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I tried to express this point in the "GM Survey" thread that was not appreciated by the site admin(s).
I've created this thread to try and make that point (which I thought was valid within the context of the GM survey thread), but I'll try again (outside of the GM survey thread, which means GM will never read it or hear about it). But anyway....
Do I love the SSR, you bet. I loved it enough to drop $47,000 of my hard earned dollars on it. Did GM get the SSR right, for the most part yes. Did they get several things wrong, unfortunately yes.
If I had to grade the SSR here is how it would go:
A+ Looks
A+ Pride of ownership
A+ Pleasure while driving
A+ Cool factor
A+ Having a hard top convertible
B- Ease of use
C- General features
C- Cargo carrying capability
D+ Reliability
I can appreciate the desire to offer new accessories for the SSR to spiff it up a bit, but my point in the survey thread was that before you can really focus on that level of change, you have to have the basics correct.
Focusing only on how to improve the SSR's accessories is like deciding what kind of holiday decorations to put on your house when the front door won't close, the water heater is leaking on the floor and the furnace won't heat the house. [I think that's what I typed in the other thread ...]
I didn't buy my SSR as an investment. Every new car drops in value as you drive it off of the lot. The thing that really hurt was that GM really didn't care what kind of problems my SSR was experiencing. The local service staff was not trained on the SSR and the "SSR specialist" that was sent out to work on my SSR problems was not a SSR specialist at all. GM refused to let me talk to this "specialist" and the one problem "the specialist" was to have fixed (of the eight on the list) he really didn't fix it since the problem occurred again as I drove it off of the lot.
After three months of complete service department hell with my SSR (mainly since GM would not step up and fix things), I had to get rid of it. I purchased my GM extended service plan and I figured I'd keep the SSR for at least 10 years (at a minimum). I had to get rid of my SSR after 3 months, taking a $13,000 loss. I knew the SSR was overpriced when I purchased it, but I again figured I'd kept it for a very long time so it didn't make a difference, at the time.
Every automobile sold today should be able to perform at minimal level that allows it to be driven to perform its basic job of transportation. My SSR was a daily driver and that means I need it to be out of the service department more time than it's in it. During my 3 months of ownership, my SSR was in 13 times for a wide variety of issues and I can only say that a few of the long list of problems were every addressed successfully.
The thing that really "broke the camel's back" for me was the fact that GM and the local service department REFUSED to fix my SSR's 1st-to-2nd gear extremely harsh shifting problem, even though a TSB existed for the problem. The GM regional rep "never had time" to stop by and confirm and sign off on my SSR tranny problem. The fact that they even needed to do this was upsetting enough since the problem had been reproduced and a TSB was located by the service manager (second service manager since the first one was fired).
GM and the local service department did everything they could to make it harder for me. That's not the way it should work.
GM should pay attention to this kind of input as well and "get the basics" right. It will reduce their warranty costs, the amount of wasted time in the local service departments and it might actually allow people to drive the SSR on a daily basis (what a concept).
:grouphug
I've created this thread to try and make that point (which I thought was valid within the context of the GM survey thread), but I'll try again (outside of the GM survey thread, which means GM will never read it or hear about it). But anyway....
Do I love the SSR, you bet. I loved it enough to drop $47,000 of my hard earned dollars on it. Did GM get the SSR right, for the most part yes. Did they get several things wrong, unfortunately yes.
If I had to grade the SSR here is how it would go:
A+ Looks
A+ Pride of ownership
A+ Pleasure while driving
A+ Cool factor
A+ Having a hard top convertible
B- Ease of use
C- General features
C- Cargo carrying capability
D+ Reliability
I can appreciate the desire to offer new accessories for the SSR to spiff it up a bit, but my point in the survey thread was that before you can really focus on that level of change, you have to have the basics correct.
Focusing only on how to improve the SSR's accessories is like deciding what kind of holiday decorations to put on your house when the front door won't close, the water heater is leaking on the floor and the furnace won't heat the house. [I think that's what I typed in the other thread ...]
I didn't buy my SSR as an investment. Every new car drops in value as you drive it off of the lot. The thing that really hurt was that GM really didn't care what kind of problems my SSR was experiencing. The local service staff was not trained on the SSR and the "SSR specialist" that was sent out to work on my SSR problems was not a SSR specialist at all. GM refused to let me talk to this "specialist" and the one problem "the specialist" was to have fixed (of the eight on the list) he really didn't fix it since the problem occurred again as I drove it off of the lot.
After three months of complete service department hell with my SSR (mainly since GM would not step up and fix things), I had to get rid of it. I purchased my GM extended service plan and I figured I'd keep the SSR for at least 10 years (at a minimum). I had to get rid of my SSR after 3 months, taking a $13,000 loss. I knew the SSR was overpriced when I purchased it, but I again figured I'd kept it for a very long time so it didn't make a difference, at the time.
Every automobile sold today should be able to perform at minimal level that allows it to be driven to perform its basic job of transportation. My SSR was a daily driver and that means I need it to be out of the service department more time than it's in it. During my 3 months of ownership, my SSR was in 13 times for a wide variety of issues and I can only say that a few of the long list of problems were every addressed successfully.
The thing that really "broke the camel's back" for me was the fact that GM and the local service department REFUSED to fix my SSR's 1st-to-2nd gear extremely harsh shifting problem, even though a TSB existed for the problem. The GM regional rep "never had time" to stop by and confirm and sign off on my SSR tranny problem. The fact that they even needed to do this was upsetting enough since the problem had been reproduced and a TSB was located by the service manager (second service manager since the first one was fired).
GM and the local service department did everything they could to make it harder for me. That's not the way it should work.
GM should pay attention to this kind of input as well and "get the basics" right. It will reduce their warranty costs, the amount of wasted time in the local service departments and it might actually allow people to drive the SSR on a daily basis (what a concept).
:grouphug