GM extends the warranty for 3.1/3.4 intake manifold gasket repairs on all their vehicles. They also extend their warranty on any head gasket problems on the the 3.4 engine. They also warranty pretty much any and all brake problems right to the end of the 3 year warranty. This was not the case a few years ago. This includes brakes wearing out, and brake pulsation problems.
We do so much goodwill warranty at our dealership it's not funny. Which only goes to show you that the GM product has some serious problems at the moment. It will take a while to weed out all the 3.1/3.4 engines. At this point, there are very few problems with other engines in the GM lineup.
I've been a fan of GM cars for many years. I've owned every division except Cadillac. May latest is a 2001 LeSabre and it may be my last GM car. Am I expecting too much? Heated seat went after 1 1/2 winters. Less that the 3 years, but more than 30K miles so no warranty. Replacing of the $10 toaster element in the seat would be $575. Dealer charged $67 diagnostic fee to tell me that. GM would give me a few buck off a new car. A $30,000 solution to a problem that should be less than $100. Rear window cable broke. Rear windows have been put down maybe 5 times. Cruise control switch will not stay on I have it jammed on with a toothpick Front brake discs had to be replaced at 50K, need to be again at 100K. (warped and vibrate with brakes on) Air pump for emissions is starting to make noise when cold. Potential $450 repair. Final nail in the coffin was the transmission crapping out and cost ing $2400. I was seriously considering a Lucerne, but now I'm thinking Toyota. The Lucerne would have been in my driveway in a few weeks if the trans had not set me back. I know things wear out and break, but I think this could have been better.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "So why do I drive a big SUV? It's because I have to haul numerous people and things to places." ~ R. Lee Baxton ~
Well thank you Ian. This is the first time I've seen someone actually state this with any credibility. What is the warranty extension on the 3.1 and the 3.4 intake gaskets? Mileage, Age,? How about the 3.4 head gasket?
I don't believe, first of all, that all other manufacturers had the same problems with gaskets that GM has had. Maybe so, but I haven't heard this substantiated.
Second, GM has been diddling with this for years and neither dealt with the issue nor stepped up to the plate and payed the bills. Their short warranty was a good way to avoid responsibility and channel a bit more work to the dealerships.
Third, this sort of behavior is not new to GM. I can remember the - rotting rear windows (which GM fully knew about and declined to modify. Was caused by brazing steel panels in a wet zone.) - pitifully undependable 440T4 trannies (Metric), which usually just outlasted warranty - cracking blocks in the Iron Duke 2.5 litre 4 cylinder series ( op. cit. warranty dodging) - CS100 alternator system (op. cit. warranty dodging) - plastic injection plenum (usually dodged by warranty. Here, Ford did the same type of caca engineering for a while, but backed up, extended warranties, and paid for most of their failures).
Buying a GM has become similar to marrying a whoring woman. Her past history is hard to overlook, no matter how much you like the 'ride'.
That is easy to answer. There is no such thing as a 'secret' warranty. Call a dealer, give them the VIN number and build date of the vehicle. They can tell you what, if any, extended warranty applies and whether your vehicle still qualifies or not. Some warranties apply to only the original owner, however.
Facts do not change but you are entitled to your own opinion. New vehicles are covered for at least 3/36, so there should be no problem having a gasket repaired, if indeed one is defective as you seem to believe.
Let me get this straight. The manufacturer offers a product for sale. The manufacturer also offers a LIMITED warranty, and provides an excruciatingly detailed written copy of said LIMITED warranty to every buyer. In fact, the manufacturer even offers complimentary copies of the LIMITED warranty to non-buyers and to prospective buyers before they decide to become buyers. No secrets here. Everything's on the table.
Buyer chooses to buy. AFTER THE limited WARRANTY EXPIRES, buyer encounters trouble. Buyer concludes that manufacturer is "dodging" his obligations.
Dunno how that's possible. Manufacturer's responsibilities and obligations were thoroughly spelled out in the finest of detail before the transaction occurred. If the manufacturer is willing to offer assistance beyond what was originally agreed upon, the buyer ought to be grateful, not mad. If the manufacturer is not willing to provide assistance beyond the original agreement, I'd understand how the buyer would feel disappointed. But mad? Cheated? No, that's preposterous.
There is this concept called "quality". Quality and warranty are two different things. While the manufacturer is making its limited warranty so well known they are also touting their quality. There's another word that creeps into play - "value". Like quality, it is distinct from warranty. At the price of a new car, people buy with much more than just warranty in mind. Manufacturers sell on more than warranty. In fact, warranty is probably about the least mentioned aspect of the sale by the manufacturer. Value and quality however, are highly touted.
Care to reconsider your position on manufacturer's responsibility to bad design decisions?
I'm quite sure Toyotas sometimes get traded in on other brands. Toyota probably doesn't build a car that appeals to absolutely everyone. However, overall, more people are switching to Toyota than to GM.
You may find this interesting:
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a recent J.D. Power and Associates survey tracking owners who had tradedin their vehicle for one of the same brand, U.S. brands occupied seven ofthe 10 slots that showed the greatest drop-off in brand loyalty between 2004and 2005. Four of the top five gainers were Japanese; Jeep was the loneAmerican.
This part I understand for sure. When a GM dealer can get his hands on a Toyota, he keeps it to sell at a really good price. When he gets yet another Impala (yawn...), he sends it immediately to auction.
I frequently walk by a little independent used-car lot (30-40 cars). No Toyotas there. No Hondas, either. When I was looking for another used car last fall, I called around a couple other independent places. No Toyotas, except one place, which had some Hondas and Toyotas with amazingly high mileage, for which they were asking amazingly high prices.
You continue to miss the point. What's going to minimize total automtive expense over the next N years? "Total Drive Home" price is for suckers.
can
I just did some checking. Toyota parts may be 5% to 10% more. Hardly "three times as much." There's also aftermarket parts available, just like for GMs, at the same prices.
You're better off buying a Toyota and shopping around for parts and service. Need brakes or exhaust? Skip the major brake-and-muffler chains, work with an independent mechanic. Saved $130 last month doing that.
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Any vehicle with the 3.1/3.4 engine will automatically be repaired under warranty up to 100,000 klms and 5 years...no questions asked. Even after that, I've seen numerous goodwill work orders go through the system. A lot depends on the customer....and how much they patronize our dealership.
The 3.4 head gasket does a couple of things. It has two tabs that stick out from the cylinder block/head parting line about 1/2 an inch. We often see Dexcool seeping from this area and crusting up as it gets burnt off from the engine temperature. At first, we were replacing the gaskets like crazy, until GM got wind of it and put the hammer down on that. So no head gasket replacements if there are just signs of dexcool crud at those points.
But the other thing that the head gaskets do is just split. It's always along the outer edge, and it's almost always the rear head gasket at the front edge. The split extends into a coolant passage, so of course you end up with a coolant leak. I've almost "never" seen a head gasket failure that leaks coolant into a cylinder on these engines. Probably happens, but it's very rare.
GM covers the head gaskets the same way they cover the intake gaskets.
Believe me, GM knows they have a big problem. I think they are hoping to smooth things over until those engines simply disappear. The new engines that are still based on the 3.1/3/4 design have different style gaskets and even use a regular gasket now for end seals, instead of using RTV (which also was big source of oil leakage from the intake gaskets).
Any of the newer engine that do not use a wet manifold design just don't have any of these problems. Most of the GM engines are like this now. Another few years and I doubt that there will be any V engines around with wet manifolds.
It wasn't that easy, because you answered wrong! Call them what you want, goodwill warranty and what you are referring to (special policies) are two different things. A "special policy" actually extends much longer then goodwill warranties. An example of a "special policy" was the head gasket issue on the 2.0 engines in certain years of Chev Cavaliers.
In the case of the above "special policy", the owners were covered up to 7 years/160,000 klms "and" the owners could get reimbursed if they had the work done elsewhere and weren't aware of the fact that there was a "special policy".
GM's goodwill warranty on the intake gaskets is not the same as a "special policy". Personally, I think the intake gasket issue should have become a "special policy" issue, but I'm just the piano player.
So for the average guy, GM's goodwill policy on the intake gaskets could easily be seen as a "secret" warranty, as no one is going to offer up the info to you.....but it will be available if you happen to have the problem. You will "not" be able to call the dealership, give them your VIN, and have them say to you....."oh yeah....there is a "special policy" on your intake gaskets".....because there is no such thing on the books.
By the way, "special policies" are available thru the online Service Information website (which only GM people can access). So if someone wants to know if there is any particular "special policy" that applies to their vehicle, I can look it up for them (at my leisure, of course).
You are entitled to you own opinion but it is the opinion of a minority. GM, Ford and Chrysler sold 57% of all the vehicles sold in the US in 2005. It took all of the other twenty some import brands combined to sell the remaining 43% . The fact remains GM sells more vehicles in the US than any other. In reality the best selling import brand is only in fourth place, preceded by Chrysler and Ford. More American obviously prefer domestics
If you want to spend a lot more money to buy an import brand hopping you will get one of their 98% that are trouble free, rather than spending less to get one of the domestics 98% that are trouble free, you are free to do so. I prefer to buy the one that best suits my needs and meets my budget. I have never owned a vehicle, foreign or domestic, that had problems in any event.
mike hunt
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In a recent J.D. Power and Associates survey tracking owners who had > traded
You are missing the point, the poster has been improperly and falsely badmouthing GM in this NG by saying GM has done nothing to help those with gasket related problems, and that is simply not factual. GMs efforts are well known and I said is NO such thing as a 'secret' warranty, and that IS factual. Whatever they are called they are not secret or YOU would not about them and I doubt you are a Dealer Principle. How can they be secret when all one need do is ask if their vehicle meets the programs criteria? ;)
Mike - once again you prove yourself the fool. I would wager 90% of GM owners have no idea that GM will in any way stand behind the intake gasket issues out of warranty. I've bought gaskets at the dealership and no mention was ever made about goodwill, special policies or anything else. GM has done nothing to publicize these "efforts" as you call them and in fact continues to hide them in that only GM people have access to the information. Post a url Mike, where GM's "efforts" are publicized by GM so as to make their customers aware of them.
Have you ever tried doing what you were I instructed to do in a previous posts, to see if your particular vehicle is covered by any of the various gasket warranties? Apparently not, others have given you the same advice yet you are too stupid to take it. You would rather complain about how you have been victimized.
We replaced literally hundreds of gasket under extended warranties on GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and other vehicles during the time when they were all having gasket problems. Methinks you the one who is the fool to pay for a repair while many other owners in the same situation were covered under an extended warranty. I'll waste no more time trying to enlighten somebody who would rather bitch and moan.
Cheated in the sense that while the letter of the contract is not violated, the spirit is. Buyers do not expect such kinds of defects, or at least that they would knowingly be allowed to persist. Example, I wouldn't expect a tranny to fail just out of warranty, and I wouldn't expect important gaskets to fail out of warranty but still long before is common in automobiles in general. Yes, we all know that anything is possible, and that the warranty only is good for the period it covers, but that doesn;t mean we expect everything to fall apart immediately after the warranty. It's a calculated risk the buyer takes that most major components will easily outlast the warranty. Seems GM has been either deliberately or neglectingly been stacking the odds outside the normal realm. You can call that whatever you want.
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