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2001-2005 Tahoe faulty liftgate glass hinges that fall off.

Greetings,

I'm doing a little research to see if anyone has had this happen:

We have a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe (LT 4x4) with the rear liftgate. About 2 months ago, we had a heat wave of over 100 degress, and in this heat, when we opened the rear liftgate glass, the hinge separated from the window molding which the hinge is bonded into. The hinge literally pealed out of the rear window molding.

The vehicle has major guard, and the dealership we purchased it from would not cover it. GM doesn't cover glass (the glass, hinges, and molding are all 1 unit). They said that I would have to buy a new window assembly, $630.

So, I call my insurance company... they won't cover it either, because the glass is broken. Even though the glass, hinge, and molding is all one unit, they said, because it's (glass) not broken, they won't cover it. They offered that I could make a property damage claim, pay the deductable, and then get it replaced (and deal with increased rates for the next 3 years..) (Long term, probably $1200 or more for this path.)

So, my question to you: What would you do? Have you ever seen this problem? The dealer said they had never seen this before. I've seen several windows that have done this for sale on eBay, so, I have to suspect that this does happen to others.

I finally took this to the BBB, and asked that they get involved. After filing my claim with the BBB, I got a call from someone at GM, who basically said "it's not covered, we won't cover it", more of a one way conversation towards me. (Even though I'm within warranty). The caller offered me a discount on a new vehicle instead. I'm not going to replace a broken window with a new $42,000 Tahoe LT. That's just the wrong approach. If it were free, I'll be there in 10 minutes.

So, again, my question to you is, what would you do? GM won't cover it, insurance won't cover it, and at some point, the window will probably fall off the back of the vehicle at highway speeds, and could kill someone. (I guess at that point the insurance company would have to pay up, because the glass broke..)

Suggestions, ideas, and thoughts welcomed.. No, I WILL NOT THROW A ROCK THROUGH THE WINDOW and claim the glass as broken..

Thanks for reading my long winded rant.

Reply to
BCSI
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keep with the bbb. if its under warrenty then gm will have to fix it. if that dosent help, hell get ahold of the ntsb, see if its happened to others.

Reply to
mudmonkey

Reply to
Mike Levy

I have a 2001 tahoe, same thing here! What did u finially do???

Mike Levy wrote:

Reply to
NSyncData

I just purchased a new window outright, and installed it my self. It takes about 20 minutes to install yourself. I purchased it from the dealership, the part number is determined based on your VIN. (Differences being the tint, defrost, etc..)

The new window is the redesigned 2006 style window where they did away with the rubber trim surround, and did a combination bolted trim across the top, larger hinge attachment to the glass. The design was either changed because of cost of manufacture of the old style + trim surround, or, they realized there was a problem with the older design. I'd bet that both are true somewhat.

NSyncData, where are you located? I'm thinking that this problem is probably heat related, making the hinge / epoxy plyable in heat. I still have my old window, and, hinge. And, you can see how it literally separated at the hinge, where the expoxy cleanly separated off of the painted hinge (like it didn't bond to it, and was only held in place by the epoxy, and not actually bonded to it.) There is literally no epoxy stuck to the bonding side of the hinge.

I finally changed the window myself, and paid for it outright. The vehicle was no longer safe for my wife to drive, and, when driving with the sunroof open, and side windows open, you could actually hear the wind passing through the gap that the separated hinge created.

I'll take the advice of one other person who posted on this link, and continue to follow up with the NHSTA, because I'd guess that at some point, someone will get hurt or killed when the glass falls on their head, or, comes flying off at 65 on the highway. I'm now in a position where I can provide them the window and hinge for their review. I'm out $600, but, I can send them the old one.

Thanks for reading / commenting.

Reply to
BCSI

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