This happened a couple months ago, but it is a story I’ve been wanting to share. I was very excited to be a BW owner. I read all the reviews and got some track time with the BW that helped solidify how exciting these cars are. In early 2022, I put down deposits at three dealerships. Once I got an allocation from one dealer, I removed my name/deposit from the other dealerships. (Hindsight is 20/20… 
My 2023 CT-5 BW was accepted in October and built in December of 2022. Here is where the story goes downhill. It took almost 11 months for the car to arrive from the goat pen. When I went to view the car, unfortunately it was damaged.
The driver door was not installed correctly. It seemed someone had tried to fix it (quality control?) but made it worse. It looked like the paint was still soft when someone tried to address the door alignment and they nicked the driver door and passenger rear door causing the paint to be removed. The door was still not properly aligned after this attempt. At this stage, I was bummed because I had waited a long time. I was clear with the dealership that I was still interested in the car but was not happy about a brand-new car being in this condition. The dealership felt the best course of action was for me to call GM customer service.
I reached out to GM customer service and my case later went to GM executive review. Meanwhile, I called some body shops to get an idea of what a repair would involve. Basically, the car would need a repaint of the two doors. The other option was to try touch up paint and polish, but I was told the defect might still be noticeable. At this point, I felt there were two options for GM to address this issue: 1. Repair the car, or 2. Offer me another allocation. I shared this with GM exec review with the hope they could remedy the situation. I talked to two individuals during this time, and both were telling me different things on what could be done. For example, one person said they could get me another allocation and the other said this was not possible.
GM executive review agreed that car needed to be fixed first and I was able to negotiate a body shop of my choice. They also told me during this process that the dealership cannot sell the car on me. The body shop was close to the dealership and is known for excellent work. I told the dealership that the car was approved to be sent over to the body shop and the executive team told them as well. At this stage, I was under the impression the car was being fixed. I was told it would take 10 business days.
Around the 10 business day mark, I called my salesperson to see if the car was back so I could see it. He told me the car was sold during this time. I was surprised and upset that no one had told me they were selling the car. He told me that GM exec review offered the dealership another allocation hence they put the car up for sale. When GM exec review called me, I told them the car was sold and they claimed they were not aware of this. Furthermore, GM exec said they cannot offer me or the dealership an allocation. They felt since I am first on the dealer’s “list”, I should be able to order another one in the future. At this point, exec review felt there was nothing more they could do, and they closed the case.
The only reason I am first on the list with this dealership is that I had put my name down for another CT-5 BW before my 2023 arrived. (My plan before all of this happened was to purchase a 2025.) As many know on here, being on the “list” does not guarantee an allocation, plus the issue with constraints. The manager had told me a few months ago they will NOT receive any 2024 allocations and that this year would be a short build year. I am assuming they will get a 2025 CT5 BW, but this is not a guarantee. If I could order from the Blackwing King I would, but getting one in Canada is more challenging than in the U.S. Furthermore, I am not keen on working with this dealership anymore but feel stuck since I am first on their list.
I feel like this whole process has been a mess, and that there have been many failures from quality control to logistics to the dealership, etc. If the car had not arrived damaged, I would be enjoying it right now. I do feel GM needs to step up here to make this right.
I am reaching out to see if anyone has any contacts with higher-ups in GM or within GM Canada. At the moment, the contact info for the Canadian leadership team does not appear to be publicly available. I know there are some on here who work for GM and maybe you have some thoughts (feel free to PM me).
Basically, I would still like to order another CT-5 BW but with no drama next time. Thanks for reading if you made it this far (this was the Coles note version
.
My 2023 CT-5 BW was accepted in October and built in December of 2022. Here is where the story goes downhill. It took almost 11 months for the car to arrive from the goat pen. When I went to view the car, unfortunately it was damaged.
The driver door was not installed correctly. It seemed someone had tried to fix it (quality control?) but made it worse. It looked like the paint was still soft when someone tried to address the door alignment and they nicked the driver door and passenger rear door causing the paint to be removed. The door was still not properly aligned after this attempt. At this stage, I was bummed because I had waited a long time. I was clear with the dealership that I was still interested in the car but was not happy about a brand-new car being in this condition. The dealership felt the best course of action was for me to call GM customer service.
I reached out to GM customer service and my case later went to GM executive review. Meanwhile, I called some body shops to get an idea of what a repair would involve. Basically, the car would need a repaint of the two doors. The other option was to try touch up paint and polish, but I was told the defect might still be noticeable. At this point, I felt there were two options for GM to address this issue: 1. Repair the car, or 2. Offer me another allocation. I shared this with GM exec review with the hope they could remedy the situation. I talked to two individuals during this time, and both were telling me different things on what could be done. For example, one person said they could get me another allocation and the other said this was not possible.
GM executive review agreed that car needed to be fixed first and I was able to negotiate a body shop of my choice. They also told me during this process that the dealership cannot sell the car on me. The body shop was close to the dealership and is known for excellent work. I told the dealership that the car was approved to be sent over to the body shop and the executive team told them as well. At this stage, I was under the impression the car was being fixed. I was told it would take 10 business days.
Around the 10 business day mark, I called my salesperson to see if the car was back so I could see it. He told me the car was sold during this time. I was surprised and upset that no one had told me they were selling the car. He told me that GM exec review offered the dealership another allocation hence they put the car up for sale. When GM exec review called me, I told them the car was sold and they claimed they were not aware of this. Furthermore, GM exec said they cannot offer me or the dealership an allocation. They felt since I am first on the dealer’s “list”, I should be able to order another one in the future. At this point, exec review felt there was nothing more they could do, and they closed the case.
The only reason I am first on the list with this dealership is that I had put my name down for another CT-5 BW before my 2023 arrived. (My plan before all of this happened was to purchase a 2025.) As many know on here, being on the “list” does not guarantee an allocation, plus the issue with constraints. The manager had told me a few months ago they will NOT receive any 2024 allocations and that this year would be a short build year. I am assuming they will get a 2025 CT5 BW, but this is not a guarantee. If I could order from the Blackwing King I would, but getting one in Canada is more challenging than in the U.S. Furthermore, I am not keen on working with this dealership anymore but feel stuck since I am first on their list.
I feel like this whole process has been a mess, and that there have been many failures from quality control to logistics to the dealership, etc. If the car had not arrived damaged, I would be enjoying it right now. I do feel GM needs to step up here to make this right.
I am reaching out to see if anyone has any contacts with higher-ups in GM or within GM Canada. At the moment, the contact info for the Canadian leadership team does not appear to be publicly available. I know there are some on here who work for GM and maybe you have some thoughts (feel free to PM me).
Basically, I would still like to order another CT-5 BW but with no drama next time. Thanks for reading if you made it this far (this was the Coles note version
.
