From Dream to Nightmare
Getting that brand-new car one always wanted is one thing, but the after-sales service is another matter. The joy of owning the car can quickly be soured by a nasty experience from the dealer. It’s not a rare occurrence, either, with loads of stories like that floating around the web.
One such case is from a GMC Yukon owner who documented their taxing experience over the last couple of months. It all started with a sensor failure, and problems snowballed from there.
The Start of the Problems
In a report by Motor1, Kristen Negri’s 2021 GMC Yukon started suffering from low oil pressure and levels, followed by valve lifter and camshaft issues. It reached a point where the car became undrivable when it started shaking, leading Negri to bring her Yukon to the dealer for repairs.
Negri was told it would take $9,900 to repair her Yukon, to which she gave the green light to get things started. However, she was later told that the parts she needed were backordered or unavailable, and that the repairs would take about two months, more or less. Do note that the owner says the vehicle is well-maintained, and before you ask, it has the 5.3-liter and not the 6.2-liter that’s seen its fair share of problems.
Can of Worms
Unhappy with the service, Negri pulled her Yukon out of the dealer and sent it to an independent shop instead. The SUV got a new camshaft and all 16 lifters were replaced, but a barrage of other issues then cropped up, allegedly due to the previous work done by the dealer to address the original problem. It was discovered that one valve was shorter than the other, and that a valve seat had shifted during installation. At the time of writing, the Yukon is still out of commission.
Negri said GM tried to help by offering partial assistance for the lifter replacement, as well as covering rental car costs. GM then pulled that offer when Negri brought the Yukon to an independent mechanic. The company then tried to fix the matter by offering $3,500 off her next vehicle, an offer she refused.
It’s been a saga for Negri and the Yukon, but she did say she loved the car and hoped for a better resolution. Instead, the opposite happened. Speaking to Motor1, she said, “I loved this vehicle. Its space and usefulness are exactly why we bought it, and I would have preferred to repair it and continue driving it confidently. Instead, our family has spent approximately $10,000, gone almost 60 days without the Yukon, and dealt with repeated repairs and uncertainty. I have had to consider replacing a vehicle I wanted to keep.”
Service Expectations
She’s questioning why the parts would take that long and why the prior oil issues weren’t addressed. Considering her Yukon is still the current generation (pre-facelift), one would also think that it wouldn’t take too long for the parts needed to arrive. She has since filed a complaint and sent it to the Better Business Bureau and has attempted to make contact with Rivard Buick GMC and GM corporate. The dealer and GM have allegedly ignored her.
“The most frustrating part is that I sought help through the dealership first. When GM could not supply the parts, I found another way to get our family vehicle repaired. GM then used that choice as the reason to deny reimbursement, while offering a discount to buy another vehicle from the same company. My official position is that GM does not care about its customers whatsoever, and I’m considered one of the lucky ones that made it to 100k,” said Negri.
People turn to dealers for any concerns in their cars, and when they fail to meet service expectations, the more you hear statements like ‘never take your car to the stealership.’ One bad dealer experience can also ruin one’s experience with an entire brand; it’s extremely difficult or even impossible to repair the relationship once that trust is broken.
About the author
Anton Andres is a news editor at Autoblog and a motoring journalist with more than a decade of experience in the Philippines. He was features editor for Top Gear Philippines from 2022 to 2025 and features and road test editor for Autoindustriya.com.
