*** UPDATE *** PRO Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge Ram Saved me from an overpriced, lack-of features, 2011 Sierra 2500! PRO put me in a 2012 (newer) Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins Diesel Dually for a nearly straight swap!!! If you’re looking for a great deal on a truck read my review here!
Several months ago I picked up a 2011 GMC Sierra 2500HD from Grand Buick GMC in Thornton, CO for my wife and I’s Hot Shot Trucking business…
The Sales Process:
The sales process with Grand Buick GMC was typical for buying a car… It was high-pressure and didn’t seem to bring much information and/or education on any of the vehicles I was interested in… In fact, when I was getting a Vin Inspection on a Trailer the Police Officer told me more about the truck then anyone came close to at Grand GMC. I think I should at the very least have been told about the urea tank and the pitfalls if I don’t make sure it’s filled. Heck, I didn’t even know what UREA was. Important detail?
As I wrote above, I ended up selecting a 2011 Sierra 2500 Duramax Diesel… When I drove off the lot I felt that I knew really nothing about the truck and due to the high pressure sales was unaware of the lack of features a $50,000.00 truck from Grand GMC really had. Oh well…
The next day I noticed there was a door ding… Oh well it was gonna happen sooner or later, might of well have been from the service guys right? Who knows and to be honest it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Here’s what was… A good friend of mine was checking out the truck when he noticed the front bumper was sagging on the drivers side. I brought the truck into the Grand Buick GMC service center where it was later confirmed the bumper was in fact sagging in the front. (Keep in mind this is a brand new GMC truck…) The service guy said he’d hook me up with their body shop to have it fixed. Wait.. what? So my thinking is this… If I purchase a new vehicle and there’s a manufacture defect a reliable dealership would go out of their way to grab the truck from me, bring a loner and get the problem resolved.
This wasn’t the case with Grand Buick GMC.
My overall satisfaction from Grand GMC in Thornton, CO wasn’t good. I believe I left a message with the GM Mike Malin who I believe passed me back off to the service team who originally failed to deliver a satisfactory resolution.
To date, Grand GMC has offered to have me drop the truck off for a loner but unfortunately I am by far too busy and would lose far too much money on freight shipping being down 1 truck for any given time… This is why I thought I’d purchase new, to avoid problems like this.
Last but not least… I had bed liner installed. Over the phone I was quoted a price that I thought included everything, my credit card was taken and upon delivery they said they mis-quoted me by $150.00 – my fault?
Mike Malin, W.D. Moreland and Rick Duncan, here’s your constrictive criticism, take it for what it’s worth.
December 22, 2011
Sean,
First I’d like to thank you for talking the time to express your concerns. We welcome all feedback to improve the “Grand Experience”. This is In reference to your review of Grand Buick GMC Kia and the purchase of your 2011 GMC Sierra 2500 Diesel.
You were in our facility on November 17th with a complaint that your engine rattles upon acceleration. That is due to the fact it’s a diesel and they are simply louder. It’s a larger engine and it will make more noises. The other thing is the Duramax uses a common rail induction system that makes it quieter than the Dodge or Ford diesels.
You say you didn’t know what UREA was, actually its DEF, diesel exhaust fluid an emission reducing additive, required on all new diesels by the Federal Government. Everything you would want to know about your truck is in the Owner’s manual, as a reference.
You stated your front bumper was sagging on the driver’s side of the vehicle. Since we don’t have a body repair facility, we offered to take care of your vehicle repairs and recommended you go to Five Star Collision Center, a highly reputable facility, to repair your vehicle to factory specifications. They do high quality work or we wouldn’t use them for General Motors warranty coverage.
We have offered you a loaner, during the time your vehicle would be out of your possession, so we can return the vehicle to where it should have been at the time of delivery. We need your cooperation in order to complete these concerns, so please assist us in scheduling a best time for you to drop your vehicle off to us, or any close or convenient General Motors dealer to you.
Your complete satisfaction is our goal. We’ll make every effort to ensure that.
Kind regards,
Customer Care Manager
Tree King – Grand Buick GMC Kia
303-460-8000
Greetings Tree,
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to respond to my review.
In your response you said: You were in our facility on November 17th with a complaint that your engine rattles upon acceleration.
That statement is inaccurate… If you remember, I called in for a quote on bed-liner. It only took about a week but you were able to get me a quote, take my CC then get me booked for install on November 17th. While I was there I asked about an odd rattle in the engine (not a standard noise made by diesel engines…) In fact, to date I still don’t think your tech understood what noise I was referring to.
My complaint started with you quoting me one charge and later finding out I was misquoted and not finding out about it until after the install. The initial price was okay but with the ‘mis quote’ your dealership came out quite a bit higher then anyone else and I would have had the work done elsewhere.
You are correct when I said my front bumper was sagging which was later confirmed Grand GMC. During my first visit I was advised I could drop the truck back off and they’d have it sent to their body shop. It wasn’t until I called in to complain that Grand GMC offered to get me a loner truck.
The problem with that is this. My truck is licensed by USDOT and is used pretty frequently for Freight Shipping, a loner truck would not be licensed or insured for this therefore I’d lose more money then it would be worth fixing the bumper right now.
I bought a new truck because I didn’t want to have issues. You shouldn’t have to return a brand new truck to the dealer because of a ‘manufacture defect,’ this is something your dealer should have checked upon delivery.
I’ll consider on stopping in again but as of now I am having the truck checked out by a different GMC dealer for a second opinion.
** UPDATE **
I took the Truck to PRO Jeep, Dodge just down the street to see what they could do for me. Come to find out, there are actually a lot of rebates out there from manufactures when you buy a truck for business use…
PRO swapped me out of my Sierra 2500 for a 2012 RAM 3500 Cummins / Dually for just about a straight swap. The RAM is just about FULLY LOADED (not crank windows like the GMC). These guys really bent over backward to get me into a a truck I’d really like. They spent a good amount of time with me on the truck and I couldn’t be more thrilled…
P.S the Dodge Ram is actually A LOT more quite than the GMC. No weird rattling noises and has just about every feature you could ask for. Upgraded high-output cummins and more…
p.s. you can see the new truck here: http://www.freightshippingco.com/2011/12/29/new-fsco-truck-denver-co/