Open letter to GM

GRL wrote,

Is that all that went wrong in 4 and a half years? Jeez....consider yourself lucky.

Ian

MOVE to Japan. We don't need you!

After years of buying Japanese cars, in 2000 I buy a $40,000 GMC Yukon XL, thinking GM quality had improved. Today at 25,000 miles (4-1/3 years old) the fuel pump failed.

The cost to repair: $730.

This is the first time I've ever had a fuel pump fail. My Japanese cars all had at least 100,000 miles on them before being sold.

I see no excuse for such an early failure of this expensive part.

I guess the next vehicle will not be another GM no matter how sweet the rebate. George Litwinski

"It's good to want things."

S. Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, chemist, Visual Basic.Net programmer)

After years of buying Japanese cars, in 2000 I buy a $40,000 GMC Yukon XL, thinking GM quality had improved. Today at 25,000 miles (4-1/3 years old) the fuel pump failed.

The cost to repair: $730.

This is the first time I've ever had a fuel pump fail. My Japanese cars all had at least 100,000 miles on them before being sold.

I see no excuse for such an early failure of this expensive part.

I guess the next vehicle will not be another GM no matter how sweet the rebate. George Litwinski

"It's good to want things."

S. Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, chemist, Visual Basic.Net programmer)

With 25,000 miles... the dealer should've goodwilled it.

GRL wrote:

After years of buying Japanese cars, in 2000 I buy a $40,000 GMC Yukon XL, thinking GM quality had improved. Today at 25,000 miles (4-1/3 years old) the fuel pump failed.

The cost to repair: $730.

This is the first time I've ever had a fuel pump fail. My Japanese cars all had at least 100,000 miles on them before being sold.

I see no excuse for such an early failure of this expensive part.

I guess the next vehicle will not be another GM no matter how sweet the rebate. George Litwinski

"It's good to want things."

S. Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, chemist, Visual Basic.Net programmer)

well did you have the job done at the dealership? part of the problem i

really that it is a labor intensive job for intank pumps... ( i a assuming it is an intank one as some vehicles have 2 pumps ) but agree at that mileage the repair should have been good willed. its sa to see gm become so poor in quality , ive been buying gm products sinc my first car ( a 76 pontiac ventura ) , but i dont like what i a seeing , and gm is having HUGE problems in europe because of poo quality compared to european vehicles. ( i think they are laying of

22000 over there ... and i read that they are going to close plant here state side as well )

but this isnt new , this happened in the 80's , sales were slumping quality was poor in american cars .... then when ragan removed th tarifs on japaneese cars , they took a beating until they improved th quality... maybe this is just the same cycle all over again

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Thats not the norm though. I had to replace my last fuel pump at 150k and that was only because the bottom of the tank rusted out.

A ( mechanical ) fuel pump used to bolt on the side of the engine block.

A rebuilt unit cost $15, and you could replace it in about an hour with two or three wrenches.

How in hell did they create a $750 fuel pump ?

I guess you could say that of too many auto components.....

thinking GM quality had improved.

had at least 100,000 miles on them before being sold.

Don't look for much sympathy here. This is a NG full of GM sheep. No matter what they love and dryhump their GM cars - no matter how much of a lemon it turns into.

Welcome to the new spirit of GM dealers... Where you're screwed.

Here in the Seattle area I looked at a caddy being driven by a woman and she put two signs in the car that read; "If you are thinking of buying a Cadillac from Bellevue Cadillac call me FIRST" and gave her number.

I didn't need to call to know what she had to say. They're thieving scum. I'd dealt with them before.

To say the least I have been a GM man for many years buying only their products. I still own a 350 block that I swear by, however the new gm does differ from the old. Its another corporation that's looked for ways of cutting costs by buying cheaper parts and I think its backfiring on them presently. My new 2003 astro cargo van is plagued with problems and the dealer here in the falls is like the rest I'm hearing about here. Too little too late too bad. GM will pay for this in years to come I'm sure. The 1-800 number you call when unsatisfied started out for me as a very friendly contact that seemed to be going somewhere. Plans were made and they listened to my concerns with a more than concerned ear. Once in the hands of the service manager it quickly changed and I was brushed over with another ITS FIXED! given a hand shake and a boot in the ass out the door realizing the problems still remained once driving the vehicle. Smoke and mirrors was the answer and to this day remain saddened by the whole experience, warranties over. I drive over 60k per year. Problem is for my needs nothing does the job like the astro cargo van. BTW I should have rebuilt my 92.

>

I took a 25+ year hiatis from GM and came back in 2003. (The last GM I owned GM was a 1967 GTO, but come from a several generation GM-only family on both sides. I was extremely EXTREMELY dissapointed with the 2003 Malibu LS I bought as well. I didn't even keep the car a year and was happy to take a $6-7K hit selling it to CarMax just to get rid of it. I haven't looked back.

| I still own a 350 block that I swear by, however the new | gm does differ from the old.

Seems so to me as well.

| Its another corporation that's looked for ways of | cutting costs by buying cheaper parts and I think | its backfiring on them presently.

I think the problem is much more pervasive. Treatment of the customer is extremely poor as well (compared to my experience with competitors). To GM, the customer is always wrong. They have it backwards.

| My new 2003 astro cargo van is plagued with | problems and the dealer here in the falls is | like the rest I'm hearing about here.

Not surprised. Your testomony reinforces my previous point.

| Too little too late too bad. GM will pay for this in | years to come I'm sure.

Unfortunatelly you are probably right. No one there in the management ranks seems to actually care.

| The 1-800 number you call when unsatisfied started | out for me as a very friendly contact that seemed to | be going somewhere. Plans were made and they | listened to my concerns with a more than concerned | ear.

Better treatment than I got from the 1-800 approach.

| Once in the hands of the service manager it quickly | changed and I was brushed over with another | ITS FIXED! given a hand shake and a boot in the | ass out the door realizing the problems still | remained once driving the vehicle.

Actually, the dealer was more sympathetic than GM corporate was in my case.

| Smoke and mirrors was the answer and to this day | remain saddened by the whole experience,

Me too... I wonder how many people like us will come back. And for those that do, how many years will it take?

| warranties over. I drive over 60k per year. Problem is | for my needs nothing does the job like the astro cargo | van. BTW I should have rebuilt my 92.

No mandatory or annoying DRLs and "auto" headlights on your 92 either! One of my pet-peeves.

Love those auto headlights!

Not going there! ;-)

lol!!!

ah yes the good old days when things were simple , and replacement part

were cheap ~laughs~ but now when things are designed to fail on a fairl regular schedule , you cant have things like reliability ~laughs

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Mainly so that the fuel line could be pressurized for fuel injectors. With a carureted engine, a few pumps of the gas pedal will get you going. On a fuel injected car, the gas line must be pressurized for the car to start... and since a mechanical pump needs a running engine to supply consistent fuel pressure, you end up in a catch 22.

And why do we have fuel injectors? For better emissions and increased fuel economy.

So yes, you could build a car with a $15 mechnical fuel pump. But then you might complain that gas mileage is horrible, worse than even current SUVs. And the cars would still have to meet federal pollution requirements.

The fuel pump was probably made in Singopre, Mexico or some other foreign land.

GM Ignition parts for mothers Caddy - Made In Singapore.

Blah!

========= Harryface =========

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~~~The Former Fleet ~~~

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