[Oldroverboy]

I spent years in the motor trade, and over the past 13 months of Epica ownership, following on having a lacetti estate, and also having an Aveo, have advised others on this forum to check with the dealer first of all. Finally my own patience has run out. First of all, car delivered, no pdi check, no air in tyres, 3 major warranty problems, no service before delivery. second service (oil change) wrong oil used. (changed elsewhere!) just had another service, specified grade of oil, GUESS what! wrong spec used.. oil change done again. Chevrolet don't give a ****, so neither will I. It will not see the inside of a Chevrolet dealers while i own it. When it is time to change I will buy a non GM product with a long warranty and pre-paid service pack and let the dealer get on with it. I have been asked not to tar all dealers with the same brush, but 4 dealers 4 sets of problems. I have no confidence at all that things will improve.
I still read the forum and enjoy it, but Chevrolet will not get my custom again!



Good luck everyone!

 

[TeeJay]

Your experience with Chevrolet is by no means unique. I bought my wife a 10 month old pug 207 and the dealer who serviced the car this summer has failed on 3 seperate occasions to rectify a very simple air con drain tube fault which should be repaired under warranty. I wouldn't even grade the main dealer incompetent - they are just not THAT good! No grease on door hinges or bonnet mechanism something which I have taken as a given during a service.

As for Chevrolet, well its goodbye from me this coming weekend as my car goes in part ex. My Epica has lost me a small fortune in 6 months of ownership, the brand is still regarded as budget motoring and until that trend is bucked I wont be buying the badge again. Cruze is also loosing money fast and the hatchback version looking likely to lose as much as quickly as its saloon sibling!

Never again.

 

[100mpg]

eek! As a newbie chevy owner with a few years warranty left I'm not enthused by these comments, im keen on not getting my new motor fudged by careless dealer servicing so if you have any advice on which ones to avoid I'd appreciate it, I'm in Surrey / south london. Also how can you tell if the wrong oil has been used?

 

[Oldroverboy]

I am lucky on two counts, There is a vauxhall network Q dealer here in carmarthen who i know and trust, and they have done the past two services, allowing me to supply the parts (genuine chevrolet) and charging me £99 inc vat for the labour, (mine is a diesel). (This was acceptable to chevrolet)However Howards of Carmarthen who were MG/Rover dealers and maintained my MGzt and who I trusted implicitly have now become chevrolet dealers and have replaced my front discs and brakepads on a "menu" price, including the brakefluid change free of charge. While it was in they did the full equivalent 40.000 mile service oil/air/fuel filters and went over the car with a fine toothcomb, spending a bit of extra time as it was their first "official" chevrolet repair! (labour charged £120, same as I would have been charged at FRF swansea)

For this customer, very pleased that the service properly done, car washed (free).

If you look on the news section on this site, chevrolet are expanding the dealer network and will be terminating some sites, but if your travels bring you this way for a short break, get it done here, or if you are near redditch, go to cresser, and if you want parts, barry franklin at cresser gives a discount to club members. Personally I get my oil from opie motul 8100 Xtrra clean. ( make sure yours has the acea grade correct too, but barry can supply 5w30 if that is what yours uses. if you want send me a private message and i,ll get in touch. Finally if you do go to your local dealer, be very specific about what will be done before you give them the car and check the invoice immediately to see if oil has been changed , don't forget the service reccomendations are X0000 miles or annual, whichever comes first and the oil SHOULD be changed at least annually, dip the oil when you collect the car it should be clean, but not always very apparent on a diesel, However the independants seem to be better than the national chains. One last point, be very sure that the brake fluid IS changed at the correct intervals!

Happy motoring
ORB


Edited by: Oldroverboy

 

[Disbeliever]

Your post would have some value if you named the Dealers, what are you afraid of ? I have a Cruze Diesel bought from Evans Halshaw St Albans and I have been satisfied with their service car, albeit free for 3 years. However main concern is that there have been two recalls on the Cruze fuel pipe leakage & seat harness fault that I would not have known about if car was not serviced by franchised Dealer I should have been notified by the DVLA . The main problem with Franchised Dealers is their rip-off parts & service cost. Evans Halshaw want £130 for new front brake pads obtainable for only approx. £75 supplied & fitted by the excellent Tyre City where I had four new excellent Matador tyres fitted for £375.

 

[Oldroverboy]

Dear Disbeliever,
Evans Halshaw in St Albans are the very dealer who put the wrong oil in my car, see the postings under my name in the Epica section.
Pentagon are the dealer who did not do an oil change as requested before delivery, who delivered the car with the drivers door mirror not working, the air con not working and the oil leak from the cooler to filter housing pipe, both of which were field recalls, and the tyre pressures all round at 25psi!
Those postings are both there, I informed Chevrolet Customer services AFTER I had informed first the selling dealer, and got nowhere initially, although eventually 2 months later they paid for the cost of an oil change. When the car was in at St Albans they then used the wrong grade/acea spec of oil.

FRF in Swansea have radically improved over the past few years, but this i attribute to the new aftersales manager, Steve Secombe, although I had some issues with a previous vehicle with them.

If you want a good independant garage and you are near Rickmansworth, go to Rickmansworth service station, oposite the underground, tell them to order chevrolet parts for your servicing, or ask if you caan provide those parts, and you will find them very competent. That is where the aveo lives and is serviced by them. It has just passed the mot, only comment, like anew car sir, 09 reg1.4lt 5 door.

 

[Disbeliever]

Hi Oldroverboy

Regret to learn of your problems with Evans Halshaw, how did you know they used the wrong oil ? Fortunately there are good independant garages where I live in Edgware which I would use after warranty expires but I do not normally keep a car after two years. Quite frankly I am trying to decide what car to buy next as my Cruze is two years old and is IMO still the best value on the market ,taking appearance, performance and room into account and no warranty claims to date.Mine has almost a full size spare which I would retain if I buy another Cruze am waiting until June to see the new Estate.

 

[Oldroverboy]

How did I know the oil was wrong, it was on the invoice, and when they checked they admitted it, all credit to them, but I am never going back. (they did refund me within 24 hours) but i had the oil changed elsewhere.. however if you do need servicing Ricky service stion is very good, have used them for over 10 years, with several different cars.