Things that have gone with this truck. Well, I purchased this truck new June 10, 2001. I left the truck at the dealership to have a few after market products installed (10 disc CD changer, spray-in Rhino bed liner, alarm system with keyless entry and remote start, tinted rear sliding window). When I picked up the truck, I immediately noticed the tailgate was not aligned properly with the truck bed. I then realized the truck bed was out of alignment. The bed sits approximately a quarter inch higher on the passenger side behind the cab compared to the driver side. The tailgate lines up the rear of the bed on the passenger side, but is indented approximately a quarter inch on the driver's side.
For the first 20,000 miles or so, the air vents whistled when the fan was turned up to full speed.
Within the first year of ownership, I put 45,000 miles on my truck. I think I had just about every possible problem.
The rubber window moldings at the bottom of the windows on the doors came loose and soon fell off of both doors.
The rotors quickly warped on the front brakes and have been replaced three times.
The transmission failed at 39,000 miles. It was rebuilt and failed again at 42,000 miles (defective GM parts again).
The factory tires wore out very quickly (not that I'm surprised).
The paint on the grille wore off in two spots in the first 6 months (I hand wash on my vehicles at home so this is not the result of harsh automatic car washes).
The fuel gauge often will not register full even after filling the tank.
The anti-lock brakes engage over small bumps in the road which often creates a panic sensation when driving in poor weather.
The steering wheel does not adjust to a comfortable position without blocking the speedometer.
The third door handle has broke twice and is often difficult to use.
I own two 2001 Chevrolet S10s. Both have had identical problems with the exception of the transmission failure. One truck has the four cylinder while the other has the V6. I would strongly encourage anyone thinking of buying a new S10 to thoroughly research the reliability of these trucks first. The four cylinder is nearly worthless on anything other than flat ground although it does average 23 mpg in the mountains of Northern California. However, I'll take the trade off for lower gas mileage of theV6 (20 mpg) simply because it's so much easier to drive with all that power. I've had several S10s before these two, however, I will not be buying another S10 or GM product in the future. They just don't make a quality product any more in my opinion. And their customer service levels at dealership is far from acceptable. Today I spoke with a general manager at Chevrolet customer service regarding warranty work to fix the faulty tailgates on my trucks. He basically told me GM had no intention of fixing this problem because he felt I had damaged the trucks myself. The truth of the matter is, this problem is identical on both trucks and has been documented from day one. When I asked if this was the type of customer service provided to GM customers, he laughed, and told me neither he or GM really cared what I thought. I think that's bad business. I'm sure that me not buying any more GM products will not have any impact on his job, but maybe I can prevent other consumers from being trapped in the GM hell I've experienced.
I too have a Blazer Problem that I am having problems getting resolved. I have a 2001 Blazer which does not consistently register accurate gas levels. Have been told by GM " There is no fix" how would you like to have a $400 car payment on a car you bought new and you could never know how much gas you have in it.
There is a fix, but Chevy/GM is screwed up and lazy. There was a service bulletin that went out in March of '03... Subject: Inaccurate or Erratic Fuel Gauge Readings at 1/4 Tank or Lower (Replace Fuel Level Sensor and Reprogram PCM)
I have this same problem in my 01 S-10, among many serious others that have actually caused deaths. An improperly calibrated fuel gauge might cause the problem, or the float arm geometry being too short. Either way it sucks and it can be fixed. So go take a look at the service bulletin and throw it in Chevy's face.
My Chevy S-10:
Drive shaft done 3 times; approx $700 each time
Broken 3rd door handle
Suspension is garbage
Passenger seat totally wrecked
Brakes done 3 times in 2 years
ABS sucks
Rusting under wheel wells
Paint chipping off
Third Door fix. Drill a hole straight through even with latch and nipple on back. File it down 1/2 inch, to insure that bolt goes through just right.. Use lock washers on both ends then make a mini handle about 1 inch. The Handle will sit at a downward angle<in lower corner>. Then the handle will sit at an angle. But it works like a champ. I don't know why it was not made like this before. One finger release.
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