the car back. Clark says Chevrolet customer service washed it hands of the problem, saying it was an issue between him and the dealer. As of the last update, the car's smoked clutch remains untouched.

Unfortunately for Clark, there's few other steps he can take that don't end in court. Dealers are regulated by states; Clark can file a complaint with South Carolina officials, but even with an audio recording the assessment of damage isn't so clear-cut as if the mechanics had wrecked it on a test drive. Instead, other Camaro owners have taken up the cause, posting Clark's video to the dealership's Facebook page and otherwise making noise about the problem.

You can hear the entire exchange, including the profanity, here. A lawyer for Best Chevrolet, in a request to Yahoo Autos to take down this story, told us in an email that the audio was "misleadingly edited." Clark has said the dealership has threatened to sue him over the audio, but has also spoken with him about buying the Camaro back. The dealership may soon learn that in the Internet era, one burnt clutch can create quite the stink.

UPDATE: General Motors says in a statement that if the recording is valid it does not condone the behavior described, and that it is "actively working closely with the dealer to resolve this situation to the customer's satisfaction."

UPDATE 2: According to Clark, the dealership has bought back the Camaro at a price somewhat above its value, and any proceeds from the transaction will be donated to charitable causes.

Camaro owner records mechanics abusing car, scheming to get damages paid for (UPDATED) | Motoramic - Yahoo! Autos

fuck stealerships....

I had a new 01 civic with a full body kit on it and took it to Surrey Honda and they cracked the front lip. After speaking and complaining to the GM they ended up spending the $600 to fix it. Shit like this happens all over the place I'm happy to see these guys get roasted.

with hidden cams and shit so mainstream you'd figure these workers will smarten up and not abuse people's pride and joy.

better hide my dash cam under the seat next time i take it in for servicing.

What a bunch of asshats.

Backs up the reason to be paranoid about servicing.
I remember being at a tire shop where a customer dropped of his corvette. I guess mechanics thought owner left and they did a big burnout when they left the shop for a test drive. Well, owner was close by and saw them and walked back to the shop to complain. Owner of the shop was pissed when he heard what happened and replaced the owners tires for a small fee.

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Originally Posted by racerman88 (Post 8052041)

That's just fucked up,what if these dickheads crashed the customers car,how the fuck do you explain that one to the owner.

On my "fun" car,whenever I need it serviced with stuff I cannot do or need tires or whatnot,before I even get out of the car at the place I'm at,I will set my standalone ECU to limpmode.The limpmode is set by me to allow the rpm's to go no higher than 2500 rpm's,it's just enough to move the car into and around the shop.I also get the manager or person in charge to look over the car to see what shape it's in before I leave it to them,I also inform them I know the mileage too.

I may seem really paranoid,but going at it this way,I have yet to be fucked over by any shop.

diy,

never trust anyone with your car unless your there watching

The camaro owner could have done a odometer check before bringing it in. As far as I know, they can't test drive it for more then a kilometer outside of the shop.

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Originally Posted by Everymans (Post 8052210)

The camaro owner could have done a odometer check before bringing it in. As far as I know, they can't test drive it for more then a kilometer outside of the shop.

For some companies like suzuki, if it is a fuel consumption complaint, we have to drive the car out to langley and back. Fill up before and after. And for aircare testing, we have to take the car out for a drive to make sure the cat is very hot

out of paranoia I would record my mileage to see how much my car was driven when I came to pick it up

I do my own oil changes. If it manages to get screwed up, I know which asshole to go after..

It's all about respect of others which has unfortunately become a rare trait in many people nowadays. They forget that a man is truly judged by his conscience and what actions he chooses to undertake when no one is around to watch. This lack of common sense and integrity really ticks me off, but honestly I'm not surprised at all and wonder why more people don't get caught doing this. I remember some friends I used to know who worked as lot boys and would take every opportunity from their mundane positions to rip the shit out of whatever cars they could get their hands on. Fucking assholes should have to pay the damages they cause and then get fired afterwards.
Posted via RS Mobile

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Originally Posted by racerman88 (Post 8052041)

for a small fee? i wouldn't be paying a fucking cent out of my pocket if that happened to me - especially if the shop was stupid enough to actually fuck with a car before the owner was out of ear/eye shot. so many crooked shops nowadays it's a wonder these stories aren't more common than they already are
Posted via RS Mobile

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Originally Posted by - kT (Post 8053323)

Yup. I didn't even let the dealer where I purchased my Boss 302 Laguna Seca to wash the car. I didn't want dealer installed swirls.