Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-72
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.
What kind of abuse are you putting it through??? Tying up hoses with rags and zip ties? No wonder you have problems. Stuff happens to cars, no matter what make they are... and all cars will last a long time if people actually learn how to take care of a car. If people have a problem and just complain about their car, get a new one... if all cars have problems for you, don't use them.
I'm afraid I've had similar problems with my 1995 Chevy S-10 Blazer, which I've tried hard to perform very regular maintenance on... my problems had to do with the EGR valve... replaced three times... by the DEALER. I paid for it twice.
BTW, here's a hint... My 117K mile Blazer had a service engine light soon. The Chevy Dealer said I could have a transmission Flush or just check the vacuum and add more fluid. Seems there are differing opinions on this. One school says leave it be... the other says flush it. I took the dealer's recommendation to flush it, which cost more, but now my transmission is out 1000 miles into a 2000 mile trip, and it's a Saturday afternoon. The guy that towed my Chevy 100 miles, said I should have left it alone... in the mean time, I'm cooling my heals and waiting for the $2000 bill which will likely come from my newly acquired friend, who I haven't met yet, who will need to replace the transmission, while I sit in a hotel room... very frustrated.
Oh my god, I could really go on and on about this wonderfull 1996 chevrolet blazer. I have had nothing but major problems with this car. My blazer loves to shut down on me while I am driving on the parkways, side roads wherever I go, I took this to three auto dealers one of which is an auto electronic because my problem is definitley electrical. I waited a long time to buy a nice car. Oh yea I paid off my loan in full. I have spent a fortune trying to fix this problem that no one can seem to figure it out. So now my car sits in the driveway cause I am too broke to try anything else.
I have the same trouble with the oil hoses and also use a rag around them. Water pump was bad at 80.000 miles ball joints at 25.000 miles and I just got a recall notice for ball joints.
The guy who replied on May 8 is an idiot. If you keep your vehicle under proper and regular maintenance, you shouldn't have any problems, except for the occasional change of a water pump, alternator, belt, or anything that would be expected. After all, that's what your supposed to be paying for. Now, on to my problems. I bought the vehicle used, at 49,000 miles. I had no problems until I hit around 78,000 miles and this was the ball joints. Believe it or not, we had 1 mile left until the extended warranty expired just as we pulled into the dealership. The service people couldn't believe it. They had a guy come all the way from Detroit to make sure we didn't mess with the odometer, and to inspect the ball joints. They ended up replacing them for free after a little arguing. About 6 months later, we started hearing the same noise again. Knowing how expensive dealerships are, we took it to a different service shop. Turns out that the dealership we had work on it the first time didn't put all the grease fittings in, on either side, and didn't even grease them at all. Not wanting to go back there and fight with them over this, I went ahead and paid for this myself. About 90,000 miles, the left wheel bearing went out. Replaced this at a different dealership. About 3 weeks later, same problem. Took it back, and they did it again for free. Going back to what I previously said about the ball joints. When you get your ball joints replaced, make sure they do the upper and the lower! The time I had the ball joints replaced, and I paid for it, they only did the upper. I honestly was not aware of this. I thought it was standard to do all the ball joints every time they needed to be replaced. The reason I say this is because now I have about 130,000 miles on it, and my ball joints are going bad again. I received the recall, but it said they would only fix the problem if the vehicle had 120,000 miles or less. Does this mean that they should reimburse me for the time that I had to pay for it myself? I should think so. And by the way, the alternator went out for the first time yesterday. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.
I bought my Blazer used with 80,000 miles on it, first thing to go out was the water pump, second the fuel pump, third the electronic button to open the back window, fourth the front brakes, now the engine service light is on and says it is in the fuel system, mechanic can't find the problem, when does it stop??? Give me my Toyota back!!!
My 1998 Suburban 1500 was purchased used when it had 44k miles on it. I have so far replaced a water pump ($500.0000 at the dealer) and have just had it towed in for repair of the rear differential (when out with a loud bang and just locked up... it is again at the dealer. I will not have to pay for the water pump ever again (according to my warranty) and at these prices I figure I have paid for replacement at least 3 times counting parts. An aftermarket water pump is $50. and takes a couple of hours to do so...
I like the trucks size and ride, but next time I think I will get the Ford Excursian...
OK, its my turn now. 1995 S-10 ZR-2, 98,000 miles. New fuel pump at 50,000 ($740). New ball joints and wheel bearings at 54,000, water pump at 60,000 and at 94,000, SES light on at 90,000, code 0172, needs new port injection unit, since the fuel pressure reg is leaking fuel into intake $500. winshield wiper module replaced at 30,000, 1 year later same part was recalled. 4wd would not activate $400.
Thanks.
1996 Chevy Blazer 110,000 miles.
My turn.. 2 sets of oil lines (Check out the white Chevy covered in black oil, going down the highway, Yikes!) fuel pump.
Service engine soon? Put better gas in, like super (94)
Some intermittent loss of antifreeze. where does it go? Nobody knows :) Spitting out transmission fluid, just because?
110,000 is better than 70,000 I feel lucky!
Not quit sure the details of your manner of operation "brake pads gone 15-20K??" So what your saying is you wait until the last 2 feet then jump all over the binders?? give me a brake Jack!! I have friends that are truck owners just like you,, they buy a brand new truck and it's ready for the heap in 5 years,, and I'm talking 3/4 ton. I own a 95 Suburban 1500 350 motor, runs like a dream, sure I replaced things here and there, but nothing out of the normal. I've always run synthetic fluids in every part of the truck.. My truck now has 145Km,,, I just replaced front pads last week,,I last replaced them at 85Km... Next week I'll do the rear liners...
I also have a Chevy blazer 1996 and I am having major problems, GM. Bad customer service keep giving me the run around can't get anything fix on it. I think every one who purchase a Chevy blazer 1916 on up and are having these problems should
Come together and fill a class action lawsuit against GM because for the money we pay for these blazers and then to have all these problems is so unfair and then get the runaround from customer support class action lawsuit lets let do something about.
Here is the list of problems.
1: Transmission slipping.
2. Upper and lower ball joints cost over.
3. Rear transfer case rear differential.
4. Idler arm.
5. Pitman arm.
7. Air conditioning system.
8. Wheel bearings.
9. Windshield wiper module.
10. Oil cooler lines.
11. Brake vacuum booster.
12. Belt tensioned.
13. Howling and growling front axle.
Because I can't spell well I will keep this short.
Yea! what everyone else said. my blazer is now an architectual piece in my driveway.
I wish I had seen all of these comments 3 yrs ago : (Here I am reading all of these comments and saying to myself, "yep, had that done, yep, that too, yep". I cannot begin to try and sum up my experience with my '96 Blazer LT. My lease is up on Jan 22 and I think I'm gonna throw a party. It got to the point with this lump, where I would leave the keys in the ignition at malls, hoping it would get stolen.
The worst part is reading about the history of ball-joint problems. This past summer, mine went doing 130km on the highway, snapping the right axle and destroying the $660 factory rim, tire, caliper, and brake lines, putting my truck into the ditch.
I'm lucky to be alive, thanks for nothing GM. I'm going to look at a Jetta today :)
I have a 93 blazer. I don't really need to add much more to this. I have gone to several sites and all I read about are complaints and problems. I used to be a die-hard GM fan, but with all the problems with my 93 blazer, they have knocked my faithfulness away. I still like GM, but before I purchased this blazer, Id never buy anything other than a GM. I may be purchasing a Ford next.
Jeff.
All I have to say is I agree with all of the comments that I have read this far. We own a 1998 Chevy Blazer LS 4x4. I took it in for an oil change today and got an estimated repair bill before I even got the bill for the oil change. You will not believe this, but I have to get new tires because the alignment doesn't hold, new brake system, new idler arms and pitman arms as well as some work on the transmission because ours also slips really bad (almost feels like you just rev up the engine drop it in first and release the clutch without taking your foot off the gas. If it were a manual). I am a die hard gm fan as well, but the next time I buy a vehicle it is going to be a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. (very nice car)
Dustin.