Gossamer 50 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 (edited) <Snipped in edit> Moral of this story: Do NOT trust GM to make anything right - even after they promise to do so! Edited September 27, 2014 by Gossamer Link to post Share on other sites
Greg_E 211 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Going to pin this until GM steps up and starts working on this. Link to post Share on other sites
WaltK 305 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Good for you, keep on them! I don't know where you're located, but here in Jersey we have these "pay when you win" lawyers, that specialize in lemon law cases. These guys are like pitbulls, to me it would be worth the few bucks to let them deal with it, and avoid the aggravation. Keep us up to date, on how it goes, when the weather starts to warm up again, this a/c issue is going to come back to life, especially if the 2014's are affected. Link to post Share on other sites
Gossamer 50 Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 (edited) Ooops! Double post! Edited December 20, 2013 by Gossamer Link to post Share on other sites
Gossamer 50 Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 (edited) <snipped in edit> Morals of this story: Do not trust the BBB or it's so called arbitration, and GM is a bunch of liars that don't follow through with their commitments to their customers. Edited September 27, 2014 by Gossamer Link to post Share on other sites
Shane Duus 6 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 BBB is horrible. It is a waste. You can have a A rating because there is no data against you. Super misleading. Link to post Share on other sites
rroyce46 0 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Hi .I am new today to this site & forum.I am looking into buying a used Spark 1lt automatic here in Calgary Canada for about $11500 From a GM dealer who has 59 of them with 13000 to 27000 kilometers.They are ex rentals .I am most concerned with this Air Condtioning issue.Would you buy one ? I wondered if GM had a REAL fix for the poor A/C but by the looks of this thread that is a big NO. Right now the Temperature is -12 C so I have no way to check it. Advise please? Link to post Share on other sites
Gossamer 50 Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 Hi rroyce, welcome to the forum! Before I answer your questions, let me just say that I really do like the Spark, but with all the problems I am having with it (more than just the A/C), I am sorry I ever bought it. There are some people that have said their A/C works fine, so in my opinion it will be a crapshoot whether you get a good one or not. First thing you should do is ask to see the repair records for the car you are interested in to see if the A/C has been repaired or not (and how many times it was). If it was then you'll know there was a problem, but you won't know if it is fixed since myself and others have had repairs that did not fix the problem. Also, look inside the driver's door jamb for the build date of the car, and make sure it was built after November of 2012, so that the buttons on the steering wheel will have lights. To be honest though, if it was me, I would not buy one until I knew for sure there was a definite fix for the A/C. Good luck in whatever you decide to do, please let us know. Link to post Share on other sites
austex04 48 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 It appears that fewer '14 Spark owners complain about their a/c, but that's not really the point here. It's more about how the company as a whole treats their customers when they have repeated, unresolved problems. Link to post Share on other sites
Gossamer 50 Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 What problems? According to GM there aren't any problems! Any issue with the vehicles is just our opinions, and the cars operate as designed - which tells us how well the cars were designed! robdotexe 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Shane Duus 6 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 We havent had any issues with our 2014, but i really hope we do not have any issues with the A/C. However, I will just cruise with the windows down if I have to. We really like this car Link to post Share on other sites
austex04 48 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) What problems? According to GM there aren't any problems! Any issue with the vehicles is just our opinions, and the cars operate as designed - which tells us how well the cars were designed! Never underestimate the power of denial, LOL. I will seldom ever need my a/c anymore, I'm moving to the Pacific NW in 6 weeks. I find the heater almost as weak as the a/c, though, probably because I get cold easily. The Spark is a fair weather vehicle. I just might keep the Spark longer than intended because I won't need a/c anymore, if the rest of the car holds up. It'll probably fall apart after 80k miles, like the rest of GM products I owned, maybe not? Edited December 21, 2013 by austex04 Link to post Share on other sites
Greg_E 211 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Glad I made this sticky so it stays up at the top. Link to post Share on other sites
bluer101 241 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Now that's it's slightly cooler here in S FL I'm not using my AC as much. So right now it's not a problem for me but it is still there. I still have not had them look at my recirculate flap problem, have you Greg? I love my Spark but just wish they would release an actual fix they the engineers are working on. Link to post Share on other sites
Greg_E 211 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) No, I haven't wanted to lose the time from work needed to take my car in to get them to look at it and say they can't reproduce it. I need an oil change so I guess that will force me to bring it in. My heat is also doing strange things which might be the result of the mix flap control that needs to be updated. Edited December 21, 2013 by Greg_E Link to post Share on other sites
bluer101 241 Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 No, I haven't wanted to lose the time from work needed to take my car in to get them to look at it and say they can't reproduce it. I need an oil change so I guess that will force me to bring it in. My heat is also doing strange things which might be the result of the mix flap control that needs to be updated. Ok let me know please. Link to post Share on other sites
Greg_E 211 Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 The part is fairly cheap, I may just buy it and install it myself so I don't have to deal with people who think I'm a third class citizen for buying a car they don't want to service. Link to post Share on other sites
Gossamer 50 Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 Just wanted to post an update on the ongoing BS with my Spark. Since it has been over a month and GM has not stepped up to follow through on their commitment to replace the car, I have hired a lawyer and he will be dealing with the lemon law issues, so I won't say anything else about it until a resolution has been reached one way or the other. I did speak to several lawyers, and one told me that he had already received quite a few inquiries concerning the Chevy Spark! Link to post Share on other sites
Lovgun7 75 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 good on you Gossamer I would have gone the attorney route from the get go which is what i plan to do next year since my car has been "serviced" 3 times but i have yet been able to properly test it since the temp drastically dropped ... i left it at the dealer for 2 days ... both days in the high 90s... when i picked it up temp was mid to low 80s... the next day it was overcast in the mid 70s.... 1st trip switched out compressor 2nd trip "working as designed" i refused to sign off on the service 3rd trip "it is now shooting ice cube when they switched out the compressor on the 1st trip the morons at the dealer forgot to re add freon (which i found out from the dealer manager when they told me on the 3rd)... yet every other trip they swore on a stack of bibles "this is as good as it gets" & "its working as designed" Love the car regardless of the crappy service from GM ... Link to post Share on other sites
Greg_E 211 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 An independent service place suggested that maybe I shoot a little more freon on the car just to see what happens, I'll probably give that a try this summer. Not to derail the thread. Link to post Share on other sites
whitelespaul 3 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 When my Chevy Colorado with only 4 k miles was hit in the rear axle in 2012, I tried to go the lemon law route since GM could not get me a new axle assembly. They had already closed the old plant and "had no spare axles". I got the same cluster f**k as you from GN reps in Detroit. They ducked out of the law since the damage was from an accident but skirted the entire real issue that they failed to provide a replacement drivetrain part for a current model year truck. I finally had to get a junkyard axle with 90k miles on it for my new truck which I promptly traded in. Link to post Share on other sites
Lovgun7 75 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 An independent service place suggested that maybe I shoot a little more freon on the car just to see what happens, I'll probably give that a try this summer. Not to derail the thread. my issue with that would be GM should add the freon not you ... btw the idiots at the dealer close to me told me on trip 2 "its working as designed" then on the 3rd trip they realized whatever moron worked on my car forgot to add the freon... smh Link to post Share on other sites
Gossamer 50 Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Well, it's been a while since I updated this post, and I guess it is time since GM/Chevy is fu*king with me once again! (again sorry for the length) So I hired a Lemon Law lawyer to deal with this POS, and he contacted GM/Chevy about my car and the issues it has. He told them that he wanted the replacement vehicle I was promised, and of course his fees. GM told him that since I lost in the (sham of a) BBB hearing, they were no longer willing to replace the car, too bad for me. The lawyer told me that because the laws in my state do not let a judge in a lemon law case award attorney's fees, he could no longer represent me unless I wanted to pay him a retainer to file in civil court. If I won in civil court (which he of course felt I would), the judge would "probably" make GM pay for my attorney costs, but there was no guarantee that I would win or that the judge would award the fees if I did. So I let the lawyer go, and started looking back into filing with the state. I contacted the attorney general's office of my state, and explained what had happened up to this point. They were pretty surprised that GM never followed through on replacing the car, and sent me the papers to file with the state. In the meantime, I continued to try to have the car fixed (since I really do like the Spark), up to and including the latest so called A/C fix (which was or was not done - see the other thread). I have been in contact with the Chevy reps that frequent this board, before during, and after this supposed fix was supposed to be done - my car was kept for 3 days and both the dealer and the Chevy reps say nothing was repaired in those 3 days, yet the Chevy reps asked me if there was any improvement!!! When I asked the Chevy reps why others had parts installed and I didn't I was told that it is up to the dealers to decide what fixes are needed, and I could go to a different dealer if I wanted to. After some more back and forth (me refusing to go back for a 9th time), I told the Chevy reps that I am going to file the paperwork with the state if there is no other option, I was told they could escalate my claim if I so wanted. Of course I told them I would be happy if there is another step to possibly resolve this issue. Well, this morning I got a call from a GM representative who left a message saying that he would like me to call him back about my issue with my 2013 Chevy Spark. When I got in touch with him later on he told me that they can not help me since I hired a lawyer, so any discussion about my car would need to go through the lawyer. I explained to him that I do NOT have a lawyer, he replied: "well yeah, but you had one, so I can't talk to you"! So anyway, I'm back to square one. I will be filing the papers with my state on Monday morning, and I plan on contacting my congressman's and senator's office, along with the local media "On Your Side" people, since I figure with all the bad press GM has gotten lately they will all jump on it to show how GM is still screwing with their customers. I am even looking into getting magnetic lemons to stick all over the car! Anyway, I guess the next update will be when the state, the politicians, or media get involved. I'm ready for my close-up Mr. DeMille! Link to post Share on other sites
Greg_E 211 Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I think contacting your Congress persons and maybe some of the same that are/were on the GM hearings might be a very wise choice. Legally you may want to avoid the media, legal counsel normally says to avoid such things while cases are pending. I'm not trying to hush you, but it might be wise advice until you here from the State AG office. Maybe we should set up a Spark owner's legal defense fund. It's also funny because the dealer I've been going to said that they can't do anything unless Chevy tells them they can fix it! Seems that they like to point the finger of blame at each other so that you can't get anywhere. And finally, if you decide to go to civil action, you should also name the local dealer since you are told they won't fix it and Chevy can't make them fix it. One of the two is responsible, so they can fight between themselves in court to decide who gets to pay for your car and who gets to pay for your legal expenses. Link to post Share on other sites
Gossamer 50 Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 In all honesty, what I will do is file the papers with the state, and contact my politicians - and of course the lemon magnets which will probably draw the local media's attention. If I could afford to go the civil court route ($5,000 retainer + court fees), I wouldn't have bought a Spark in the first place! To be fair the exact words the Chevy rep used when I questioned why I didn't have the A/C parts installed were: Our dealerships act as our eyes and ears for any concerns that you may have. It is best for us to contact your dealership if you feel that your HVAC concern has not been resolved. We also rely on our dealerships for any technical advice. The program includes the dealership inspecting and, if necessary, replacing the A/C compressor. Dealers are to also, if necessary, replace the Evaporative Air Temperature Sensor, install a low pressure switch adaptor kit, and reprogram the Body Control Module. So in other words, the dealers can do whatever they decide the vehicle needs after "inspecting" the car. What I don't get is how the dealerships are giving GM technical advice, since last time I checked it was GM that built the car. Gary Segan 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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