Third door latch has broken.
Emergency brake doesn't work.
Manual transmission just quit working, at the the tune of $1900.00 to get fixed.
What next?
The truck is nice looking, but that is as far as it goes. GM has a lot of nerve asking the price they do for their product. I have been buying their products for as long as I can remember, this will stop, reason being, they're not getting better, as the years go by they're getting worse.
Not a happy camper...
It is very simple problems here. This individual cannot take care of his truck. I have a 1999 Sonoma with over 150,000 miles on it and its been great and very reliable. Other than some interior problems, there is nothing major wrong with this truck. The windshield wiper module goes out at about 90K miles and that's the biggest interior problem I've had. Its performance is great, as well as reliability and comfort. I have a manual transmission just the same as this person, but for some reason I have about twice as many miles on mine, and I still haven't had anything wrong with my transmission. Other than the usual clutch jobs.
I'm the Original owner of 2 GMC Sonoma's (1999 - Red 2.2L Standard & 2000 - Silver 2.2L Standard)
We (Myself and the Red truck and My girlfriend with the silver) all live together in North Central Florida. Both trucks are subjugated to all terrain conditions; sugar sand, slick mud, dry mud, several thousand-pot holes of various calibers etc.
1999 = 88,000 miles originally purchased in San Diego, CA.
2000 = 62,000 miles originally purchased in Gainesville, FL.
1999 LIST of HEADACHES, ISSUES and "oops... My-Bad":
3 REPLACED Batteries (2 AC Delco)
4 NEW tires (55,000 miles)
12 oil changes
4 Lob / points
2 replaced air filter
1 HOW DID THAT HAPPEN - rear main brake line (snapped it above the axel) -
1 CD Player no longer functions (58,000 miles)
2 Both Right and Left sheet metal split in the rear wheal well connected to the support arm.
1 REPLACED 1st Muffler pipe (from engine block to C. Converter) This Muffler has snapped several welds at the Flange flexible mesh area. I'm beginning to think their may be a design flaw at work. I've purchased a new pipe for $140.00 which is better than GMC $185.00 for just the 1st pipe?!.
1 STILL BROKEN emergency brake. I believe the oil blew out of the pedal assembly under the dashboard. I FEAR trying to fix it.
2 Adjustment handles to the seats Capt. and Passenger hands broke off at the wick!
3 whiter blades
3 sets of spark plugs (I think cylinder 3 has a stuck plug)?
1 new spark plug wire set
3 fuses to my cigarette and auxiliary power thingy's.
2000 Sonoma:
3rd door rung broken. the driver's door is practically hanging on for dear life.
2 batteries (1 a/c Delco)
Snapped welds on the left and right corners of the bed. Had them welded an GM.. Snapped again.
2 Both Right and Left sheet metal split in the rear wheal well connected to the support arm.
1 REPLACED by GMC Fuel sensor... it only took 12 stalls, 3 flat bed removals and 6 trips to the GM Dealer to get resolved over a period of 8 months.
I thought we had a clutch problem so my girlfriend and her girlfriend went to the Dealer in Gainesville FL to ask him his opinion... he took their keys and the ladies returned in 45 minutes later and the mechanic stated that he disassembled, examined and reassembled the Clutch system and believes a new clutch job is in order. The manager agrees with the Mechanic and says that the clutch is not covered under warranty and it will be something like $300 - $400 and a week to repair. Hummm. Well they did not have the time or money to do what was suggested and instead we luckily ran into our friends brother whom happens to be a 40 year Senior Master Clutch Mechanic out of New York. After visually examining the underbelly and laughing about how the nuts had not even been touched he test drove the truck and came back. He said... "Perfect Clutch - Smooth. You're just heavy footed... I'll stake my name on it."
Sorry I digressed.
That's it.
David
DavidWHawley@msn.com.
Me Again... David Hawley and now its 8/21/05.
My 1999 sonoma has over 100,000 now and doing well.
This morning I went after the frozen spark plug... I hesitated to do this project for fear of snapping it off... well it did not snap off... the spark plug came back half smoth... (visualize were the threads should be and instead you have smooth metal gleaming back at you)... yep and then I TRIED to put in a fresh Dual Platinum spark plug in the well and... NOPE... not going to happen... so I did the logical thing... I replaced the other three sparkplugs to get a feel for the well and then as the spark plug was lowerd into the STRIPED WELL I used a hammer on the other end of my 12" ratched and carefully tapped and twist - tap and twist until the threads caught and I was able to ratchet the spark plug down. Yep it worked. I have no Idea whats going to happen when it comes time to replace this spark plug... I'm very fearful. I think it would be wise of me to start saving a few thousand dollars to simply replace my engine... because it's going to have to be removed to fix the problem anyways... I've heard that a 6 cyl will fit a 4cyl truck... ANYBODY KNOW OF THIS???
David of San Diego... No longer in florida.
David,
It doesn't make any sense to talk about replacing the engine for a simple problem like a stripped spark plug thread.
At worst you might need to replace only the cylinder head, but a good engine repair man can replace the insert in an hour or two.
It's no big deal.
You just need to find a qualified person to do it.
Hey, Sounds Like you either are just really bored and have nothing better to do. Cause half the stuff you listed are materials that are common to replace. I HAD a 99 GMC highrider 80 some thousand miles on it. Transmission went out, even though I blew the torque converter and 1st and 2nd were fried it still got me 600 more miles! I was on a trip and had nowhere to stop to work on it. Later on Hurricane Katrina came in and swept it away so I'm looking for a new one. Sorry about your luck. If you don't like em go buy a toyota.
Jared.
I have a 98 GMC Sonoma SLS 4.3 liter vortec on it, and it has 145,475 miles on it. I have mudded it with no problems. Right now it's out of commission cuz the fuel pump went. But nothing serious, the body is rough; a lot of trail rash, but the truck has treated me right and I had to replace the transfer case once cuz of offroading all the time, but it runs with the same power as it did when we got it with 2000 miles on it in 1999.
I have only have been driving it for like a year cuz I'm only 17, but it's a great truck and I have only had the usual problems. I plan on keeping it until it dies.
And right now it needs some shocks and a new leaf for the leaf springs. I broke that a month before the fuel pump went, when I broke it coming down on a rock really hard. Right now it's chilling in my drive way with some crappy 31 inch tires on it. When I get it fixed, it's going right back into the mud where it belongs.
The Sonoma's and S10's are just as good as some of your half tons. A wonderful truck, no complaints at all.
Own a 1999 Sonoma 4.3 5sp.
165,000, A/C quit about a year ago.
Now hard to shift into 2nd gear.
Driver's seat back adjuster broke.
Other than brakes and tires, no problems.
Note it has the original clutch; now in the process of changing the clutch and looking at 2nd gear syncros.
2000 GMC Sonoma 4cyl, manual 5 speed.
5k miles, brakes grinding. I took it to the dealer and he replaced the front brake pads and rotors.
8,500 miles, same problem, took to dealer. They said they put heavy duty pads and rotors on.
12k miles, same thing.
20k miles, I finally get fed up and take it to a local guy. He pulls me into the shop and says take a look. The inside pad on the front right tire is ground down to the rivets the outside pad looks brand new. I take it back to the dealer and tell him it looks like the caliper is hanging up. He says the guys must have done something wrong the last time they changed the brakes. I said how about fixing the caliper this time instead of just throwing new rotors and pads on.
Now, 62k miles later and the brakes are still fine.
Drivers side tie rod separated at the grease joint at 15k miles, passenger side lasted until 17,500 and decided to drop when going down the highway at 70mph (YES I greased them every 3000 miles when I change my oil, Mobil One).
Throttle position sensor went at 23k miles.
Emergency brake stopped working at about 30k miles.
36 month battery lasted exactly 3 years and one day.
Driver's door hinge went bad around 25k miles to the point where there's a noticeable drop in the height of the door when you open it. (YES, I greased the hinges too)
Currently at 62,000 miles, valve cover gasket is leaking oil like a sieve and the clutch is on it's way out. The ABS has never really worked right. The dealer admitted it wasn't operating correctly, but gave me the run around until the warranty ran out.
My last truck was an Isuzu, lasted 10 years and 150k miles. It still had the original battery (no lie) and the original clutch. And the brakes lasted about 60k miles a shot.
My next truck will be a Toyota Tacoma or Nissan Frontier, for about $3k more than what I paid for the Sonoma 9 years ago. The truck has been nothing but a big headache.
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