Gregory Agee

OK let me update everyone on how this is going so far.

Emma who is the Chevrolet Customer Care lady that is handling my case called me back on Monday 10/7/13 at 2:30 PM and apologized because she had no answer yet on what was going to happen and said she would call me back tomorrow between 3 and 5 PM and would have me some kind of answer or solution.
Emma called back on Tuesday 10/8/13 at 4:31 PM and said she had spoken to Barbara the service manager at Smedleys Chevrolet and she told Emma that Langs Chevrolet was already handling this. I told Emma that I had spoken to Joe at Langs last week and that my wifes Avalanche was going into Smedleys on Wednesday 10/2/13 to have 3 door alarm speakers replaced and I had spoken to Jeff at Smedleys and Jeff wanted to see the dash to see if they could fix it, and Jeff told me that he would call chevrolet but he wanted to see what the service manager said about me having a Major Guard warranty and if they would just replace it and if I wanted Langs to pursue this they would have to have the vehicle brought in and pictures taken of the dash. I told Joe that I would get back with him after I got done with Smedleys and Jeff looked at it and told me what he thought. Jeff looked at it and said it could not be repaired as so Mellissa from Smedleys also looked at it and said the same thing. I asked them at that time if they could handle this and they said yes they could persue it for me but I had to make the first move and call Chevrolet Customer Service and then they would continue for me.
Emma said she has to call Langs now that Barbara from Smedleys has backed out of this and confirm with Langs that they will fix it and how much. I again explained to Emma that I have seen it all over the internet that people are paying anywhere from $50.00 to $200.00 as a deductible in which she explained that that is a participation fee and that I am willing more than anything to help out on this but not over $200.00. I am no different than any of their other GM owners. She said she would call me tomorrow between the hours of 3 and 5 PM to let me know what the solution is or basically what Langs is going to charge me. I thanked her for her time because I do feel she is trying to help me but I am very disappointed in how all this has been handled when its a defect in GM's product.
As soon as I got off the phone with Emma, I called Joe at Langs and told him how this was all handled and he said he was going to speak to his service manager again and if Emma called, he would gladly speak with her to try and help out on this cracked dash.

Sorry for the long lengthy explanation, but its as in debt with out writing a book, in which I have on this vehicle.

Thank you,
Gregory Agee

Vector1

I have both a 2007 AV and a 2007 Sub, and as you might suspect, I have the exact same two cracks in the exact same two places on both. What an incredible coincidence, wouldn't you say?

I am of course being sarcastic because almost every place you go to look at used GM trucks, you find these damn cracks in almost every one. The ones that don't have it are probably replaced.

I have been a loyal GM owner since 1980, with a variety of cars and trucks. For the most part I have been very pleased, hence the reason I have stayed a loyal customer. However this universal flaw which is clearly a factory defect should be taken care of by GM, free of cost.

Gregory Agee

Wednesday 10/9/13 update on the wifes Avalanche.

Today the wife had to take the Avalanche out to Langs Chevrolet and Joe tok pictures of the crack in the dash and said as soon as Emma from Chevrolet Customer Suppot got ahold of him, he would call me back. At 3:10 PM Barbara the service manager from Smedleys Chevrolet called me. She apologized for being confused on who and what was taking place with thevehicle and said she spoke to Chevrolet today and now she would take care of the dash but was advised from Chevrolet that the best solution for our Avalanche was to replace the dash buttaking in consideration of the year and the miles of 67K I was to pay 50% of the total cost. By the time her and was finished talking she agreed to replace the dash at $300.00 total and said if she could save me money on the install, she would credit it back to me. I agreed to this and paid or it in advance and she ordered the dash and they are going to do the work next Monday. Joe from Langs called me right fter I got off the phone with Barbara and said that he was directed by Chevrolet to let Smedleys do the service. He apologized and we were done. At 4:10PM Emma from Chevrolet called me and explained everything wile recording it and I also explained how I felt and what Barbara told me about the money and she recoreded it all and said she would call me Tuesday of next week between 1 and 3 PM to see if I was satisfied with the work.
I will let you all know next week how it went.

Gregory Agee

Vector1

Well Gregory, if that makes you happy then good for you.

All I know is that I'd be reluctant to pay a dime considering how this is a known defect that thousands of GM trucks are plagued with, yet they want you to pay to fix it.

Gregory Agee

Vector1
I don't disagree with you on this and no it doesn't make me happy to shell out any money when I see so many that have this same problem, but what Chevrolet does is you participate and when they finally decide this was a defect and they will take care of it, then they will reimburse you what you have paid out.

Good Luck
Gregory Agee

Vector1

What evidence/examples do you have to substantiate this?

Gregory Agee

Other than having to rely on what Chevrolet and my dealership has said, I have no other evidence or examples. The dealership told me that Chevrolet has had to pay back after they have determined that it was a defect. If you know anything different that might help anyone in the future on this, please let us know as we are at the Chevrolet and dealerships mercy right now, and I would deffinately like to have the rubbing noise in my steering column fixed for free if you have any ideas.

Thank You,
Gregory Agee

Vector1

Rubbing noise in the steering column Is this a unique malady to you, or should it be added to the list of known defects of this generation of SUV's/Trucks ?

Gregory Agee

Vector1,
As for the rubbing noise in the steering column, I have taken it to the dealership and they will not do anything and yes they have said its something they are aware of and Chevrolet told them to stop replacing the columns because there is no known facts that it causes any driveabilty issues and when they have a fix they will contact me and the other thousands it is happening to.

As for the Avalanche, I ended up paying the $300.00 and they replaced the dash and everything is working fine so far. My wife is happy with the way it looks even though she was out an extra day because they first ordered the wrong part, but its ok.
Good luck on your vehicle.


Gregory Agee

Vector1

Thanks for the well wishes, but remember I have two, not one, with exactly the same cracks. The odds of me finding a dealership that will fix one for free, much less two are probably slim and none. And since I will never pay $300 to get one fixed, my future with cracked dashboards looks assured.

I say that not out of stubbornness, rather principle. I can afford to pay, but why should I pay money to a company that has known defects, tries to cover it up(Armor All excuse), and or pretends it does not exist. Worse yet, even with all their customers complaining on multiple forums like this one, as well as Facebook pages, etc., they still are not owning up to their responsibility.
Dashboards are not considered wear/maintenance items that consumers are expected to replace every X amount of miles or every few years. If body panels were cracking, would they try to pawn it off on using Turtle Wax? Would they be telling customers to fix the problem they would have to pay X amount of dollars? I don't know, but that is what they are doing with the dashboards. Heck if the leather or cloth on seats wore away too quickly, that might be understandable because of the pressure and wear they encounter. However our dashboards get no such wear, yet are cracking within a few years of purchase.

Heck some people have the cracks and don't even know it because the pieces have not separated on different levels yet. I had a friend of a friend pronounce his dashboard was fine on his Denali. So I looked at it and slightly pressed to the left of the instrument cluster. Sure enough it was there, and I showed him. He was pissed off and asked if his was going to look like mine soon, and I assured him that it would. Now he says he is out for blood if the dealership wont fix it, and he is actually a sue happy attorney who is proud of suing Disney World in a class action lawsuit.

But I digress.
I will see if a local dealership will make good on my dashboards, but I will not hold my breath.