+1

My former '03 TL got 33 mpg without trying.

 

30/25 driving "aggressively" 33/28 driving "slowly"

 

Update: although I gave the story with my aunt, both my aunt and an uncle (related, not married) were interested in small SUVs/crossovers. My aunt had a 2002 Saturn Vue and my uncle had a 2006 Saturn Vue and a 1997 Saturn SL. Obviously they like GMs.

My uncle just leased a 2010 Honda CR-V EX and on Sunday my aunt is picking up her 2010 Honda CR-V EX-L Navi.

At least with my family and friends, I see this happening over and over. Whether it's the dealers, marketing, stereotypes, etc., GM (and American brands in general) are losing customers...fast...

Sad

 

Good to hear

Would be immensely satisfying to print out this thread, park the new CR-Vs in front of the showroom and show the sales manager, then laugh in their face and drive off.

 

Whats sad is buying a Honda CR-V because one Chevy dealer was rude

 

You're kidding right? You're not reading the threads.

 

Ive vowed to never go to most Acura dealerships in miami ever again because the way I was treated. Same with a whole hell of a lot of other dealerships. Yes there may be a whole lot of bad threads on GMs dealers but the same can be said for almost every other car dealership too

 

U said they both ended up getting CR-V's (even though they liked the Equinox) or am I missing something?

 

so honda will succeed because your aunt and uncle bought a cr-v instead of an equinox? correct?

 

it always varies among different dealers..

my acura Dealer is the best i've ever seen... (constant discounts, food and drinks everytime i go, they know me by name and ask about my car's progress etc.)

my honda dealer on the other hand.. sucks huge asshole.... they are just plain terrible.
(dont remember me, charge me full price reguardless of how often i go, pass me to multiple people before getting help. its just plain sad)

 

See, the experience you just had is EXACTLY the reason why I'm still in business.. Granted as a new car broker I don't actually have any new cars on my lot to show somoene, 99.99% of my business is over the phone. I do everything I can to inform and guide a customer in the right direction by means of sending them as much information as possible so they don't have to look for it themselves. Whether they want to lease a $20k Honda or a $100k Mercedes, regardless of how much money I make, they all get the same respect/treatment/experience when dealing with me. I do know that the "new" GM is trying to be more proactive in listening to customer's complaints, especially with customers experiences at a dealership. They are looking to fix these things. I would suggest sending exactly what you wrote in this thread to GM, including your experiences at the other stores. You never know what will happen!

http://www.chevrolet.com/pages/mds/h...r/contactUs.do

 

By that logic, Toyota will fail because my sister bought a Forester instead of a RAV-4.

 

aalright, as long as im understanding this logic

 

No, your sister will become a lesbian, but that is not the point of the thread....

Couldn't help it.........

I say send this to GM. Maybe corporate will let that dealer know that this type of BS is not what they need..... Maybe.

 

I appreciate all the input. I guess I've been vague in defining the point of this thread as someone who's been "pro-GM" (and pro-American for that matter) in the past: I'm having a difficult time getting family and friends into American cars (especially GMs).

I'm not exaggerating when I say I've been involved in 35+ vehicle transactions in the past 18 years or so. Time and again, each time we go to most (not all, but most) GM dealerships, the experience is not up to par as compared to the other dealerships. This may be a Southern California phenomenon, I don't know. I do know I've been to Arizona dealerships as well (my cousin lives in the Phoenix area) and it was basically the same.

At times, I've even been embarrassed to bring my friend or family member there...I almost have to excuse the dated showrooms, dated salesman, etc. It's especially frustrating because the GM products are now better than ever. But the dealer is the first and last point of contact for the brand. For the most part, it hasn't been a positive experience when compared to other brands. Try comparing a Buick to a Lexus dealer (LaCrosse v. ES350) as I did with my best-friend's Dad.

For this thread, my uncle wanted a CR-V from the get-go, so I didn't take him around...but my aunt visited another local Chevy dealer on the way home from work and although she liked the Equinox, she liked the CR-V more. I asked about her experience with the dealership and she said they were "pushy" (most dealerships are I guess). So it's not like we had a bad experience with one Chevy dealer and set "eff 'em"...LOL...

So maybe product won out in this scenario, but in my experience, the GM dealerships immediately put the product at a disadvantage.

 

Who cares. GM screwed themselves in the past already, and the misconceptions about the brand are not without basis, unfounded or not. Some people have their heads so far up their asses that they'll never buy an American car, no matter how much they improve. Some of GM's corporate thinking is to blame also, but it's just not worth it. If my family members are really interested in a certain car, then I'll tell them about it.

My mom is a brand-whore. She will not buy an American car, and her only interest right now is in Audi/BMW/MB. She thinks Lexus is subpar and always has, and she only views Acura as a stepping stone to more sophisticated cars. A few years back before they fuglified the RL, she said she liked the A6, but thought the RL was too big Some of it is bias, based on assumptions and some of it is actuality.... the only way manufacturers can change peoples' minds is to REALLY show improvement. No amount of convincing will help if the cars remain stagnant.

I prefer to buy used from private owners anyways so I can actually get the story and save thousands in the process. There's no point in supporting dealers who prefer having their customers pound sand than buy their cars. That reminds me, there USED to be a Chevrolet stealership around Milpitas a few years back.... they were situated between two Asian plazas !!! I don't think they were open for even a year before the dealership folded.

 

I thought the OP was gonna talk about this...

GM recalling 1.3 million vehicles over steering problems
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co is recalling 1.3 million compact cars in North America to address a power steering problem that has been linked to 14 crashes and one injury, the company said on Tuesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUST...=Google+Reader