Hummer Happening RIP OFF DAMAGE

[Hummer Guy]

The dealer may try to claim ignorance on it, but who sponsored it? Who advertised it? And who's customer list was it? It?s a joke if they try to pass the blame -- at the end of the day, they're paying the off-road park or organization and its up to them to make the call of whether to take obstacles or not. Also, even with a waiver, you were under the impression you were being guided by professionals, and if they were negligent, it doesn't matter what you signed. With that said, dealers have it tough...there seems to be very little room between "we should have had more extreme off-road" and "There was no serious off-roading..this was a joke"...its a tough line to balance. It?s been my experience that you can tell any driver to go slow, but everyone wants to crawl up the rocky road faster than anyone else, and have the higher mud splash when going through a puddle. Whoever has the muddiest truck at the end of the day wins ? you?ve all seen this happen? J A responsible dealer would tell you before a certain area that it is for more experienced drivers if damage is likely to occur, or suggest that ?you?ll make it through this puddle?but any damage won?t be under warranty??you?d get one or two folks to go through but most don?t like to knowingly take such risks that may tear up their rigs...most of the time I would say the majority of damage that happens at Hummer Happenings is driver error or inexperience?this is one that sounds like dealer/organizer/off-road-park error ? at the end of the day, the dealer needs to do the right thing ? especially if it was 5 trucks?wow.

[bparker]

omg, dewds! if you take a car wheelin **** can happen. You need to think on these terms. its not anyones fault but your own for going off road and dont blame anyone else for YOUR descisions to do so.

wheeling breaks crap, its just part of the game.

I do not agree with them not covering an alternator under warranty.... a busted fender well thats a different story... but hell it rains alot and there are deep puddles all over the usa. why take a position that it was due to off roading... thats gay.

[f5fstop]

Originally Posted by bparker

omg, dewds! if you take a car wheelin **** can happen. You need to think on these terms. its not anyones fault but your own for going off road and dont blame anyone else for YOUR descisions to do so.

wheeling breaks crap, its just part of the game.

I do not agree with them not covering an alternator under warranty.... a busted fender well thats a different story... but hell it rains alot and there are deep puddles all over the usa. why take a position that it was due to off roading... thats gay.

It is really no different than a broken fender. if GM publishes a spec for maximum water forage and you surpass that spec, then GM is not responsible for the warranty on the part that is damaged. Your reasoning would be if you exceeded the vent tubes and destroyed a powertrain component by sucking in water or you sucked in water into the engine, it should be covered under warranty. Either way, it would be considered driver or spotter error.

Alternators are water proof to rain, road splash, etc.; however, you cannot submerge them in water and expect them to continue to operate.

However, I would have been curious if the poster had gone to another Hummer dealer and never mentioned off-roading, if it would not have been replaced under warranty.

If there was a continuous line of Hummers and they were guided through a stream or river that was deeper than the spec for the H3, by a dealer representative, then in my opinion, the dealer should be responsible. Especially, since these Hummer Happenings bring in people who are NOT experienced off-roaders, and are relying on the dealers representatives to guide them, and help them with the terrain.

[HUMMJAY]

$500 dolars for alt repair is a rip $150 part 2 hrs labor = $300 tops

[Big Z]

Originally Posted by HUMMJAY

$500 dolars for alt repair is a rip $150 part 2 hrs labor = $300 tops

Very True!...Was Quoted $325 for a Hi-Output rebuild!

[Crash ?]

Originally Posted by PhilD

On the flip side, our club have also ran HH's and you should never underestimate the total lack of common sense of some drivers. Doesn't matter how many times you tell someone to slow down or not do something, some are just to dumb to listen.

Quit lookin at me like that Phil...

--
Rob

[MisterE]

Hi All,

Thanks for you input, Humjay and 2 Xtreme if you ever want to go wheel'n just hit me up with a PM. I would definately hit the mounds again it was great but I would probably go when it is just a tad less wet

Still waiting to hear back from the dealership but the manager and service department do sound in my corner so fingers crossed but like I said I will go to small claims court if needed. Like Hummjay said the radio chatter was horrible and they would say watch out for this obstical you need to stay high and to the right...heck I was 15 trucks and at least 5 turns back from what they were talking about. I have lots of off-road time in dune buggies so I wasn't totally lost but these were definately not novice trails and once your in your all in because you can't just jump out of line in the woods.

I totally agree the wheel'n breaks stuff...will I do it yep, will I pay for it, probably not with a smile but yep, but this time not with out a fight because in my opinion I didn't make the mistake or do anything stupid \ wrong.

More updates to come.

[H3.007]

Ok, this may be a little "out there" but might these "sponsors" be setting customers up to damage vehicles in order to reap the repair costs?

Regardless, is there some type of alternator splash guard that could resolve some of these issues or is the alternator literally being submerged?

Not being an alternator expert, is there a "sealed" alternator out there?

And I agree about the wheel well cracks if it was done off road. Offroading trashes things. HOWEVER - if these are cracking under normal driving conditions, soemthing is up. I haven;t damaged anything on mine yet and winter is qickly approaching. I will keep an eye on mine to see how they hold up to the harsh winter conditions here, especially the freezing rain storms...

[HUMMJAY]

In regard to my previous posts. I am in no way an expert of 4wheelin. I attended the HH as a partisipant not a representitive. my posts are purely my opinion, please do not confuse that fact. thank you.

[NewHummerGuy]

I was at a northern virginia hummer happening a couple weeks ago. the lead truck in my pack (sales guy in 2006 sut) slid out on a nasty slanted mud corner. the truck slid back into woods down a slope. i was 4 trucks back and didnt know what was going on til i got out and went to look.

they didnt know what they were going to do but then i offered my recovery gear (thanks PhilD. i had just received it from trail duty a couple days earlier ). they used my shovel and recovery strap (d rings) to get the sut out of the woods.

like i read before, even if you are only going on one ride its smart to have the basic recover gear. and in this case glad i had mine

[DRTYFN]

Originally Posted by MisterE

Well, my dealer is saying that they didn't sponser this event but I did contact them and they were the ones that told me about the event and told me how to register... This is my first my Hummer I honestly didn't know the difference (as far as dealer sponsered vs non dealer sponsered) but they sure didn't say they were not sponsering it during our emails and they DID have a vehicle there.

My service guy who is cool said he would state the altenator was exposed to deep of water etc in court when I said I wanted to sue in Hummer Happening but what I am having trouble doing is A getting in touch with someone who will tell me 1. Who to locally to serve I did sign a waiver but where did it go? 2. While this wasn't dealer sponsered they obviously were not totally clueless they had to know these folks somehow who worked with them? so I can get in touch with someone to serve them?

Any ideas how to get this idea?

Sorry that I was quick to blame GM, but I was under the impression that these events were much more closely tied together with dealerships and such. However, when they said the GM Rep would denied the warranty claim based on all the information I provided I still beleive it is terrible PR on GM's part, make the customer happy work with the Dealer and Hummer Happening on fault behind the scenes.

I still LOVE my HUMMER think it is a GREAT vehicle I'm just saying I can do things that void the warranty all on my own with out waiting in a line of 50+ trucks! I went to this because EXPERTS were there to guide me along the way.

PS

I have been to the Sand Dunes many times and avoided the deep water all on my own

Sorry, I think my bitch fest is over..

PM me the contact info for the dealer's service department. They need some talking to.

[MisterE]

Now would I be allowed back to the dealership after this "Talking to" or not??

[HUMMJAY]

Originally Posted by MisterE

Now would I be allowed back to the dealership after this "Talking to" or not??

I dont know what dealer you are going to E, but I have to imagine that they are as frustrated with this situation as you are. the dealers didnt pick out the venue nor did they staff it, they are however stuck with trying to resolve it with out the co-opreation from the people who mandated they do it and the people who ran it.

[Big Z]

Originally Posted by Hummer Guy

The dealer may try to claim ignorance on it, but who sponsored it? Who advertised it? And who's customer list was it? It?s a joke if they try to pass the blame -- at the end of the day, they're paying the off-road park or organization and its up to them to make the call of whether to take obstacles or not. Also, even with a waiver, you were under the impression you were being guided by professionals, and if they were negligent, it doesn't matter what you signed. With that said, dealers have it tough...there seems to be very little room between "we should have had more extreme off-road" and "There was no serious off-roading..this was a joke"...its a tough line to balance. It?s been my experience that you can tell any driver to go slow, but everyone wants to crawl up the rocky road faster than anyone else, and have the higher mud splash when going through a puddle. Whoever has the muddiest truck at the end of the day wins ? you?ve all seen this happen? J A responsible dealer would tell you before a certain area that it is for more experienced drivers if damage is likely to occur, or suggest that ?you?ll make it through this puddle?but any damage won?t be under warranty??you?d get one or two folks to go through but most don?t like to knowingly take such risks that may tear up their rigs...most of the time I would say the majority of damage that happens at Hummer Happenings is driver error or inexperience?this is one that sounds like dealer/organizer/off-road-park error ? at the end of the day, the dealer needs to do the right thing ? especially if it was 5 trucks?wow.

....Now, having said ALL That! ...I've only been to 2 HH's.... Both had the SAME Structure!...Obstacle/Training course...Sereral Trails, ranging from Easy To HARD....A Choice! .......Trails were run Prior to any guest rigs hitting them!.....A Mandatory Drivers Meeting each day---Prior to Any Staging for trails!...Don't know the Choices everyone has, but sounds like the sponsors and PRO's ...are responsable and Pro's--Not Too! ...Mix in a shortage of Common Sense!...And Bummer for you trouble!....Hope it all works out!

[HUMMJAY]

Originally Posted by MisterE

Hey HUMMJAY,

I believe my dealer is going to bat for me. BUT at this point I am still out the $$ for an altenator and I just discovered that my drivers side inner wheelwell also has about a 6" inch crack running horizontal along with it (second time this has happend to my vehicle at a Hummer Happening).

I understand the position of the dealership BUT I had many emails with the dealership asking about when they were going to hold another Hummer Happening as I had fun at the last one (which my sales person was at and they were more involved in) and the person I communicated with NEVER EXPRESSED this one would be any different. So I do give them some fault for giving me the impression this one would be like the last event, do I totally fault them, no, nor do I give them the majority of the blame. But I do find it a bit disappointing that the dealership gave me the impression they were involved but passes the buck to GM for not doing it under warranty (but I agree with GM as it exceeded depth of water). Hummer Happening admits no fault because they contracted to GMR works but I paid my $$ to Hummer Happening, everything was advertised as Hummer Happening and the Dealerships were not totally distancing themselves from Hummer Happening regardless HOW much they were involved. Yes I know in this economy no one has unlimited money but this isn't a 500 part there is mark up! Someone should step up to the plate, fix the vehicles and put it to rest before word of mouth makes this worse.

As i said befor $500 is a rip for an alt. job, they are sertanly taking you for a ride there ($100 part 2 hrs labor @ $75 per = $250,, if they wanted to be nice about it ) as for the person you emailed I will bet they had never ben to this place befor nor could they forsee how it would be run.GM will not sponsor dealer run events so dealers dont do them. the event team hired by Rworks ( a company called O'Brians ) did a very poor job of running venue, they had no clue how to run an event of that size, or how to navigate the terrain.

[HUMMJAY]

Originally Posted by Hummer Guy

The dealer may try to claim ignorance on it, but who sponsored it? Who advertised it? And who's customer list was it? It?s a joke if they try to pass the blame -- at the end of the day, they're paying the off-road park or organization and its up to them to make the call of whether to take obstacles or not. Also, even with a waiver, you were under the impression you were being guided by professionals, and if they were negligent, it doesn't matter what you signed. With that said, dealers have it tough...there seems to be very little room between "we should have had more extreme off-road" and "There was no serious off-roading..this was a joke"...its a tough line to balance. It?s been my experience that you can tell any driver to go slow, but everyone wants to crawl up the rocky road faster than anyone else, and have the higher mud splash when going through a puddle. Whoever has the muddiest truck at the end of the day wins ? you?ve all seen this happen? J A responsible dealer would tell you before a certain area that it is for more experienced drivers if damage is likely to occur, or suggest that ?you?ll make it through this puddle?but any damage won?t be under warranty??you?d get one or two folks to go through but most don?t like to knowingly take such risks that may tear up their rigs...most of the time I would say the majority of damage that happens at Hummer Happenings is driver error or inexperience?this is one that sounds like dealer/organizer/off-road-park error ? at the end of the day, the dealer needs to do the right thing ? especially if it was 5 trucks?wow.

HUMMER events are sponcered by the customers.. every single person who buys a HUMMER.. a portion of the sales $ goes to a LMG (local maketing group) the LMG hires event planers,, Rworks, they intern hire a company to run the event,, O'Brians, they go out and test the area and determine what is safe and what is not in case like this one. 9 times out of 10 they run a pre exsiting track built jus for HUMMER's so there job is pretty easy. HUMMER dealers have no say in this process. It is Mandated as a condition of francise ownership that dealers provide there customers the oprotunity to attend these events they do this by giving the event co. names and #'s of their customers. "at the end of the day" the dealer looks like a hero if the cusomers had fun or a zero if they did not

[MisterE]

Originally Posted by HUMMJAY

As i said befor $500 is a rip for an alt. job, they are sertanly taking you for a ride there ($100 part 2 hrs labor @ $75 per = $250,, if they wanted to be nice about it ) as for the person you emailed I will bet they had never ben to this place befor nor could they forsee how it would be run.GM will not sponsor dealer run events so dealers dont do them. the event team hired by Rworks ( a company called O'Brians ) did a very poor job of running venue, they had no clue how to run an event of that size, or how to navigate the terrain.

HUMMJAY is your rig silver with a silver with a shovel in the roof basket? If so that thing rocks!! We were admiring it at lunch!

As an employee of participating dealer (who I understand was just an attendee) that does have a lot of time \ training in off road driving I appreciate your insight.

I really do not want to bad mouth my dealership as they have been fair to me in the past. My point was just that between three big companies (being that my dealership owns more than just this particular lot and brand) they wouldn't worry about warranty claims and people like me considering sueing, complaining to other 4 Wheelers and friends and in venues such as this. The would want this "This Hummer Happening wasn't good, my vehicle was damaged, the dealer took care of it no questions and said someone's head would roll for such bad scouting". Then let them duke it out behind the scenes without unhappy customers. Then I would know this wouldn't fly for just any old damage out on the trail but because it was several complaints for a single event kinda deal their covered from blanket I scratched my door fix it because you did it last time and people are happy. I realize as an outsider is easier said than done, but I just wanted the effected dealerships to

You just don't think $500 (ballpark and again retail) would be worth it to these companies for the headache of someone like me who will call or email until I get the name of someone from Obriens because that is who my money was paid to and I will file in small claims court if this isn't settled. (Which I am hoping it will be). Heck 4 companies Dealer, GM (even though they are not involved other than being a manufacturer), Hummer Happening a.k.a Obriens, and GMR Works...125 each (retail) per truck done Give me phone numbers I call each one myself and start working on an agreement for all effected trucks

[f5fstop]

HUMMJAY, I see Macomb County...did you get your Hummer from Friendly?

Also, just a note, GM's labor rate for the Generator is 1.5 hours.

MisterE, please post the dealer's name. I'm curious about a manager who would state he would go to court to screw a customer for something the dealer had a say in. Need to let everyone know, who is interested in any car or truck this dealer sells should be purchased somewhere else.
I'm guessing Al Sierra around Flint/Grand Rapids.

[CrisB]

I was there, the four of us that went together didn't get invited either, we 'd been there before & decided to crash the party.....no obstacles were man-made, all existing muck & trails & holes. Whoever was leading (in brand-new, off-the-lot H3's with window stickers still), had little idea where they were going, barely any spotting or direction. I saw them come through on one run being led by some toothless guy in a Chevy pickup, apparently he knew the way past the long mud holes that the guides couldn't find. My impression at the time was that it wasn't well thought out or well planned.

That said, we went through the same holes & mud pits, with no damage in our group...not sure why some failed & others didn't.

Got mine at Hummer of Novi, great guys, great service, no issues here...they've treated me fairly.