1996 Chevrolet Blazer LT review from North America

The brake system is awful. Replaced front pads every 15-20K give or take. I am not so concerned about replacing pads frequently as I am with the poor stopping 'power' of the system as a whole. It seems the front brakes do 95% of the work and are just plain undersized for the job. The anti-lock brake system has been adjusted under recall and now seems very sensitive, engaging frequenty under non-emergency brake application.

5,600 miles: Recall to replace improperly installed valve stem seals. Received standard-issue bad customer service from the dealer. I could rage on for pages and pages with the gory details however, I need to focus on typing and not increasing my blood pressure. Makes you wonder what they are referring to when they say "Like a rock"

16,651 miles: Transmission jerking into 2nd gear due to chaffed wiring harness.

One of the few times when the dealer was actually pleasant and fixed the problem the first time.

18,453 miles: Replace leaking front differential oil seal. Three sessions at the dealer before the job was done correctly. Bad dealer customer service.

38,000 miles: Transmission slipping.

Dealer rebuilt under warranty after much fighting with GM. Bad customer service again.

39,000 miles: Howling and growling front axle. This saga entailed 2 trips to one dealer and 1 trip to another. $800 later with new differential side gears and bearings and it still howls. I can get it to go away by engaging and dis-engaging the 4WD alternately. I can't afford to go back and complain anymore. I just live with this problem.

45,648 miles. Serpentine belt tensioner snapped off. Believe it or not it happened in my driveway just as I was leaving on a long trip. $35 and and hour later I was on the road again. Cheap part to buy and easy to install, but boy what a big problem if you are not in your drive when she goes!

60,000 miles: Air conditioning system not functioning. Too expensive to fix. I now have a 4-60 AC system. installed. 4 windows down and 60 miles an hour.

44,000, 87,000 and 112,000 miles respectively. Oil cooler lines. They leak. I have replaced the upper line 3 times and the lower line once. The lower line requires you to jack the engine up off of its mounts to remove so I had the dealer do this. The lines leak at the crimped connections. They are really inexpensive ($25 at dealer) and not too bad to install. They need to engineer this hose for better reliability. For now, I just wrap an old rag around the hoses and affix with zip ties. Don't mind them oil spots on the drive.

69,000 miles: I had the battery acid leaking problem which dripped onto the front axle shift cable. The cable snapped the first big snow of the season one year, leaving me stuck spinning in 2WD in a Menards parking lot. This happened one week after I had it in to the dealer to replace the 4WD dash selector switch.

91,000 miles: New water pump. Could argue this is not abnormally premature.

93,000 miles: Air bag module failed causing dash light to come on. $449 to replace.

110,000 miles: Leaking coolant from manifold gasket and engine block heater. Dealer repair $465. Car runs like doo doo now. Idles rough, etc.

Dealer says they don't see any problem.

112,000 miles: Service engine soon light on. Gee whiz. Anything to do with the expert removal and replacement of whole upper end of the motor

to get at manifold gasket?

118,100 miles: Transmission shot again. Total rebuild. $1,617. This time I had a transmission shop do the work instead of the dealer.

127,000 miles: Brake vaccuum booster was replaced due to a leak.

135,000 miles: Steady service engine soon light. Oh boy! Can't wait to bring it in and have the codes scanned to see what's wrong now.

I have omitted many, many other problems. This was a sampler of the more notable problems.

In spite of giving this vehicle nothing but the best of treatment and care since new, it has rewarded me by consistently breaking down.

Like a rock? Whatever you say guys. Longest lasting and most dependable? Sure. As long as you can afford to fix it.

If you buy this vehicle, be prepared to spend lots of time at the dealer or repair shop. You will most likely be treated like crap by the dealer and get socked with big bills for substandard work. I am convinced some mechanics at the dealerships end up causing two more problems for every one they fix. If you like working on cars, this one's for you.