Well put, Skregal. I have defended American made cars for well over a generation. As my financial profile changed I and started buying new cars ( I can only wish GM eavesdroppers read), I bought a '87 Regency, a '92 Park Ave, an '05 LaCrosse, and an '05 GXP new. Never again. My next major purchase will definitely be foreign. My wife'* Sonata Limited ( A Hyundai for pity'* sake) is light years ahead of any domestic car I've seen in quality. The features She got for $21k incredible. It has never had to go back to the Dealer except for oil changes in owning it now a year. While mine has been in for enough mechanical and body issues to boggle the mind.( I would have to think hard with a pencil and paper to recount it all.) And for the most part, they were all bad experiences. I have the top level extended warranty, yet choose to fix things myself or out of pocket at the Custom shop rather then deal with Mr. GoodWretch. Guess it'* good to have it for the drivetrain anyway.

Not entirely true Skregal. A lot depends on the service department and their mentality! There are shops that the Service Manager runs solely “by the book” and GM’* letter of the law, then there were ones like ours, where we were more “performance oriented”, knew our way around the Reynolds and Reynolds then Dealerworld systems, and could get things done. Search around, talk to a service manager of each respective dealership. We had customers come from Wisconsin for our service because they knew we’d bend the rulebook when needed to satisfy the customer.

Believe it or not, GM dealers aren’t any worse than any other out there. They use the same “talent pool” that any other manufacturer backed service department uses. You’d be amazed at how many technicians worked for other brands before working at your Pontiac service department. Let’* not even go into the ones that are shared with other brands EVEN imports!! Heck, several Pontiac dealerships here are partnered with foreign brands. O’Hare Pontiac was paired with Hyundai. McGrath in St. Charles is paired with Honda.

Anyway, service standards are pretty much that… standards! Warranty administration is also standard! Heck, most dealers now use the same network called Dealerworld to run their databases, sales, and service/parts systems. Two major players in this are ADP and Reynolds and Reynolds (which was just acquired by someone who I can’t remember off the top of my head). So it doesn’t matter whether it’* a Honda dealership or a Chevy (which we were).

It isn’t about the quality of the vehicles either, because a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan dealerships service department is just as busy as our Chevy dealership was. Each vehicle has it’* own set of problems. There hasn’t been a perfect vehicle invented yet. One guy used to tell me, “those cars in that Honda/ford/Nissan/Chrysler/Toyota/Pontiac/Whoever dealership’* service department aren’t in there getting their tires rotated!” “Most likely if it’* back at a dealership, it’* back for warranty work!”

Also, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar! Customer service is two ways too, you know. Of course, everyone here will tell about what angels they are when they drive into the service department, but reality has it, that the majority come in pissed off and upset because they expect their car to run like an appliance. That attitude shows, and often enough, you rub the service writer the wrong way, stuff doesn’t get done right, if at all. I won’t say I EVER did anything like this, but if you come in screaming at me, telling me that I’m an idiot, the car sucks, my family lineage is still part of the primordial ooze of the Earth, chances of me smiling and taking care of your problem promptly, courteously, and correctly has just dwindled significantly. Chances are, I’m gonna sign the tech with the least amount of experience, heck even maybe an oil change jockey, without the correct tools, and tell him it needs to be done while you wait. But I never did anything like this.