Dealer Parts Department now a Wrecking Yard

[2002 Caddy]

So I head into the dealer on Friday to get a new bulb for the gearshift selector on my 2002 STS.

The parts manager (head guy... a friend of mine) comes out of his office to help me and spends at least 35 minutes typing away looking for the part... he looks under the group for the console, the group for the shifter, the group for the lighting system, the group for the wiring harness. etc etc etc..

Eventually he gives up, takes my VIN and says he will call me...
2 hours later another parts guy phones me (another friend of mine)... He tells me that GM has discontinued this 50¢ bulb... Nice you can't get a simple bulb for a 5 year old car... He tells me to pull the old bulb and bring it in today and he will see what he can do to find a match...

I'm not sure what he can do since GM doesn't sell a simple bulb...

When I get there, he says "Let me get my junk box" and he comes back with a shoebox FULL of bulbs, lenses, covers and connectors. He tells me that each time the service department replaces a dash or switch, they snag the old part from the trash and salvage all of the bulbs and connectors because GM won't sell them for lots of their cars... He said that Cadillacs and Korean "partner" cars are really bad. He finds one that we can "make work" and he gives me the used part for free (full marks there!)

Now I don't expect GM to supply every part for every car forever.... But come on, GM you can't stock a bulb for a 5 year old "flag ship" car? And now you are forcing your parts guys to "sell" used/discarded parts to customers. Is this what we have become?

I think my days as a GM shareholder are numbered... When simple things like that are broken how can you solve the big problems?

[likearock00]

Sorry to hear about your problem. IMO, alot more things are starting to get better at GM than they've been in a LONG time. Do what you wish, but my stock will stay with me for awhile longer.

[Triple-X08]

yeah, thats why i keep every bulb from a car that i replace light assemblies on. along with numerous bolts, and other items. i have enough wire harnesses and jumper wires to
wire a car.

[F14CRAZY]

It's nice that the dealer was able to provide you one, but inexcusable that GM discontinued it

[2002 Caddy]

Originally Posted by F14CRAZY

It's nice that the dealer was able to provide you one, but inexcusable that GM discontinued it

Ya, full marks to the dealer parts team... I would write a letter to the dealership manager, thanking them for the great customer service, but I would bet that if I did the manager would come out of his office and chuck the "junk boxes". I'm sure someone is breaking some GM procedure by doing this.

Back to the stock... I can tell you that many of my buddies at work have made a killing with GM stock...
They short it.

[MCGARRETT]

Why are you even going to the dealership for a light bulb? Whenever I need a bulb for one of my cars I go to the autoparts store. I only would go to the dealership for something specific to the car.

Oh no, they dont have a light bulb for your 5 year old previous generation Cadillac, thats it, it's all over for GM, really.

[F14CRAZY]

Heck, could he have bought a GM extended warranty when he bought it? What if they needed to replace this light bulb?

Like a few months ago a member couldn't get a shift cable for his Lumina, even though they made that style through the 2001 MY...

[2002 Caddy]

Actually my first stop was a NAPA parts store... Bulb in hand...
On the bulb under the blue cover was stamped a tiny "37"

So the NAPA guy digs out a GE "37" and sells it to me for 50 cents...

In the NAPA parking lot I try to install the new bulb... Its ever so slightly too big for the socket and about 1/32" too big for the blue tinted plastic cover...

Back to the NAPA store the parts guy there tells me that it is a non standard bulb and the dealer is my only hope.

This yields several questions:
1) Why did GM pick a non-standard bulb for this application?
2) Why doesn't GM stock it?
3) What would they have told me if I brought the car in for an oil change and asked to fix the burnt out bulb.
4) Why is GM "forcing" me to source aftermarket parts? (or doesn't GM want me to buy ACDelco anymore?) Oh ya, they don't, they outsourced the "Delco" brand... but thats a different rant

My point, in this and other posts, is that GM needs to focus on solving some real customer service problems if they plan to survive. I'm not going to rehash old wounds (that just upsets the mods) but lets just say that this is the 5th time I've had problems getting (what I would consider "easy") parts for this car. In the past I've blamed a "daft" service advisor... I'm beginning to think my service advisor wasn't the problem after all...

In its day this was the nicest car GM made... (and one of the most expensive) Why are they turning their back on it? Why is servicing it such a challenge? One of the ways you win repeat customers is through a painless service experience.

Want to know a little secret the dealer "salvage/parts" guy shared with me... The free bulb he gave me was from the dash of a one year old CTS... They don't service that part either...
(but thats ok cause its a generation old too)

[shadams]

The part # may have been discontinued, but it should have told him what kind of bulb it was. All a parts guy would have to do is see what bulb it took, and go back to the bulbs drawer and match it up. I do it everyday for customers, simple as that. Now that is not to say that the dealer may not have stocked that particular bulb, but the fact that GM discontinued a part number is nothing new, and certainly not something to make a big deal about. I think you are reading too far into it. It could be something as simple as the suppier for that bulb changing (since GM doesnt make their own bulbs) Techs keeping old bulbs has saved my ass countless times, I really think the fact that the guy was a friend of yours is why it went down the way it did (a little too much info), otherwise he would have just told you they didnt stock it, gave it to you free, or sold you a used one, and you would be none the wiser.

Originally Posted by 2002 Caddy

In the past I've blamed a "daft" service advisor... I'm beginning to think my service advisor wasn't the problem after all...

Oh yea, we get blamed for EVERYTHING, but its the good ones who take it in stride, apoligize for the inconvience, and get it handled..

[GMCSonoma]

Originally Posted by F14CRAZY

Heck, could he have bought a GM extended warranty when he bought it? What if they needed to replace this light bulb?

Like a few months ago a member couldn't get a shift cable for his Lumina, even though they made that style through the 2001 MY...

The 1995-96 floor shift cable is discontinued...the 97-01 used a different part#...
As with anything...it's supply & demand...considering 95% of that generation of Lumina/Monte Carlo used column shifters...

Originally Posted by shadams

The part # may have been discontinued, but it should have told him what kind of bulb it was. All a parts guy would have to do is see what bulb it took, and go back to the bulbs drawer and match it up. I do it everyday for customers, simple as that. Now that is not to say that the dealer may not have stocked that particular bulb, but the fact that GM discontinued a part number is nothing new, and certainly not something to make a big deal about. I think you are reading too far into it. It could be something as simple as the suppier for that bulb changing (since GM doesnt make their own bulbs) Techs keeping old bulbs has saved my ass countless times, I really think the fact that the guy was a friend of yours is why it went down the way it did (a little too much info), otherwise he would have just told you they didnt stock it, gave it to you free, or sold you a used one, and you would be none the wiser.



Oh yea, we get blamed for EVERYTHING, but its the good ones who take it in stride, apoligize for the inconvience, and get it handled..

As for the title of this thread....IMO it's a little too extreme...I too have a big collection of bulb sockets, pigtails etc which I've saved from scrapped clusters or harnesses....if a parts department of ANY marque doesn't do this, then IMO they are not any good...


The parts department gets plenty of blame too. Everytimes someone comes in with a broken door handle because their doors are frozen shut, or they need a wiper arm/transmission/etc because they never cleaned the ice & snow from the windshield...the classic question...
"is there a recall for this?? NO???? Well there should be!!!"


The December 2007 update of the Snap On/ProQuest GMSPO catalog does not show a listing for the bulb on a 2002 Seville shifter!
Likely the dealer could have called ParTech and rec'd whether GMSPO serviced it seperate or not.

One thing I've noticed with GM outsourcing many components whereas from 20 years ago they did very little. Try to procure a rectifier bridge for a Denso alternator on a 2004 Bonneville...you won't...you need a complete alternator.

[shadams]

Originally Posted by GMCSonoma

"is there a recall for this?? NO???? Well there should be!!!"

HA! Yes, I get asked this question daily too. I always tell people if they were perfect, they wouldnt need warranties, in a nice way of course.

So they dont even list it? Thats a different story, guess I'll go back behind the service counter and let you handle this one.... Seriously though, if he hadnt been a friend he probably would have never know the things we have to do sometimes to get stuff handled, dont think its any different in any industry.

[2002 Caddy]

Originally Posted by GMCSonoma

The December 2007 update of the Snap On/ProQuest GMSPO catalog does not show a listing for the bulb on a 2002 Seville shifter!
Likely the dealer could have called ParTech and rec'd whether GMSPO serviced it seperate or not.

The head of the parts team did call GM HQ looking for help... Thats what he needed my VIN for... He was told that the bulb was only serviced as part of the shifter assembly... The #2 guy who fished out the "free" bulb from the junk box told me that the new bulb was free too...

It came free with a $600 shifter assembly

[2002 Caddy]

Originally Posted by shadams

Seriously though, if he hadnt been a friend he probably would have never know the things we have to do sometimes to get stuff handled, dont think its any different in any industry.

Maybe so... And truth be told, the cars and trucks are getting better and better.

But in this area things are slipping...
In the 80's your owner's manual had a list of every single bulb in the car, even the ones that you had to take 1/2 of the dash apart to get to...
In the 90's this info was deleted from your owner's manual and only main bulbs were listed but GM stocked them all...
Today my owners manual doesn't even list the bulb number for the fog lights, lots of the bulbs are soldered in and now GM doesn't stock many of them...

And as posted above, this specific problem really is insignificant...
But on the other-hand so is the solution.

[shadams]

Originally Posted by 2002 Caddy

Maybe so... And truth be told, the cars and trucks are getting better and better.

But in this area things are slipping...
In the 80's your owner's manual had a list of every single bulb in the car, even the ones that you had to take 1/2 of the dash apart to get to...
In the 90's this info was deleted from your owner's manual and only main bulbs were listed but GM stocked them all...
Today my owners manual doesn't even list the bulb number for the fog lights, lots of the bulbs are soldered in and now GM doesn't stock many of them...

And as posted above, this specific problem really is insignificant...
But on the other-hand so is the solution.

Can't argue with that....

Similar situation, the tailgate handle on the GMT800 trucks (99-06) is bolted into the tail gate. The rods that attach to the handle that then attach to the latches are held on by these little platic clips, one side is green and the other is red. It is not uncommon for them to break and then you cany open the tail gate. But they arent available seperately, you have to buy to whole handle. So if someone comes in with only one missing, I sell them the handle and then pull off the other side. Next time someone comes in, I tell them the story about the clips, BUT, I have one here in my "you never know" drawer. So I alternate between happy and po'd customers. It doesnt make sense to me why GM cant just slap a part number on those things.

***lurks to wait in see if GMCSonoma posts a part number***

[GMCSonoma]

Originally Posted by shadams

Can't argue with that....

Similar situation, the tailgate handle on the GMT800 trucks (99-06) is bolted into the tail gate. The rods that attach to the handle that then attach to the latches are held on by these little platic clips, one side is green and the other is red. It is not uncommon for them to break and then you cany open the tail gate. But they arent available seperately, you have to buy to whole handle. So if someone comes in with only one missing, I sell them the handle and then pull off the other side. Next time someone comes in, I tell them the story about the clips, BUT, I have one here in my "you never know" drawer. So I alternate between happy and po'd customers. It doesnt make sense to me why GM cant just slap a part number on those things.

***lurks to wait in see if GMCSonoma posts a part number***

RH Side (green) #88981030
LH Side (red) #88981031

Sorrrrryyyyy!