300c srt8

Let me first start off with a little background information. I just purchased my 2008 Tahoe LS at the end of March because of a 0% promotion that I couldn’t pass up.

About 1 day after I purchased the vehicle I notice rattling from the rear passenger and front drivers door.. not loud, but annoying enough to have to keep the radio on to not let it bother me. The next day, I accidentally turned my rear wiper on while making a left turn and I hear a 'screech' sound, and immediately checked out what happened when I got him. I noticed a pretty deep scratch where it looks like the wiper might have caused it.. but I cant be sure. Either way, it’s a deep scratch and the vehicle is brand new and I am almost certain turning on the wiper caused it.

Also, I notice the ebony cloth seats are DISGUSTING. They attract lint like a pet hair roller, and my wife refuses to ride in the vehicle unless we get leather because the seats are never clean. If she wears any type of nice clothes she has to lint roll her entire body because of the nasty seats. I cleaned the back seats the other day, and they are filthy again 3 days later.. and no one has even sat in them since!

Anyway, I take it back to the dealer and they fix the rear passenger doors rattling. But they claim to not hear the rattling in the driver’s door, and being that it was 5:30pm and I needed my vehicle, I took it and left unhappy.

I immediately called the GM Customer Service line someone posted online about complaining about their seats. I speak to a gentleman at GM and he advises me to take it to another dealership here in Orange County called Foothill Ranch Chevrolet, which is owned by a guy named Joe Dursham (more on that later).

He advises me to drop the vehicle off at this dealership and see a service writer, and let him know of all my issues. So I drop the Tahoe off @ 8am today, and told them about the rattling in the doors, the crappy leather, excessive wind noise, and the scratch on the window.

I get a call about 3pm today, and they said they are closing out my repair order because they cant hear anything. They said there is a known TSB about the seats for the past year, and GM gas no fix for it so I am SOL. They said the scratch can be from anything (I expected that though). The service writer (a guy named Mundo..lol) basically was calling me out and saying I am crazy… no one can hear this rattling. I ask him to go for a ride… and we do… and he STILL claimed to not hear any rattling from the driver’s side door (the worst one). I was starting to get the feeling he was lying to me… strange, but you had to be deaf to not hear it!! Its extremely annoying.

So we get back to the dealership after the ride, and start messing with the door to reproduce the sound. I tap on the drivers door, and it sounds like a baby rattle! He claims that is ‘normal’. I immediately ask him to try this on another Tahoe, and what do you know? NO RATTLING. He then says that he is not concerned with anyone else’s Tahoe’s except mine… and he can attempt to fix it but cant promise it will not rattle. I said to him that if all the other Tahoe’s do not rattle, then I want mine just like any other brand new Tahoe and he laughed and said he doesn’t care about any other Tahoe except mine, and if my Tahoe rattles, its within normal specs because he couldn’t hear it.

At that point I am pretty pissed. I am asking other service writers to hear the rattle, and they say they can and he still denies it is an issue. The owner (Joe Dursham) comes over to me and tells me to leave and is very unprofessional by raising his voice at me. I then proceed to tell him I have purchased 2 other Chevrolets from him, and referred by buddy who just bought a 08 C6 from him 1 month ago and he said he could care less…. Whatever it is AVOID Foothill Ranch Chevrolet and Joe Dursham like the plague… they said they don’t care what is wrong with my Tahoe, and wouldn’t even let me test drive another one to hear the difference. This guy is an unprofessional arrogant little guy, and he basically told a customer to F off.

Now I have no idea what to do. I have a brand new 2008 Tahoe with disgusting lint infested seats, rattling door panels, loud wind noise, and a deep gash on my back window and I was told to go screw myself essentially. This will be the last GM product I ever own, which sucks because I want to like my new Tahoe. But dealerships like Foothill Ranch Chevy give GM a bad name… Any advice?!?!?

shawnvw

just try to remember the saying "one bad apple doesn't spoil the whole bunch." Its obvious that the 2 dealers you are dealing with are not very competent in what they do, and while they say they are only worried about your vehicle, they don't care about you at all or they would have addressed your issue. Take it back to the dealer and tell them to fix it or they are buying it back. Or take it to a more reputible dealer in your area and see if they can help you out.

mary900

There are good dealerships out there and the Tahoe is a good vehicle. I went through three orfour dealerships until I found one that I am happy with.

I have '08 LS and Ihad a local shop replace my cloth with leather. I used the shop the dealer uses for their leather replacements and/or repairs. I couldn't be happier with it. I knew of the lint problems going into the deal so I had the leather installed before I took possession.

I have owned many makes and models. One of the crappiest cars I owned was a Hondawhich I kept for about a year before trading it in. But I also owned Hondas that were great cars.

Bottom line, give the Tahoe a chance but find a dealer that is willing to work with you. If you think it's a lemon, replace it.

Slammed

hey try www.ocautoservice.com they have a directory of the best dealers and repair shops

in2pro

First off sorry to hear about your bad experience, nothing is more frustrating then trying to ride the high of a new vehicle only to have it torn apart by bad service twice!
The scratch on the back glass seems like it should be covered evidently there was some kind of defect in play, rattles I hate rattles! I feel your pain on that one. The seats that shed are in fact a known issue.
(I ended up getting custom seat covers, since I have kids anyway)
I have read reviews on the 08’s and had heard (no pun intended) that wind noise was listed as and issue.
My advice is 2 parts, One I always try to fix what I can, rather then take it to the dealer because no one is going to be as finicky or picky as I will.
Two if you do take it back to the dealer go with and open mind and be a good customer too, explain your concerns and be cooperative try another service writer at the dealership as they have quotas to met and want good repeat customers.
file a grievance with the Better Business bureau, that goes on the dealers record and of course check out the BBB for any business you intend to business with.
Good luck with getting your issues resolved and read through the forum to see if you can come up with possible fixes to take to the dealer to help resolve the problems you are having.

RonH

Umm, the actual saying is "one bad apple spoils the barrel", which is pretty much the opposite of your version.

Dealers like the ones being mentioned here cancreatea bad image for a carmakerfor many current or potential customers despite the good efforts of all the others. A call to GM with a calm, factual reporting of an unpleasant experience might get a positive response.

ZX1100F1

Sorry to hear that you are having some minor problems with your new Tahoe, but this is one story that I would certainly like to hear the other side of as well, I'm sure you can understand.

Nobody should have to live with a rattle that has been isolated to a door, this can be fixed and is normally caused by one or two loose door panel clips.

All the GMT900 cloth seats that I have sat on have done a remarkable job of collecting lint from my clothing but I have never had an issue with the cloth transferring the lint back to my clothing.

The scratch on the backglass is on you just like a scratch in the paint would be, even a small shallow scratch looks very bad on deep tinted glass, I sympathise with you on this but I don't see how the factory could be responsible.

fredster

I have an 07 and managed to put a scratch in my liftglass early on, never did figure out what was on the wiper, must have been a stone sitting there just right. Unless the wiper rubber detached and the steel blade scratched it, it's your issue not GM's. :-(

I agree, the door rattle should be fixed, and quite easily.

For a short-term fix on the cloth seats there are lots of very nice aftermarket seat covers available in factory and other colors. GM really should change their cloth though; I would find that irritating too.

in2pro

I would agree that yes it on the owner but he said it was brand new it was the day or so after he bought it and the first time he turns on the wiper and it scratches the glass, That has to be a manufacturing defect at the least the make ready guys should have tried everything and discovered it.
(Thou in defense of that there is the remote possibility that he picked something up on his way home). It just sucks that it had to happen… My dealer did a full walk around and feature familiarization session with me, I pointed out a tiny rock chip on the bumper and a small scratch at the door lock, he (the salesman) promptly had it touched up and gave me the touch up paint to boot.

I got the factory Chevy seat covers and am happy with them the look really nice and fit well not to mention for a couple of hundred bucks you can change the look and style of the interiorpretty quickly.

in2pro

Thou now that I have talked my smack about it, I will be headed to the service department for the first time to have my oil changed, tires rotated and have the AC checked as I found what looks to be an oily substance on the line with the schrader valveclosest to the battery. I have wahed under the hood and am pretty sure I have wipped that clean before. We'll see how that first service exp goes....should I ask about and TSB's or is that a given?