GM service scheduling sucks !!

My son borrowed my 2019 Canyon to go to work today. When he gets there someone notices dripping under the truck. He works at a Rivian delivery center, so they throw it on the hoist and determine it's leaking from the lower rad hose barb area. Tech thinks there's a clamp missing. No big deal, I'll just schedule an appointment at the GMC dealer. Earliest available date is June 8 !  Well, let's try the same dealer's Chevy store.....June 15 !!   OK, how about the other Chevy store in Ann Arbor....July 4 !!!   I'll try my local corner garage in the morning to see if they're any better, but I'd prefer a dealership since it's still under warranty. How I miss being able to work on my own vehicles. I'd be under it myself if I could. Rant over.

Seems unlikely that the truck is 3 years old and has a hose clamp missing that hadn't already reared it's head by now. 

Maybe the water pump ? They usually leak worse when the engine is shut off. 

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

You can see it dripping from the hose area when you look under the hood. The front of the engine is bone dry. It may not be a missing clamp but it's certainly leaking from that area. The irony is I bought a brand new vehicle for the first time in decades so I wouldn't have to deal with a series of niggling problems and I get them anyway.

Im not surprised, repair shops are swamped. I was going to take a car in a couple of weeks ago. The shop was so backed up they didn't have a parking spot left on the lot. 12 to 15 days was the soonest they could get to it and don't leave it here. 

Spring clamp probably rusted off.  Happens a lot.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

The Rivian tech used to work at a GM dealership and that's what he told my son. He also commented on how clean the truck is, but that's because I rarely drive it in the winter. The spring clamps must be made of pop cans. It'll be a $200 clamp by the time it's fixed.

When I took the BRZ in for it's first oil change and a software recall, I think the first available slot in the morning I was able to get was nearly 3 weeks out. 

Our Subaru performance shop here in town, was booked 2.5 months out for me to get my suspension/wheels/catback done. 

I wouldn't call out GM so much, it's just the way things are these days.  Everyone is super busy.

I have been getting bombarded for my airbag recall on my ranger, yet no dealership in the area will set up a appointment to drop it off. 

Don't crash your car. You'll wait months, not weeks, to get in most places.

stuart in mn said:

I wouldn't call out GM so much, it's just the way things are these days.  Everyone is super busy.

Fair enough. It's just frustrating not being able to put a clamp on myself and having to wait this long. 

It may be hard to tell, but if it gets lifted again look for staining 9n the radiator. These cars aren't immune to having early failures on the radiators, although I don't remember the specific failure mode on Colorado/canyon.

If I was closer, I'd take a look at it. I figure the radiator sprung a leak.

I live in weird place but I feel that wait time. The 72 mile long island with 5000 residents has ONE real mechanic and a few shade trees. It was a 3 week wait for an appointment just to get a 15 minute inspection.

ddavidv said:

Don't crash your car. You'll wait months, not weeks, to get in most places.

For my particular bags there is no ETA when I called Ford. 

Same for Ford. They want you to use their online scheduler and there is never any openings. You go to drop it off and they tell you it'll be two weeks before a tech can look at it. Techs must be mopping up. When I left the industry in 2011, most weeks I was hoping to get 1-2 cars a day if I was lucky. 

repair facilities are weeks behind, body shops are still at least a month behind. We are currently scheduling for early July and we are running max capacity for the last 6 months. I.E. we physically can't move more cars than we are currently out of our facility. Designed to handle 150/ month, we're doing 240+.

It isn't that hard to replace/retension a clamp and seat a hose, I would fix it myself because the hassle of using the warrantee negates any money saving.  What if they muff the ball and don't fix it correctly?

If someone had the truck on the lift and found a missing/broken clamp, a ss worm clamp is like $1, why didn't they fix it? 

Yeah that was my thinking. If it's on the lift, the fix is one minute and a $1 part. Even on the ground, can you shimmy under it far enough to install one? This all assumes that it really is just a missing hose clamp and nothing else.

I'd never been to the service side of a Mazda dealership before yesterday, and was surprised that I was the only one in line. While I waited for them to finish, only about five cars arrived during the two hours. That is so unlike my experiences at Ford and Chevy dealerships, where I'm always about #10 in line. Yes, I realize there are a lot of variables, but regardless, that was an interesting data point.

In reply to benzbaronDaryn :

It was in a Rivian service bay just because my son works there and they have rules against having ICE vehicles in the building. Someone turned a blind eye for a few minutes. As for me crawling under it anymore, that went out the window with my current health issues. Eighteen months ago it would have been a no-brainer. I'd try it today if I had a hoist.

In reply to stuart in mn :

yeah I'm always about a week out for any RAM issue that I've had to get warranty lately.

I am used to "just bring it by tomorrow" but those days seem to be gone, is every job an engine out inspection these days? are techs THAT short staffed? 

ddavidv said:

Don't crash your car. You'll wait months, not weeks, to get in most places.

My brother got in a collision in January 2022 with his Outback.  More than a year later it's still sitting at the body shop waiting for parts.

In reply to fidelity101 :

dealerships are short staffed, repair places are short staffed, everywhere is short staffed

In reply to bobzilla :

a lot of the old guys took the opportunity to retire about three years ago, a lot of newer guys can't hack it because you practically need four years of schooling to start with anymore.

Plus side is, my career is increasingly valuable.