Sorry this rant is so long but I assure you it is worth the read.
My wife and I try to buy American made products whenever possible, but in this case GM has seriously given us second thoughts. After speaking with many people and through our own experience it is really sad to wake up to the reality that GM does not stand behind their products or customers and poor service seems to be the norm with GM. Both Corporate and Dealerships.
I am sick of reading "Your complete satisfaction is important to us, and we're here to help"
Really GM?? I own a 2013 CTS Premium , with 318 hp of nothing but problems and run around excuses from both GM cares and the dealerships that service them. How is it my complete satisfaction is important to you? How can you make that statement when not just one but on a few occasions when something is wrong with my car I am told it's the natural characteristic of the car?
At 27k miles our 2013 CTS Premium model developed a unique natural characteristic, the front wheels bind when turning. GM calls it (STICK/ SLIP)
For anyone who reads this, I want to make sure we are on the same page. Let me explain the problem and how GM perceives this concern.
I have literally hours trying to get this resolved. Make no mistake; this so called natural characteristic feature of this car could have resulted in a fatal accident for my wife, 5 year old granddaughter and me. When making a right hand turn out onto a busy road we were almost broadsided by an oncoming car. I pulled out and the car began to (slip and lock) hindering its forward movement. Had the left lane not been open for the oncoming car to swerve around us, I probably would not be writing this. Very scary.
We have two case numbers pertaining to this defect natural characteristic. We brought the car in for service at Novick in Bridgeton NJ and I reproduced the problem for the Certified Factory Trained tech who reported the front wheels were binding. We received a call from dealership and said they could not reproduce the problem and that we could pick up the car. That was not acceptable and I refused to take it back.
We contacted Customer Care where we received a claim number. The rep told us how concerned she was and completely understood why we called. She said she would call the dealership. Apparently she spoke to the service manage and they kept the car another day. The following day the dealership called and told us GM gave them a bulletin PIC4986E stating it was the natural characteristic of the car and they wanted their loaner back and we had to pick up the car because they had to go by what GM said. They were not allowed to look into it any further because GM would not pay them for the warranty service.
We called customer care again, we couldn’t get in touch with our rep so we waited for another rep to answer. They couldn’t help and after 45 minutes of running in circles and jumping through hoops, I finally convinced the rep I was speaking with to get a Supervisor of Customer Care on the phone. We explained our situation to the supervisor and she assured us she was very concerned for our safety and she would handle this personally. We have her name if you need it. Apparently I misunderstood what handling personally means or she was to busy to handle it, so she passed the buck onto another rep who called the same day, gave us another claim number and assured us she was concerned with our safety.
The following day the new rep called and said she looked into this further and went beyond what she normally does for customers. The final result, she said the Gm engineers said,†it is the Natural Characteristics of the car. The car is performing to GM standards.†I guess that is what GM means when they say Standard of the world in some of their adds. She went on to tell us, there was nothing more she could do.
The bulletin specifically lists this slip and lock “feature†designed into the car for reasons beyond my comprehension, can occur at a full lock position and specifically states the cars affected by this. They are 2009-2015 CTS with the FE4 suspension and Michelin Pilot 2 19" and 2010-2015 FE3 CTS with Continental ContiSport 3 19" tires. Also listed were the wagons. Had she or anyone else for that matter really looked into this, someone would have known my FE5 suspension and Goodyear Eagle Rs tires weren’t listed on the bulletin. And any person laymen or engineer would know that you do not make turns onto a road with your steering wheel at full lock. The car has done this two more times since we had it back. I asked GM on several occasions,†If it is the natural characteristics of the car why doesn’t it do it all the time? They never give an answer. My conclusion is, GM simply does not care.
We are scared to drive the car, so I repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to get a phone number from the rep to someone above the customer care department to speak to us. Does anyone know who these illusive people are who can’t find the time out of their busy day to speak to a customer with a problem that Customer Care could not remedy? I have read where GM executives are making millions in salary excluding 14.4 million in compensation. One would think they would want to speak to customers who buy their flag ship car and help make those salaries possible. Apparently Barra and friends may have forgotten this.
So many sales pitches!!
"Cadillac has stood for uncompromising performance, daring design and groundbreaking technology."
I give them the daring design. I personally failed to witness the rest.
I read on the Cadillac customer care FAQ page, “Our mission is to provide you with a superior customer experience. Your satisfaction is our business. GM and our dealer partners are working hard to earn your trust, confidence and loyalty by making sure you are completely satisfied with your vehicle and the services provided to you.â€
At the end of the day everything we were told and everything we read became meaningless words.
I am beginning to believe these problems are the natural characteristics of the car, because if one builds good looking junk, then surely the problems associated with that junk would be the natural characteristic of the car. We called Channel 6 Action News Call for action. The GM rep’s have not returned their calls. I can’t imagine why.
My goal is to inform as many people as humanly possible to the quality products and great service offered by our friends at GM. There are many avenues for consumers to place their concerns, and I want to thank car complaints for helping consumers and offering one of those.
A quick note for those who did not buy their car new and have problems and can’t seem to get a satisfactory resolution. Aside from the Lemon law which they handle free also, there is another law called the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act.And there are law firms who offer 100% cost-free legal services in many states. I will be calling them as soon as I get my car looked at two more times at different dealerships for this problem.
Thanks for reading; I hope it helps in your decision whether or not to purchase a GM product. In case anyone is interested, I have all the names and 5 digit extensions to these people along with documentation to support my claims I do not make false accusations.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Sorry this rant is so long but I assure you it is worth the read.
My wife and I try to buy American made products whenever possible, but in this case GM has seriously given us second thoughts. After speaking with many people and through our own experience it is really sad to wake up to the reality that GM does not stand behind their products or customers and poor service seems to be the norm with GM. Both Corporate and Dealerships.
I am sick of reading "Your complete satisfaction is important to us, and we're here to help" Really GM?? I own a 2013 CTS Premium , with 318 hp of nothing but problems and run around excuses from both GM cares and the dealerships that service them. How is it my complete satisfaction is important to you? How can you make that statement when not just one but on a few occasions when something is wrong with my car I am told it's the natural characteristic of the car?
At 27k miles our 2013 CTS Premium model developed a unique natural characteristic, the front wheels bind when turning. GM calls it (STICK/ SLIP) For anyone who reads this, I want to make sure we are on the same page. Let me explain the problem and how GM perceives this concern.
I have literally hours trying to get this resolved. Make no mistake; this so called natural characteristic feature of this car could have resulted in a fatal accident for my wife, 5 year old granddaughter and me. When making a right hand turn out onto a busy road we were almost broadsided by an oncoming car. I pulled out and the car began to (slip and lock) hindering its forward movement. Had the left lane not been open for the oncoming car to swerve around us, I probably would not be writing this. Very scary.
We have two case numbers pertaining to this defect natural characteristic. We brought the car in for service at Novick in Bridgeton NJ and I reproduced the problem for the Certified Factory Trained tech who reported the front wheels were binding. We received a call from dealership and said they could not reproduce the problem and that we could pick up the car. That was not acceptable and I refused to take it back.
We contacted Customer Care where we received a claim number. The rep told us how concerned she was and completely understood why we called. She said she would call the dealership. Apparently she spoke to the service manage and they kept the car another day. The following day the dealership called and told us GM gave them a bulletin PIC4986E stating it was the natural characteristic of the car and they wanted their loaner back and we had to pick up the car because they had to go by what GM said. They were not allowed to look into it any further because GM would not pay them for the warranty service.
We called customer care again, we couldn’t get in touch with our rep so we waited for another rep to answer. They couldn’t help and after 45 minutes of running in circles and jumping through hoops, I finally convinced the rep I was speaking with to get a Supervisor of Customer Care on the phone. We explained our situation to the supervisor and she assured us she was very concerned for our safety and she would handle this personally. We have her name if you need it. Apparently I misunderstood what handling personally means or she was to busy to handle it, so she passed the buck onto another rep who called the same day, gave us another claim number and assured us she was concerned with our safety.
The following day the new rep called and said she looked into this further and went beyond what she normally does for customers. The final result, she said the Gm engineers said,†it is the Natural Characteristics of the car. The car is performing to GM standards.†I guess that is what GM means when they say Standard of the world in some of their adds. She went on to tell us, there was nothing more she could do.
The bulletin specifically lists this slip and lock “feature†designed into the car for reasons beyond my comprehension, can occur at a full lock position and specifically states the cars affected by this. They are 2009-2015 CTS with the FE4 suspension and Michelin Pilot 2 19" and 2010-2015 FE3 CTS with Continental ContiSport 3 19" tires. Also listed were the wagons. Had she or anyone else for that matter really looked into this, someone would have known my FE5 suspension and Goodyear Eagle Rs tires weren’t listed on the bulletin. And any person laymen or engineer would know that you do not make turns onto a road with your steering wheel at full lock. The car has done this two more times since we had it back. I asked GM on several occasions,†If it is the natural characteristics of the car why doesn’t it do it all the time? They never give an answer. My conclusion is, GM simply does not care.
We are scared to drive the car, so I repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to get a phone number from the rep to someone above the customer care department to speak to us. Does anyone know who these illusive people are who can’t find the time out of their busy day to speak to a customer with a problem that Customer Care could not remedy? I have read where GM executives are making millions in salary excluding 14.4 million in compensation. One would think they would want to speak to customers who buy their flag ship car and help make those salaries possible. Apparently Barra and friends may have forgotten this.
So many sales pitches!! "Cadillac has stood for uncompromising performance, daring design and groundbreaking technology." I give them the daring design. I personally failed to witness the rest. I read on the Cadillac customer care FAQ page, “Our mission is to provide you with a superior customer experience. Your satisfaction is our business. GM and our dealer partners are working hard to earn your trust, confidence and loyalty by making sure you are completely satisfied with your vehicle and the services provided to you.†At the end of the day everything we were told and everything we read became meaningless words.
I am beginning to believe these problems are the natural characteristics of the car, because if one builds good looking junk, then surely the problems associated with that junk would be the natural characteristic of the car. We called Channel 6 Action News Call for action. The GM rep’s have not returned their calls. I can’t imagine why.
My goal is to inform as many people as humanly possible to the quality products and great service offered by our friends at GM. There are many avenues for consumers to place their concerns, and I want to thank car complaints for helping consumers and offering one of those.
A quick note for those who did not buy their car new and have problems and can’t seem to get a satisfactory resolution. Aside from the Lemon law which they handle free also, there is another law called the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act.And there are law firms who offer 100% cost-free legal services in many states. I will be calling them as soon as I get my car looked at two more times at different dealerships for this problem.
Thanks for reading; I hope it helps in your decision whether or not to purchase a GM product. In case anyone is interested, I have all the names and 5 digit extensions to these people along with documentation to support my claims I do not make false accusations.
- Robert T., Woodstown, NJ, US