OT-GM Keyless Remote Woes

I have never felt a real need to rant and vent on this forum until today. My wife's 2008 Pontiac G6 needed to go to a dealer for a safety recall repair. We elected to go to a different dealer as the dealership where the car was purchased treated my wife badly from day one and the car never went back after the first year. Also one keyless remote has not worked well for a year and in the second remote the battery clip has broken off from the circuit board. When she bought the car she asked if these were a problem and was told no, but don't lose it as a replacement is about $50. To look at this problem was part of the appointment, got told there was no fixing as they did not work, already knew both did not work and I had told then one had a broken battery holder clip. Next we were told a new ones are about $120 apiece, my wife nearly exploded and told them the price she was told in 2008. I said we would buy one and about 40 minutes later a lady came to the waiting room and told us the car was fixed and the bill was a $153.96
We paid the bill and left as I did not feel like fighting with them, we should have been told about the add on charges and the total would be over $150, not $120
Remote $119.30
Labor $25.00 ? for what
$2.50 Repair order processing fee
Tax $7.16 This I expected
Total $153.96

It is the principal of the whole thing and being ripped off, I have enough money to pay the bill, GM has a short memory that my money and every one else on this forum bailed them out.

I was hoping to fine a good dealership for future new cars and to get the 5% credit from my GM credit card, guess not. My plain work Ford XL F150 pickup looks better all the time and I have had no problems with the Ford dealer. The GM dealer got there money today, but will get nothing in the future. The car has some routine maintanace due soon and I will take it the trusted local independent garage. Over $150 for a poorly made short life remote is the final straw for an unhappy relationship with GM and for the first time in my life I might at least look at brands besides the Big Three. Thanks for listening.

The $25 labor was for programming the new remote to your car you could have done it your self in 5 minutes.
Walt

Ah! But you're forgetting! A 2008 was the OLD GM. You're dealing with the NEW GM now. If the old GM stock is toilet paper,you can't expect the new GM to honor any old deals can you?

I gave up on U.S. made vehicles in 1990; I've been driving Toyotas ever since. Much fewer problems than domestic brands (actually most Toyotas are made in the U.S now).

I was thinking of an extra remote for the Camry so I inquired at WalMart. They couldn't make them at that store but told me that some of their other stores are able to make them for $75.

The remotes for the Tundra are 10 years old and we haven't even had to change the batteries yet.

I buy new/used remotes off of eBay. Program it myself with the instructions in the owners manual. I know how you feel, GM really screwed me over for 5 years on a 1980 Caprice. Finally traded that POS off for a Ford Club Wagon. Have never bought another GM product to this day. And I don't plan to ever do it again. Fords have served me very well.

Amazon or ebay and program it yourself.

You can also solder the battery clip back on. I have not had one fail yet.

Rick

This is just for information for the board members, call a Locksmith for switch,alarms and those high dollar keys. You will save money, and most of the switches are made by the same company as the OME. I am not one, but I know a good one.

I did not expect a $50 remote in 2013, also did not expect a nearly 140% price increase for the part plus labor, hiding what the total will be is an excellent way to get rid of the customer and at this point I have said good bye to both GM's

I did that after that disaster of a 1977 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive that I bought new. My 68 was crap,the 72 was worse and there was no excuse for the 77.

It sounds like you have an issue with the dealer rather than GM.

Dean

Love my old vehicles with keys.

Yeah, them Japanese cars are trouble free alright.

From NBC News:
A month after announcing its biggest single recall ever, Toyota has revealed some new quality problems that will force it to make safety-related repairs on another 2.8 million vehicles – including its high-profile Prius hybrid models.

The news could deliver a further blow to the Japanese giant’s image despite having landed atop the latest Consumer Reports Automotive Reliability Study. It also puts Toyota in a position where it again is vying with Japanese rival Honda for the dubious distinction of having the most vehicles of any manufacturer recalled in the U.S. this year.

Another option would be to have someone install a remote stater with two new remotes, it would cost less. It feels good to climb into a warm car with the windows already defrosted on a snowy or a below zero F evening.

Take the car to an independent mechanic, the rates are much lower. Some dealers are better than others, big multi-lot regional dealers are the worst for me.

It's pretty common knowledge that dealer-only parts get more expensive as the model gets older. I'd like to buy my gas at 2008 prices, but that's not in the cards, either. I also recall that some of the later Pontiacs had somewhat unusual remotes, but I'll bet you could substitute a more generic remote.

Did the dealer gouge you? Sounds like it. Is that GM's problem? Well, maybe so, but in the larger scheme of things I doubt GM sales is too concerned about your perceived overcharge. If you think it's cheap to get service and parts for a Japanese or European make, guess again.

Well lets break this down a little.

Five years ago you where priced a remote for $50 then where surprised when the same remote/part was higher priced today. When you where priced the remote five years ago it was the current one in use. So they sold thousands of them. Now it is a service part. Once something becomes a non-current part the price is going to be higher. I do not care if it is a GM, Ford, or Dodge. Also I bet that the person that told you back in 2008 that the remote was $50 was the salesman not someone from the part's department. OEM remotes have been way more than $50 for years. He either did not know or he was low balling it because he sensed you where concerned about the cost.

Then you where charged for the part and then labor to program it. The $25 dollar charge is cheaper than most dealers have around here. Many of them have a $50 minimum charge. Also this is all brands. You are always going to pay labor to have a part installed or programed.

I will agree with the service order processing fee. I hate those type of things. Many Equipment dealer shops are charging a misc. shop fee. It is usually around $50. That is a rip off.

There are many places to get you car repaired. An OEM dealer is always going to be the highest cost place you can go to. Also the remotes usually can be programed by the owner using the owners manual. These remotes are also available on Ebay and many after market places that would have been half that high a price.

So even though you are PO at GM right now I would bet that the other brands would not have been much cheaper. I actually have had much worse results with Ford in my area. GM next and Dodge the best as far as dealer service/satisfaction.

Thanks for the many good responses, the remote was the final straw going all the way back to the first dealers service manager treating my wife badly every time and if it had not been for the salesman some issues would have not been resolved, he was flustered also. Its the deception of the total price that is wrong, the disappointment of not finding a good dealer and to me the dealer is a very important face of the company. These two GM dealers have a people skills problem and my wife even talked to GM 2-3 years ago when they wanted to know why the car was not being serviced by a dealer even when there were coupons available to use. I can solder the battery holder and have looked on line and see that less than $40 will buy or fix a remote.

Must have something fancy on the remote for it to have been that high. The one for my wifes Lacrosse was 70 bucks, programming included. This was like a month ago.

Do a search. Found a Genuine GM g6 remote new, 45.00. Program yourself. Same goes for ignition keys, you can program them yourself.

We have a 2012 gmc truck bought new in sept 2012. No remote start though I researched codes found the truck had remote start built in. Codes can be found in glove box. Anyway we can take it to the dealer pay $280 for new key fobs with keyless start and have it activated. Lots of money and why not have it included when new. One of their little package deals I guess.

life is expensive these days.
The remote was probably sold at full list, which is normal. above list is when you get concerned. There are some remotes that are still 50-75 and there are others around 150--depends on the vehicle and the options (i.e. remote start)

The labor is for programming: you have to use a scan tool to erase the old remotes and learn the new one(s) or even to add new ones. There is no longer a key cycle and door lock pattern like earlier 2000s and older. many places have a minimum charge for hooking up the scan tool (usually a half hour) or in this case, they probalby billed you for 0.2 or 0.3 of an hour that the labor guide said. the scan tool isn't point and click, there are some menus to scroll through and only a mechanic can use it and they don't work unless they are punched in. I'm guessing their labor rate is 100$ an hour or more.

the 2.50 fee is part of their billing software that automatically adds a shop fee to every ticket at 10% of the labor price. In the days of purely mechanical repairs, the shop fee made sense because rags, sealants, bolts, etc. were consumed--today you need to remember the computer equipment and more so the monthly subscription to the newest updates are what is "consumed" as shop supplies.

It all adds up way too fast at today's prices. $100 that takes you all day to earn lasts about 5 minutes.

The local dealer only charges $75 an hour in 2013 and people still dislike their bills even though 20 miles in any direction the hourly rate is over $100 an hour. Also on many remotes, they include programming in the list price.

I feel a proper quote should mention "plus tax and shop fees."

The worst part about the GM restructure is the mom and pop places were just about wiped out. Now there's a new directive to have all the dealerships look the same that will finish most of them off since they will have to comply or close the doors--the upgrades easily start at a million dollars on the low end provided the building is still deemed suitable.

I hope you can find a dealer that makes you feel like you were treated well.

karl f

(quoted from post at 19:08:45 02/06/13)[b:9a2b9139f2] I gave up on U.S. made vehicles in 1990; I've been driving Toyotas ever since. Much fewer problems than domestic brands (actually most Toyotas are made in the U.S now).[/b:9a2b9139f2]

I was thinking of an extra remote for the Camry so I inquired at WalMart. They couldn't make them at that store but told me that some of their other stores are able to make them for $75.

The remotes for the Tundra are 10 years old and we haven't even had to change the batteries yet.

Click to expand...

LOL, I just had to point this out! 8)

Why not ue the key?

Ford dealers wanted 50$ for a replacement remote for my Lincoln and I found them on the internet for 7$-24$. All I hadto do was follow the programing instructions in the book.

Hey Guys; I have a brand new in the box remote lock/unlock/start kit that never got installed on my 93 Suburban if any one wants to buy one and install it it has all the instructions still in the box plus 2 remotes. Box is a little rough courtesy of shipper. Email me.