GM/Cadillac issue Please read!

[Z28 Heritage]

Just thought you guys would want to know about this

GM/GOLD COAST CADILLAC

Hello,

I am writing you this letter to describe a potentially very dangerous situation I had with a GM vehicle and to detail the customer service I received from the Gold Coast Cadillac dealership the vehicle was purchased from. Gold Coast Cadillac has already been tagged with a unsatisfactory rating by the Better Business Bureau. I guess this will be one more for them.

The vehicle involved was a 1999 Cadillac Catera with approximately 34,000 original miles.

My grandmother who is 67 years old is the primary driver of the vehicle. The dangerous situations with the vehicle are described as follows.

My grandmother was driving northbound on the Garden State Parkway at 70 mph in the middle lane when the vehicle abruptly failed with all lights on the dashboard lit. All power was lost including steering and brakes. She is not physically well or strong and managed to make it to the shoulder where the Kenilworth Police were called. I was called to go and get her. I took the car home approximately thirty six miles and experienced no failure.

The following morning I take the car on the GSP and go about five miles and the same thing happens in the middle lane. All power leaves the car including engine power,brakes and steering. I almost get rear ended by a pick up truck. I make it to the shoulder and finally make it home after another two occurrences of the same situation.

The following morning I call GM and report the potentially dangerous and unsafe situation with the car. The gentlemen takes the report and opens a case. He asks me what I would like GM to do. Pay for the repair. Provide assistance in getting a new car. I said that I really had not thought about either. He then refers the case up to a higher authority who is a district representative. Her name is Tina Fagan. She calls me the following day and tells me I must take the car to the dealership and if I wanted it towed I would have to pay the cost. She mentions no other costs to be incurred by me. I drive the car to the dealership and report the problem.

Here is where things really go awry. I report the problem and I am called into a separate room with the service manager and two other people. They are clearly there to back his reply up. I am told that I would have to pay a diagnostic fee for him to even look at the car. I keep explaining that there is something clearly defective with the vehicle and that it is a safety issue and a unsafe vehicle. I tell him Tina Fagan mentioned nothing at all about a diagnostic fee to look at the car.
He replies that he is not looking at it. I tell him that’s between him and Tina Fagan. He attempts to call her two times but she is not available. I told him I will leave the car and he can discuss the issue with Tina Fagan at GM. He proceeds to tell me he does not want the car on his lot and to get it off. I tell him you expect me to take that car out onto Highway 35 knowing the safety issues and dangerous situation that could occur. He said he doesn’t care and he is 100% business. Now keep in mind they have a shuttle service and rent a car service and he offers me neither to assist in my safety and the safety of others. And if this was my 67 year old mom there he more than likely would have tossed her on the highway in a unsafe car. I said to him sometimes you have to be 75% business and 25% human being. He replied again he is 100% business. I leave and get home with the car and call Tina Fagan at GM and explain to her what happened. She said she will call the service manager immediately. She gets back to me and tells me there is nothing GM can do.

I am writing this letter to let potential customers of GM and Gold Coast Cadillac know what kind of response they can expect in a safety related issue with one of their vehicles.

What do I expect from GM and Gold Coast Cadillac now? Absolutely nothing. They really showed how they treat their customers in a situation where their vehicle is dangerous and has
inherent safety issues. Keep in mind I have been a GM customer for 30 years and currently have five GM vehicles. You know how much that mattered? Not at all. So when buying a vehicle keep in mind the story of my sixty-seven year old grandmother and I. We will be buying a Honda as our next vehicle. And it’s a shame. I used to be a great customer and proponent of GM. And I really don’t believe the executives at GM know what is really happening on the customer level. If they did, I am sure it would be fixed.

[madness410]

o man im glad everyone is ok in that situation. thats really sad i hate when i get mistreated and customer service is terrible...but if the man he bought the caddilac from keeps it up he wont have a business to be a 100% business man with.

[qwikz28]

i hate to sound cold but the car is about ten years old and the warranty has long been expired. why do you feel it GM's responsibility to repair the car? many safety issues arise in a car at that age, why is yours distinct? if i were GM, i would do the same. its simply not their problem anymore...

[Z28 Heritage]

Well, The car only has 34,000 original miles. And this is clearly a major safety issue with the vehicle. It has been repaired. It was the crank sensor. A neighborhood guy repaired it and said don't drive the car. Do you need a lift home? Gold Coast Cadillac told me get the car off my lot. Go on Highway 35 and take your chances. He is "100 % business". There you go! Thats the issue that got me really pissed. No offer of a lift home(3 miles) until he worked it out with the GM rep. They have a shuttle and they also have a enterprise rent a car office. Again, get on Hwy35 and if you kill yourself and others ....not my problem. And according to the mechanic who fixed it...this is not a problem that happens at 34,000 miles. It's a problem that happens to a vehicle with 100K + miles. The issue is how i was treated as a customer by Gold Coast Cadillac and GM. By the way, i own 5 GM vehicles....That number now will be slowly decreasing....

[Tru2Chevy]

I fully understand your issue with the dealership. Regardless of weather or not the vehicle was covered under warranty, they could have been polite about it.

I don't see what your beef with GM is though. As Jake said, the car is long out of warranty, regardless of the mileage. Yea, it's a little early ( @ 34,000 miles) to have a crank sensor die, but at about 10 years old it's not completely uncommon.

I understand your feelings about having your mom drive the car, and yes, the dealership was rude about it, but in reality, they didn't do anything wrong. He just informed you of the fees that the woman you spoke with at GM either forgot to tell you about or just didn't know about. GM has very little control over their dealerships, just like many other manufacturers.

It has been repaired. It was the crank sensor. A neighborhood guy repaired it and said don't drive the car.
Why would he tell you to not drive the car if he put a new sensor in it?

- Justin

[Tsar]

As Jake said, its 10 years old. Maybe I should call GM and tell them to give me new cats for my car, because mine are going bad, what do you think? After all they extended the warranty on 00+ F-bodies (I believe) but somehow I was left out. Its old, people must deal with their own repairs.

[qwikz28]

hey man don't be discouraged! crank sensors go bad after time, just ask nissan! tell your grandmother to get back in that caddy and start zigging!

[BigAls87Z28]

Agreed with everyone else here.

First off, the Caterable is one of the worst cars GM North America never made.
With that, what Gold Coast did was wrong. What else is GM to do? You are out of warranty, and even at 34k miles, the car is 10 years old. Its surprising that the car didnt have any other problems.

Sucks to hear about the car, and Gold Coast is a ********.

And Vitals, I belive GM did recall the cats on the car. I would check on line.

[Tru2Chevy]

And Vitals, I belive GM did recall the cats on the car. I would check on line.

GM recalled 2000+....Vitals has an LT1.

- Justin

[BigAls87Z28]

Ahhhh booooo that sucks.

[Frosty]

I'd be mad at the dealership, not GM. Like everyone else said the car is 10 years old, regardless of the mileage. It's certainly not GM's problem. At least it was something easy to fix and not something major. Consider yourself lucky considering the Catera is a raging POS.

[Z28 Heritage]

He said not to drive the car before he replaced the crank sensor because it was not safe. Sorry about the confusion.

[Z28 Heritage]

Cateras are really that horrible? Didn't know that. They are made in Germany and have a Saab motor. How bad can they be? When it's running it actually runs really well. Handles like you would expect from a German car.

[BigAls87Z28]

Crank sensor...ugh, never leave the Euros to make a quality V6 engine
Should take it to GM hard core, tell them you want a brand new CTS for your Grandmother for the trouble she's been put through. I love the new CTS...I wish it came with a mid level V8.

[Tru2Chevy]

Crank sensor...ugh, never leave the Euros to make a quality V6 engine

Heh...the Crank Sensor in my Lumina (3.1L) lasted 197,xxx miles. Pretty good I'd say. :)

- Justin

[Z28 Heritage]

I guess from the replies a customer cannot even expect a lift home while it is being decided between the dealer and GM what to do. Just send the customer home and have him cause a massive accident. Oh well.....My neighborhood guy always offers me a lift home. And he even said the dealer was wrong in telling you to get lost in a unsafe vehicle...Either the dealership is bad or i need to switch vehicle brands....to say like Honda. I really don't see how you can send someone out on the highway with a vehicle that dies and loses all power. I mean i understand the refusal to pay for it. Thats fine! But as a customer you don't tell the person "Get your car off my lot". And you sure as hell offer them a lift home when its 3 miles away. Bottom line is i would never buy a vehicle from Gold Coast Cadillac again because of the way i was treated and i sure as hell want everyone on the face of the earth to know about it!

[sweetbmxrider]

yeah and it was just the car stalling out, so you lost power to everything and the dash lights come on because the car is acting as if the ignition was just switched on. scary, but it can happen to anyone for many reasons. crank sensor failure, i agree with everyone being a 10 year old sheitbox catera it can happen, just seems soon at 34,000. and gold coast cadillac being absolute aholes, thats just terrible and i will be sure to spread the word about the way you were treated. thats not right.

[BigAls87Z28]

Cateras are really that horrible? Didn't know that. They are made in Germany and have a Saab motor. How bad can they be? When it's running it actually runs really well. Handles like you would expect from a German car.

Yes. The Catera's had horrible trans problems. The Catera was an Opel car, and used the 3.0 Opel engine.
They used a similar type engine on the first year or two CTS's, the 3.2 V6.
Overall, the Catera was a flop. It didnt matter either way, Caddy was in for a major transformation with a new outlook. The Art and Science theme took over, and cars like the Catera were swept under the rug.

[foff667]

i hate to sound cold but the car is about ten years old and the warranty has long been expired. why do you feel it GM's responsibility to repair the car? many safety issues arise in a car at that age, why is yours distinct? if i were GM, i would do the same. its simply not their problem anymore...

Im with you on this.

[Savage_Messiah]

Dealership: wrong

GM: not really their problem

[foff667]

Dealership: wrong


In which sense? Yeah they probably should've offered him a rental car at their regular fee but other than that they told the guy what they needed to do & why, you'll find a diagnostic charge no matter if you go to GM or your local repair facility. This is a 10 year old vehicle in this case(the mileage does not matter) so if you bring your vehicle to gm to be serviced expect to pay in doing so. The bottom line is don't expect by calling GM directly about a 10 year old crank sensor going bad that they will automatically pay for the tow there, the repairs & a rental car for the day you'd be out of a vehicle then proceed to tell the service manager to work it out with GM when in reality it isn't their fault or problem at that point.

[Z28 Heritage]

I can agree with your point. My private mechanic does not charge a fee to tell you whats wrong. And being a customer, operative word customer, you don't toss him/her out on the highway with a unsafe vehicle. He could have provided me with a lift home until he and the GM rep worked out the details of what needed to be done. But he did not give a crap. What if it was my 67 year old mother standing in front of him which it very well could have been. He would have told her to hit the highway with that car? And at 34,000 miles the crank sensor goes bad? I have five other GM vehicles and have had several more over the last 5 years and that never happened. The problem was not with the cost or who was going to pay for the repair. The problem was with the service manager saying he is 100% business and to get the car off his lot. Don't forget i purchased three cadillacs from this dealership. We are talking high end cars and this is the way i get treated. After thinking about the posts you guys provided i have to agree it is a dealership issue and not a GM issue. Gold Coast Cadillac rates right under whale crap.

[Z28 Heritage]

And keep in mind i was not asking for anything for free......just a little consideration taking into account the safety issues surrounding the vehicle. But he said hes 100% business and get the car off the lot. I said sometimes you have to be 75% business and 25% human being. He said no "I am 100% business".

[sweetbmxrider]

yeah that comment is quite rude. i don't like that. ill spread the word around my parts fer sure

[qwikz28]

he's a loser, but he has a point. when a car is on his lot, its under the insurance of the dealer. he is saving a headache for himself. the crank sensor can be replaced and remember that age affects the condition of parts as well as mileage.

[sweetbmxrider]

there's ways of dealing with customers, especially loyal ones. that was not one of them. he's a dick

[Z28 Heritage]

My motive now is nothing more than letting folks know about Gold Coast Cadillac and how they treat people who by 40K vehicles. Thats it. By the way they already are rated unsatisfactory by the BBB.

[Savage_Messiah]

Wrong from a customer service standpoint. Granted every story has two sides, but from this side it would seem that the rudeness was uncalled for

[LS1Hawk]

My motive now is nothing more than letting folks know about Gold Coast Cadillac and how they treat people who by 40K vehicles. Thats it. By the way they already are rated unsatisfactory by the BBB.

Yes. The problem is with Gold Coast. Not with GM. And I'm glad you've come to that conclusion. You said yourself you have 5 other GM cars and this is the first one to have a problem like this...not a bad track record. No reason to jump ship to Honda because of one bad crank sensor.

[ShitOnWheels]

There are usually a bunch of GM/Cadillac dealerships in any given area, why not try a different dealer. As has been said by others, the problem is not with GM, it's with this specific dealer (although he was rude, he wasn't necessarily wrong, he just could have been nicer about it). Try a different dealer next time, even if it's a longer drive to get there.

But, if you've been happy with GM cars up to this point, and this is the only thing that has happened (and it's not GM's fault), no need to hurt GM and switch companies.

[Stevoone]

Crank sensors are pretty common on the Catera's. Along with electrical problems, coolant leaks, timing belts(recalled) and oil leaks. IMO they were probably one of the worst Cadillacs I've worked on. Things seem to roll down hill with them also, may just be the customers we get that own them. But it seems like once they start having problems everything else starts to fail. When there in good mechanical condition they seem to run/drive great but they are a lot more expensive to fix for some reason.

Can't see why they didn't want to work on it. I work at an extremely slow shop and I've done quite a few of them.

[foff667]

I really want to respond further however I don't feel like being called rude or a dick :lol:

I will say if your vehicle is out of warranty you normally need to PAY for repairs ;)

[Z28 Heritage]

I appreciate all the replies. So i guess the concensus is it's poor customer service from Gold Coast and the Catera irregardless of mileage is a piece of crap and to look into getting something else before it falls apart.

[Stevoone]

Poor customer service seems like a normal practice anymore, I don't want to say everyone is like that. I've had good experiences at some places and horrible at other's. Usually seems to depend on what kind of mood the person your dealing with is in, and/or how you approach them with the situation. I'm surprised some customers come back to where I work with the attitude they receive from other people that work here.

I wouldn't say that Catera's are crap. They just have a lot of common problems and there a little more expensive to fix when something goes wrong. Finding someone that knows how to work on them is fun also.

[Knipps]

Like everyone else has said, it's not GM's problem or the dealer's.
The car's a decade old so **** is bound to happen. The only wrong I really see is the dealer's way of handling things.. I'll make sure anyone I know stays away.