2 days after purchase, it stalled on level ground while in motion. <about 40km/hr> (It is auto transmission!!)
Less than a week after I bought it, wheel bearings went, trac light and engine light came on & was stranded on the highway. Had it towed to closest dealership, luckily I had a bumper-to-bumper warranty.
10-12 months post-purchase I tried to start it via (after-market) remote starter, horn, lights & locks went crazy and it wouldn't start. Called for a tow, had it jumped at it was fine. Apparently this was due to improper installation of my remote starter. (So not necessarily a GM problem)
EVERY time it went in for regular scheduled maintenance (which I was always adamant about being on time for) it had something major wrong with it. Some covered by warranty, some paid for out-of-pocket. (Intake manifold gasket, front brakes & rotors off the top of my head...)
Just as my warranty is coming to an end, I took it to a GM Goodwrench today for a check-up only to hear that my (after-market) K & N air filter oil "leaked onto my mass airflow sensor," gunking it up and possibly causing damage to my transmission. Discussions with K & N customer service confirm my suspicions about this diagnosis, K & N have tested again and again and NEVER has their filter oil caused damage to a vehicle. Also, GM Goodwrench told me that the K & N air filter voids my warranty, which is also NOT TRUE. My air flow sensor isn't covered under warranty regardless, but K & N has agreed to take in the faulty sensor and test it to find out what REALLY happened.
Not sure whether GM Goodwrench has been screwing me or whether the car is a bit of a lemon, but either way I am getting frustrated.
Despite my problems with it, I do love this car. With the exception of the first couple weeks, the car has never left me stranded, it seems to only have anything wrong with it when it goes in for service (a little fishy, don't you think?)
The car has a gorgeous little body, good get-up-and-go and very decent fuel efficiency for a 6-cyl.
I put Toyo Proxes all-season radials on her, and she turns on a dime.
I've had 3 people hit my bumpers, both front and rear, and never had to do more than buff out scuff marks.
My brother and his wife bought the same car, only with a sunroof and leather interior and have has problems with the locks, but nothing else so far. Perhaps it's because they don't go to GM Goodwrench.
The problem with GM is that it has predatory dealers who treat your car as a place to hang parts off of. Cha-ching cha-ching! The arrangement that has served the North American car market well for nearly 100 years is on death's door due to the fact that integrety is lacking. GM designs cars that screw up and can't be fixed and the dealer does their damnest to make their profit before the car rolls into the junk heap. Fine! As long as there aren't alternative makers ready to sell customers non-faulty cars. How long did it take GM and Ford to do simple things like wrap wires in rubber to stop the plague of non-starts in winter. Japanese cars sorted this out for say - $5.00 per car. How many folks like me are there who are on their 5th generation Honda. All beauties and no lemons. And, the dealer fixed the car once and for all if anything did go wrong. Too bad GM. You caused your own downfall.
Update on this posting from the original poster:
About three weeks after my car was supposedly 300-point inspected, I went to use my horn and surprise! - not working. I called GM to complain, of course they "checked it" while it was in and advised me to bring it in so they can have a look at it (for a ridiculous price!!)... screw that!
They told me to check the cigarette lighter, if that didn't work then it's just a fuse... The lighter works. Didn't take it in.
Last Tuesday the engine light came on. I can't even tell you how choked I was. Filled up with gas on Thursday, noticed that the gas cap wasn't on tight. (Hubby had filled up last, guess he didn't screw the cap on...)
Talked to a couple people about it, turned out my grandma had forgotten to screw the cap on on her 2001 Impala once and her engine light came on... guess that's a standard GM thing. Anyway, to make a long story short, didn't take it in and the light went off after a couple of days.
Horn works now, haven't had any problems since before engine light went off. Not sure what's going on, hate to be paranoid, but I think GM may be programming the car to pretend there's something wrong in the event I might take my car in to a GM Goodwrench. Probably not the case, but it sure feels like it with all the experiences I've had so far.
Anyway, thought about selling my car, but still owe $9000 and the car is worth about $5000. Not worth it, just gotta pray nothing else goes wrong. :S.
Visit www.bobistheoilguy.com and do a search--you'll see many people report MAF and other issues due to oil from a K & N filter.
No aftermarket parts! What part of this do people not understand?!
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