Camero Bullshi(f)tery - The Pressure Is On

[Snuze]

Got a call from the shop a bit ago. Camaro needs a new flywheel and pressure plate. The lead image isn't actually mine but I can only assume that's what mine looked like.

I'm hoping they don't give me any crap about a warranty claim, calling it a "wear item." Or because I had a skip-shift eliminator on it.

[ibRAD]

Does that come with a new clutch? I'd push for a new clutch. At GM's expense, of course.

[Chariotoflove]

@snuze

No possible way it could be called a wear item this new. The mod may be a point of contention, but I doubt it (he says with fingers crossed).

[DAWRX]

@snuze that seems really quick for something like that to go. Hope it was just a defective part but thats a bit concerning.

[Snuze]

@dawrx @Chariotoflove At only 400 miles I suspect its a defective part. This is my first car with a multi-plate clutch, but still, its not that different than a regular one.

@ibRAD Good idea, I will enquire about that.

[Longtime Lurker]

If they are going to try denying warranty, I'd bet on "You don't know how to drive manual" or "You did to many burnouts". But they will most likely cover it.

[Snuze]

@longtime-lurker Agreed. But I had a friend with an Audi S4 that had a clutch fail at 1500 miles, and they tried to blame him for it. He eventually got it replaced under warranty, but it took far too much hassle, including getting his father (a lawyer) involved.

[Just Jeepin']

Ok, what the hell is this?

Shift blocking or “skip shift” is a feature of six-speed manual transmissions added to improve fuel economy ratings in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) system by preventing a driver from switching from first gear to second or third as would be done normally. A solenoid prevents the shifter from engaging these gears, forcing the driver to shift from first to fourth gear.

You can’t...shift gears in a manual? I honestly have no idea what this is about.

[TexturedSoyProtein]

@just-jeepin GM has been doing this since the C4 Corvette. They have a skip shift feature where if you're not accelerating aggressively, when you try to shift from 1st to 2nd, a solenoid shunts the shifter over to 4th. It's purely to game EPA MPG ratings. In the C4 owners manual there's even a page that says the one wire you need to disconnect to disable it, but nowadays you have to get a skip shift eliminator kit.

[Snuze]

@just-jeepin So thats slightly misleading - you can go to third. It only blocks out second, and only under certain conditions (speed, throttle position, RPMs). Its entire point is to game the EPA fuel economy test, because they have very specific speeds ans RPMs they shift manual cars at for the test. But its also super annoying in regular street driving because it does kick on occasionally.

I think everyone knows its bullshit and I've never heard of anyone getting a warranty claim denied over it. Honestly I thought about removing it before I took the car in, but its such a pain in the ass to get to, and I didn't think it was a trans problem originally.

[ibRAD]

@snuze said in Camero Bullshi(f)tery - The Pressure Is On:

@ibRAD Good idea, I will enquire about that.

Don't inquire, insist! And dealing with the cost of the "extra" parts is between GM and the dealer. Not your problem.

[RallyDarkstrike]

@dawrx But you have to remember, we're talking GM here.

[Rykros Doesn't Talk About Bruno]

My first stick-shift car was a '94 Probe GT, bought used, had it for a few years put around 30,000 miles on it and sold it with the clutch just starting to slip.

If a complete NOOB can put 30K on a car, that's already got 40K on it when purchased, which was known to have a weak clutch from the factory to begin with... then yeah... that's BS. They need to replace that on their dime.

Granted, ANYONE can roast a brand new clutch in a few hours or less if they really wanted to... but the first glance will see that lack of abuse and thus the argument flies out the window.

[Rusty Vandura]

@just-jeepin @snuze

[Jb boin]

Well, they sold a defective car, in here you could legally ask to be reimbursed or that they would fix the car to be in the condition it should have been out of the factory.

[trivet]

@jb-boin said in Camero Bullshi(f)tery - The Pressure Is On:

Well, they sold a defective car, in here you could legally ask to be reimbursed or that they would fix the car to be in the condition it should have been out of the factory.

This.

This is what the Lemon Law is for. Either fix it or buy it back/reimburse you for the entire car purchase amount. A new car shouldn't break like that, but if it does, it needs to be fixed at no cost.

[rctothefuture]

@trivet Lemon Law can be a bigger pain in the ass than trying to work with GM on this, depending where he lives.

[Snuze]

@jb-boin They do that here as well, generally. One of the exceptions is maintenance items & consumables, things like breaks or oil changes. Clutches are considered consumables, but this car is so new I cant imagine them denying it. Though I've heard of dealers trying (see my other post about my friend's Audi).

[Jb boin]

@snuze even if it's a consumable, it's supposed to be changed with a recurrence that is totally different than 1month and a few thousand miles at most.

If the car was needing an oil refill or battery change so soon, it would also not be normal and not something that you should pay out of your pocket.

[Snuze]

@jb-boin Agreed, but that doesn't stop unscrupulous shops from trying to stick it to the customer anyways. I dont think it will be a problem this time.

[pip bip]

@snuze ouch, sadly though theee little things do happen when many humans putting them all together

Seen the odd gm clutch here shit itself early on too

Once repaired it’ll be fine

[TheBarber]

@snuze Curious to see what all the parts look like. We tend to do a one time "Goodwill" on something like this at our facility. Then again we are Honda and this is GM. I would think they'd try to make things right though. If not then contact Chevrolet corporate customer assistance to have them apply the heat to the dealer.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@snuze Sounds like someone forgot to locktite the flywheel bolts.

[Snuze]

@thebarber I would hope this is a warranty issue and not a "goodwill". Its only 2 weeks old and has 400 miles on it.

[TheBarber]

@snuze For us in the back a goodwill fix is warranty. Regardless of whether its 100% covered by the manufacturer or a split with another party. It's generally something that would not normally be covered under warranty by the strict operations manual standard. In this example that would be wearable items. Usually those do have a much more limited warranty period. I am not familiar with Chevrolet dealerships operations manual so I can't shed any light on what their time/milage is for those items. 400 miles would be ridiculously low not to be covered.

We reach out to our manufacturer representative on whether they want to cover it or not. 99/100 times they do. Especially if it is a wearable in the first 30k or so. But by wording as such its implied that if this particular issue happens again that it won't be covered next time and most times it never does. Now, I am not saying they wont cover it again if this is the result of a defect elsewhere. I am just explaining why I talk about it being goodwilled. It definitely seems like a defect of some sort. I have done many-o-clutches under goodwill. I have had flywheel ring gears crack and seen pressure plates mis-torqued from the factory before.

As one GM owner to another, I wish you the best.