Complaint Review: Auburn Chevrolet - Internet

I'm in agreement with Vic Le Blanc: the dealership should have been honest with you up front and told you that the clutch might not be covered under warranty. Instead, you were lied to and given a false promise that it would be covered under warranty. If a representative of the dealership issues such a promise, then they should take responsibility and stand behind what they say, rather than flip flop. In the case of your clutch, you should definitely take your time and find a reputable mechanic shop who will fix it at an affordable price. Also, you can do some research on craigs list as well. Once you find a mechanic who is affordable, research that person online, starting with this site. One person stated that if the clutch is not shifting into gear to begin with, then it could very well be due to mechanical failure and not 'wearingdown' of the clutch. That sounds about accurate. For a clutch to give out at 25,000 miles is absolutely ridiculous! You stated that you operate your vehicle and your clutch correctly (andI sincerelybelieve you)so it is not due to your driving habbits. Don't fall for that line of B.S-from anyone, whether it be the dealership, someone else, or the manufacturer itself. And again, take your time and search for an honest mechanic who won't try to rip you off like the dearlership would. Hopefully, the next time there is a problem with your vehicle, the company will honer the warranty, otherwise your s.o.l again.

..if the "clutch" is the actual problem.

If it is the clutch being worn, then correct it is not covered under warranty and this goes for ANY make or model I know of regardless of mileage.

If on the other hand the issue is mechanical (which as stated not being able to shift into gear would point to), and this vehicle only has 25,000 miles and is covered under a 36,000mi "bumper to bumper"...then it is just ANOTHER case of a dealership trying to skirt it's responsibility to the customer and manufacturer, and fleece the customer more.

This complaint if valid should be directed ONLY at the dealership, and not GM. I do not know of any excessive complaints towards GM vehicles regarding premature clutch wear..that is generally due to abuse or the driver inadvertently riding the clutch.

To me, it sounds like the person you spoke with at the Auburn Chevrolet dealership should not have mislead you into believing your clutch would be covered under warranty in the first place. A lot of times a dealerhip will give you a false promise, for instance a certaint repair will be covered 'no matter what' under your warranty in order toput you in the mind set of having them do the work, regardless of whether or not your warranty covers the repair or you have to pay for it yourself. After all, you already have your vehiclethere anywayand who wants to shop around from shop to shop all the while without a car?A lot of car dealerships practice this technique. It's the old bait 'n switch routine. What you should do is try to find the clutch online, which youcan usually find for a lot less than what a shop or autopart store wouldsell it for, and then find an honest mechanic that will install it for you. That is, if you can manage without a vehicle for a couple of days or longer. Whatever you do, don't have the Chevrolet dealership do the work. They have lied to you already. From what I can tell, you shouldn't count on GM to be of much help either. With clutches, it's easy for the dealership or the manufactuer to pin the blame on the driver, even if it's due to the fact that the facrory throws in the bare minimum standard to begin with. It'squicker (meaning more production)andless costlyfor them to use cheap parts instead of quality parts, and unfortunately-in your case-the buyer pays the price for it. Sorry, that's just how it is these days (don't kill the messenger)Have you had another mechanic look at it yet? I'd like to find out what the end result is.

P.S. You should purchase either a Luk or Sachs clutch kit (I think they are both the same company) for your car, instead of buying a GM or Chevrolet kit. Luk and Sachs make the best clutches and they will last you three times as long as the original factory clutch. Google Luk or Sachs and you will read outstanding reviews on these two products. Spend the extra money and it'll be worth it. You won't be sorry.

GM did not even make the top 20 worst complaints.

Recent recalls aside which by far Toyota is number one with 7 million..as far as complaints..and I copied this directly from the NHTSA website..

"Not to be outdone, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted its own 2010 report filled with complaints about automotive defects. In 2010, the NHTSA received over 40,000 consumer complaints about various defects and automotive issues. The only time the agency received more than that astounding number of complaints was during the Carter administration.

Toyota again leads the pack with the largest number of complaints per vehicle logged. Nissan came in second and Volkswagen in third.

I have been speaking with Giraldo ext 11066 at GM Chevrolets 'Customer Service'-there's a joke-center and he promised me just a few days ago that GM would have a representative do a thorough inspection of the clutch/hydrolic/transission system of my vehicle, which was not done at Auburn Chevrolet, at no cost to me. However, I spoke with him today over the phone and he told me that GM has decided that they are now not going to do an inspection on my car. He would not give me a justifiable reason, but instead passed the blame onto some 'higher up' GM representative in my area. He would not give me the information on who. I was also told that if I took my car to an outside mechanic and that person determined that the issue is not do to normal 'wear' but mechanical failure or poor quality somewhere in the system, then GM would still not honor my warranty. They have basically made a decission without doing an actuall and complete examination. Furthermore, Giraldo told me that I was not going to get 'any assistance' in this matter. Buying a GM vehicle (Chevrolet especially) is the most dissapointing purchase I have ever made. Anyone thinking of purchasing a GM vehicle, save yourself the time, money, and headache. It's not woth it.

If you go to youtube, there are plenty of videos (more so than any other car makers) exposing GM, again Chevrolets included, for the junk they are. One fellow even points out that upon calling GM's customer service number that he got someone from the Phillipines answering the call! I thought GM and Chevrolet prided themselves on being an 'American Tradition'. Guess Not. Among the cars that have had the most problems are the Aveo, Cobalt (which is the one described in this article), Malibu, Tahoe,C5500, Silvarado and the Suburban-almost their entire line up. Why do you think more and more Japanese, Korean, and German manufacturers are taking up bigger slices of the market share? No one wants to spend their money, which is harder to come buy these days, on unreliable crap that breaks down and costs even more money to fix.

I have a GMC Sierra 3500 4 doorand it is 11 years old. I have had to replacement the normal things ie: battery, starter, brakes etc etc. The truck has over 122,000 miles on it and runs like a dream! I have owned many vehicles in my life (9) and this is by far the best one yet.

I paid what the Dealeradvertused and got a good deal. They did a fantastic job with inspection and to this date I have never had to take it back to the dealership for any work.

I know this has nothing to do with the original report but the last rebuttal was totally wrong -

Karl go away and get a JOB!

I read this report (twice) and it seems to me that you unfortunately choose the wrong brand of car to buy. You mentioned you were considering purchasing a Honda or a Toyota, but opted for the 'american car company', which was your first mistake. Your second mistake was your choice of dealer where you had your car towed for service. Unfortnunately, you took your car to the wrong place. Perhaps if you were to have taken it to a different Chevrolet dealer then they might have been honest with you in the beginningand performed an accurate diagnostic of what the problem was. These days, a lot of dealerships, especially GM, do not want to take the time to do a true inspection of the problem for warranty purpouses and will insteadattempt to charge the customer because it is more profitible for them. I had an old VW Bug back in high school with a rebuilt engine and the original clutch lasted 200 thousand miles. Many American cars today are designed to break down quickly so the 'service department' section of thedealerships rake in the money on repairs. Just go to any GM dealership, Chevrolet included, and look at how many practically brand new cars are getting major work done, and many times at the customers out of pocket expense. I ride the bus now because Japanese & other forein cars are fairly expensive and I don't want to buy an American car, otherwise I'd be in the same boat that not just you, but a lot of others are in as well. If you can, try to find a place that will at least fix it for cheap.

..I understand your frustration..and trust me, I do not work for a car dealership (actually I despise them), and I do not work for GM.

I can tell you this in my opinion...don't blame GM or American made cars for this issue. It is 100% the DEALERSHIPS fault. Do a search on this website or anywhere..and you will see more reports against car dealerships then ANY other report regarding anything.

All makes and models have lemons and problems..a car is a mechanical device and things break. Nothing lasts forever.

In you case if this report is accurate and the problem is that the car would not shift into gear...that is a mechanical issue and not clutch lining wear..hence it should be covered under warranty at 25,000 mi.

The tire wear is irrelevant. You need to get firm with this dealership so they fix this already under warranty and you get on with your life. TELL them..do not "ask" but TELL them if they can not verify the issue was due to a worn out clutch..to fix this or the next step is small claims court and more lodging of complaints. Then after they fix it..thank them by leaving a bag of feces at their door.Or old fish will do.

Auburn Chevrolet simply did not want to do the repair since the manufacturer does not pay nearly what they would get if I paid cash myself. They also did not do an actual inspection of my clutch/transmission system to look for any defects in the hydrolic system, etc. I've spoken with many mechanics and they have said the same thing to me that Ronnie G has stated a few comments above, that if the clutch isn't even going into gear then it cold be a hydrolic or flywheel issue. This past friday, Girardo at GM/Chevrolet promised me that GM/Chevrolet would inspect the hydrolic and flywheel system and do a thorough inspection of the entire transmition/clutch system, which Auburn Chevrolet did not do. He also promised there would be no cost to me for this to be done. However, today Chevrolet has backtracked and said they will not do it because of pictures that Auburn Chevrolet has taken. I took pictures of the car as well. It's in great condition. The front tires have some tread wear, but duh-it does have 25,000 miles on it, and yes, it has been driven. But as I stated originally, GM Chevrolet doesn't think you should actually be driving your vehicle, and if you do, then shame on you. I now have my car at another chevrolet dealership. On another note, Tim Graves at Auburn Chevrolet claimed over the telephone to me that my front tires were 'completely bald'. He's a liar. I just took pictures of my front tires and there is plenty of tread on them and they are in great condition for being two years old! Auburn Chevrolet and the representatives GM Chevrolet are complete Sleeze Bags. I am warning anyone reading this to Never buy any GM Products, especially Chevrolets. Don't learn this the hard way, like I have. It's not worth it.

Either find a 1988 Acura with around 1/4 of a million miles on it..or 'google' the Fed.

I guess the only other option is to search for your next "new" car purchase at the Smithsonian, for something back when there was actually a "quality control" team..and not just pump out product by the gigaton and leave the consumers and mechanics as the "field testors".

Sorry, but that is the way things fly these days..unless you would prefer to pay $100,000 or more for an Acura (fancy Honda?) Could happen if Karl gets is way.

Acura that has over 260,000 miles on it. It still has the original clutch, and it has never needed any major mechanical repairs since the day it was purchased in 1988.

The only thing that has ever needed replaced on the car was a power-steering unit, about two years ago. The car still runs perfectly. It was made in Japan back in 1988, when some cars were still made with good parts that lasted a long time. (Oil changes and tune-ups are all the car has needed since new.)

In my opinion, almost every auto manufacturer uses cheap parts so they can make more profit and it also forces people to buy cars more frequently.

Don't forget to 'Google' this- WHO OWNS THE FED?, and go to the site with the 5 charts and pay attention to the fact that General Motors is listed in 'Chart 3', okay?

Then 'Google' this- WHO OWNS THE FED BANK, WHO CONTROLS WHO VIDEO, and watch it on the web!

Remember, General Motors filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, right? Many mismanaged companies end up filing for bankruptcy. It's just 'business in America'.

WELCOME TO GENERAL MOTORS- PART OF THE "HUB"

According to GM 104,724 2009 Cobalts were sold. How many reports are there of premature clutch failure? If only a few, it may not be a bad car but a lemon, or due to abuse.

Granted, the dealer could choose to fix a worn down clutch under warranty if premature, but often they will not and claim it was due to abuse.

The thing is after reading the report again carefully, it is stated the vehicle would not shift into gear. This would normally be another issue as the clutch lining being worn would not effect going into gear, but rather slippage when you tried to move. So, it may not be a worn clutch, but perhaps the hydraulic system or flywheel/internal issue with the transmission. Might want to get a second opinion, that could very well be covered under warranty and the dealer is trying to get out of it so they can charge you into the poor house vs what the manufacturer will pay.

Did you ask the dealer how a worn out clutch could cause it not to shift into gear?

I've drivenManuals all of my life know how to maintain the life of a clutch, so anyone who claims that I 'rode the clutch hard' or 'fried the clutch' or 'didn't operate the clutch properly' is more than likely an employee of Auburn Chevrolet or Chevrolet itself-or worse.... Also, what proof does anyone who makes these ridiculous claims that I 'fried my clutch' have? I said it before, and I will stand by what I say: I know how to operate a clutch properly. And further more, I paid almost 17,000 dollars cash for my car, so why the hell (pardon my french) would I drive my carelessly. I'm not a millionare. Would you not take good care of a car that you paid thousands of dollars for? Well I certainly do take good care of all ofthe vehicles I own, because money doesn't grow on trees. Once again, defective parts in the clutch/transmission system or simply a poorly made product. But nice try, in the hands of the Chevrolet & Auburn Chevroletemployees, but to no avail :)

The clutch is not covered under any car warranty, from any manufacturer. Neither are brake pads or tires. All of these are wear items, and all are 100% under the control of the driver. The only reason the clutch failed early in your car is because you didn't operate it correctly. It's not possible for a clutch to be "defective". If you try, you can fry the clutch in any vehicle in less than 50 miles.

There is absolutelyno question now, after reading a few of the comments regarding my complaint, that employees of chevrolet are posing as 'annonomous' commentors. If not, then why are they so vigourously defending chevrolet (as Bobby from Portland asked recently in his comment) especially against the Japanese auto manufactures. Looks like someone on here is taking my complaint very personally and trying every which way as they can to discredit my ripoff report, but it's not working (& consistently referring to the owners manual is a dead giveaway)Here is the bottom line, once again: I was Promised-not once, but twice,from Mike Dimmit at Auburn Chevrolet that my clutch would be repaired at absolutely no cost to me under warranty when I first brought my vehicle in to the service department andBEFORE any so called 'diagnostics' were done. The next day, the same service department told me somethingcompletely different. Not only was I LIED to, but if you have read my original complaint, the service rep, Mike Dimmit, also thought his lying to me was a laughing matter byoffering to install a hyped up super charger on my hood as well. Having your brand new car-which you spent thousands of dollars on-break down on you is not a laughing matter.Also, I've been driving a manual for over 17 years and I know how to safely handle and operate a clutch. Furthermore, I've spoken with several mechanic shops, including a different Chevrolet dealership, recently and EVERY SINGLE mechanic I have spoken with agree that a clutch should not go out at only 25,000 miles. One mechanic even stated that it's extremely uncommon for a clutch to give out-on ANY make & model-at only 25,000 miles, especially on a car that's not even two years old yet (bought my car in late January 2009)And again,when I do drive my car, I operate the clutch in laymans termsvery smoothly and without riding or grinding, so attempting to pin the blame on me isn't a valid argument as well; that'snothing more than excuse for the dealership and the factory to weasel their way out of honeringthe repairso they can swindle you out of your money. The fact is:either there is a malfunction or defective part somewhere in the clutch/transmission system-since as of recent the general manager of Auburn Chevrolet, Tim Graves, the same Tim Graves who claimed to be recording our conversation, which is illegal to do, admitted to me that a thorough examination of my clutch/transmission system had not been done-or Chevrolet simply manufactures poor quality vehicles.

We had an oil change done on our 2007 Accord today and I took the opportunity to ask my dealer service manager if they warranty clutches during the warranty period. He said that the clutch is considered a wear part and that they don't replace them under warranty. He also said that a dealer could if they wanted to for some special reason but that it's not in the Honda warranty.

..that Honda or Toyota or any vehicle manufacturer will warranty a worn clutch? The average life expectancy of a clutch regardless if on a American made car, or import is around 90,000 miles.

I previously stated a Chevrolet I owned had 100,000 miles on the original clutch when I sold it, and it was still good. There are plenty of complaints on this website against Honda dealerships and Toyota dealerships. As a matter of fact..Toyota holds the current worlds record for recalls. I think Ford holds the overall record for recalls but bear in mind they are a very old company, much older then Honda or Toyota.

Not to say American cars are built so great...they can certainly use improvement as can all cars (including Asian imports and German) which seem these days to have horrible fit and finish, parts that break easy..and over engineered electronics that no one wants to deal with...but to claim a worn clutch will be covered under warranty by a Japanese make is pure rubbish..unless any evidence in writing can be posted to prove the contrary. I highly doubt it but am open investigate any such postings.

If a person does not know how to properly drive a stick, they can wear out a clutch very quickly. It does not have to be with intent every time. Parts that can suffer wear due to abuse such as clutch and brake linings, are not covered under any bumper to bumper warranties I am aware of.

First of all, I am not trying to insult the person who wrote this report, so please don't take it that way. I have never owned a Chevrolet in my life (or any other American made car) and never will. Too many of my friends and family members have owned American cars-including Chevrolets-and they seem as if they are built to break down often, giving the dealerships a chance to take you for a ride once you bring your car in, even if the damage is covered by this fictional 'bumper to bumper' warranty they sucker you with. You should have listened to your friends in the first place and went with either a Toyota or a Honda. I've owned both and have experienced many miles of happy driving with no headache. I've put over 150k miles on a Toyota Corrolla clutch before trading it in for a new car. I'm willing to bet whoever's driving the car now has had no problems with the clutch either. Again, I'm not attempting to insultthe writter of this report in any way, but for a few dollarshave bou more, you could bought either a Honda or Toyota and would not be putting up with this kind of warranty hassle (or in this case: 'warrantyscam') Most Clutches are made to last a long time and unless you PURPOUSLY grind and ride the clutch hard (which you claim not too, and your complaint does sound legitimate) then Chevrolet should definitely cover the repair. My best advice to you is to get it fixed and then sell it-before anything else goes wrong with it-and purchase a more reliable brand of car. Good Luck.

..at least for me. I just entered a few words in a search engine and my computer did all the work. It took less then a minute to find what is covered under the GM 3 year/36,000mi bumper to bumper warranty. I just copied and pasted it from the GM website to here.

Personally I feel dealerships are the BIGGEST rip offs and crooks on Earth. I do not work for one and never have. However, if something is NOT covered under warranty..then it is not a fair complaint. A worn down clutch is clearly not covered.

Granted, I do believe the term "bumper to bumper" can be deceptive. But it does state in the owners manual what is covered and what is not. So if someone "thinks" bumper to bumper means everything is covered, they thought wrong. But when it is in writing, not much you can do really. When I purchase a car I tend to read what is covered so there are no surprises later on.

While I agree a clutch should last more then 25,000mi...someone who rides it or abuses it can wear it out in hours. I had a Chevy once that was a standard shift and got about 100,000mi from the original clutch and sold the car..it may still be going.

I agree with the author of this complaint. If your vehicle has a bumper to bumper warranty and it is under the described mileage, then the factory and dealer should honor that warranty. It sounds to me like it's more profitable for the dealership to charge youhundreds of dollarsthan do a simple warranty repair, which would be easy to fix and cost next to nothing. However, in my experience, most service departments at car dealerships are out to line their pockets with your hard earned money. In that case, you have every right to voice your opinion. From reading the comments above, it's very clear that whoever is writting them is an employee of Chevrolet or the dealership itself (and take your report very personal) If not, then why have they gone through so much trouble to post warranty information on line and to discredit you by using words such as 'long whinded' and 'whine' and basically defend Chevrolet throughout their argument. I went througha similar experience as you did with a service dealership and after battling with them for three weeks, they finally honored my warranty-but not after trying to take me for almost five thousand dollars! Never trust car sales people or the people who work at the service station-they always lie.

..granted we do not personally know each other..I have seen every respondents user name on this website for YEARS, and I do think they devoted YEARS to responding to many reports on this site just to defend this particular Chevy dealer, or that this concludes they are employees.

I posted the FACTS from the owners manual as far as "what is NOT covered"..here they are AGAIN from the GM website under CHEVY WARRANTY INFORMATION.. and stated as per GM themselves..anyone can look it up online...

What does the bumper-to-bumper warranty cover?



The Bumper-to-Bumper Limited Warranty covers most GM vehicles registered in the U.S. and Canada from the date the vehicle is first delivered until it reaches 3 years or 36,000 miles (whichever occurs first, see dealer for details) on Chevrolet and GMC vehicles; and 4 years or 50,000 miles (whichever occurs first, see dealer for details) on Buick and Cadillac vehicles. It covers the vehicle from bumper to bumper on any vehicle defect related to materials or workmanship. Original tires are covered but prorated after 12,000 miles during the terms of the Bumper to Bumper Limited Warranty. For further details, look in the Owner's Manual under "What Is Covered" and "What Is Not Covered."

To answer your question, my vehicle is covered by a 3 year 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. Bumper toBumper means EVERYTHING from one endof the bumper to the other end is covered until 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. The 5 year 'power train ' waranty is not the issue here, since I am still under the 3 year 36,000 mile warranty. Also, once again, It appears that the employees of chevrolet and auburn chevrolet are posting rebutuls online, pretending to annonomous posters. Most people are smart enough to see through that. But nice try

WHAT IS NOT COVERED

As the vehicle owner, you are responsible for the performance of the scheduled maintenance

listed in your Owners Manual. In addition to the What Is Not Covered

section of the Warranty Booklet, this Powertrain Limited Warranty does not cover the

following items:

• Powertrain wear items, such as clutch linings



• Wear items, such as brake linings



• Scheduled maintenance items, such as filters, coolants and fluids, and brake
  
  pads/linings



• Any damage caused by owner/lessee failure to follow scheduled maintenance may not be
  
  covered by warranty



• Damage due to accident, misuse, alteration or contaminated or poor quality fuel

You never answered a very simple question. Does your warranty EXCLUDE the clutch? If it is not excluded and they won't replace it then take them to small claims court, and let them deterimine if your driving habbits caused it to fail. If it is excluded then you can whine and complain all day long but you don't have a leg to stand on.

By the way the "You must be an employee" response is usually thrown out when youhave nothing and just want to use that as an attempt to discredit someone who asked a legitimate question. Which if you actuallylooked at other posts on this siteyou would first realize they are not from Florida(so have no idea where you got that from), and that they post on various subjects and companies.

As for the recording..if they try and use those recordings and you can show that they don't have consent you may be able to go after them. But once they tell you, if you stay on the line it is implied that you give consent. This even includes if when you call them they havea recording that states the call MAY be recorded.

Could this review be any more long-winded?

If you ride the clutch the same way you write, you probably did wear it out.

It's obvious that that an employee of the dealership itself is posing as an annonomous commenter from florida, given the quick response ofthis article, the attemptsto be-littlethe situationand careful wording of the comment(there is no limit to how low these people will actually go, is there?). Nice try, hoever :) I do agree with the fact that American cars do not have the same quality as Japanese and some other forein auto makers. And it looks like so do some of the Chevrolet employees.

On another note, I also faxed a formal complaint to GM Motors along with a copy of my article. One of the general managers at Auburn Chevrolet, Ron G, called me, trying his best to munipulate me into believing they should not honor the warranty and actually implying to me that perhaps I had at one point 'raced the car and just don't remember doing so'. He attempted to further make profound insinuations, but I informed him that I no longer wanted to continue the conversation and I then hung up, while he attempted to argue with me. He called me back right away, and when I informed him that I did not want to speak with him any further, he said these words: "All of these conversations are being recorded". For anyones reference, recording someone without their knowledge & concent is 100 percent illegal in the state of Washington under RCW9.73.030 (google it) It appears that the employees of Auburn Chevrolet have no qualms about imploying illegal tactics. If they were willing to repair thefaulty clutchin my vehicle, instead of attempting to milk me for $1,000 cash, this would not be an issue.I would advise anyone thinking of purchasing a Chevrolet not to, especially from Auburn Chevrolet.

according to a YouTube video available on the web.

Anyone can 'Google' this- WHO OWNS THE FED BANK, WHO CONTROLS WHO VIDEO, and watch it, right?

Maybe General Motors doesn't want to honor some warranties because of the bankruptcy they had a few years ago and the "hub" doesn't want to spend any more money than it has to, correct?

****************************** HUB ALERT *******************************

*If you stay at this site and type in 670790 and go to 'Consumer Comment #10', you can read "HUB POEM".

Happy New Year!

This should have been a pretty simple issue. What does your warranty booklet say about coverage for the clutch? Either it is covered, or it's not. All the drama about who said what and who called whom is totally irrelevant and a waste of your time. If the clutch is covered for 36K miles, you have nothing to worry about. If it's not, it's going to cost you.

Some manufacturers exclude coverage on the clutch as it is considered to be a consumable. While a clutch can easily go over 100K miles, it can also be ground to dust in a few thousand by someone with poor driving habits. Note that I'm not saying you have poor driving habits, just pointing out why clutches are often not covered by the full warranty.

", I purchased a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt, giving the American car company the benifit of the doubt."

I quit doing that 20 yrs. ago. Although American car companies claim to have equalled the quality standards of the Japanese companies, it is not apparent to me, given the number of times I have to pickup friends at the GM/Ford/Chrysler dealer when their cars are getting fixed.