Chevyland Dealership in Shreveport LA review: Tire repair on a newly purchased 2022 camaro

Dear Complaints Board:

This is a summary of the series of events that led up to this complaint which is the first of its kind for me since my purchase of new vehicles back in 1986.

I wanted to allow Chevyland a full business week to reconsider and to correct this potentially unsafe condition.

Please see the attached pdf. for actual correspondence(e-mail) between myself and Bubba Winningham who is the General Manager at Chevyland in Shreveport LA along with a photo(I have others available) of their repair as received and also their documentation of the actual repair(work ticket).

The RH RR tire exhibited a very slow leak upon receipt of the vehicle. It initially started at approx. 1 psi/week. After a few months it was up to a few psi/week and since we are both(my wife Ro) extremely busy I felt it would make sense to integrate this repair with a routine engine oil and filter change. Mathew was my initial Service Manager and I was satisfied with his level of concern and also his performance.

During the actual 1st visit for this engine oil and filter, along with this tire repair the Service Manager had changed to a new gentleman named Josh and remained so during the next two Service visits and during the remaining duration of this series of events. The Service writer was Sean who had a Tire Technician(unknown name) perform the actual repair.

The total time for the 1st visit was approx. 2 and 1/2Hrs and the end result was the tire was not repaired, in fact not even looked at. I was not satisfied and upset(it showed) and left as a very dissatisfied/unhappy customer. I made effort to call Mathew and a bit later received a call from Josh. After me venting my frustration, Josh and I agreed to perform the repair the following week. I requested to be able to bring him the tire/wheel assembly for this would make it as simple as possible for them and also allow me to view the repair prior to installation on the vehicle-which turned out to be a good thing. During the 2nd visit, I dropped of the tire/wheel assembly directly to Sean and we both together examined the area in question which clearly exhibited a nail or screw in the area that you see the tire plug within the picture(attached). There was no other damage to the tire noted by either Sean or myself. I was comfortable at this point and was confident that all would be taken of(felt good). I left and approx. 2 Hrs later I called Sean who stated that the repair was still not complete. I waited and additional approx. 20minutes and called Sean(typically these type of repairs take less than 1/2 hr particularly if they are making effort to make right an initial wrong), when Sean stated on the phone that it was complete and that he had it plugged, I was extremely unhappy and when I stopped back to Chevyland, picked up the tire/wheel assembly fairly quickly and obtained the work ticket(see attached) and was on my way.

I was very disappointed for as an Engineer who has worked directly in the automotive industry, tire plugs(please see the attached photo) are not an accepted process of repair in either the Automotive or Tire industries. Internal patches are the industry standard and are more than acceptable.

So far a total of approx. 6 1/2 hrs of my personal time has been essentially wasted(I live approx. 40 minutes one way from Chevyland) along with the subsequent frustration and still not an acceptable form of repair. I am confident that Chevyland would not use this process(tire plug) on a Corvette and although this unit is a Camaro SS it still has a high speed rating and quite frankly, this process would be unacceptable on any current vehicle as a long term form of repair.

In addition to the plug that was be used for this repair, I noted the gash that is evident on the tire(please see attached photo). This photo was taken at the Whole Foods parking lot approx. 8 minutes from Chevyland prior to my shopping. The gash just made me feel very uncomfortable(slightly threatened) and as if they wanted to send a message not to pursue this any further. It was at this point that I wrote the e-mail to their General Manager-Bubba Wittingham.

Please note that prior to this series of events, Chevyland was an excellent dealership and I have recommended to many in the past.

Please call or write if you haver any questions or concerns regarding this issue.

Take Care And Be Safe

Mark T. Slutsky

[protected]

Below is the e-mail correspondence with Bubba-General Manager during this event-two e-mails:

From: Mark T. Slutsky [protected]@gmail.com

Subject: Re: My Recent Experience With You Service Department

Date: August24,2022at11:41AM To: [protected]@chevyland.com Bcc: ro Slutsky [protected]@lsmsa.edu

Bubba:

I have spent some time speaking with Josh in reference to this issue and it appears that although we came close to a resolutuion, we are as he called it "at a termination point".

Due to the gash/damage that was evident upon my receiving the wheel/tire assemby back, I am not comfotable at this time bringing either myself or my wifes vehicle in for the replacement that he offered towards the end of our discussion. I requested that he simply either have someone pickup our wheel/tire assemblly next week and make either the repair or replacement(his choice) and return it to my place when complete-I do not want to waste any additional time on my part for this repair other than removing and replacing the tire here. Josh does not want to send anyone here and as I mentioned, I am definitely very uncomfortable bringing it to Chevyland(at this point). I even offered for Josh to have someone just drop off the tire at our drop box(or ship it) if that is the direction he wanted to take and I will have it installed at my tire shop and he does not agree.

I am making effort to be satisfied and comfortable with this repair for I do love my wife and her safety is important to the both of us.

Sincerely

Mark T. Slutsky

On Aug 24, 2022, at 9:00 AM, Mark T. Slutsky wrote:

Bubba:

I appreciate your response and would like to be able to put this whole episode behind us shortly.

Take Care And Be Safe

Mark T. Slutsky

On Aug 24, 2022, at 7:35 AM, wrote:

Mark,

Please accept my apology for the poor service. I have notified Service Management of the problem and expect to offer a solution this morning.

Sincerely,

Sincerely,

Bubba Winningham General Manager Chevyland

[protected]

From: Mark T. Slutsky

Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2022 7:25 AM

To: [protected]@chevyland.com

Subject: My Recent Experience With You Service Department

Dear Mr Winningham:

I wanted to share my recent experience with your Service Department and unfortunately it was not a good one. Please excuse the lenght of this however there is no other way to express and communicate these events without the following notes.

Just a quick history of my experiences with your dealership, this recent purchase for my wife-Ro was my fifth new vehicle purchase from your dealership and I was extremely satisfied with the previous 5 prior to this newest addition. Both your Sales and Service were exemplary in the past which is why we decided to make our fifth new vehicle purchase from your dealership.

When we received this vehicle the RH RR tire exhibited a slow leak and this can be seen within the onstar data system. I discussed this warranty item with Mathew a while back, when he was the Service Manager and we agreed since it was very slow leak(initially) that we would take care it when we had time. My wife works in Natchitoches and since it was as stated, a very slow leak we decided to wait untill the next routine vehicle service to take care of the tire while having the engine oil and filter chaged. Her engine oil service was approx. due last week so I discussed with Mathew a week prior, who was still the Service Manager at that time. I communicated the tire repair at least three different times during this unfortunate episode, once with Mathew, one with a Service Writer(may have been Payton) and an additonal time with Sean. I truly was comfortable that all understood what was expected and necessary.

From my perspective, Sean was essentially innocent within this series of events and was misguided by both the Tire Technician and his(Sean's) direct Supervisor both due to his inexperience in this industry and his current lack of overall vehicle technical knowledge.

The visit:

I sat there for 2 hour and 20 minutes before walking into the Service area to ask Sean if there was a problem and he stated he would get back with me shortly, approx. 15 minutes later he explains that the tire was actually never looked at and the tire technician was looking up the price for a new tire. I was very dissappointed and truly upset, over 2 1/2 hours and still a tire that leaks to drive home to our home in

upset, over 2 1/2 hours and still a tire that leaks to drive home to our home in

Coushatta with. I left noticeably upset and called Mathew , who led me to Josh(the current Service Manager) who after my explaination of the events, clearly stated he understood that he would take care of it. I agreed if he did I would forget the past and move on to the future. We specifically discuused the only approved repair of any tire within both the tire industry and also all of the vehicle manufactures(I know this for a fact for I worked for one of them). The proper/approved tire repair procedure is a internal patch repair which has been the industry standard for many years now along with a rebalance(anytime the tire is removed from the rim the tire/wheel assembly must be rebalanced). We agreed to early the next week which ended up being the 23AUG22. I physically brought in the tire/wheel assemly(to make this as foolproof as possible) to Sean and over two hours(for a 25 minute tire repair) later was notified that they decided to use a plug. Plugs are not only not an approved method, it was an insult to me and my wife. This type of tire repair-a plug is unacceptable on any current level within both the automotive and tire industries. I use plugs occationally on my ATV's and Tractor tires in a pinch or until a complete/safe and proper repair can be made on the unit.

Please see the attached photo, remember that this is high speed H+ Speed Rated Tire(also run flat which changes nothing if not run low or flat, it is treated as a normal tire) on approx. $50,000 dollar vehicle purchased new from your dealership. Remember that this leak has been present from since when we received the vehicle from your dealership. The repairs you make at your delaership represent not only your Dealers Service integrity but also General Motors and Cheverolet Motor Divsion, none of which would have allowed a plug to be installed as a permenant repair on any tire let alone a high speed unit on a newly purchased vehicle.

Also, the gash that is evident to the right of the repair was not there prior to your Service visit(that is a fact).

Please understand that if Josh would have kept his word and made the proper repair(and no gash), I would have been satisfied and this would have not been necessary.

This whole experience has cost me approx. 6 total hours of my personal time and I wanted you to know how dissatisfied I am with your Service Department at this time.

You are welcome to write or call to discuss further if it would please you.

Sincerely

Mark T. Slutsky

[protected]

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