Chevy doesn't care, though. They're glad you hate it and that you scream and mute the TV whenever it comes on. (Or maybe that's just me.) They think the campaign has been a success, and are actually making more "Our Country" commercials, despite heavy criticism from people who are sick of the song.

Newsweek says:

"By any measure," says Chevy spokesman Terry Rhadigan, "this campaign has been a success." (That's relative, though: Chevy Silverado sales have been flat over the life of the song—and the overall pickup-truck market is off 2 percent.) Rhadigan says Chevy is aware of the negative buzz but has no plans to throttle back.

Apparently, I'm not completely alone in this:

ESPN columnist Bill Simmons has made a crusade of lampooning the ads, and his readers are backing him up with postings like this: Mellencamp "needs to go into the witness protection program because I am ready to snap and go OJ on him ... for ruining another postseason."

Do you hate this song, too?

Dear John: We Beg You, Make It Stop [Newsweek]
There's only one October diary [ESPN]

We're interested in negotiations, compensation, car brands, used cars, new cars, financing, customer satisfaction surveys...you name it.

Please organize your tips by the make of car you work with. Toyota, Ford, Chevy...etc. We can't wait to hear from you! Remember, helpful tips! Here are some good examples:

9 Confessions From A Former Enterprise Rental Salesman
8 Confessions of An Alltel Sales Rep
11 Confessions of a T-Mobile Sales Rep
6 Confessions Of A Former Sprint Sales Rep
MORE CONFESSIONS....

(Photo: morsteen)

In July 2004, James bought from Darcars Chevrolet in Lanham, MD what he thought was a new Chevy S-10 truck.

This year, his power window started. malfunctioning. James brought the truck to his local dealer for what he thought would be a warranty repair. When the local dealer pulled up his truck's info from the GM warranty database, the dealer informed him that his 36 month warranty had expired.

Huh? James thought he still had 7 months to go!

The first dealer sold James a "spec-event used car" that had been sitting on his lot for a year. The warranty clock had already started ticking. However, on the bill of sale (included inside), you can clearly see the vehicle is marked as "new."

James' story, our advice, and more pix and evidence inside...

James writes:

"You can imagine my surprise when my local Chevy dealer told me that my new car warranty was expired after only two years. He gave me a copy of the GM database (attached) which listed my S-10 pickup truck as a "spec-event used car."

...The local service manager was kind enough to cover the repair despite the warranty expiration; apparently they have some discretion at the local level....

After sending a certified package of documents and leaving four messages with the dealer which sold me the truck, there was no response so I sent an e-mail to GM directly. According to the response from Jimmy Sanchez (attached), a new-car warranty takes effect on the "original delivery date" which I assume is when it is delivered to the dealer. Since the car sat on the dealer's lot for over a year when I bought it, my warranty was severely sliced.

As you can see, the original bill of sale lists the car as "New" with my initials next to the 200 mile notation on the bill ; the 200 miles represents the mileage on the truck when I bought it, which is not unusual for a new vehicle which has been test-driven. In addition, I received two GM rebates on the truck; I've never heard of GM rebates on used vehicles.

I bought a new vehicle! This seems like fraud to me."

It not only seems like fraud, it is fraud. Don't try to beseech Chevy for help, they don't care what their dealers do.

Continue trying to reach the original dealer and see if you can work it out. Follow up those phone calls with formal requests in writing and send by certified mail.

If Darcars continues to be unresponsive, you would be well advised to file a police report and file suit. — BEN POPKEN

Click to enlarge warranty information from GM database and bill of sale.

Email to Chevy:

—-—Original Message—-— From: cac@chevrolet.com Sent: 12/12/2006 10:02:13 AM —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—- Nature of concern : VehicleConcern

Message : I purchased this vehicle new from Darcars Chevrolet in Lanham, MD. Recently a local dealer informed me that my vehicle was in fact a "Spec-event used car" according to the GM Vehicle Inquiry System (I have a copy). Now my warranty has expired after less than two years of use. Apparently the warranty took effect when the dealer received the car and while it sat on his lot for more than one year. I bought a new car - with rebates - not a used car, and they are guilty of fraud. Paul, a manager at Darcars, will not return my calls after I sent a packet (two months ago) of documents relating to this problem. Hopefully you can help. Many thanks.

Response from Chevy:

After a guy drives his new truck from the Bill Heard dealership home, he gets a call from the salesman, saying he got too good a deal. They want him to pay $10,000 more dollars. He refused. In the middle of the night, the dealership towed it back to the lot and put it back up for sale.

Watch the TV report by going here and clicking the "Dealership Doesn't Like Deal, Takes Car Back" on the top right. (Note to local TV stations: either distribute video players or make your newsfeeds easier to steal and upload. Seriously, it's better for everyone.)

The story is so good, the general manager of a competing TV station blogged about it.

Tennessee's Better Business Bureau says this is par for the course. The hundreds of complaints they've received against Bill Heard, "The World's Largest Chevy Retailer," are far more than any other area dealer. And most of them are unresolved.

How did the dealership defend their actions? We'll let the statements they gave police and News5, after the jump, speak for themselves...

Statement given to the police:

Statement given NewsChannel5:

(Thanks to Aaron!)

We have no clue.

So we shot it over to our brother car blog, Jalopnik, and Ray replied:

"My vote would be the Nissan, mainly cause the re-sale value of the Nissan Sentra is significantly higher — like 80% higher. The MSRP for the Sentra $13,200 and the re-sale is around $10,000. The MSRP for the Cobalt is around $19,900 and the re-sale is around $10,951. Both being 2005 models.

That's not a good jump."

UPDATE: Ray read the original email and saw the price our reader is getting quoted. He says, "If the dude can get a cobalt for the price he's getting a cobalt for — its a better deal."

There you have it. Get a Sentra. UPDATE: Or a Cobalt. Also, some spellcheck...

SUMER REP OFFI i am having difficulty choseing between a n "isson -sentra and a "chevrolet-cobalt." "can you help? i can purchase a sentra rfor $ 14500. with ac., power windows and loclks radio /dic player and power windows : the cobalt has comprible equiptm ent at va price oe around $ 13,600 which in your opinion is a better buy?i have had b ad experiences buying american cars both chrysler and GM,m silloutteAMERICAN MOTORS HAS DEALT ITSELF AREPUTATION "MY OPINION AS MAKING INFERIOR PRODUCTS, THEN THEY DON,T REPAIR THIER MISTAKES . I THANK YOU FOR ANY ASSISWTAN CE AND/OR ANY INFORM ATION YOU CAN PROVIDES THANKS AGAINONE THAT THINKS YOU ARE A GOOD REPUTABLE OFFICE , ONE THAT IS INTERESTEDS IN HELPING THE CONSUMER TO MAKE INFORMED CHOICES , BUT NOT TRING TO PREFOEM A CAPITALISTICOPERATION ON THE CONSUMER/THQAT BEING , RIP HIM OFF FOR AS MUCH SAS THE PERSON WILL TOLERATE EX. PRES. HOVER SAID IR ALL WHEN HE STATED " THE TROUBLE WITH CAPITALISM ARE THE CAPITALIST, THEY ARE OR B ECOME GREEDYAM ERICAN INDUSTRIES DONT SEEM TO CARE ABOT QUALITYYT THAN KS AGAIN FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE DISILLUTIONED C AR BUYER

The email came from an AOL address, so yeah, there you go.

This entrant satirizes the SUV industry. With their own tools.

Irony, you are mistress most fetching.

View it here quick, before Chevy gets wise and takes it down.

UPDATE: Link is down. Posting screenshots shortly...

UPDATE: Screenshots posted after the jump.

UPDATE: A preserved version of the parody in question made it to YouTube:

(Thanks to KevinQ for the YouTube catch!)

Less than two hours after getting posted here and on CBCNews, a user-generated Chevy Tahoe ad, an entrant in the "Make a Chevy Tahoe Ad and Win a Free Trip" contest, is down. The ad mocked SUVs, gas guzzling, planet raping, and inane car ads. For some reason, Chevy didn't want that on their site.

Whoddathinkit.

Good thing we had the foresight to take screen shots.

Guess Chevy's definition of the American Revolution doesn't include the freedom of speech.

Consumer-Made Ads Backfires for Chevy [CBCnews]