[Vn-Vet-Volt]

When I purchased my left over new 2014 ELR last fall from an out-of-state dealer I was told the first oil change/maintenance would be at "no cost".

I logged into the local Certified Cadillac ELR dealership's website to make an appointment providing my VIN, and their web site states I have to pay $59 +tax. So I emailed my ELR (Volt) advisor who stated that; "GM does provide new vehicle purchases with a complimentary 2 year/24,000 mile Maintenance Plan. If you bought this vehicle outside those parameters, you may be responsible for the cost of the oil change/maintenance." Wow, Better think again!

On Edmunds.com (09/03/15) this is what I read; "Cadillac gets GM's best coverage. The Premium Care Maintenance program debuted on the Cadillac CTS Coupe, and is now standard on all new models. This program covers the car for four years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. Cadillac doesn't specify how many services will be covered, but a safe assumption would be that owners will get at least one scheduled maintenance per year". I'm not so sure?

FYI: My 2013 Volt's 1st oil change was @ No Charge. So I guess GM changed the rules on freebies again?

Did anyone else that owns an ELR have to pay for their 1st oil change?

 

[Scarlett1]

If it was a DRAC car, or a demo (did it have 1-3k miles on it?), most likely the 24 month clock had already started ticking. And the salesman neglected that little detail in the conversation. It has happened before...

 

[DonC]

I got the first oil change free and expect the second one to be free as well. But given the price I paid for the car I'm not overly worried about paying $50 for an oil change once every two years. My guess is that, as suggested by Scarlett1, your car is special in some way. Might be a demo or out of the MY (for example the MY matters for extended service plans).

 

[Vn-Vet-Volt]

The ELR was not a Demo vehicle even though it had 363 miles it when I drove it off their lot. The car was never titled, and the clock did start ticking two months before I purchased it. So I get a 46 month warranty instead of a 48 month warranty. What I'm saying here is that GM will try and snooker you anyway they can coming with a "New Policy" to get out of giving you a freebie.

 

[Raymondjram]

I would ask the same dealer you bought the ELR about this problem. But changing the oil isn't hard to do. I remember that Valvoline had a chimp trained to do it, and yesterday I saw a article on TV of a eight year old girl who did it (you do see her in action!). The hardest parts are jacking the car up, removing the drain plug, draining the used oil, and removing the old filter. Then the easy parts are next: replacing the drain plug, mounting the new filter, releasing the jack, and adding the new oil. I have done hundreds of oil changes since 1967.

My 2009 Chevy Equinox has a tall ride height and floor clearance such that I change the oil and filter with no jacks, stands, or ramps. And the oil filter is vertical, so I never spill a drop of oil removing the old filter. I prefill the new filter with clean oil before mounting so the gas engine never starts up dry. Total cost for filter and Mobil 1 synthetic is less than $40.

 

[El Dobro]

Have the dealer run your vin on GM Global Connect, it'll tell what coverage is still in effect. Unless something happened, Cadillac Premium Care should be good thru 2018 or 50,000 miles.

 

[Vn-Vet-Volt]

Have the dealer run your vin on GM Global Connect, it'll tell what coverage is still in effect. Unless something happened, Cadillac Premium Care should be good thru 2018 or 50,000 miles.

Thanks El Dobro, I just now received a phone call from the dealership after writing an email to them. The Service Manager informed me just what you stated. The SM said I was good thru 2020 or 50k miles. I'll never put the 50k miles on a car because I only drive ~5k a year.

Strange that the ELR/Volt Advisors don't know this policy?

 

[El Dobro]

Strange that the ELR/Volt Advisors don't know this policy?

From your first post, it sounds like the advisor quoted the standard GM coverage and not Cadillac's.

 

[myoda]

Vn-Vet-Volt - You can always log into the Cadillac Owners Site, and you should be able to see your warranty info at my.cadillac.com - once logged in, go to the Maintenance button, then click on the Warranty Tracker to see your remaining warranties. Tire rotations and oil changes are free every 7500 miles as part of Cadillac Premium Care.

 

[OhioEE]

Just to add to info in the conversation: For my lease, I have ended up taking the ELR in every 7500 miles or so for the tires to be rotated. The dealership has changed the oil for free the last three times (regardless of the oil life estimator) and I expect they will also when I take it in again here shortly at 30k.

 

[Norton]

... The dealership has changed the oil for free the last three times (regardless of the oil life estimator) ....

What a waste of perfectly fine oil.
What are they thinking?

 

[DonC]

What I'm saying here is that GM will try and snooker you anyway they can coming with a "New Policy" to get out of giving you a freebie.

Thanks El Dobro, I just now received a phone call from the dealership after writing an email to them. The Service Manager informed me just what you stated. The SM said I was good thru 2020 or 50k miles. I'll never put the 50k miles on a car because I only drive ~5k a year.

Seems like somebody owes somebody an apology. Coming from German and Japanese luxury brands, I haven't seen any hint that GM tries to back out of commitments to customers. Quite the opposite. Usually when we have these situations we find a dealer who is not communicating well with the customer or GM or who is simply wrong.

What a waste of perfectly fine oil.
What are they thinking?

+1. My thought exactly. Obviously a dealer who wants to make a few bucks from GM is engaging in horrible practices. I would avoid a dealer like this. Not only is the practice offensive, if a dealer will cheat GM to make a buck they will definitely try and cheat you as well. Best to stay away.

 

[Vn-Vet-Volt]

From your first post, it sounds like the advisor quoted the standard GM coverage and not Cadillac's.

No My advisor knows me quite well and that I own a Cadillac ELR. I was fighting with them to allow me to take my car to my former Chevy Volt dealership which GM wouldn't permit because of "Cross line Warranty Work" that will starve the poor Cadillac dealerships to lose service/warranty work. So I was forced by GM to find a Certified ELR dealership. The first dealer I went to didn't have a clue how to correct a check engine problem due to loss of power. Their solution was to simply re-set the car's computer. So I didn't have a lot of faith in their ability to work on my ELR and now I'm moving on to another Certified Cadillac dealer. I wrote about my incidents previously here on the forums. Hopefully, now that they logged into the Global Connect network as you stated and found my car from its VIN everything is good to go. Thanks!

 

[Vn-Vet-Volt]

Vn-Vet-Volt - You can always log into the Cadillac Owners Site, and you should be able to see your warranty info at my.cadillac.com - once logged in, go to the Maintenance button, then click on the Warranty Tracker to see your remaining warranties. Tire rotations and oil changes are free every 7500 miles as part of Cadillac Premium Care.

Thanks myoda! Will do from now on, but someone really needs to educate the ELR/Volt advisors on this matter as I think they don't have a clue as to what service/warranty work is covered. If they are Advisors then they need to be re-trained.

I don't have a lot of faith in GM anymore after my fiasco in not allowing me to take my ELR to an experienced Chevy Volt dealership for service/warranty work all because of this "Cross line Warranty Work"policy as it's called. The Chevy Volt dealership wanted to work on my ELR, but is not permitted to do so because of this dumb GM policy of taking service/warranty work away from Cadillac dealers. They don't seem to recognize the ELR is built on a VOLT Platform!

BTW: I hope the GM Advisors that often monitor this forum soon wake-up, or they really don't care about retaining customer relations. JMHO!