So we should all be familiar with the following stories...

1. Guy is buying a new TC and asks the salesman about Launch Control. Saleman gives a blank stare and says wtf you talking about...

2. Guy is asking about buying a TC and salesman pitches the "Oh my god... it is supercharged!" deal...

Here is another...

So it was time for me to get my first oil change in my new TC... Many people had told me to not go the Chevy/GM dealer route... BUT... I wanted to do it right. I wanted the people that BUILT my car to do the oil change... Thinking that they would know how to treat my new car.

So I call in to the dealership to schedule the oil change. Standard procedure... Office to Service. I ask the service guy to schedule me an oil change. He asks me the make, model, and year of my vehicle. I say cobalt ss 09. He then asks me if I want synthetic or regular.

(at this point Im scared)

I know next to nothing about high performance vehicles. BUT I do know that putting regular oil in a turbocharged engine is not a good idea! I guess I WAS given an option.

But I never got a professional opinion....

The next day I got to the dealership 15 minutes early and made sure all the info was correct. I did relish the idea that they would actually put regular oil in my car, but a part of me would not let that happen. I dropped off my info and keys and headed to a next door Indian restaurant for some lunch. About an hour and a half later, some of which was spent in the customer lounge reading magazines, my car was ready!

Im standing at the service counter, and the mech who handed my keys back had a HUGE smile on his face. I pay my bill and get my keys back. Im now back on schedule and am ready to move! One of the events on my schedule was to wash my car. As I go to get in my car I notice that it is wet, and clean! I also noticed that they had parked my car in the service lot smack next to a vette. Now Im slightly impressed. They saved me time on my schedule.

But Im still not sure if it was to little to late.

 

yea never was asked regular or synthetic they always put in the mobile 1 for my two oil changes so far and most dealerships will wash your car for free at least mine does

 

i don't get it?

it's kinda hard to put the wrong oil in. doesn't it say Mobil 1 on your oil cap? :facepalm:

some techs are so retarded its not funny.

 

It also says on our fuel flap ---> Premium Recommended!

 

dabears where in chicago are you??

 

That is one thing I would never do is let a dealer wash my car...don't trust a mechanic for anything especially those who wash vehicles.

 

I HATE to have my car washed by other people. I don't trust them to be as proper and thorough as I am. My car is black and swirl marks will show if not done right. I am nervous about taking my car to the dealer due to all the horror stories. My friend took his car(06 SS/SC) in for a simple cruise control TSB and they put 30 miles on the car and used almost a full tank of gas. There is only one explanation for this: they were ******* the **** out of the car. The avg mpg went from 28mpg to 16mpg. He had to drop it off and go to work so they had it all day. I had mine done(cruise control) while I was waiting and they never even drove my car and it never happened again. His is still messed up and we have to reset the battery to get it to work every once in a while.

 

I feel ya there. My dealership allows me back in the area where they work because I bull **** around with them. I would not go to a dealership that does not allow this because I simply do not trust taking a higher performace car to a dealership and I will not let anybody else hardly drive the car either. **** costs too much to have it tore up.

 

I use to have connections at the dealers I went to but I have been gone from this area to long and lost contact with those people.

 

i dont let the dealer do any work to be honest unless its warrenty work especially washing the car......when i picked my tc up i even told them dont send it out for detail, dont wash it, dont buff it do nothing. it helps knowing where they send their cars and every car i see leave that dealership thats been detailed is swirled to hell with machine buffer marks......ah the joys of crappy detailers and fast uncaring work

 

Bastards put 87 octane in mine. I was pissed when I found out.

 

I'm due for a change in a couple hundred miles, how much did they charge you?

I don't think I can trust the dealership to do it right, I'm pretty sure I'm doin it myself.

 

Umm or they could have just had it sit there running? I would be impossible to use 13 gallons of gas in 30 miles. The AVG MPG's drop when the car is just sitting there running, I watch it drop when Im sitting in traffic.

 

THey were more than likely just enjoying your AC in the bay. Hence car was not in motion, and gas was being used.

 

thats why i do all mine own work unless its a warranty deal thats gonna cost money...then they can do it. When I was in for my warranty rotors, rear pads, and intake cam sensor, my dealer said to me "we really dont do any ecotecs here, I think yours is the only one that really comes in"....that scared the hell out of me....they "dont do ecotecs" how the hell? If theyre not used to base ecotecs how are they gonna react to the LNF?

 

When it was asked about the mileage the service manager said there was no reason for them to even drive the car more than just a mile or so. Maybe the amount of gas was exaggerated but I know he had a 15 mile or so trip to the dealer after the fill up and he said there was just over 1/4 tank when he picked it up. This was also a couple of year or do ago and my story could be growing like those old man fish tales ether way we are pretty sure driving the hell out of it is what they were doing

 

I have a fun dealership oil change story...also why I never take my car to the dealer EVER again.

I stop in to the dealership and ask when I can get in for an oil change and they tell me they have an opening in 2 days. So I take the slot and come back 2 days later. I also showed up about 15 mins early to find out the cost and make sure all the info was correct. I talked one of the guys that takes care of scheduling and pricing and such and I asked...
Me: how much is this oil change gonna run me?
Him: what kind of car is it again?
Me: 2007 Cobalt SS Supercharged
Him: 4 cylinder, right?
Me: Yes, supercharged.
Him: That's gonna run you 29.95 OTD
Me: Really?? Ok, cool

so I wait a few more mins and the Service Manager comes to get my keys from me and since I was pretty damn sure 30 bucks was too cheap, I asked him too....

Me: So how much was this oil change gonna be again?
Svc Mgr: It's a cobalt, right?
Me: Yes sir, it's a 2007 SS Supercharged
Svc Mgr: That's gonna be a 29.95 oil change.
Me: Ok, thanks.

So, they take my car and I'm browsin the showroom checkin out the new TC balt and the z06 they had. Then I went to talk to the sales manager as he used to be my boss at another dealership years ago. I'm sittin there talkin to him and we get interrupted by the service manager again

Svc Mgr: Hey, Mike...
Me: yea, done already?
Svc Mgr: No, not yet. We need to know what you'd like to do,
Me: what happened?
Svc Mgr: Oh, nothing major, it's just that when we went to replace your oil we realized it takes 6 qts of Mobil 1
Me: Yea, I knew that already
Svc Mgr: Well the thing is, the price for your oil change is gonna cost 70 bucks as it takes more oil and it's a more expensive type of oil.
Me: well you and the other guy both told me it'd be 30.
Svc Mgr: Well, we can't do it at that price
Me: Fine, just leave the oil in my car then, it's ealry on it's oil change anyway.
Svc Mgr: Well, that's the thing. We drained it out and realized it took Mobil 1 when we went to refill it.
Me: well what the hell do you want from me then? You have to put oil back in it for me to drive it, so put the ******* oil back in it.
Svc Mgr: Ok, can do.
I left without paying the bill and have since told everyone I know how they're a bunch of idiots down there and to never ever take your car in there for service. Oh yea, and they refused to give it to me for the 30 that 2 different ppl in the service department quoted me. I now do all my own oil changes and general maintenance that doesn't necessarily HAVE to be done by the dealer.

 

Just remember how many 2.0 SC's they see though...Its that one in a blue moon visit to the dealer, most of the time when they are thinking Cobalt they are thinking 2.2L...Have to cut them some slack sometimes, because they really dont see many SS Cobalts. The dealer I go to was shocked they made a SS Sedan turbocharged, atleast the service writers are. Its a case of they see maybe 2 other SS Cobalts (supercharged), and lots more regular cobalts.

 

how many miles did you have on your car when you got it back? cause that smile on his face could mean i just took it around the block know what i mean.... i work at a dealership. and we only wash it or smile like that if we dog it which ive only done that with new cars and 1 vett the cust told me to and rode with me. or if your hot. and the only way i have the car washed is if your a good cust or if you spend over 400 with us. or if i get it dirty. now the service writers and managers dont know **** about cars just face it thats why he asked if you wanted syn. or reg. the tec should know

 

That wouldn't really be a problem had i not told them multiple times "it's a 2007 SS Supercharged"<--those were the exact words outta my mouth. It's their job to know the products that the company they work for offers, and seeing as how they are the SERVICE ppl, they should have known. I could see your point if I hadn't told them exactly what my car was, but I did.

 

I 100% agree, that they should know every thing about all the cars that they sell and come in there doors.

The difference for me is that I don't trust them to put in the write oil and come and ask me. If they would of told me it was $30 I wouldn't of waited for them to come to me, I would of said, you know it takes synthetic oil right? You are very lucky they didn't say **** it and just put regular 10w30 in there and didn't tell you. You would have never known. I have always done my own oil and my dad always tout me that is just part of having your license. He was mainly just teaching me that having a car is a big responsibility and to not take it for granted. The way I see it now is why pay some one to do something you are completely capable of doing.

 

Yea, in all reality, it's not the price thing that pissed me off so much. It's their ignorance of product that gets me. I mean, c'mon...it's not like i took a chrysler crossfire to their dealership, I took a Chevy to a Chevy dealership. Funny thing is, I took it to a BUICK dealership and they were more knowlegeable about my car than the chevy guys. I figured, it's all GM and I'm never going back to that Chevy dealer again, so why not give the Buick shop a chance. It was only for replacing a boost gauge, not much to screw up there.

 

Hey....I wash cars?!?

 

you can ask me i never allow anyone else to mess with customers cars nor do the other porters cuz were car guys and know how it would feel.....as for the washes man i wish they did that to mine! they only do it to service cars!!!! GAY!!!!

 

You will find a lot of dealers do service washes. When I worked as a detailer at a GM dealership we would get cars brought to us to be washed before returning them to the customers. They were mainly high dollar cars i.e. Cadillac, Corvettes, those types. Some will do it to all the cars though.