WARNING: approaching long rant

Took the slobalt to the dealer today. Stupidly, I dropped of a smaller pulley and colder plugs to have them thrown on the car. I've been dealing with my dealer for quite some time now, and I figured they'd be cool to do it.

No such luck. I get greated with a massive waiver form saying that my entire engine will no long be covered under warranty. So I tell the dude that's nuts, but go ahead and throw it on, and we'll talk about it later.

Half hour later dude calls me up and says GM will not put on the pulley nor the plugs. I ask the guy, "I can kinda see the pulley, but dude 4 plugs are going to void my warranty? You got to be joking." He still stood his ground and said even the plugs would void the entire engine.

WTF, why do dealer's have this ****ing attitude? Seems like anything you do voids the warranty. I don't really care about the warranty, but I hate it when they're ****** about it. JFC. When they see a dude in his early twenties, why doesn't some one think "hey this dude's young - he might just buy GM vehicles for the rest of his life. Let's not be ***holes to him, so he stays loyal." Sadly, they always have to give people ****.

Whatever, not going to this dealer any more, and I'll have to have a local shop do the plugs and pulley. I just hope it all turns out alright. I definitely don't need anything else to go wrong.

End rant. Oh and sorry for the gratuitous use of the word "dude."

Anyone else get this **** all the time? How did everyone else's stage 2 / 2.8 pulley / colder plug installs go?

 

get a moss lawyer. the pulley you cant get around because throwing more boost at it than it was designed unless its a gm warrantied kit would of course do it cause people would be overboosting and trying to warranty new engines. but they cant void a warranty for plugs. hell you may even get your car paid off if you get the right lawyer.

 

I thought the M62 was built to boost somewhere approaching 30psi? What's max boost with 2.8"? 17 maybe? I just have a sour taste in my mouth after all this. Hopefully my car isn't all ****ed up when I get it back tonight...

 

I get 17psi with my 2.8

 

They cant say it voided your warranty period if nothing happened. The law states that whatever you do to your engine, suspension, ect that the dearlership has to prove that whatever you modified on your engine, suspension, ect caused a malfunction and/or breakdown

 

That's what I thought! Does it spell it out that way in the Magnusun-Moss (forgot the exact name) Act? I should see how they respond to that literature.

Meh. I guess it's better to take it to a local shop anyway, right? They're less likely to screw up something simple like gapping the plugs...

 

I'd take it to a local shop. Although the M&M Act helps protect you, if GM really wanted they could make you take it to court and then it will end up being you proving the part did NOT cause the problem more than them proving it DID cause the problem.

 

yup, thats 100% correct

 

THAT IS WRONG

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act SPECIFICALLY puts the burdon of proof on the warranter, in this case GM. They may not put it on your car, but they can't say it voids your warranty. Besides, plugs and a pulley aren't that hard. You can do it yourself. Of course if they're already doing the stage 2, then yeah I would've done the same thing.

BTW, the whole entire MMWA is on here (CSS.NET) somewhere I think.

 

Good to know. I'll look for that. Thanks for all the help guys!!!

 

Yeah I'd like to see the number of mechanics you could get to back you up if something happens as a result of an aftermarket part. Now compare that number to the amount GM could get and tell me again who is proving what. I know how the wording goes but be realistic about it. That is why I would have a local shop do it. What GM doesn't know won't hurt thm or you.

 

This whole thing really isn't anything new. Why would your dealer want to put performance parts on your car so you can beat it harder thatn you already do, and then take the chance of getting involved in some "who pays for it" battle with you?

EVERY company does this, and it comes down to individual dealers as to what they'll tolerate and help you out with.

Harley-Davidson is a perfect example. By thier warranty, and also by federal law, you're not allowed to change the exhasut system on a Harley (unless you use an HD system, and even most of those are still illegal), but 99% of riders do. And when thiers a problem with the engine, it still gets fixed under warranty because the exhaust did not cause the problem, and the dealer is willing to help if the factory pushes back on it.

The problem with cars, is car companies are out there to sell cars to average Joes, not racers. HD will tolerate the modifications because HD's basically survive thinks to the aftermarket support for them. Chevy does not, so they can be much more stricgt about the warranty thing.

But it comes down to proving that what you did hurt the part. Spark plugs would be a tough one, but it can be done. A smaller pully is cake - name me one internal part of your engine that woudln't be affected in one way or another by extra boost? EVERYTHING sees more stress, and GM knows that.

 

Sorry to say it but if you had them throw it on for you as part of a warrantied installed package... they could very realisticly be expected to be held liable if those parts had failed.

Soooo... no.

That and you just kinda tossed them in for them to install for you. I didn't notice any disclosure or discussion with the service guy.

So again... no.

Had you made the offer to the guy... and offered to help cover the additional cost of the install in what you would call a "tip" to him. I bet he would have done it.

It is all about presentation. If you form a relationship with a dealer of take care of and be taken care of they will want to take care of you more.

 

To the point of everything stated here, MMWA issue or not, There is no way in hell to get GM to 'knowingly' install a 2.8" or smaller pulley without kissing the warranty good bye. (Now having a tech do it 'on the side' is different) You might as well ask them to install a 50 shot or e-bay turbo kit for you.

So although I understand the frustration, expecting them to put on an undersized pulley without said waiver is senseless.

And for the plugs, that's only a 10 minute job, no reason to even let someone else touch your car.

Just my .02

 

We have a winner.

For this reason I do all of my own work. And when I order the 2.8, I'll do that myself as well.

Depending on when my parts show up, I may just install the 2.8 to begin with, and them reflash and inspect with the 2.8 already installed. I doubt they'd notice.

 

The service guy was very nice actually. We had it all tee'd up on the invoice and I was gladly going to pay for the extra hours required to do it. After he talked to the service manager is when they got all pissed off. I thought my presentation was the best case I could have made, but oh well.

A. I don't have that knowledge
B. I don't have the tools.

I was just trying to some one-stop-shopping with my dealer, with whom I thought I had a good relationship.

I agree it was foolish to ask my dealer to do this, so lesson learned. I don't mind taking it to a shop, but it's hard to find good people who you can trust will handle your car as if it were their own. I guess I should have taken some automotive classes in college or something, but can't do much about that now.

Thanks for all the input and responses though guys. Everything is a learning process, and I appreciate the help.

 

Thats not entirely accurate. Personnal experience has taught me otherwise. But some secrets are best kept secrets.

 

Which part was inaccurate? Just out of curiosity. If you got GM to install AND warranty a pulley (2.8" or smaller) than well done sir.

 

what kills me on this whole debate is the fact that this isn't some aftermarket part from XYZ manufacturer... this is a GM supplied part for a GM vehicle which should be installed by a GM technician in a GM service shop... where's the issue? Why should it do anything to the warranty?

let's look back to the halcyon days of the musclecar when dealers would install headers and stuff for you without batting an eye knowing you were going to take the car out and pound the **** out of it.

oh how times have changed :P

Scott

 

1)99% of dealers suck, that's all there is to it. 2) If the engine couldn't stand any more boost then GM shouldn't have come out with a Stage 2 kit. Reference 1 and you start seeing problems with 2. Some dealers try to void your warranty with a GM Stage 2 Kit. If they didn't want to deal with this, Dealers should stop selling the Mother Fing car and stick with the SS 2.4 and the base Cobalt models.

 

they are not GM parts..... 2.8 and colder plugs are all aftermarket... GM stage 2 is a 3.0 pulley

 

What about the GM spec 2.8" ring? And plugs, you're serious? Listen to what you're telling me and then think about it...plugs.

 

That 2.8" ring is not a GM ring? IT is made by a company as a copy of the GM hub. I wonder if GM knows about this.....

And why couldn't plugs cause a problem. If I put the wrong plugs in, didn't tighten one down enough, gapped one wrong, any of these could cause problems down the road.

 

when did aftermarket 2.8 pullys and colder plugs become GM parts for GM vehicles?

 

I can't even go with the ring, being a problem. The motors are made for boost, and with a 2.8 ring coming out for the stage 3 kit, and the GM performance team stating that you can use a 2.8 ring with with the Stage 2 injectors, I don't buy it. Plugs dude, come on. Even if the average person is too dumb to put them in, you can't tell me the ASE mechanics in shops are. The dealerships angle on this is bogus. The ******** service manager who doesn't know jack about the product is saying no. It's a reoccuring trend. At least in this scenario the mechanic was willing to the work without any attitude until some retard came in the picture. They need to either support their product or stop selling it.