ZL1 owner fights dealership over wrecked/totaled car.

[Samckitt]

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/chevy-camaro-zl1-owner-fights-dealership-totaled-car-170136602.html

[72BBSwinger]

Now that is service after the sale! Not a GM fan but this is an opportunity for them to get some good press.

[andrewb70]

The dealership is offering him a replacement. Why isn't he taking it? What is it about his car that he feels made it worth more than any other ZL-1. Something is missing in this story.

Andrew

[cwylie]

I think its more about offering him a used replacement. Car only had 10k miles on it, I dont think them replacing it with a new one is an unreasonable request.

[Todd in Vancouver]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=333504

There is a lot more to it and you can read it over on Camaro5. This thing has blown up into a huge deal but in short the replacement car was a two owner vehicle with more miles on it and a declaration on it from an accident. Can't say as I blame them for not accepting it. The dealer has missed a huge opportunity to take care of the customer and do right and instead have chosen to be difficult and unreasonable. They will now be judged in the forum of public opinion with who knows how much damage to their name and future sales.

[BMR Sales]

The dealership is offering him a replacement. Why isn't he taking it? What is it about his car that he feels made it worth more than any other ZL-1. Something is missing in this story.

Andrew

Might be the "Criminal Aspect" of the Accident that he thought could pressure the Owner of the Dealership to go above & beyond to right the situation.

It made Google News over the weekend, so between the numerous Forums, the Local TV Station segment, and National Press. the Dealer got more Bad Publicity than he ever bargained for. There are some people that think that even Bad Publicity is good publicity, but I think due to the nature of what happened, it would have cost the Dealership a lot less to have gotten ahead of this than chase their tail. They've had to close their Facebook Page, alter their Webpage, Fire the Service Manager, pay Lawyers, get their Insurance Rates hiked up and get egg all over their face!

[andrewb70]

Might be the "Criminal Aspect" of the Accident that he thought could pressure the Owner of the Dealership to go above & beyond to right the situation.

It made Google News over the weekend, so between the numerous Forums, the Local TV Station segment, and National Press. the Dealer got more Bad Publicity than he ever bargained for. There are some people that think that even Bad Publicity is good publicity, but I think due to the nature of what happened, it would have cost the Dealership a lot less to have gotten ahead of this than chase their tail. They've had to close their Facebook Page, alter their Webpage, Fire the Service Manager, pay Lawyers, get their Insurance Rates hiked up and get egg all over their face!

I never said that the dealership was smart. They probably should have given him a new car and been done with it. However, at the end of the day, if you were to examine it objectively, the owner of the Camaro is only entitled to actual damages, which in this case was a ZL1 with 10K miles on it. It seems a little unfair to essentially blackmail the dealership into getting him a brand new car.

Andrew

[csouth]

I never said that the dealership was smart. They probably should have given him a new car and been done with it. However, at the end of the day, if you were to examine it objectively, the owner of the Camaro is only entitled to actual damages, which in this case was a ZL1 with 10K miles on it. It seems a little unfair to essentially blackmail the dealership into getting him a brand new car.

Andrew

I agree with you Andrew, I feel the owner only deserves a similar miled car. On the other hand, I would still fight for brand new. As the first owner he knows how his car was driven for every mile, unlike something they are trying to give him. ZL1 owners don't buy them because they are grocery getters, they want to go fast. The dealer needs to bite the bullet and give him a new car. He stands to lose more in the end.

[72BBSwinger]

This is a case IMO where the dealership would've been super smart to NOT let this go any further than the dealership parking lot. A new ZL1 is cheap compared to throwing your reputation in the trash on a nationwide level. They took a calculated risk with a guy who has NOTHING to lose since they already destroyed his pride and joy. You just dont F@#$ with another mans car and expect it to just be "cool" afterward....

[Todd in Vancouver]

If you look over on C5 alone it's got 1,200 replies and heading toward 300K views. The car they offered him had more mileage, two owners and had been in an accident. I'm sure there are a lot more details but at face value it appears the dealer tried pulling a quick one on the owner and he said no. GM is now involved so I have no doubt this is going to end up costing the dealer a lot more than if they had just told him they would get him a car that he is happy with. Through all the bickering going on John, the ZL owner, is still making payments on the car. It's a really messed up situation and as already discussed the dealer is coming out as a real a$$ and social media is exploding over it. Very short sited by the dealer.

[analyte]

This is a case IMO where the dealership would've been super smart to NOT let this go any further than the dealership parking lot. A new ZL1 is cheap compared to throwing your reputation in the trash on a nationwide level. They took a calculated risk with a guy who has NOTHING to lose since they already destroyed his pride and joy. You just dont F@#$ with another mans car and expect it to just be "cool" afterward....

^^^ so true it needs to be said again...

[andrewb70]

…..The car they offered him had more mileage, two owners and had been in an accident.….

Well, if that indeed is true, than the dealer wasn't trying to make things right. Honestly, I don't know why the dealer would even try to offer him a car. Their insurance company should settle with the owner of the car and that's that. Then he can go off and get himself a car that he wants. But I think what's happening is that the dealer doesn't want to file a claim with his insurance company and is trying to make this deal go away, but now it's exploding in his face. Short sited indeed.

Andrew