The people at Jimmie Johnson Kearny Mesa Chevrolet are so nice. They are polite, well-groomed and, of course, aren't charging me a penny to replace my ignition. Again.
Also, the customer lounge has been redecorated since (my warranty ran out) I stopped coming here in 2012. I imagine it's because they knew they were about to get a ton of recall business.
The coffee is good too. No more of that baked-on, too hot, bitter blend. Now it's K-Cup all the way.
But the title of this post is "Conundrum," and here's the problem: my work here is not done.
My goal was to chide General Motors for making an inferior product, selling it to unsuspecting customers, and lying about -- covering up, basically -- the problems with the car. For a decade.
While those unsuspecting customers were having wrecks and between 13 (General Motors' claim) and over 300 (the claim of reputable news outlets) of GM's customers were being killed in their inferior products.
Before I learned about the trouble with my car, but not before GM and my dealer knew, I started getting letters offering me a lot of money for a trade in. These letters increased in their frequency, intensity, and, after I found out I had been betrayed, irony.
I remember thinking: My 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt is worthless (less than worthless, it can turn itself into a gass-filled projectile), so why am I being offered...? Oh, they want them off the road at all costs... Oh, at my cost.
Me want these cars off the road but I'll tell you what I don't want: a) to bear the cost of solving their problem; b) to saddle another consumer with my bad car; and c) to own any General Motors product. Especially since the problems with my Cobalt seem more systemic, what with recalls this year totaling more cars than GM manufactured in the last three years. And the likelihood that the dealer knew about these problems, even as their sales people were selling me a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, is high!
High is what I must have been. Jimmie Johnson Kearny Mesa Chevrolet sols me a defective car, tried to use it as a trade in on a (possibly) similarly defective car, and, because it's been documented that dealership service departments new about the problem before anyone, ostensibly lied to me about the car.
And won't do anything about it. Well, they'll try to sell me another car, and fix this one. But what about all the lying-while-people-are-dying that they did?
And here's a second conundrum: why are they (GM) selling more cars than ever? Are consumers that dumb? And, if they are, do they deserve to die?
My bottom line is that General Motors made inferior (deadly) products and lied about it. Jimmie Johnson Kearny Mesa Chevrolet supported that lie and their only answer was to try to get me to put more money into their coffers. Even if I had the money, why would I return to the abusive relationship?
Meanwhile, a gentleman with a recalled car (the newer trade in from the older recalled car) was telling someone how happy he was that he got a deal. On a car that he's brought in for recall service. And he just spent money in the gift shop.
He does not deserve to die. But he is the target demographic. He is why GM is succeeding. He is who I am trying, in vain, so send my message to.
And the DeathTrapArtCar isn't finished yet. I wanted to use it as a rolling protest to get under GM's skin for taking so long to fix my car. Now it's getting fixed.
I also wanted to use it as leverage to get my money back. Lemon Law and all that. But I didn't want anyone else to end up with the defective car. That and everyone is doing a great job of ignoring me until I go away.
So I guess I can't go away. I need to continue to send the message to... People who have a hard time getting it.
I need help.
