GM Canada, GMAC & COURTESY CHEVROLET LTD. GM Hide inaccurate Speedometer Since 2004-2007 on Optra, Pontiac Wave, Aveo & Epica Etobicoke Ontario

I'm leasing a brand new Optra 2007 January 4th 2007.

This car has been nothing but problems since I got it. I got the car and brought it home and noticed it had a some dents near the driver side rear and someone tried to paint with a blue that didn't even match my car.

I brought the car in and they got some guy to fix this but he painted the car outside and the car had paint and little pock marks all over the rear and the rubber trim had paint on it and I went to back into the dealer and told my sales person Joe I'm not happy with this he said I would have to bring the car back and the guy that painted would have to buff it out. So I bought it back and when they said it was done the car looked worse then the first time they worked on it.

I told Joe this was not acceptable and I wanted it fixed so I bought it in again and they gave me a rental and brought it to the body shop to fix. I got the car back and it was ok.

Here is the problem I'm facing is I have been telling them for about a week after I bought the car there is a issue with the accuracy of the speedometer is of 5 to 9 kpm from the actual. They said how do you know this and I told them I have GPS system and it will read say 40 kph but the car reads 35 kph. They said the GPS must be off but I know it is not as I used this in my 2002 Grand Am and it was accurate and I also used it in the loaner car they gave me and it is accurate. They told me to test it against another car doing the same speed and it is off by five at certain speed and higher at other speeds.

I brought my car in for service on February 22 2007 to check why it is burning so much gas and I also mentioned the speedometer issue again and they did some software updates to the car and Stuart from dealer service told me he found a bulleting from GM #PIC3379B which read like this

Subject: Speedometer Accuracy Higher Than Actual - Keywords IPC miles ,mileage odo odometer offset speedo #PIC3779B
(01/15/2007)

Models:
2004 - 2007 Chevrolet Aveo
2004 - 2006 Chevrolet Epica (Canada Only)
2004 - 2007 Chevrolet Optra (Canada Only)
2005 - 2006 Pontiac Wave

This PI was superseded to add the 2005-2006 Pontiac Wave. Please discard PIC3779A.

The following diagnosis might be helpful if the exhibits the symptom(s) described in this PI.

Conditions/Concern:

The speedometer may indicate vehicle speeds higher then actual. For example, the speedometer may indicate 60 mph at an actual 55 mph.

Note: The odometer accuracy is NOT affected, as this is a speedometer ONLY issue.

Note: This is characteristic of the current calibration.

Recommendation/Instructions:

This condition is NORMAL at this time; do NOT replace the IPC for this conditions it will NOT repair this speedometer offset condition.


Now GM Canada Service Sarah told me I would have to bring my car in again so they could test the car speedometer against another car.

I told them the issue it is costing me my time to bring it back so they can test a car they know that the speedometer is of by 7-9% from the actual that they released under bulletin 3779 back in 2004.

Here is the 2004 bulletin 3779 I found on the on the Internet.

Auto Repair Information 2004 Chevrolet Aveo LS Wagon
2004 CHEVROLET EPICA, OPTRA ALSO INCLUDED. ... Description: SPEEDOMETER ACCURACY 7 TO 9% HIGHER THAN ACTUAL.


I brought my car in on March 6th 2007 and here is what the GM Service department at Courtesy said

Road test car at city speeds and highway speeds compare to service vehicle.

Service vehicle 20 40 60 80 100
Customer car 24 45 68 88 106 All speeds in Kph

This was the results of them driving side by side.

I told them to give me a new car before these test based on the bulletins released by Gm. Courtesy wouldn't told me to call the GM

I have spoke to Sarah at GM Customer Service and the first call I made on February 22nd 2007 and this what she said

She said she said this is acceptable and said she would get back to me in 24 to 48 hours with answers to my questions.

Courtesy service manager John said he would talk to someone on Tuesday about this.

Spoke to Sarah at gm Feb 26 2007 at 2pm - still no answers said she would get back to me in a couple days.

Spoke to Mike sales manager at Courtesy and said he will make sure that the GM service dept mentions to a gm rep coming on Tuesday.

Left a voice mail with details of my findings on the web to the service manager at Courtesy on Feb 27 2007 at 1:32 PM

Spoke to John Service Manager and he said Brain is calling the GM tech department to find out what is going on and he will get back to me in a couple of days. Feb 27 2007 3:40 PM


March 1 2007

Spoke to Sarah at GM and they want me to bring the car back to my dealer to confirm that this car is off and give the results back o GM.
I'm not happy with this as I gave them the results by the difference on my GPS and they know by their bulletin 3779 released in 2004 that

2004 CHEVROLET EPICA, OPTRA ALSO INCLUDED. ... Description: SPEEDOMETER ACCURACY 7 TO 9% HIGHER THAN ACTUAL. I feel this is a waste of time and
also a recall has been issued on January 22 2007 and my car has been in the shop after that day and they never did the fix for this.

Also had my Grand Am in the shop and wasn't told about another recall on it that was issued way back in 2003.

Spoke to rosemary on March 1 and she said a manager would be calling me back.

Left John (Service Manager) that I'm not happy and I want the district or Owner to call me on this issue.)

March 2nd 2007 I spoke to Karen Manager at GM Customer Service. She told me I would have to bring the car in and get the tests done and they would pay for a rental.

I told Karen this is redundant as they are fully aware that there is an issue with these vehicles as they release a bulletin about it in 2004.

I spoke to Karen again on March 6th to let her to let her know I'm not happy with the service provided at Courtesy. They gave me a tag when I bought the car saying this is what preferred customers get when they bring their car in for service. It says a car was ok I understand why this wasn't done as it is too cold out but they say they top up fluids but this was not done as I was driving into the park lot of courtesy I ran out of washer fluid and figured they would do it as I'm a preferred customer. I guess I'm not as it was still empty when I got my car back.

I spoke to Karen again on March 7th and she informed me that the results were sent to GM Tech department. I asked when would I get an answer to what is going to be done. She replied she has no idea keep calling John the service manager at Courtesy. I told here that this is not right and they knew about this before so why wasn't it fixed in 2004 when they found out about this and do you think they are going to come up with a magical fix just for me. I told her I want out of the lease or give me another vehicle. She said I would have to talk to the dealer.

I have talked to the dealer before they told me to deal with GMAC and I spoke to GMAC the leasing company and they said they couldn't do anything I need to talk to GM.

Joy from GMAC leasing called me back and told me here is my choices find someone to take over the lease sell the car back to the dealer. GMAC leasing could care less if Courtesy or any other of the dealers they take lease on vehicles for if you are leasing a brand new car that has issues before I even drive the car off the lot. GMAC should have something to say if a dealer is doing this but as long as they get the car payments they look the other way.

I called GM Customer Service again on March 23, 2007 and spoke to Marg still no information on my problem but said she will tell Karen to call me back.

Spoke to John today from Courtesy no info no time line really doesn't care says it's GM not him.

Left the owner a message to call me today as well.


March 24th 2007-03-24
Spoke to Rick Layzell GM of Courtesy and he wouldn't admit there is an issue with the car and used that I claim there is an issue with the car. He knows there is an issue as his Service Manager tested the car with another car and gave me the results that prove there is an issue with the accuracy of the speedometer. He was talking in circles and saying that others would have not referred me back to the dealer. I told him I have dates and people I spoke to and what

Spoke Mary Clark Ext 2681 on Nov 20th at 11:20pm
She is looking into the problem with the 2007 Optra.

Mary Clark called back on Dec 3 2007 at 3pm and says Courtesy said they have no findings that there is a problem with this vehicle.

Mark Clarks boss Mrs Harding ext 2642 called me on Dec 4 2007 at 3pm and kept on saying difference in the Speedometer reading is with in GMs guidelines. I asked what that percent was and she said it was GM's business and I told her I know it's 7% to 9% as I saw it on a GM bulletin that I wasn't suppose to get a hold of. I tried to explain to her that it is a higher percent. It is as high as 20% off the actual speed. Based on March 6th 2007 tests. Mrs. Hardings was just trying to make like nothing is wrong with the vehicle and play down the findings from their reseller Courtesy. I really don't know why she called as she kept on saying how can I help you but offered no help at all she seemed to want to make me upset as she wouldn't let me explain what the issues were with the 2007 or the 2002 I bought from Courtesy.

As stated before in this letter:

I have an invoice from Courtesy with their findings on March 6th 2007.

Road car at city speeds and highway compare to service vehicle.

Service Vehicle: 20 40 60 80 100
Customer Car: 24 45 68 88 106 all speeds in KPH

January 18 2008

I spoke to Julie Ext 2752 at GM Canada customer service and told her to let management know that if they can't get me out of the lease or fix the problem with in a month don't bother contacting me back as I will be taking other actions against them.

April ext 2642 called on January 21 at 11:50am and asked what can she do for me and still claims nothing is wrong with the vehicle. They can't even follow instructions I had left with Julie on the 18th. Again I asked April what is the legal amount a speedometer can be out by law and she says this is internal information.


I feel giving GM or the dealership over 12 months to resolve this issue is long enough as they have know about this since 2004. They saying it, as it is ok as they are saying it is between 7 to 9 percent which isn't the case and the Department of Transport doesn't test all vehicles so they rely on the manufacture to give truthful results.

This is an endless circle and I'm the one stuck with a car that has no consistent speedometer readings and I feel this is not safe.

I told them I would still lease from them at the start of all these problems and I just wanted another vehicle that works. They have refused to do anything but waste my time and now I'm stuck in a lease which I should be able to get out of because they knew this vehicle had this issue but figured I wouldn't find out about it but I did with the GPS and I found another guy on the net who is in the US and has the same issues as he has a auto ray diagnostics tester for his car.


I have been more then fair with them right from the beginning. Since I bought the car in January 4 2007 I have had the car back in the shop 5 times. Now I'm stuck with a car that is going to cost me 14,000+ by the end of the lease. I

I brought another car in on Nov 20 2007 that has GM extended platinum warranty and have brought the car in for the same problem of the service light coming on and they charged me $124.26 to tell me nothing is wrong but this happened a couple other times. Back in 09/27/2006 they told me to get one of their locking caps that this will fix the problem and paid them 50.11 to get one, now this issue happens again and they won't help. This dealership has ripped me off to many times and this is why I'm writing you as

I have contacted GM says that they just sell cars to them and could careless about a customer I feel and the dealer just doesn't want to help. It seems both of them are just send me back and forth and no one wants to take care of the problem.

I called GM and spoke Kelly at Ext2811 and I asked her if there were any updates to a fix and they claim there is no issue with the car and again they wont tell me what the legal limit is. I feel they have had more then enough time to find a fix or help me out. They have discontinued some of the models with this issue.

Still stuck with a lemon of a car now I'm getting problems with the power steering I called another GM dealer and said bring the car in when the light doesn't go out. It comes on I turn the car on and off it comes on sometimes and then I turn it off it goes away and come back on sometimes. There is an issue but GM doesn't want to fix anything maybe that is why they need money to save them.

Stay away from buying these models listed new or used. There fix seems t be stop making the car. I'm stuck in a lease that I should have been able to get out of because they sold a car with issues they knew about.

Gmoptralemon
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada

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