2010 Camaro Buyers beware!

[KEN]

Ok guys, I was just going to keep my mouth shut because the whole situation regarding my 2010 Camaro that I ordered a few months back is rather an embarrassing story. But alas I feel I should tell you guys this.

So here is what happen. I have never bought a new car before. Let alone pre-order a car that's not out yet. In the midst of everything thats happened I have lost my job do to a poor economy and can no longer afford the car I am about to take delivery of in October. Well lucky for me, in my preorder I have a clause that if I should loose my job before I take delivery or with in 3 months of taking delivery I could either 1. Cancel my order. Or 2. Let Chevy pay my first 3 payments while I look for another job. Well I have been unemployed for the past 3 months still looking for work and doing misc. jobs to make money while I collect from Uncle Sam. I did the smart thing. I canceled. Or so I thought. I called the dealer explain my situation and "No problem Ken, we will take care of it!" CLICK. I didn't have to go in, I didn't have to sign anything, nothing. Seemed a bit odd. But ok took their word!

A week ago I get a call to let me know the good news! My camaro will be here in 4 weeks. Um what the hell? I try to explain 1. I cancled my order a month ago, and 2. My car wasn't supposed to be here until October for a reason! That is when my S10 is paid off, and its the car I am using as a $7500 trade in towards the Camaro.

Well after arguing with said dealer, and then the sales manager for about 40 mins they go on to let me know that my car I ordered is not only NOT canceled, but is also getting $4,000 in FORCED dealer upgrades even though I was told I would pay MSRP or Lower depending on chevy incentives (which in my case is full blue book value on my trade in). Regardless they could care less that I was canceling my order. And my only guess is I'm not the only one they did this too. Especially with the $4000 in forced dealer upgrades. So I searched the web and low and behold there are literally a bunch of complaints about this happening all over. More common in California than Ohio but its happening everywhere.

So, guess what the $4000 in extra dealer fees are? Its a way to get you to cancel your order so they will have a camaro or two on the show room floor READY so they can yank down the pants of Mr. Rich Clueless on ebay so they can pay 8-9 grand above sticker price to take home a Camaro.

And on another note. the camaro has over 60 KNOWN issues with bolts coming loose on the transmission, the spoiler only being on the deck hand tight, the AC is leaking INSIDE the car rather then outside, the gear shifter if falling apart, and the doors and door panels are sagging away from the car. Just crappy craftsman ship all over on these cars. My heart goes out to you other guys who pre-ordered too. This whole experience has made me decide to wait and get a 2011 Camaro, and get it when they are readily available below MSRP and the dealers can't get rid of them.

[Kevman]

The first run of cars are always expected to have problems... New molds, and dies used have to be run in a full year production to find their flaws... I'm sure the 2011 will be a much better car..

[roadweasel]

American Car Manufacturers and Dealers - we're making OUR money the old fashioned way - we screw the hell out of people!

[ROKKET]

a friend of mine pre-ordered his 6 speed challenger ,,, they had him waiting for 5 months an i already had 3 buddies just went toplant and bought the dam things cause they were sitting there an chrysler was waiting to get enough orders for a full train load is all to save on shipping to so cal ,,,,,me i'll stick to my old cars new ones can kiss my azz

[Allegedman]

thats sad to hear. I'm sure you'll find a job in the meantime while working on MWO.

and to the bad economy and poor craftsmanship and dealers trying to rip you off,

this (http://theanteheroes.com/Humor/MassFacepalm.jpg)

[gcountach]

I'm a big GM guy myself, which makes it all the worse to hear about the level of craftsmanship they've decided to go with (read: poor).

I recall watching the video for the newly designed Chevrolet Silverado. Like all silverado commercials before it, it showed it doing "manly" stuff, doing work at a construction site, towing a trailer, but the one that got me was them driving down a rocky dirt road. YOU COULD SEE THE FRONT BUMPER WARPING AND MOVING. How did that make the cut???

Friend told me he heard (he's in auto body at the vocational school) that the new silverados were having to get their body repaired before they even hit the showroom floor. Just pushing them from the tailgate or accidentally bumping into them was causing dents. Very disappointing when a corrolla can take more abuse than your truck.

I never even heard of all the problems with camaros, but I wish I was surprised. I've never been so willing to switch to the Ford camp before now.

[Kevman]

I'm a big GM guy myself, which makes it all the worse to hear about the level of craftsmanship they've decided to go with (read: poor).

I recall watching the video for the newly designed Chevrolet Silverado. Like all silverado commercials before it, it showed it doing "manly" stuff, doing work at a construction site, towing a trailer, but the one that got me was them driving down a rocky dirt road. YOU COULD SEE THE FRONT BUMPER WARPING AND MOVING. How did that make the cut???

Friend told me he heard (he's in auto body at the vocational school) that the new silverados were having to get their body repaired before they even hit the showroom floor. Just pushing them from the tailgate or accidentally bumping into them was causing dents. Very disappointing when a corrolla can take more abuse than your truck.

I never even heard of all the problems with camaros, but I wish I was surprised. I've never been so willing to switch to the Ford camp before now.
Thats why we've only had GMC Pickups for the last 20 years... The only problem we had, is the diesel fuel smell you get when its taking air from the outside, but thats really it... And when it's really cold out (-7*F) you get some interior squeeks...

[ROKKET]

now see why i won't part with my 85 GMC 3500 crew cab duallie? 454 or not i will keep it atleast if i get hit by a new car i'll be one walking away from that wreck the 08 silverado ,, i seen it get creamed from behind by a 83 toyota 4x4 and the chevy was a total loss while the toy only had to replace hood fenders grille an headlights

[KEN]

Sorry for this post guys I just had to vent. I mean I had no intentions of taking this car anyway, it just shocked me when I was told not only my car was early against my request, but that I was being asked to pay 4000 above sticker for dealer add ons. Out of sheer furry I continued to argue with the sales manager as he tells me these $4,000 in extra fees aren't near as bad as what other dealers are doing. So I respond "Oh, so you are only screwing me half as bad as the other guys, that's very Nobel of you." After that comment he got very upset and raised his voice to ME. He went on about how these $4000 in updates increase the value of the car. Now that's when I lost it. "OH REALLY? A car cover, tinted windows, a 3M bra, a protective extra clear coat, and racing stripes that I don't want increase the value of the car? That's really funny because I don't see this SH!T on blue book as options to select on my trade in value!! In fact this $37,000 dollar car which you just raised to $41,000 on me is only worth $25,000 the second I drive it off the lot!"

Anyway my complaining aside, I will get a new Camaro, it will just be after they fix all the first model problems next year and they have them in stock on the lot. You know I can understand now why GM is wanting to go to direct ordering of cars. Its these dealers who sold there souls to the devil that are helping to screw over the car market.

They asked me what kind of payment I would be comfortable with, and this is the best part guys. When I first pre-ordered the car, they ask this question. I said at the time I could afford $500 a month car payment. There eyes widen and they worked it out to where I would be paying $500 a month. NOT based on my credit score, but an interest rate that would BENEFIT THEM! I laughed out loud at them for thinking I was this dumb. No idiots I'm not paying 19.1% for 7 years, when I have 8% on my S10 at a time when my credit was less than perfect. My score is now higher, so I know you can do better. I should have walked away this point... but meh live and learn.

[ROKKET]

AH TK tell em shiove it go to a diferent dealer and tell em look this outfit tried to shaft me an add a bunch of stuff i didn't ask for you going to do the same and POST that dealers full name an address i am in a mood to send out Biznatch letters

[KEN]

Well I will get one eventually. I definitely want one before they cut the V8 which to my understanding is happening pretty soon. I think by 2012-2014 if the car survives long enough it will be only available in a turbo 4 cylinder or a V6.

[Ayce]

I've seen 2 recently, one from Maine, and the other from ON. Both sounded tame to me. There's a local one I call "Bumble Bee" due to the paint job. (Yellow / Balck stripes) and it rumbles nice. :D

A 6 I can see, but a 4 banger in a Camaro is just WRONG! Turbo or no. :withstupid:

[Allegedman]

I moved out to my dorm out at college on thursday and one of the first cars i see parked is an 09 camaro SS black. pretty neat.

[roadweasel]

That better be one powerful 4-banger. I pulled up next to a new Camaro in my Cobalt, and what surprised me was how much bigger it was than my car. I always sorta piled mustangs and camaros together in that pony car group, but Mr. Weasel's mustang was the same size as my Cobalt, and my cobalt felt teeny next to the new Camaro.
How a 4-banger could effectively power a Camaro around doesn't sound viable to me.

[MichiganMuscle77]

I work at a Chevy dealership, I've had lots of first hand contact and experience with the '10 Camaro's and I just wanted to say that many of the claims in the original post are highly exaggerated.

Gear Shifter Falling Apart: The shifter knob can come off in your hand. Plastic clips used to hold it on aren't strong enough for a panic shift. Problem has been addressed and fixed.

Front bumper wobbling: Not true for production models, pre-production used flimsy plastics for aerodynamic purposes, production model is solid and sturdy.

We've had zero of our 20 Camaro's sold come back for the transmission bolt problem, spoiler problem (if you've ordered dealer installed stripes, then the spoiler has been removed and reinstalled by the stripe guy, and that could very well be your problem), AC problem or door panel problem.

I am almost certain that these issues are extremely uncommon or were limited to pre-production test mules only, and people are over exaggerating because they want to ruin GM's moment in the sun.

The 2010 Camaro is a fantastic car, very high quality and will be regarded as a success. Drive it yourself before you believe the nonsense you come across on the internet.

[KEN]

The 2010 Camaro is a fantastic car, very high quality and will be regarded as a success. Drive it yourself before you believe the nonsense you come across on the internet.

I took that information from Camaro5. Are you honestly telling me the people who had these problems, actual camaro owners are just breathing up nonsense to try and ruin GM's moment in the sun? I can't imagine people drop 40 grand just so they can have a shot to ruin GM's sunny Polaroid. These people have legitimate complaints and more then a few are reoccurring issues. Hey whatever its a first run car. I owned an 82 Trans Am, and a first run Feiro. The later caught on fire. I understand no new car is without its issues and I'm sure GM is going to do their best in the next run. You know, when I intend to purchase one. :p

[1969amx]

Ecotec 4 Banger has seen upwards of 300-320 turbo'd in street trim No wild stuff

[Ayce]

One of the guys at work just got one last week. Silver with a 6.
Biggest laugh I had about it was when one of the ladies said "Must have a small penis" :-O
:laugh:

All in all, still a nice looking car :x

[roadweasel]

Meybe it should read "and the media is over exaggerating because they want to ruin GM's moment in the sun." That wouldn't surprise me in the least however there will always be lemons that just didn't get put together right and hey **it happens! As long as GM's willing to stand behind their products it's all good.

[Drakkan]

That sucks ken, I was lookin forward to seeing you rolling around cinci in that car. Well maybe you will still get one soon and we can meet up at some cruise in around here. Haven't been out to a show in the 07' since... well... 07' and hopefully gonna have an engine in the 66' stang again soon, finally.

you planning on hitting up the pumpkin run for some "research" this year?

[Nismo240]

Well this sucks. My grandpa has been wanting to get a new Camaro SS but I'll have to tell him he might want to wait a year. Although if the dealer tries to screw him over like they did Ken I'll be laughing my ass off as some of my family walk into the dealership to straighten some ***holes out.
On a side not have any of you seen the comparisons between the 2010 Mustang and 2010 Camaro? They are pretty close performers considering how much less HP the Mustang has. I hope Ford will release another Cobra version. Mmmmmmm supercharged Mustang.......................

[Marlboro_Man]

Man Ken that's one hell of a let down story, personally its really to be expected in this day in age when they can import damn near all the parts for a car and slap an American brand on it and call it an American car. My uncle was looking to buy him a new Harley last year and he was askin the dealer if they were still a true American product, He was greatly let down so he decided why not just buy a fully imported bike for cheaper and has a similar look. We wonder why our economy is crashing and why people are jobless. It's these companies that have the labor done elsewhere for way cheaper then import it back to hear and charge us way more for it. Why not bring all the factories back to the US, thus giving more hard working Americans a job and can actually go out and purchase a true American made product. If Im not mistaken I think I read it was in 86 when GM started outsourcing labor to Mexico it may have been a bit sooner or later but I do recall workin on my 72 Chevy pick-up and it had a engine from an 86 in it and right there on the heads it's clearly stamped "Made in Mexico". It didnt take me long to rip them off and scrap them and go with a good old set of Double-humps. Honestly I say do away with buying new cars from these "American Companies." Buy an old one you know was made here and use true American parts to restore and repair it. There are plenty of aftermarket parts companies that still believe in keeping everything right here where it belongs.

*Whew* Sorry for the long post just had to vent/rant myself for a second or 2

True American Made Cars FTW!!!

[BoDarville]

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/bodarvel/summitracing.jpg

Funny Camaro image...:D

[KEN]

LOL that's not right.

[BoDarville]

LOL that's not right.

I love that camaro sign:D

[ScreaminPony]

Well this sucks. My grandpa has been wanting to get a new Camaro SS but I'll have to tell him he might want to wait a year. Although if the dealer tries to screw him over like they did Ken I'll be laughing my ass off as some of my family walk into the dealership to straighten some ***holes out.
On a side not have any of you seen the comparisons between the 2010 Mustang and 2010 Camaro? They are pretty close performers considering how much less HP the Mustang has. I hope Ford will release another Cobra version. Mmmmmmm supercharged Mustang.......................

Cobras have been in production since 07 and the new 2010 model is already out. They went into a agreement with shelby to help the cars move nothing more. Everything on the car is SVT.

I personally would never buy a new car. Let alone a first year production run. They lose there value to soon and are usually flawed or followed up by an improved version ( aka 2011 5.0 stang)