GMAC Wants More Government Money

Now this is a funny, sad and ironic story. My wife and I were heading home from my 'summer of inconvenience' in Salt Lake after 5 months when my 3 year old Suburban dropped the transmission in Idaho Falls. I called OnStar who does their thing very well and was directed to a nearby GM/Chevy dealer who was right on top of everything.

They helped me get a rental car, I got a local hotel and the car was under warranty, with GMAC. One day went by, two, three and then came the weekend. My dealer was courtious and kept me in the loop and told me the Adjuster from GMAC Warranty would have to stop by. Now my dealer in Montana who I love and the Idaho Falls dealer both said the transmission should be replaced, not rebuilt.

The Adjuster came and went and so did the weekend and Monday morning, no word. I called the dealer service guys who said their hands were tied with GMAC. Now we're in a supposed crisis in the auto industry, the dealer is trying to help and GMAC, who is now an independent company, is just taking their good old time.

I had had enough as the bills for staying in Idaho Falls are climbing, I call GMAC customer service. The gentlemen I got was very supportive and cooperative and said, "I'll walk this over to our Adjuster right now". Which he did. He came back a little changed. He proceeded to tell me that the 'problem' was who was going to 'pay for it'. I said, "Well, what we know is that I'm not paying for it". He agreed but continued telling me the internal issues they had to resolve.

I told him that was all interesting but not relevent and I wanted a transmission in my damned car and I wanted it resolved today. He still danced and I said, "It is no wonder you people are having trouble, I'm a customer and you dont care." He informed me that they were not part of GM and they were 'not' in trouble. Nice for the customer for sure.

About two hours later the local service manager called me to say he had approval for a new transmission, he'd have it their overnight and have me on the road by 1pm the next day. In fact he finished it in 3 hours the next morning and called me at 10:30 with the 'you're ready to hit the road'.

Now think about the math. I spent a grand hanging out in Idaho Falls, the GM dealer was ready, it took GMAC six days and a kick in the ass to make a decision and the dealer fixed it in 3 hours. So instead of an overnight I spent six days and a grand. And when I checked out the dealer said, "GMAC is going to pay for your rental car". I was pleased and when I talked to my MT dealer on the way home, he said, "Well I guess so, its in your warranty, they have to."

And the topper came the next morning I was reading USA Today on my iPod and there it was - GMAC Going Back to DC for More Money (the third time). And we wonder why our country is spinning in the toilet bowl about ready to disappear. Where have all the leaders gone?