bellhall73

I just bought a new 2013 chevrolet Z71. I purchased it from the dealer with a 6" lift and xd series rims and tires. My speedometer is reading 5-8 mph slower than I am really driving. I figured since I bought the truck new with the lift from the dealership they would have calibrated the speedometer. I called them and their reply was that you can't calibrate the 2013 trucks. Are they lying to me cause i'm a girl?

Mille Racer 69

LOVE THE TRUCK!

i think theyre hastling you.
its not gonna calibrate itself after adding a lift kit or changing tire sizes
unless there is some brand new technology that comes stock on cars now.

I'd call them with a fake story like this:

you - hey, I just did some modifications to my new silverado, put a lift on, and now the speedo is inacurate, can you guys fix it for me?

dealer - ya sure, just bring it down, it will be $$

MAKE SURE YOU GET THE GUYS NAME YOU SPOKE TO

(you arrive for your appt)

you - this truck was sold with a lift and the speedo is off.

dealer - it is self calibrating

you - interesting, when I told so and so over the phone that I did it and it was now off, he seemed pretty eager to want to charge me $$ to bring it down here to get it calibrated.
fix it now or I'm giving it back and getting my money back.

they should move quickly after that.

Monorail_Red

I'm throwing the BS flag...it's totally on the dealer to make this right because they sold you the vehicle they modified. I would be interested to see how GM's warranty stance is in a situation like this. This makes me ask, was this a new 2013 or did they sell it to you as an uncertified used? I know that it is kinda early for used 2013's to be around - but anything is possible I suppose. The dealer in my area has a few trucks years 2011 & 2012 being sold as uncertified used vehicles with lift kits and whatnot.

67Motorcat

The Dealer IS supposed to correct the speedo error since they modified the truck and sold it as new with "Dealer installed accessories"

The thing is,and this is vague,is that the "Dealer installed accessories" and any OEM components that may be affected by said accessories may not by covered by GM powertrain and Bumper to Bumper warranty.

It can be much more than that,this is the simplified version,and you may have been handed additional warranty info regarding the modifications.

Depends on the Dealer and larger ones do this all the time and take care of their customers regardless of warranty claims.....known as "Mod Friendly Dealerships".

To correct the speedo error the PCM must be calibrated and more importantly,the transmission shift points with the much larger than stock tires.

The catch 22 is once the PCM is loaded with a non OEM tune the entire powertrain warranty is Voided and GM will not honor the warranty.It is clearly stated in the owners manual.GM does not offer PCM updates for lifted trucks.

This is where the "Mod friendly dealerships" come into play.The PCM has a flash counter and any major warranty work must have a snap shot of the PCM sent to GM for approval.This is a permanent counter with no way to mask.GM was smart about this.

So,my theory is your dealership is giving you the run around to cover themselves by not wanting to calibrate your speedo.

They need to disclose all of this but often do not.....the upside is your mileage calculated will be 8% less than it really is if they do nothing.But this is violating mileage accuracy requirements.Could even be an issue with law enforcement should you get a speeding ticket.You see how complicated it could get especially if you had to go to court and said the 'Dealership' made my speedo incorrect.

The down side is possible transmission issues.Ideally a ring and pinion gear swap is the best route but unlikely.

I would talk to your dealer about all this as it may not be worth it to own this truck with a 6" lift unless it will be warranted "exactly" like a stock truck and the speed read correctly.

If a individual owner did the mods this point would be mute.....you gotta pay to play is my motto