1993 GMC Safari XT review from North America

1st day of ownership - doors would not open (electric locks malfunction).

2nd day of ownership - car would not go into gear (the interlock switch has a bad design and this is a problem on every hot day to this day).

3rd day of ownership - dealer will replace the flywheel.

4th day of ownership - car at the dealer waiting for parts.

5th day of ownership - dealer replaced two front tires to resolve front end vibration (this problem remains to this day).

6th day of ownership - the car would not start (I am out of town) had to be towed in to a GM dealer. GM provides a rental car.

7th day of ownership - car at the dealer waiting for parts.

8th day of ownership - car at the dealer waiting for parts.

9th day of ownership - transmission blows out most of the transmission fluid car had to be towed in.

10th day of ownership - car at the dealer having the transmission serviced.

And, this was just the beginning!

Since than, I have had to replace several tires and two rims in an attempt to fix the vibration, which by the way, was never fixed to this day, I guess this car was design to shake.

In the third year of ownership all the front end components had to be replaced and I am told now that they are gone once again.

For some strange reason this car needs a new muffler every two years. The local muffler shop is just loving me since they warranty the muffler, but the labor and the rest of the components are not covered by their warranty.

The transmission was rebuilt in the forth year and the transmission fluid lines to the heat exchanger had to be replaced in the second and forth year.

The coolant lines to the rear heater had to be replaced in the forth year of ownership.

Rear shock absorbers do not seem to last more than a two years on this car, I wonder if it is those plastic rear springs.

The air-condition went after four years.

Various sensors and sending units all went, one at a time, after three years. The temperature gauge is no longer working, although the sensor is fine. The switch for the rear heater broke after three years. It is funny how all of this just lasted past the original warranty.

The trim and finish only lasted about three years, after that everything is cracking, curling up and generally looking really bad, and why should I be surprised, they still use vinyl covered foam on this car's doors (1940s technology).

The paint is de-laminating in many places and it is completely gone where the tail pipe hits the fender on large bumps. This car has more rust in more places that I actually feel unsafe driving it in fear of it falling apart as I drive down the highway.

Overall, I have spent more than half of the original cost of the car, on repairs. And, not routine maintenance type of repairs, but just plain lousy quality of parts and bad design kind of stuff. Can you imagine my frustration when you have to spend first 10 days of owning a new car at the dealership? They were not even sympathetic.

Would I buy another GM product? Not in this life time. They have great commercials, but they do not have a product to back them up.

I put 389,000 km on my Chrysler Mini Van and not a screw fell out of it. I put over 430,000 km on my full size Ford van with similar positive experience. I got a brand new Honda from my Honda dealer after 4000 km, because it had bad looking paint that would require repainting and I did not want a repainted new car, now that's positive car experience. I will buy another Honda any day.