dgoldenz

if your brand is selling cars that compete with the big boys, you better be able to service the damn car you’re selling. That means every single dealer, not just the ones that feel like it.

jvp

My understanding is that a certain young lady sold hers after three months, maybe? She got her clicks and ad revenue from it, and moved on.

It is about the dealerships not GM, yes. Some, small percentage of Chevy service departments are beyond good. But they're more rare than hen's teeth. Most of them haven't the time or skill to deal with all the nuances of these new challenges, such as the CF wheels. Can they learn and get properly equipped? Of course they can. But they haven't yet. Austin won't be the last person running into problems like this with the CF wheels.

zland

If they gave me CF wheels l would sale them the same day along with the ceramic brakes. I honestly don't understand why anyone would want a super expensive item that is expensive to repair. To me, unless you are making money running a 2 second faster lap, it doesn't matter. These are not race cars, nobody l know here is making a living running laps in a Z06. I find the entire obsession with CF and things like this illogical.

LuckyCharmsYo

Sure, but that's not the point. GM priced this car to compete with the exotics. They gave it the crazy priced options to compete with the exotics. They even directly compared the car to exotics in their announcement and press briefings.

The dealers need to be properly equipped to work with the cars they are selling - plain and simple.

JG853

I get what you are saying and agree. They should have had the appropriate equipment and training to do it. No question about it. That said, I still take my CF Dymags elsewhere (Whether it be in the past or present).

SouthernSon

But, like I said above, don't expect that to change anytime soon. Until GM changes the contractual aggrements with dealerships there is no incentive to change the level of service there. However, my last new car purchase in 2021 was an Audi. Ever notice the number of four circle logos on the street these days? There is a reason for that, at least in N. Alabama. I imagine GM figures minimal return on effort to change until they realize what is happening.

JABCAT

European manufacturers understand customer service far beyond that of American manufacturers. I take my BMW in for an oil change, no appointment necessary, and I'm greeted by extremely polite service personnel wearing suits. I am greeted and addressed by name, I am provided a loaner vehicle for the day without having to ask, I'm texted videos by the technician showing everything they're checking on my vehicle. My wife ordered a '23 Grand Cherokee Summit, MSRP $70k, and it arrived without added equipment that we were charged for. Jeep argued that the build sheet said it was equipped with the parts so it must be though our pictures showed otherwise. It also showed up with scratches on the doors and 3 wheels either scratched or chipped. The selling dealership fixed the scratches but Jeep refused to authorize fixing the wheels. The regional rep for the selling dealer wouldn't authorize the dealership fixing the wheels because we were out-of-state customers & said "let their local dealer fix them". The local dealer of course said, well you didn't buy the vehicle from us, not our problem. A 4-month battle ensued trying to get the missing optional components for which we were charged, and the wheel finish was never fixed. I have a list of 14 electrical/software-related issues with the vehicle and all we get is "cannot duplicate" or " Jeep hasn't given us a fix for these issues yet, maybe a software update down the road will fix them". My wife isn't even given a loaner when she has to take the vehicle in for these items. I've owned 7 Jeeps and 15 Chrysler vehicles overall - this was our last new purchase.

Yes, vehicles from every manufacturer have issues but it's how the manufacturers/dealers take care of the customers. US automakers absolutely suck in this regard. While some think Austin's issues are with the dealers, I disagree. It's GM's responsibility to ensure every GM dealership can properly service the vehicles it manufacturers and provide a certain level of service. If I go to a Ritz-Carlton Hotel anywhere in the world, I receive the exact same level of service. If you choose to eat at Chic-Fil-A, you receive the same level of service. Car dealerships are no different than any other business.

Jridden

SouthernSon

I especially like the video after service showing the camcorder view from the technician as he videos each wheel, brake pad, tire tread depth and narrates the service done. Notwithstanding the fact that the newer Audi's are fantastic vehicles. Great value. Mine is an A8L and absolutely super car. Well over 5,000 pounds and accelerates 0-60 in 4.5 with a 4.0 liter, TT, hybrid 48 volt passive assist. Even with steering rear to help tight circles it travels down the highway better than any vehicle I have ever driven. Audi definately did their homework on this vehicle. At first I thought it was going to be the most boring car I have ever driven but now I appreciate what engineering went into the car. Of course I did buy extended coverage with all of the systems onboard. I will never buy extended with a GM product mainly because of the low expectations of service from GM.

The last two vehicles before this Audi were S550's. No more Merz for me. Actually, the Huntsville, Al Merz dealership is a peg or two BELOW GM. Seriously.

PRE-Z06

I agree I wouldn’t option for Carbon Fiber wheels either, just curious have there been issues at Ford dealerships screwing them up as well?

Poor-sha

Let’s be honest. Most folks that buy CF wheels will at most do one tire change to get rid of the Cup 2R tires and then the tires on the vehicle will dry rot in the garage (my father has a 2013 427 convertible still on the original tires).

If the issue with the CF is solely with the face where the hub clamps then multiple manufactures do make machines that bolt to the lug locations (I have it on my Corghi machine that I bought from a small shop that was closing).

The scary thing is that cars are going to become far less mechanical and far more software as GM rushes to the EV “future”. I don’t see them investing a lot in better support.

rangda

I do but I am fortunate in that my local dealer is Macmulkin. But the reality of Chevrolet dealers giving incompetent service does not mean that Chevrolet does not deserve to get roasted for it. They absolutely do.

At the very bare minimum dealers should not be able to sell cars they cannot service. The idea that a dealer would refuse to service a car they sold is unconscionable. And museum delivery still counts as selling the car.

Ramv

Unfortunately, this is just a fact. I had a the most expensive Chevrolet sold with the exception of a loaded Vette Z06+ and the service was absolutely garbage by both the local and the selling dealership (I purchased the next city over due to having the color I wanted.) The work they did do (which was incorrectly diagnosed) was done poorly and resulted in complete failure 1,000 miles (and another country) away. These were large chain dealerships. My current truck is Stellantis and it's no better or worse. I would literally trust any Mom&Pop versus a Ram labelled dealer. However, my Cadillac (bought with 2k miles at a Landrover dealership) had amazing service from both the selling dealership and the Cadillac dealership down the street. I also have serviced the BMW at several dealerships and other than trying to sell me a new one, they have all done good work, and been very helpful including sending videos. Ram and Chevy treated me like I was wasting their time even though they were charging me. We typically buy/lease Fords at work, but we have got to the point where the service is so bad, we are switching to Chevy 6500s even though the Ford dealer is our landlord/in our front yard.

Chevy dealer has usually been ignorant over warranty issues although they did "resurface" my warped rotors (which accomplished nothing, go figure.) Cadillac, BMW, Landrover actually act like they want your business. This isn't limited to cars though, a lot of the motorcycle dealerships in Denver acted like the car dealerships. My friend actually took his R6 to Oklahoma because none of the local Denver dealerships would cover transmission failure under warranty. After buying a Ducati at a local dealership, I bought my KTM used to not have to deal with the dealer. To the points above if you are paying Nissan 400z money, no big deal, if you are paying GT4 money, it kind of sucks.

The domestics need to get their dealerships to where they are useful.

thebishman

You are 100% correct. And yet in GM’s world, they apparently don’t give a damn about the service you receive on your new, expensive C8 Corvette.

In fact, they seem to be more interested in not offering a new owner the choice of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto versus their God awful Google based entertainment/Nav systems in their EVs going forward, than in making sure everything is in place to take care of a high performance vehicle prior to its release.

NXTFAZE

I saw the video and I didn't get an answer to who replaced the CF wheels? Was it Chevy or the dealership?

I'm assuming Chevy took care of it and told all the local dealers to not work on Austin's wheels as they won't be replacing another set. I have had a carbon fiber wheels in the past and won't do that again. One of my wheels had a pin hold leak on the inner barrel by the white temperature coating and Ford denied my claim due to "impact damage". I had to ship my wheels to Syder Composites and had them repair my wheel for $2k. Carbon Revolutions made the GT350 R wheels - same as the Z06.

I used my local Discount Tire shop to swap out my tires on all my cars (to include my Forgelines and CF wheels), but I have a good relationship with the store manager and he handles them personally.

MitchAlsup

There is a reason F1 cars don't use CF wheels............even though their budgets are/were such that they can replace every wheel every tire change.

Instead, F1 goes for forged magnesium.

Z51JEFF

And yet he kept going back,well,I guess once they raped the wheels it didn't matter. The normal response would be to have the dealer replace the damaged wheels and have a reputable shop install the tires.

CaddyRacer

some love him, others don't:

range96

I would get a set of forged wheels for the track and keep the shiny CF wheels for CC.

I know it's a pain to find an installer who is willing and capable of working with wide tires (especially RF). Most 'Recommended Installers' listed on 'TireRack' and 'DiscountTireDirect' balk on working on them once they find out the sizes. There is a reason some get their OWN tire machine when faced with repeated tire changes. I wish I had the space and strong back to do so as well!