2005 Hummer H3 review from North America

I owned my H3 for less than a week, and it was immediately broken into by thieves. At first I was mad at the criminals, but it turns out the most criminal bit is the design of the door lock!

I didn't notice that my H3 had been broken into until I went to get my briefcase, which was on the floor behind the driver's seat. The thieves did no visible damage to the outside of the vehicle; however they had managed to remove the lock core and gain access to my H3.

BEWARE!!! THE ONLY THING HOLDING THE LOCK CORE IN THE DRIVER'S DOOR IS A CHEAP PIECE OF PLASTIC!!!

That's right, plastic. The lock core is suspended off of molded plastic part, and it's only about 3mm thick. The thieves simply put a flat head screwdriver into the driver's door and pushed down, snapping the plastic. They clearly didn't have to push that hard, since the only other damage to the door is a tiny dent at the bottom of the hole, which was hidden under the grommet.

GM refuses to admit there is a problem, and they insist that the plastic bracket is designed correctly; they also refuse to fix it, claiming it is simply a case of vandalism. I beg to differ. I am an engineer with 7 US Patents, and 25 years experience in engineering and consulting. I've shown this cheap plastic part to my colleagues and clients, and they all laugh at it.

This design is nothing short of engineering incompetence, in my professional opinion.

Furthermore, the dealer and GM folks claim I was "lucky" that the theives didn't do more damage. I counter that you can't see a black fabric briefcase on the floor of the all-black interior through the tinted windows, and that the thieves merely broke in to see what was there, if anything. I also counter that the best security is to have the vehicle that is the most difficult to break into, which by nature pushes the criminals on to more accessable vehicles. Furthermore, when a crook can walk up to your driver's door and apply a screwdriver to gain access, they can appear pretty legitimate -- especially compared to breaking the window. In short, this is a major problem, and if your H3 was or is ever broken into, I suggest you immediately retain an attorney, as I have.

Keep your eyes open for a website organizing a class action lawsuit -- that is unless GM gets busy and pays me for my losses and commits to a recall soon.