Ot - Surviving with a new car with intermittent problems

[SwampDawg]

Didn't want to hijack the thread about buying a new car, so I'll start this one. It has been my experience (with two different makes of cars) that probably 95% of the people that buy new cars will get a good one, and they will be happy motorists. The other 5% that get a car with intermittent problems are totally screwed. A few years back I bought a top of the line Toyota 4 Runner that did all kinds of screwy things on the road. After putting up with shuck and jive for about 3 years I took them to arbitration, with video clips of the problem, and won a very fair settlement. Now I'm going through crap with Chevrolet, wherein sometimes when we turn the key nothing happens. Nothing. However they can't diagnose the problem unless they can hook their computer up to it, and I can't get it too their shop to get their diagnosis because the truck won't start. If today's dealership mechanics can't get a computer diagnosis they don't have any idea what to do, or at least that is what they are told to say. There is an old story of what to do with a horse that limps, but only sometimes. "Catch him on a day he's not limping and sell him." I refuse to do that though, I am not going to screw somebody that way. So I am stuck.

 

[BogeyGolfer.sixpack]

the chances are that you're not the only one having these issues. I would research ignition troubles in Chevrolet trucks and see what other people have done to solve the problem. I have an SUV that has air conditioning issues and it has taken about 6 months of going to private owned mechanics and to the dealer on three occasions. I talked with a manager, a friend of mine, and he told me that it was trial and error at times even with the computer diagnosis. It's a racket, you have no idea how long they actually worked on your vehicle and they charge you what they choose and it may or may not work.

 

[Indndawg]

3 Toyotas in our fam and none, 0, have seen the shop for 15 years.

 

[RocketDawg]

I've got a 2003 Corvette that was having an identical problem (although not necessarily the same cause of the problem). After it was about two years old, I could try to start it and nothing happened, and the problem was intermittent. It probably would not start about 5% of the time, but the frequency became greater with time. Other things that would work without the key, like lights, would work, but things that needed switching to work (e.g., windows) would not work.<div>
</div><div>One morning I went to start the car and the battery was totally dead ... and when it started the car the day before, it had sounded strong. This was in about 2006. It had the original Delco gel batter in it. I bought an Optima battery, installed it, and have not had the problem at all since then.</div><div>
</div><div>My thinking is that a weak or failing battery can cause the computer to fail to give the go-ahead for starting the car. That may not be your problem but it's worth a try. You could even temporarily move a known good battery to your truck and see if it works.</div>

 

[SwampDawg]

At first the Chevy problem was different. We would be driving down the road and all of a sudden the dashboard would go crazy. Bells would start ringing, the displays would either go dead or just go crazy and change from numbers and letters into something like hyrogliphics (sp? you know what I mean.) The internet told me this was a very common problem and the guts of the dashboard would have to be changed out. Took it to the dealer and (just for warranty considerations) paid $350 to have it done. Chevy service dept said there was no recall in effect despite the hundreds of problem complaints I found on the net. This problem exists on several production years of the Trailblazer and other SUVs Chevy put out. The new dashboard guts solved the original problem, but now we have the new starting problem, and of course the dealership says they don't know if it is caused by the newly warrented parts or not until they can check it with their computer. And of course I can't get it to the dealer if it won't start. I have found that if I disconnect the hot lead from the battery and leave it alone for about 15 minutes while I do a exorcism dance and chant, then hook it back up it will start. Problem is, it's my wife's truck and she won't learn how to do that. I keep a dedicated 8mm wrench in the door pocket just for this problem.

 

[ThreePack]

Your insurance company will reimburse you if you have that coverage.

 

[BigMotherTucker]

This is why I justtraded inmyfive year old BMW andthree year old Tahoe on two brand new Toyotas.

Its been three weeks and Ive been as happy as apig in ****.

 

[SwampDawg]

couple of months) I might try it. The problem is sneaky though. When it started happening after we replaced the dash guts, I drove it to the dealer for the first time with this starting problem. He said they would take it into the shop to put a computer on it for problem indicators. The truck wouldn't start so they could drive it in. They rushed back into the shop and brought out some kind of portable computer. They hooked it up, turned the key, and it started right up. So, sometimes it heals itself, sometimes I have to disconnect the battery. If my wife ever gets stranded somewhere I will probably have to try your idea.

 

[Dawgbite]

I believe that the dealer can hook up a recording device that will record the computer readings for later diagnosis. At least they used to be able to do this. Went through arbitration with Jeep on a Grand Cherokee a while back, got almost all of purchase price back and the Jeep was supposed to be branded a lemon under the lemon law. Ran a Carfax on it a few years later and some poor soul owned it. I wanted to contact him and see if he knew the history but decided to leave well enough alone.

 

[FlabLoser]

Try wiggling the harnesses that are plugged into your computer and see if that makes it start. Report your findings to the dealer.

Research lemon laws in your state. Might be too late since you've had it 3 years. Generally, if you take it in for X amount of problems in Y time period, the law forces the dealer to refund the car.

And don't buy from Government Motors. I'm not getting political here. 1) they are the lowest quality manufacturer. 2) the US government straight up robbed GM's bond holders. When GM went bankrupt, the Senior bond holders were first in line to be paid off on any takeovers or buyouts. It works that way in any bankruptcy and it is the law. Enter the government who took ownership of GM, made new shares, told the bond holders that their bonds woud not be honored, and then they GAVE 50% ownership to the union! Robbery, plain and simple.

 

[SwampDawg]

When the BBB finally made Toyota buy back the FIRST lemon I owned, the local dealer and I agreed on a time I would bring it in. Knowing they would take it to Alabama or Louisiana and sell it for a regular trade in, I got on my computer and typed out about 2 dozen strips of paper with my name, telephone number, and a one line condensed story of the crap Toyota had put me through. I concealed them all over the truck where they could be found; in the overhead light, the battery box, different places under the hood, and other places. Never heard from anybody though.

 

[weblow]

I had a problem that was similar in a 2007 Tundra. I would be riding down the rode and all of the sudden the dash would go nuts. The truck went just plain crazy, shifting would get real jerky and it would feel like the damn wheel was fixing to fall off.

The first time it happened, I pulled over, turned it off, and looked under the hood trying to figure out what the hell was going on. When I tried to crank it back up it was as if there was no battery under the hood. I called a wrecker to come tow me to the local dealership. While I waited, I disconnected the battery for about 20 minutes. It has already been mentioned but this resets the computer. When I hooked it back up it cranked and drove fine.

I drove it straight to the dealer and they could not figure out what was wrong with it. They told me to bring it back when it was doing it again. The next time it happened was months later and I was up in the delta (live in Madison). Did the exact same thing as last time and reset the computer, it drove fine.

Took it to the dealer and told them to keep the damn thing until they figured out what was wrong with it. They had some regional guy come look at it and had no ideas. I got on a toyota tundra message board and searched for a few hours until I found a problem that sounded similar to mine.

Turns out that when my truck was made, there was a problem with the plug in the number 6 cylinder being tightened down. When you hit a bump just right it would cause the plug to jump and make the computer go crazy. Once you shut off the truck it would not allow you to crank back up because the computer had shut it off trying to prevent further damage.

I drove to the dealership, met with the service manager, and they pulled my truck in to take a look. Sure enough, the number six cylinder had never been tightened down.

A month or so later I got the recall notice to have it fixed. Turns out in the San Antonio plant where my truck was made, every truck made during a 3 month span had the exact same problem.

The dealership would have never figured it out. Luckily, Toyota is pretty good now with issuing recalls if there is a known problem.

I would search real hard online and try to find the solution yourself. Even post your problem in a chevy forum and I bet you will find your answer there.

Do that a quit buying Chevy's. I know you had trouble with Toyota but the 7 in my extended family have had very very few problems compared to the two Chevy's I have owned that once you past 40,000 had nothing but problems.

 

[Repeat Offender]

and I never had any problems even though I am very rough on vehicles. I now have an Avalanche Z71 and I have had consistent problems since day one, I will never own another one. I also unhook the battery cable at times and it fixes most problems but they always come back.4wd comes and goes for some reason and about once every three weeks, my acwill blow hot air(notwarm air from the ac being out,but actual hot air that I would imagine would only occur if you had the heat settings tothe max). I guess unhooking the battery resets thevehicle's computer???? I don't know the reason, but it is a pain in the ***.I will be driving a Tundra again after my next vehicle purchase.

 

[SwampDawg]

There are hundreds of people on the net that have the same problem, but I haven't found anybody that has found a solution. Chevy will not admit they produced lemons for about 6 years. Chevy mechanics will not even search for the solution unless they can get a readout from their computer. As best I can tell, this is everybody's situation that owns a truck manufactured in that time frame. One interesting note: I was telling my sad tale to a friend at the local watering hole, and he is getting the occasional "dashboard going crazy" crap in his Chevy car (I think it is a Cavelier or some such.) How big is this issue?

 

[BigMotherTucker]

Tundra... That's what I just bought... I LOVE it. I cant state that emphatically enough.

 

[jreid0376]

If the Silverado is like the Sierra, there's a parallel plug in the middle of the fuse box above the driver's left knee. If that connection is loose, dirty, shorted, or open, weird stuff will happen. The only time I had an issue, my instrument cluster did not work, even the odometer crapped out. After doing some research online, found out it was rather common, and some of the complaints were the truck wouldn't turn over. I cleaned the connector and never had another issue (2 years, knock on wood). Good luck

 

[lariverdog]

I've been driving GMC trucks since 1990, my current is a 2006 2500HD diesel with 125K

I've never had any problems with the trucks other than routine stuff, in fact, I have the original brake pads on my current HD.

And they still have plenty of life left in them.

I've been told that GM has 2 different sources of electrical components, 1 is in Mexico the other is in Canada.

Mexican wiring harnesses suck, Canadians do not or so I've been told. My best trucks have all been assembled in Canada.

May be BS, but maybe not.