I've Had My Blazer EV at the Dealer for 10 Hours Today, They Need to Hire More EV Techs

By all rights, buying a car should be a high-water mark in the average American’s life, not a bureaucratic scavenger hunt filled with hold music, shrugs, and questionable coffee. But here we are, decades into the 21st century, and the dealership experience is still one of the most infuriating rituals a car buyer can endure.

Whether you're shopping for a $25,000 commuter car or a $120,000 electric land yacht, chances are you're going to walk away from the dealer feeling like you’ve just spent a day in traffic court and lost. It’s not just the pricing games or the pushy finance guys anymore; it’s the sheer lack of respect for your time, your intelligence, and more importantly, your money. You can’t blame people for jumping ship to another brand when they get treated like cattle at the very place that’s supposed to represent the automaker’s pride and joy.

Electric Innovation Marred by Dealership Woes

The Chevy Blazer EV is a crossover meant to signal GM’s bright electric future, but some people still have a lot of issues. One owner took to the Chevy Blazer EV Owners Facebook group to share their saga, and frankly, it reads more like a parody than a customer experience:

“My Dealer Experience 3/11
Drop off 3 hours before the service department opens. Vehicles from two states ahead of me. Mine is 10th in line. Yes, I have an appointment.
Return at 4, one hour before the end of business. The tire rotation was completed, but that didn't interfere with their inability to perform the software updates I requested.
I'm told the two EV techs are so busy, they need the Blazer for a minimum of two days. This is always the case.

The service advisor senses my disappointment and doesn't charge for the tire rotation. I'm offered a loaner for a future appointment for the software updates. The only catch is a 3 week advance notice.
A competent service department is going to be busy every day. So, if yours isn't slammed, there's probably a reason. Having only one qualified tech should be a deal breaker unless you have unlimited time to wait. In case you're wondering, we have 6 Chevrolet dealers in the area.”

And there it is — a tale of long lines, absent technicians, and service that moves slower than molasses in a Michigan winter. This isn't just frustrating — it's emblematic of how deeply broken the customer support model has become.

The Customer Service Gap in Auto Dealerships

To be fair, some automakers do a better job managing these battles than others. Lexus still knows how to pour you a cappuccino and make you feel like you bought into something refined.

BMW might offer a clean showroom and a complimentary snack, assuming your local dealer hasn’t decided that customer service is optional. But across the industry, there’s a consistent thread: once the sale is inked, you’re no longer a priority, you’re a service ticket number. It’s this post-sale indifference, especially among mass-market brands, that’s driving people away in droves. Why would you respect someone who doesn’t respect you or your hard-earned money?

The Decline of Traditional Auto Dealerships

And that, dear reader, is why so many manufacturers are abandoning the dealership model entirely. Tesla led the charge, but Rivian, Lucid, and even Volkswagen, with its revival of the Scout brand,  are opting for direct-to-consumer strategies. Skip the dealer, skip the nonsense. Sounds great in theory, until your $80,000 EV needs service and the closest certified technician is a four-hour drive away. Convenience during purchase becomes a logistical nightmare during ownership. The traditional dealer may be deeply flawed, but at least it's a physical address,  somewhere to throw your keys and demand a fix when things go wrong.

The Crucial Step in Car Buying Decisions

There’s another angle to this, too, test drives. You wouldn’t buy a house without walking through it, so why should you drop sixty grand on a vehicle you’ve never even sat in? Direct-sale brands love digital configurators and online hype videos, but nothing replaces the real-world test drive. 

Blazer EV Performance, Range, and Advanced Tech Specs

• The Blazer EV offers various configurations, including front-wheel drive (FWD), rear-wheel drive (RWD), and all-wheel drive (AWD). The RWD RS model provides up to 334 miles of EPA-estimated range, while the AWD SS variant boasts 615 horsepower, accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds. ​Equipped with 11.5 kW Level 2 (AC) charging and a standard DC fast-charging capability of up to 190 kW, the Blazer EV can add approximately 78 miles of range in 10 minutes, depending on the model. ​
• The vehicle includes a 17.7-inch diagonal customizable infotainment touchscreen, an 11-inch diagonal Driver Information Center, and advanced safety features such as Chevy Safety Assist and the available Super Cruise hands-free driving technology.

How does it handle your daily commute? How’s the seat comfort after 30 minutes in traffic? What about throttle response or interior noise? These aren’t nitpicking, they’re legitimate concerns when a vehicle can cost as much as a year’s salary. And dealerships, for all their sins, used to be the gatekeepers of that experience.

Navigating Broken Dealer Networks and Direct Sales Challenges

But the decay is most visible when owners of niche or premium vehicles, Blazer EVs included,  find themselves tossed aside like last season’s floor mats. Dealers don’t see rarity as prestige anymore; they see it as a hassle. One Blazer EV owner gets told, “Our only EV tech is out for two days.” Another is told to come back in three weeks for a software update. And if six area dealerships can’t get a single car sorted in less than a week, that’s not a glitch, that’s systemic rot. The consequence? That customer walks into a Kia or Hyundai showroom next time, simply because they want to be treated like a human being.

So here we are, stuck between a decaying dealer network that can’t support the vehicles it's tasked with selling and a direct-to-consumer future with no local safety net. It's a lose-lose situation, and the customer always eats the cost. Until automakers,  legacy and startup alike, take ownership of the entire customer experience, we’ll keep hearing stories like the Blazer EV owner who waited 10 hours just to get a tire rotation and left without even the software updates they’d scheduled.

Image Source: Chevrolet, Jim Carters post on the Facebook Group (Chevy Blazer EV Owners)

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.