I Work At a GM Dealer, I Wanted A Toyota 4Runner, They Said I Had to Buy a Chevy Silverado Or Get Fired, Within 24 Hrs and Only 82 Miles It Broke Down

Kathryn worked at a GM dealer, which forced her to buy a Chevrolet Silverado. The dealer said she had to buy a GM, not the Toyota 4Runner she wanted, or she would be fired. If that's not bad enough, the new Chevy Silverado died right after she got it. 

The GMC dealer I worked for said I had to buy a Chevy Colorado or a Silverado, not the Toyota 4Runner that I wanted, or I would be fired. 

It's hard to believe, but this happened to Kathryn DeOrnellas (@kathrynd96), who worked for a General Motors dealer in Michigan in internet sales. 

Imagine wanting to buy a new Toyota 4Runner because it's the vehicle of your dreams. Even though you work for a Chevrolet dealer, you like the Toyota better.  

One day, you are chatting with a coworker and confiding in them about what you are going to buy. However, the coworker runs to the boss and tells him you are buying a Toyota. 

Your manager tells you that you will either buy a new Chevrolet Colorado or a Silverado truck, not the Toyota 4Runner, or you'll be fired on the spot. What would you do? You have rent to pay, a car payment, and all your other bills.

Kathryn, in a position where she needed her job, was left with no choice but to purchase the Chevy Silverado truck. Her story, which started with a dream, took a sharp turn downhill from there, a journey that's hard to believe. 

"Please stop and listen to this,” she says in her TikTok video.

Kathryn says, "I want to talk and share and hopefully find out something. Maybe a lawyer will see this. Maybe General Motors will see this. I don't know." 

In 2022, I worked at a GM dealership in the thumb of Michigan. My dream vehicle has always been a Toyota 4Runner. I love them. So, I had been talking to one of my coworkers about it, who then ran and told management about it.

Management pulled me aside and said, hey, if you get a new Toyota 4Runner, you're going to be fired. They say, do you want a Colorado or a Silverado to haul your dirt bike?

Kathryn doesn't want to be fired, so she says, "I said, fine, put me in a Silverado. So, I signed on my Silverado."

She continues, "Not even 24 hours later, the thing broke down, and it was in the shop for 34 days making it a Lemon in Michigan. That dealership then fired me over it and said it was b.s. what was happening with my truck because it broke down within 82 miles in the first 24 hours that I owned that thing."

You know it needed a new wiring harness and had nothing but electrical issues. In total, that thing was in the shop for 325 days. 

In January of 2024, I finally won my Lemon Law lawsuit. My Lemon Lawsuit was a full buyback with all of my money back. 

So, in January, I went and dropped my truck off, signed over every single paper, and received all my payments back. 

In my opinion, it was not enough because I had to keep full coverage on that thing. Also, it was in the shop for 325 days. I couldn't get a loaner, so I had to buy a second vehicle.  

So, I was making almost $500 payments for an entire year. So today, I tried to get a pre-owned vehicle at the dealership where I work now. I love my dealership. I was denied. 

I called my credit union and I asked why I was denied the loan, and they said it was because you have a repossession on my credit. I said, excuse me? He's like, yeah, you had your 2022 Silverado repossessed. 

I said no, I didn't. I won a Lemon Law lawsuit, and they bought it back. Those payments were all made. If you scroll back in my bank account until the beginning of January, you will see a check for over $6,000 that they had to pay me every single payment back. 

He said we can't approve your loan because we show that you have had a repossession in the last six months. So, General Motors recorded my vehicle as a repossession on my credit. 

So, I am still being screwed over by General Motors and GM Financial. No one can give me an answer.

My dad worked for General Motors for over 40 years. I worked for the GM dealership for over three years. I think my dad would roll over in his grave knowing how poorly made General Motors vehicles are now and how poorly they treat people.

This has taken 605 days to resolve, from May 2022 until January 2024. I think my dad would understand the fact that I drive a freaking Toyota now. I grew up thinking that General Motors was the best. 

I love General Motors, but you don't bite the hand that feeds you. I will never, ever in my life own another General Motors vehicle. If I won some kind of lottery tomorrow, where I won a brand new GM vehicle, I would sell it immediately and buy myself another Toyota. 

I don't know what to do. No one at General Motors can give me an answer. I've been told to hire a lawyer, but I'm broke now after this. My savings are only this big, she says as she holds two fingers close together. 

I don't want to hire an attorney, but what should I do? I can't have a repossession on my credit for another seven years when that Silverado was never repossessed from me. 

What should Kathryn do now?

A report from attorney Jibrael S Hindi says there are steps to take to remove a repossession from your credit report. 

He says individuals who are in Kathryn's predicament can dispute inaccurate information for free without hiring an attorney. 

Hindi says, "Initiate a formal dispute with all necessary credit reporting agencies (CRAs) that issued the report containing the repossession. You can dispute a repossession online with all three credit reporting agencies, and this is the most efficient way to pursue removal from Experian, Equifax, and Transunion."

"Include the inaccuracies and provide any supporting documents. Attach any evidence you have that supports your dispute, such as payment records, repossession documents, or any other relevant documentation. The dispute process costs absolutely nothing."

Then there is the question of employee coercion Kathryn was subjected to. 

Can the GM dealer make an employee purchase their vehicle?

A Federal Trade Commission report (FTC) says no.

• No coercion allowed: The FTC's "Car Sales Rule" prohibits dealerships from using any form of pressure or coercion to force a sale, including to employees. 
• Employee buying options: While a dealership might encourage you to buy from them, you can purchase a vehicle from any dealer you choose, even if it means buying from a competitor. 
• Reporting concerns: The FTC says, If you feel pressured to buy a car from your dealership, you can file a complaint with the FTC or your state consumer protection agency.

Conclusion.

In Kathryn's case, everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong. She was forced to buy a Silverado truck she didn't want to keep her job, and then the truck was a lemon and she couldn't even drive it. She did get the truck bought back but then had her credit destroyed because of inaccurate reporting by General Motors Finance. 

Then, there are the issues with the Chevrolet Silverado. Read more in my report here.

This is not an isolated GM dealer case. Check out my report titled, I Bought a New Chevy Silverado, 4 Months In, the Bank Wants $35K From Me On My Old Truck, the GMC Dealer Never Paid It Off.  Have you had a similar situation happen to you working at a dealer or had mechanical problems with your Chevrolet Silverado? If so, click the red Add New Comment link below and let us know.

I am Denis Flierl, a Senior Torque News Reporter since 2012. My 30+ year tenure in the automotive industry, initially in a consulting role with every major car brand and later as a freelance journalist test-driving new vehicles, has equipped me with a wealth of knowledge. I specialize in reporting the latest automotive news and providing expert analysis on Subaru, which you'll find here, ensuring that you, as a reader, are always well-informed and up-to-date. Follow me on my X SubaruReport, All Subaru, WRXSTI, @DenisFlierl, Facebook, and Instagram.

Photo credit: Denis Flierl via Kathryn DeOrnellas