my letter to chevy
my letter to chevy
this is my letter to chevy, let me know what you guys think, sorry that it's so long. ps:please dont get mad at me, these are only my opinions.
My family has always been very loyal to General Motors, ever since my parents started driving they have owned nothing but Chevrolet, or Pontiac vehicles. I was raised on Chevy trucks, before I was born my parents bought their first truck, a 1989 Chevrolet Suburban. Every memory I have from my childhood involves this truck somehow. In 1996 my mom’s 1985 Pontiac Grand am was getting old, although it never gave up on us, it was getting rusty and we thought it was time for an upgrade. My parents then purchased a 1996 Pontiac Bonneville, an amazing machine. In 1999 our suburban was getting old, and rusty, my parents wanted to get a newer car. Since they were so happy with the current suburban, why not buy a new one? We shopped around for a while and purchased a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban, the best Chevy yet. We still have the suburban, which currently has 88,000 miles and has only required routine maintenance. Now that’s what I call being built like a rock! After nine years of excellent service, my dad thought it was time to replace the Bonneville. At the time I currently needed a car, so my dad sold me the Bonneville. My parents Purchased a 2005 Chevrolet Colorado z71 crew cab model. Wow, Chevrolet really hit the nail on the head this time, outstanding quality and value. My family travels quite a bit, so my parents needed a truck that was fuel efficient, but also tough enough to go where the road ends. This truck is awesome, I can’t begin to tell you how happy we are with it. It has had a few recalls, but Chevy took care of us with their outstanding warranty and customer service. It has never let us down or left us stranded.
In January 2007 I was still driving the Bonneville, until it needed a new Intake manifold gasket. This was the first major problem with the car in the ten years that we had owned it. We had the car fixed and a week later the engine spun a rod bearing, too expensive to fix on a car this old. We weren’t to aggravated, because we got ten good years out of the car, and 130,000 miles. I loved that car, but all good things have to come to an end. I began car shopping, I really wanted to get a nicer car now that I had been driving for a few years. I started looking at Pontiac Grand Prix’s, but I really couldn’t find any used ones with the low miles that I wanted. I then started getting interested in the Chevy Cobalt ’s, particularly the ss model. It was everything that I wanted, cool looking, sporty, and good on gas. I found a used one with 25,000 at Biggers Mazda in Elgin, Illinois. The car was listed for $15,000, way more than I could afford to spend. They wouldn’t negotiate with us, so we had to keep looking. They called us back every day for a week trying to get us to come back and talk about the price. We decided to go, thinking that they might help us out a little bit, wrong. They gave us the same cold hearted treatment that had caused us to leave the first time. Then because I couldn’t afford it the started telling us about other used cars that they had. The only one that I saw that was remotely interesting was a 2001 Dodge Durango r/t. I liked it because it looked cool, and it was loaded. I should have thought twice about buying a Chrysler product, but we were so rushed into it by the pushy sales people that a few hours later we were driving home in the thing. It was pretty cool I guess, it had a powerful engine, nice features, but the gas mileage was unbearable. Two days after we had bought the truck a check engine light came on. It was a manufacturers transmission code. We called the dealer and they told us that we are out of luck because we bought the car as is, no warranty. At this point we were pretty upset at these people, what are we going to do. Finally my mom got a hold of the owner of the dealership, Jim Leichter. He agreed to pay for half of the cost of the repair, the repair was $1,000 dollars. Four days later they call us and tell us that the truck has been fixed and that we can come and pick it up. We go there and ask for the keys, and they say, “well you owe us 500 dollars for the repair”. No problem, but we need the receipt for the repair, anybody else would say the same thing. They went through this whole act about how one of their guys locked the office and they couldn’t get the receipt. They all had a managers meeting and were very secretive about what they were doing. At this point we really needed to get the car, so my dad paid them, but only after they promise to get the receipt for us the next day. That was our big mistake. Later that night I realized that the transmission felt funny, it had a hard time shifting out of first gear. I told my parents about it and the next day the check engine light went on again. While I was at work that day my parents called the dealer to find out exactly what is going on. They still couldn’t produce a receipt and buy this time we knew they had ripped us off. My mom demanded our money back, she demanded to talk to the owner. She talked to this Jim Leichter character again, who also owns Bigger’s Chevy, where we had purchased the Colorado. They agree to meet and discuss the problem that day, while I was stuck at work. After big arguments and my mom having to threaten to call the states attorney they agreed to do an exchange for us. They asked my mom, “well how about a Mazda?” She then said, “I will not buy a Japanese car, I want a Chevy”. Was this a crucial mistake? It wasn’t a problem because the Chevy dealer was right across the street. My parents talked with the same salesmen that had sold them the Colorado, who is a great guy. Anyway they looked at the Aveo, which I just did not like. Then they looked at cobalts, which were ok, but I didn’t want a base model. That’s all that I could afford though, my parents even had to throw in a little bit of money. It is a 2007 Cobalt LS base model, five speed manual transmission.
I can not begin to tell you how disappointed and frustrated I am about this car. It is built so cheaply that it feels like it is going to fall apart. Where did Chevy go wrong, what happened? Should we have bought the Mazda instead? I am disgusted with Chevy because of the car that I have to drive. I understand that it is a base model and the Cobalt is an entry level car, but is that an excuse to build what might be the worst car ever? I am so overwhelmed with stress and anxiety when I drive this car, it scares me knowing that I can’t stop fast enough to avoid a collision if someone pulls out in front of me. The brakes are extremely under powered and lock up too easily. The scariest thing about this is that when I have to slam on the brakes, the rear brakes actually lock up before the front brakes. That means that the back end of the car slides out by itself. I have had my life flash before my eyes too many times because of this car. Can you really put a price on someone’s life, just to save a few bucks and make the car cheaper? I wouldn’t expect that from Chevy, but here I am in that situation. When you go over speed bumps in this car, everything vibrates and rattles, it sounds like a nail in a tin can. Obviously Chevy still offers their warranty, but they can’t fix what isn’t broken, that is just the way the car is. When I drive this car I literally turn into a different person, depression and stress overpower me. The worst thing about this big ordeal is that I am stuck with this car for the next four years, and I can’t afford to do anything about it. I am stuck making payments on this thing that I can’t stand, I guess I just have to deal with it and hope I don’t die in a car accident. I just want to tell Chevy to please stop cutting corners to save money here and there. It is not fair to the consumer like me who is stuck in this money pit for the next four years. Please go back to your old ways of making good solid, dependable cars. Please don’t make anyone else suffer the same nightmare that I am living through. Thank you for reading my story
My family has always been very loyal to General Motors, ever since my parents started driving they have owned nothing but Chevrolet, or Pontiac vehicles. I was raised on Chevy trucks, before I was born my parents bought their first truck, a 1989 Chevrolet Suburban. Every memory I have from my childhood involves this truck somehow. In 1996 my mom’s 1985 Pontiac Grand am was getting old, although it never gave up on us, it was getting rusty and we thought it was time for an upgrade. My parents then purchased a 1996 Pontiac Bonneville, an amazing machine. In 1999 our suburban was getting old, and rusty, my parents wanted to get a newer car. Since they were so happy with the current suburban, why not buy a new one? We shopped around for a while and purchased a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban, the best Chevy yet. We still have the suburban, which currently has 88,000 miles and has only required routine maintenance. Now that’s what I call being built like a rock! After nine years of excellent service, my dad thought it was time to replace the Bonneville. At the time I currently needed a car, so my dad sold me the Bonneville. My parents Purchased a 2005 Chevrolet Colorado z71 crew cab model. Wow, Chevrolet really hit the nail on the head this time, outstanding quality and value. My family travels quite a bit, so my parents needed a truck that was fuel efficient, but also tough enough to go where the road ends. This truck is awesome, I can’t begin to tell you how happy we are with it. It has had a few recalls, but Chevy took care of us with their outstanding warranty and customer service. It has never let us down or left us stranded.
In January 2007 I was still driving the Bonneville, until it needed a new Intake manifold gasket. This was the first major problem with the car in the ten years that we had owned it. We had the car fixed and a week later the engine spun a rod bearing, too expensive to fix on a car this old. We weren’t to aggravated, because we got ten good years out of the car, and 130,000 miles. I loved that car, but all good things have to come to an end. I began car shopping, I really wanted to get a nicer car now that I had been driving for a few years. I started looking at Pontiac Grand Prix’s, but I really couldn’t find any used ones with the low miles that I wanted. I then started getting interested in the Chevy Cobalt ’s, particularly the ss model. It was everything that I wanted, cool looking, sporty, and good on gas. I found a used one with 25,000 at Biggers Mazda in Elgin, Illinois. The car was listed for $15,000, way more than I could afford to spend. They wouldn’t negotiate with us, so we had to keep looking. They called us back every day for a week trying to get us to come back and talk about the price. We decided to go, thinking that they might help us out a little bit, wrong. They gave us the same cold hearted treatment that had caused us to leave the first time. Then because I couldn’t afford it the started telling us about other used cars that they had. The only one that I saw that was remotely interesting was a 2001 Dodge Durango r/t. I liked it because it looked cool, and it was loaded. I should have thought twice about buying a Chrysler product, but we were so rushed into it by the pushy sales people that a few hours later we were driving home in the thing. It was pretty cool I guess, it had a powerful engine, nice features, but the gas mileage was unbearable. Two days after we had bought the truck a check engine light came on. It was a manufacturers transmission code. We called the dealer and they told us that we are out of luck because we bought the car as is, no warranty. At this point we were pretty upset at these people, what are we going to do. Finally my mom got a hold of the owner of the dealership, Jim Leichter. He agreed to pay for half of the cost of the repair, the repair was $1,000 dollars. Four days later they call us and tell us that the truck has been fixed and that we can come and pick it up. We go there and ask for the keys, and they say, “well you owe us 500 dollars for the repair”. No problem, but we need the receipt for the repair, anybody else would say the same thing. They went through this whole act about how one of their guys locked the office and they couldn’t get the receipt. They all had a managers meeting and were very secretive about what they were doing. At this point we really needed to get the car, so my dad paid them, but only after they promise to get the receipt for us the next day. That was our big mistake. Later that night I realized that the transmission felt funny, it had a hard time shifting out of first gear. I told my parents about it and the next day the check engine light went on again. While I was at work that day my parents called the dealer to find out exactly what is going on. They still couldn’t produce a receipt and buy this time we knew they had ripped us off. My mom demanded our money back, she demanded to talk to the owner. She talked to this Jim Leichter character again, who also owns Bigger’s Chevy, where we had purchased the Colorado. They agree to meet and discuss the problem that day, while I was stuck at work. After big arguments and my mom having to threaten to call the states attorney they agreed to do an exchange for us. They asked my mom, “well how about a Mazda?” She then said, “I will not buy a Japanese car, I want a Chevy”. Was this a crucial mistake? It wasn’t a problem because the Chevy dealer was right across the street. My parents talked with the same salesmen that had sold them the Colorado, who is a great guy. Anyway they looked at the Aveo, which I just did not like. Then they looked at cobalts, which were ok, but I didn’t want a base model. That’s all that I could afford though, my parents even had to throw in a little bit of money. It is a 2007 Cobalt LS base model, five speed manual transmission.
I can not begin to tell you how disappointed and frustrated I am about this car. It is built so cheaply that it feels like it is going to fall apart. Where did Chevy go wrong, what happened? Should we have bought the Mazda instead? I am disgusted with Chevy because of the car that I have to drive. I understand that it is a base model and the Cobalt is an entry level car, but is that an excuse to build what might be the worst car ever? I am so overwhelmed with stress and anxiety when I drive this car, it scares me knowing that I can’t stop fast enough to avoid a collision if someone pulls out in front of me. The brakes are extremely under powered and lock up too easily. The scariest thing about this is that when I have to slam on the brakes, the rear brakes actually lock up before the front brakes. That means that the back end of the car slides out by itself. I have had my life flash before my eyes too many times because of this car. Can you really put a price on someone’s life, just to save a few bucks and make the car cheaper? I wouldn’t expect that from Chevy, but here I am in that situation. When you go over speed bumps in this car, everything vibrates and rattles, it sounds like a nail in a tin can. Obviously Chevy still offers their warranty, but they can’t fix what isn’t broken, that is just the way the car is. When I drive this car I literally turn into a different person, depression and stress overpower me. The worst thing about this big ordeal is that I am stuck with this car for the next four years, and I can’t afford to do anything about it. I am stuck making payments on this thing that I can’t stand, I guess I just have to deal with it and hope I don’t die in a car accident. I just want to tell Chevy to please stop cutting corners to save money here and there. It is not fair to the consumer like me who is stuck in this money pit for the next four years. Please go back to your old ways of making good solid, dependable cars. Please don’t make anyone else suffer the same nightmare that I am living through. Thank you for reading my story
Care to sum that up so people can follow it without learning your entire life story?
Did you test drive the Cobalt? Evidently you never did despite being interested in them for awhile.
I'm just about to hit 30,000 miles on mine and it has no rattles or break problems and it doesn't leave me depressed or stressed.
Did you test drive the Cobalt? Evidently you never did despite being interested in them for awhile.
I'm just about to hit 30,000 miles on mine and it has no rattles or break problems and it doesn't leave me depressed or stressed.
I too am from a GM layal family.
I have not experienced the issues that you desrcribe with your Cobalt. I am familiar with the typical rattles a creaks from the interior in cold weather. While that adds to the perception of quality, or lack therof, it does not make for an unsafe car. You might want to have your brakes looked at. There is enough stopping power to get it hauled down in an emergency if the parts are working properly. They are certainly not brakes built for racing and repeated hard stops.
I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish with this letter. What do you want GM to do with your letter?
I am not dismissing your disapointment, but I wonder if your expectations may be unrealistic. The cars in your experience, while older, were far more expensive in the first place. Being used to the 3800 tourgue and then driving something without that grunt is definately a let down. But not this cars fault. It is what it is. It's human nature to question as soon as one thing sucks, the rest does too.
I have not experienced the issues that you desrcribe with your Cobalt. I am familiar with the typical rattles a creaks from the interior in cold weather. While that adds to the perception of quality, or lack therof, it does not make for an unsafe car. You might want to have your brakes looked at. There is enough stopping power to get it hauled down in an emergency if the parts are working properly. They are certainly not brakes built for racing and repeated hard stops.
I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish with this letter. What do you want GM to do with your letter?
I am not dismissing your disapointment, but I wonder if your expectations may be unrealistic. The cars in your experience, while older, were far more expensive in the first place. Being used to the 3800 tourgue and then driving something without that grunt is definately a let down. But not this cars fault. It is what it is. It's human nature to question as soon as one thing sucks, the rest does too.
they lock up because you purchased a base model and don't have abs...?
im completely opposite and love everything about my car. brakes are insane. rides smooth inside isnt cheep by any means. But its your letter. GL!
The only thing i'll say is if I were to do it over again, i almost definately wouldn't get a Cobalt. I'd get a TC (sorry), a new Civic Si coupe (also sorry), or maybeee one of those Mazdaspeed 3's (very sorry). Those are all dope cars, 2 of the 3 are quicker than my 2.4, and they're much more solid feeling and well built. But again, that also MY opinion. My girlfriend has a 2007 LS coupe and she loves it. Mine's a 2006 SS 2.4 coupe and I too like it, but I'd still do it differently.
you could have left out the first giant paragraph about the durango, i don't really think that will do anything for you. the being loyal chevy buyers may score a few brownie points but i wouldn't count on that either. i do find it sort of amusing that you got a base model car to save money and are upset with gm for making it cheap.
I have the 2007 LS 2dr Coupe - all base options, nothing "extra" not even power locks.
THINGS THAT HAVE GONE WRONG SO FAR:
1) Engine stalls randomly
2) Dome flickers, turns off randomly, doesn't turn on, is unreliable at best
3) Air conditioning smells like burning wires when I first turn it on
4) Reverse Release lever on Shifter knob broke off
5) Passenger side Window crank rattled BAD "correction" didn't fix it. Still rattles.
6) Radio goes in and out like the speakers are failing
7) Driver side door striker bar was factory defective - since fixed but still broke the door
8) Been through 4 total front tires so far and counting, 6700 miles on the car.
God damn I love my Chevy.
I wouldn't replace it for anything. And that's not sarcasm.
-Aleckor
THINGS THAT HAVE GONE WRONG SO FAR:
1) Engine stalls randomly
2) Dome flickers, turns off randomly, doesn't turn on, is unreliable at best
3) Air conditioning smells like burning wires when I first turn it on
4) Reverse Release lever on Shifter knob broke off
5) Passenger side Window crank rattled BAD "correction" didn't fix it. Still rattles.
6) Radio goes in and out like the speakers are failing
7) Driver side door striker bar was factory defective - since fixed but still broke the door
8) Been through 4 total front tires so far and counting, 6700 miles on the car.
God damn I love my Chevy.
I wouldn't replace it for anything. And that's not sarcasm.-Aleckor
I have the 2007 LS 2dr Coupe - all base options, nothing "extra" not even power locks.
THINGS THAT HAVE GONE WRONG SO FAR:
1) Engine stalls randomly
2) Dome flickers, turns off randomly, doesn't turn on, is unreliable at best
3) Air conditioning smells like burning wires when I first turn it on
4) Reverse Release lever on Shifter knob broke off
5) Passenger side Window crank rattled BAD "correction" didn't fix it. Still rattles.
6) Radio goes in and out like the speakers are failing
7) Driver side door striker bar was factory defective - since fixed but still broke the door
8) Been through 4 total front tires so far and counting, 6700 miles on the car.
God damn I love my Chevy.
I wouldn't replace it for anything. And that's not sarcasm.
-Aleckor
THINGS THAT HAVE GONE WRONG SO FAR:
1) Engine stalls randomly
2) Dome flickers, turns off randomly, doesn't turn on, is unreliable at best
3) Air conditioning smells like burning wires when I first turn it on
4) Reverse Release lever on Shifter knob broke off
5) Passenger side Window crank rattled BAD "correction" didn't fix it. Still rattles.
6) Radio goes in and out like the speakers are failing
7) Driver side door striker bar was factory defective - since fixed but still broke the door
8) Been through 4 total front tires so far and counting, 6700 miles on the car.
God damn I love my Chevy.
I wouldn't replace it for anything. And that's not sarcasm.-Aleckor
First, you need to make it more readable. Your paragraphs are way too long. Then cut out the crap and get straight to the point. They don't have time to read about your comparisions. Tell them what think is wrong and be direct. If you want to make a quick comparision, fine, but you don't need to tell them about every car you have owned.
If this option is the cause of your radio problems you can turn it off by going into the menu on your radio.
Sounds like the dealer screwed you over on the durango, so write them and then chrysler, not chevy...
About the cobalt, as said before, taking for a test drive would have helped, if you don't like the car, then you should not have bought it. You complain about things no one else does, so either your standards are too high or you are just full of it... take your pick. I think chevy did a great job with the cobalt...EVEN the base models!... I have to fight with my wife because she wants to drive it instead of her car.
About the cobalt, as said before, taking for a test drive would have helped, if you don't like the car, then you should not have bought it. You complain about things no one else does, so either your standards are too high or you are just full of it... take your pick. I think chevy did a great job with the cobalt...EVEN the base models!... I have to fight with my wife because she wants to drive it instead of her car.
In regards to your statements about your cobalt: I bought my 07 LS in July. Same deal as yours, no power anything, 5 speed manual, base of the base. My only complaint is that I went from a padded dash in my '99 Sunfire GT vert to a hard plastic dash in the Cobalt. Other than that I can't really complain. You're either driving too hard for the car or expecting too much out of it. The brakes are just fine if you use them properly. You're not stuck with the car for 4 years, you can find someone to take over payments and get something else. And please, no more backstories, GM execs don't want to read too much into things that aren't relevant.
I will be honest I stopped reading about half way through. You need to better organize it.
However I will say this, you should have spent more time with the car before you bought it. I've been in high end cars that I would never buy and some of them have been cars most people would take in a second no questions asked so I would especially want to spend time with a cheap car before buying it.
I come from a Dodge family for the most part although my Father's last two cars have been Chevys. He talked me into test driving the Cobalt SS/SC and I'm glad he did. I went into it with very low expectations because I hadn't been in a Chevy I liked to that point and was blown away. I knew after the first 5 minutes I was buying the car because the bang for the buck was unbeatable, but even with that said I still took it for a weekend test drive just to make sure I was ok with the build quality and to see if anything would come up that would annoy me.
The bottom line is, you have to spend some time with a car before you buy it. It's a huge purchase and any good dealership will atleast let you take it home for the night, if not the weekend.
However I will say this, you should have spent more time with the car before you bought it. I've been in high end cars that I would never buy and some of them have been cars most people would take in a second no questions asked so I would especially want to spend time with a cheap car before buying it.
I come from a Dodge family for the most part although my Father's last two cars have been Chevys. He talked me into test driving the Cobalt SS/SC and I'm glad he did. I went into it with very low expectations because I hadn't been in a Chevy I liked to that point and was blown away. I knew after the first 5 minutes I was buying the car because the bang for the buck was unbeatable, but even with that said I still took it for a weekend test drive just to make sure I was ok with the build quality and to see if anything would come up that would annoy me.
The bottom line is, you have to spend some time with a car before you buy it. It's a huge purchase and any good dealership will atleast let you take it home for the night, if not the weekend.
There is no way i am reading all that. but I am with the stated above. Being a manager at a Chevy dealership you apparently liked the car or you would have not signed ur name to the contract. If you did not take a test drive of the vehicle to notice these problems that you are having with the car that you purchased it is not the fault of the dealer or GM. All vehicles are made by man and some have problems, that is what your full factory warranty is for. What are you expecting to get out of your letter your money back? Cause that is not going to happen. A free oil change is probably all you get with a
Dear valued customer we are sorry to hear that you are unhappy with your 2007 Chevy Cobalt here is a coupon for 3 free oil changes good at any Gm dealer in your area. We would like to keep you as a valued customer of GM if you have any other problems please contact our 1-800 hotline at 1-800-GM-Truck<-- some one call this number. Its a joke we play on all new salespeople to tell them that they have to get registered through GM
Dear valued customer we are sorry to hear that you are unhappy with your 2007 Chevy Cobalt here is a coupon for 3 free oil changes good at any Gm dealer in your area. We would like to keep you as a valued customer of GM if you have any other problems please contact our 1-800 hotline at 1-800-GM-Truck<-- some one call this number. Its a joke we play on all new salespeople to tell them that they have to get registered through GM
Moving on, this "it's only a $14,000 car" talk is bullshit. My Mom drives a $35,000 Blazer and just last fall we had to get $2,000 worth of work done on it. The four wheel drive had went out, among countless other issues. And these were all on a persons car who drives 10mph under the speed limit at all times. Need I say more?
Cars are simply hit or miss. One car isn't going to work great for everybody.
1. Keep in mind it's his 1st post. WTF kinda 1st post is this? Spam anyone?
2. About the Caddy remark. My Caddy was 2 grand. haha. You can go get a nice mid-90's Eldorado wit hthe Northstar V8 for like 5g out the door. No excuse.
2. About the Caddy remark. My Caddy was 2 grand. haha. You can go get a nice mid-90's Eldorado wit hthe Northstar V8 for like 5g out the door. No excuse.
what the ****?
i read that whole **** and the only complaint you have is your brakes lock up, and it rattles? and you went on like an emo about the car depressing you? in a huge essay?
you have DRUM BRAKES WITH NO ABS GENIUS!
my god. i want 5 minutes of my life back please.
i read that whole **** and the only complaint you have is your brakes lock up, and it rattles? and you went on like an emo about the car depressing you? in a huge essay?
you have DRUM BRAKES WITH NO ABS GENIUS!
my god. i want 5 minutes of my life back please.


