Like a Rock? — C/K truck image from the 1998 Buyer’s Guide.
To bring you up to speed, by 1997 we were driving a ’97 Blazer, and my beloved ‘80 Buick Park Avenue, both have been written about.
1997 was a very good year for the Downs family. The only downside was the sad divorce of my brother and sister-in-law. But, good came from that as we were able to bring Beth, my sister-in-law into our home, giving our children the chance to know their aunt. It was also the year that I bought the hardware store from Paul, my father-in-law. Yes, that’s right, Paul retired, and I now had my own business, Riverland Hardware!
Well, my Buick was on its last legs at 170,000+ miles and my accountant had suggested I go lease a new truck for the business. So, after putting up for a while with the Buick only wanting to start whenever, I drove it to my local Chevy store to look at the S10 trucks they were giving away for free, along with balloons and hot dogs. According to the newspaper anyway.
However, I drove out in a full sized extended cab Chevrolet Cheyenne with two options: Automatic, and one package (R1C if memory is good). This came with a tilt wheel, cruise control, air conditioning and a stereo with a cassette. The Cheyenne was white over blue cloth and with Rubbermaid floors. The venerable 4.3 resided under the hood. It was the perfect vehicle. And the lease was so cheap; no money up front, no deposit, just $278 monthly for 36 months!
I was really excited to have a non-Brougham-type truck. No carpet to mess up, easy to clean cloth, white (important in the Fort Lauderdale area, trust me), and better on fuel than the neighbor’s 2-year-old Dodge.
I had a bed liner installed, put beauty rings on, tinted the windows, and had magnetic signs made to advertise. I had a new tool in my toolbox to help me run my new business. That trick helped me in so many ways. Not only could I offer delivery, but I could now make trips to my wholesalers if someone needed something in a hurry. I really was enjoying that truck. In fact, we even drove it up to Charlotte one time.
Everything was terrific… until it wasn’t. With an empty bed, one person aboard, the transmission hunted from 2nd to overdrive back and forth; on flat ground. So I took it in for service.
At first, the fine folks at Chevrolet were reasonable and honestly tried to find and fix the truck’s issues. However, this wore out after my second visit, where I was told simply and directly, “We cannot find whatever the problem is. This truck, shifting and all, performs to specs. Therefore, kindly do not return to our dealership again.”
Wow. Ok.
Things continued going down for my beloved truck. One Sunday the kids and I went to pick up a half yard of sand. No weight involved and the truck’s engine sounded like it would grenade in a minute. My poor son looked at me with big eyes: “Dad, aren’t you going to pull over? Or do something?”
I said, “Nope. Chevrolet can’t find the issue when it’s running. Maybe they’ll figure it out with a blown engine!”
For those reading who’ve never had to use the Lemon law, congratulations. It is laughable at best. Between keeping every piece of paper, demanding paperwork from every dealer, to sitting through a BBB arbitration (whose volunteers range in age and expertise) it is really a big waste of time.
Finally, at the 14 month mark, I took my truck to a local dealer who was simply amazing. Per my promise to them, I will not name them. But after they heard the truck’s noise with another load of sand, they tried many repairs, desperately looking to fix the issues. This included a new transmission, new coil packs, tune up, fuel system flushing, new windshield (the other had delaminated), new wiper motor (it broke while in their possession), and a new cigarette lighter (the old one had a short).
But in the end, nothing would fix the truck’s real problem; a bad CPU that GM absolutely would not replace even if I paid for it. So, I was advised simply to reach out to the State Attorney General for Florida and I did. They asked for me to fax any repair documentation; 53 repair attempts in all! Eventually, GM agreed to buy the truck back, no defense.
When they called to ask me where I’d like to drop it off, I said “The selling dealer, of course!”
In the end, all worked out great. I got paid by GM, my sister-in-law met and married her wonderful husband, and we ended up running our business successfully.
Thanks for the story, Chip. And as someone who has been following your articles since I believe you started here on CC, I have to congratulate you for being a resolutely up-beat, glass-half-full, person who is also willing and able to keep pressing forward for resolution and a better outcome. That may seem like a easy thing to just toss out there, but it’s really quite a characteristic to be proud of, IMO.
I’ve never had to take advantage of a Lemon law, but I recall when such things were first invented and I was amazed that consumers were able to rally the political force necessary to get such legislation enacted. I was even more amazed when I heard that it was sometimes possible to use the legislation to get redress. But still, the thing that probably doesn’t surprise me is that it takes less than a day for a car dealer to take your money, but usually months for you to get your money back in the event of obvious product failure. 53 attempts….
This kind of thing makes me cynical. What happened to doing the right thing for its own sake? What are the odds of the author ever buying another GM vehicle?
I have known a couple of people who had to invoke my state’s lemon law, with uneven success. It is not a process for the faint of heart! There must be few things as frustrating as getting a brand new vehicle only to get hit by constant or unfixable problems.
I have to echo Jeff, above. You have had a lot come your way but have always found a good way through.
Wow! I have had perhaps 50/50 new and used vehicles over the last 50 years. I’ve only needed a tow three times, Vega, Vanagon, and BMW 528i. All with fairly high mileage (I guess 70k is high for a Vega, it was the timing belt). Of the maybe ten brand new cars I’ve owned, I’ve had minor warranty repairs and/or recalls on just a handful of them. No breakdowns or multiple service returns, ever, with a car bought new. I can’t imagine 53 attempts and needing to invoke a lemon law. And as I noted in my recent CC outtake, I really like GMT400’s. Oh well, thanks for taking one for the team.