my 2001 silverado lemon

[thecontiki]

My GM LEMON!!! Part#1 of the letter

MY 2001 SILVERADO LEMON
Hello everyone! I would like to tell you about my truck.It is an 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 4.8L with a 5 speed manual transmission.Beautiful black with a sport-side bed. Too bad that it will NOT drive!!! You see I purchased the truck new from Spencer Chevrolet in Norman, OK. It now has 9765 total miles & here is my story...Problems first appeared at 200 miles, clutch felt odd. Took to David Stanley Chevrolet in OKC,OK . They just said everything is new, give the parts time to "mesh" properly."Don't worry,everything is FINE." Truck began popping out of 2nd. gear & a burning smell developed from the clutch. Back to David Stanley, they said "they could not duplicate my concerns." BOOM! The clutch exploded at less than 3000 miles.Had to fight GM tooth & nail to get them to replace the clutch under warranty. Even with the new clutch truck was still popping out of 2nd. gear.After multiple visits to David Stanley Chevrolet for this problem,I finally gave up & took the truck to City Chevrolet in OKC,OK. They replaced 2nd. & reverse gear(letting me know that the truck was missing the shift lever pin & clutch spring. Things still did not improve. Now the truck would hardly go into 3rd. gear & rapidly returned to popping out of 2nd. gear.I should have become suspious much sooner...when I realized from the dealers repair order that they had performed a double flush of fluid on my transmission per a single repair. Did that indicate metal particles in my transmission? Kept taking the truck back for clutch/transmission concerns.Since they were either unwilling or unable to find the problem, they told me "just keep driving the truck, eventually something has to give.THEN we can find your problem."

To Be continued

[thecontiki]

Part#2 of the same letter

Well,something gave all right! On May 20,2001, while trying to get onto the highway, the rear wheels of the truck locked up! This caused the truck to go into a skid causing me to plow up an embankment & damaging the frame/underbody of the truck.Thankfully I was able to stop the truck & no one was injured.Feeling sure that NOW City Chevrolet could find out what was wrong with the truck, I had it towed in.After all, this was the 12th. time the truck had been taken in for clutch/transmission!!! YES, 12 times @ only 9765 miles.Instead, City Chevrolet removed my clutch, transmission,drive shaft & exhaust system from the truck & threw it all into the bed of the truck!!! This was done at the behest of Matt Stapleton, area service manager for General Motors. He has refused me warranty service & indeed placed a warranty block on the entire power train of the truck! Their diagnosis of the trucks problem was "overloaded clutch." They said transmission was fine, & rear end was fine.How could I possibly overload a clutch on a half ton pickup when I shifted by the shift light & never trailered or towed with this truck? I contacted GM customer service for help.They maintained that the decision was made by Matt Stapleton & they must support his opinion. This truck was NOT "abused" ! Next,I pursued arbitration through the BBB. I felt I couldn't lose. I had tried 12 times to get the truck repaired through the dealers. I didn't know that the arbitrator had no mechanical knoledge.Suprise! He ruled that although the truck qualified for replacement,"in his opinion, it could have been customer abuse." therefore he ruled in the favor of GM. What more could I have done? Neither the service advisor at City Chevrolet nor the GM rep could ever explain to me exactly what overloading a clutch means.However they can refuse to repair the truck because of it! Also, after telling(& writing on the repair order) that the transmission was fine,I took it to Blumenthal's to be checked out before going to the expense of having a new clutch installed. The transmission is damaged. If repaired through a GM dealer ,the nearest estimate I can calculate is roughly between 3 & 4 THOUSAND $!!! I again contacted GM hoping they would do right. NO luck at all! Both GM customer assistance & GM area service mgr. Matt Stapleton have refused me any help or relief through my warranty. The window sticker indicates this truck came with a 36 month or 36,000 mile warranty.( Of course this excludes maintainence items.)They advertise that Chevy trucks are "LIKE A ROCK". The only resemblance my truck bears to a rock is that is just a big lump that sits in my driveway!!!Am tired of making payments & paying insurance on a truck with only 9765 miles which requires a tow truck to move!! What has happened to General Motors? Why not just close down "Customer Service"? Do you people care at all? I am telling everyone I know & everyone I can reach by internet what a shoddy uncaring company you have become! You sure didn't mind taking my money,Now how about delivering on the promise(warranty) that went with this truck? Sure hope someone from GM's executive office reads this!
Looking for a good attorney in the OKC area.
Anyone else out there stuck with a GM lemon? My name is Debbi. My email is [e-mail]
This is an update for anyone out there wondering about the out come. Today is november 13, 2003. after 18 months of trying to work out my problems with GM I have realised that I am going to have to file suit against GM. Tried everything I can think of to settle this without going to court, but it is just NOT going to happen. It has now been 18 months since the truck last ran..18 months of payments & full coverage insurance for that useless "ROCK" in my driveway.Expecting my attorney to file the suit in the next few days. I wish the nightmare would end!!

[thecontiki]

Look how GM treats their customers.

What this poor woman when through, why would anyone buy GM to have to suffer this ordeal....

[thecontiki]

How would the domestics supporters feel it this had happen to them, what this woman has gone through with GM..

Such a bad ordeal for spending her hard earned money and buying the wrong vehicle..

[Truckin]

I went to my local Honda dealership and wanted to purchase a 1/2 ton pickup. They pointed me to the Honda Ridgeline but when the salesman put 1,000lbs of weight in the bed the auto tranny overheated while on our test drive. The vehicle went into limp-home mode and would not go faster than 20mph in 2nd gear. He told me that the Ridgeline wasn't a real truck but rather a truck like body on a CUV chassis. He then told me to purchase my Toyota Tundra because Honda Ridgeline cannot tow a boat. This was the second Ridgeline that I have seen broken....the first one was a fellow boater who blew his transmission at the launch ramp trying to get his bass boat out of the water. Poor truck almost rolled into the lake.

[thecontiki]

I don't know how well Honda Ridgeline truck is for towing and I will take your word on that.

I would also consider a Toyota Tundra if I was hauling heavy cargo as well.

I like Honda very much and Toyota is my second choice but for a heavy truck and heavy use it would be the Toyota Tundra.

The Ridgeline I think is more for every day driver who want a light pickup....

[FORDMAN]

No the Ridgeline is for honda lovers who think they're badass in a make believe truck. My F-250 would kill the joke, that is called a tundra.

[Kern]

Atleast domestic supporters post actual problems about imports, all conschmiki does is post some angry rants from a few domestic owners who have just had their car break down. PLEASE, FROM NOW ON, JUST IGNORE THEM!

[Hondata]

Kern wrote:

Atleast domestic supporters post actual problems about imports, all conschmiki does is post some angry rants from a few domestic owners who have just had their car break down. PLEASE, FROM NOW ON, JUST IGNORE THEM!

their to many to ignore Its all over ,domestic breakdown in the mountains of WV.

[FORDMAN]

see guys....domestics are just as good......actually better than your glorified sushi cars

[Kern]

FORDMAN wrote:

see guys....domestics are just as good......actually better than your glorified sushi cars

And theyre truly AMERICAN!! Thats the reason that the government uses only Big 3 cars.

[Hondata]

Ben B wrote:

<quoted text>
Your headline proves that this is really getting into your head...

Maybe you are from the last few post above...he he he.

[Truckin]

FORDMAN wrote:

No the Ridgeline is for honda lovers who think they're badass in a make believe truck. My F-250 would kill the joke, that is called a tundra.

You MAY be able to tow more under certain conditions but the Tundra would outperform the F-250 in every common performance measurement out there. The 6.0L Powerstroke has the highest warranty claims of any engine on the market. The 6.4L Powerstroke in the 2008's won't be much better. At the moment Ford and Navistar are going through ugly court proceedings to sort out the $1 Billion is warranty claims involving the PowerStrokes fuel injection and turbocharger glitches. If you happen to have a Triton V10 or V8 then I'd just laugh at you.

[SlipoftheCondom]

I own a 1999 Silverado 4.8 liter V8, 5spd, 4x4 Stepside and it is the worst vehicle I have every owned. I have owned probably up to 12 vehicles in my 26 years, and this thing truly is the worst out of all of them. I've had transmission issues after transmission issues, brakes have always been problematic, and just the little things like the seatbelts not locking, and the seat not locking into position after being fixed numerous times just pisses me off. Also, my message center goes crazy sometimes and my fuel guage hasn't worked for about a year even though I have had it checked out on numerous occasions. Oddily enough I work with and know a few people that own the same truck as me and they seem to have the same issues. Now, do I think all Chevy's are garbage, not at all. I do however have heard more complains about the 99-0x up and until the change over to the new body style than I have anything possitive. If I were still to own a GM product it would have to be a an older K series truck. Hell, even my father in-laws 05 corvette with 40,000 miles on it runs and idles like hell. Not sure what is going on with Chevy's made in that time frame.

I am sure my truck would be a great if I could come up with the money needed to fix it's many and re-occuring issues.

[Hondata]

SlipoftheCondom wrote:

I own a 1999 Silverado 4.8 liter V8, 5spd, 4x4 Stepside and it is the worst vehicle I have every owned. I have owned probably up to 12 vehicles in my 26 years, and this thing truly is the worst out of all of them. I've had transmission issues after transmission issues, brakes have always been problematic, and just the little things like the seatbelts not locking, and the seat not locking into position after being fixed numerous times just pisses me off. Also, my message center goes crazy sometimes and my fuel guage hasn't worked for about a year even though I have had it checked out on numerous occasions. Oddily enough I work with and know a few people that own the same truck as me and they seem to have the same issues. Now, do I think all Chevy's are garbage, not at all. I do however have heard more complains about the 99-0x up and until the change over to the new body style than I have anything possitive. If I were still to own a GM product it would have to be a an older K series truck. Hell, even my father in-laws 05 corvette with 40,000 miles on it runs and idles like hell. Not sure what is going on with Chevy's made in that time frame.
I am sure my truck would be a great if I could come up with the money needed to fix it's many and re-occuring issues.

Im sorry to hear the troubles dude, your not alone in the world of GM problems!

[Hondata]

Ben B wrote:

<quoted text>
Id imagine you have the 4l60e tranny, not the 700r4. Ditch your truck and get one with the 700r4 and you will be impressed. A friend of mine has a 99 silverado with no problems. Also I have a 98 with near 300k miles.

people around my area must be hard on their Chevys. nobody here has one to last that long without engines and trany replacements and rear ends and door panels and body panels and beds and seats and stuff.

[Truckin]

Ben B wrote:

<quoted text>
Id imagine you have the 4l60e tranny, not the 700r4. Ditch your truck and get one with the 700r4 and you will be impressed. A friend of mine has a 99 silverado with no problems. Also I have a 98 with near 300k miles.

The 4L60E tranny has been in GM trucks since the early 1990's. To get a 700R4 (which is the same tranny but without the electronic soleniod controls) was offered up until about 1993 or so if I recall.

[Truckin]

Ben B wrote:

<quoted text>
I think 700r4 ran until 98 with silverado and 99 with suburban.

That is bad information, it was in place since at least 1996 when they switched to ODB2 diagnostics.

[99Silverado]

My 1999 5.3 Silverado Stepside has been great to me. I have almost 100,000 miles on it and haven't had a problem with it yet. I live in the San Bernardino mountains and commute up and down a 5,000 ft. elevation change. I battle snow, rain, fog, anddirt roads a plenty, with ease. The trucks 4x4 "shift on the fly" with the buttons has saved me a few times not to mention the 4 wheel disc brakes. I drive it very hard and would recommend a Chevy from my experiences to anyone I know.

[Truckin]

99Silverado wrote:

My 1999 5.3 Silverado Stepside has been great to me. I have almost 100,000 miles on it and haven't had a problem with it yet. I live in the San Bernardino mountains and commute up and down a 5,000 ft. elevation change. I battle snow, rain, fog, anddirt roads a plenty, with ease. The trucks 4x4 "shift on the fly" with the buttons has saved me a few times not to mention the 4 wheel disc brakes. I drive it very hard and would recommend a Chevy from my experiences to anyone I know.

That truck is good for 250K miles, like my Tundra.