With all the adverse publicity GM has been getting as of late...it got me to wondering.Are they really that bad....that unreliable...ridden with problems ?We have/had a number of GM's in our family. Currently a 2007 Buick Lacrosse with the 3.8 V6 and a 2010 Chevy Cobalt with the 2.2 liter 4 cylinder.The Buick had 135\k on the odometer. I've needed two brake jobs and a water pump. Other than oil/filter/fluid changes...that's it. Oh...a new set of tires.Pretty good for 7 + years I think.The Cobalt has had a new battery, this winter. That's it.The Cobalt has been called in for the ignition recall. Will be fixed by the dealer. No problems with it, but GM will replace.My son just traded his '08 Chevy Colorado with 130K on it....on a new Jeep.His Chevy pickup has the Z 71 package and 5 cylinder engine. Didn't have to replace brakes or tires in that period...although he was would of been soon.Had a transmission tube leak. Fixed under warranty.That's it.We had a '97 Chevy Astro with 180K accumulated over 10 years. One tune up, 3 sets of tires including original factory tires. Had an electrical short that the dealer fixed...first time.Towed our trailer over many areas of North America. Ni problems....oh had a tune up at 138K.We also have a '07 Toyota Matrix. We've had the EM replaced, sensors, etc.It has 77K on it. All these vehicles bought new.We live in an area where it goes to -35 or colder....and to the high 90's in the summer. Usually 5 .5 months of hard winter. Some of the vehicles never see the inside of a garage during their lives. How have other GM owners found their vehicles ?

Been a GM guy all my life. I have no complaints or issues with GM. We've purchased new and used. There IS normal wear and tear on any vehicle, true, but nothing unusual for me ... ever, unless it was something I neglected (like my very first pick-up truck was a Chevy S-10 (1985 model). I drove it for 10 years, had 100,000 miles on it, and the engine just died, kaput! Turned out it was my fault ... the engine oil was so gunked up, it was almost like dry mud! I learned the value of 3000 mile oil changes instead of 20,000 mile oil changes because I thought I had to be thrifty! Still, 100,000 on that little truck, I can't complain. It survived lots of abuse, and like Timex, it kept "ticking!"

I've owned mostly GM. The only one I really had a lot of trouble with was my Trailblazer. And even that one never left me stranded. Keep in mind the increased number of recalls has to do with internal efforts to ferret out issues before the government does it for them. That and the fact that they have a govt appointed nanny to watch over their safety QA. None of this is anything the other manufacturers don't have problems with but aren't fessing up to yet.

Not bad in my book. I own a 99 chevy venture 250,000 miles , 2000 suburban 200,000 miles, and a 2000 gmc sierra 282,000 miles. All three look and drive perfect and have original trans and engine. If I could buy a new one today it would be a GM !! but you new that already

The quality of the vehicles is about on par with any other manufacturer, in my opinion. I have political reasons to never buy another GM product.

New ceo mary is proving that quality control at GM just turned up. Even with all the publicity it has not affected sales numbers. Almost all have gone up.

GM...How bad are they ? | Good Sam Community

aclay
Explorer
Jun 17, 2014
I've been driving GM's for a few years now, and I like them. But I'm asking the same questions. How hard is it to make an ignition switch? We have a 2011 GMC Yukon XL 5.3L and a 2012 Chevy Duramax 3500 SRW duramax. We have about 15k miles on each and love them.

After all the bailouts, recalls, etc I'm going to look a lot harder at the competition next time.
tomman58
Explorer
Jun 17, 2014
Love my new truck
2500hd GMC Dmax 2015!
Wes_Tausend
Explorer
Jun 16, 2014
Fordlover wrote:

What made the situation bad wasn't a defective switch detent, it's the fact that the Engineer didn't issue a Revision or new Part number for the new part. This is Design 101. A huge mistake.

Even GM's own internal investigation couldn't figure out why the newer switches were performing better than older units.

Good point. I once worked as an Expeditor for Bobcat. We sometimes substituted slightly different bolts (identical size) under the same part number, but seldom any other parts nor any with a dimension change. I don't remember whether we ever subbed a simple accessories switch, but it is possible since many are often considered generic.

If the pair of more complicated GM ignition switch parts required different GM blueprints, they should have had different (updated) part numbers. One would think that the prints would have to be different in order to purposely spec a different size detent pin and/or spring to a vendor, unless the vendor was responsible for the prints, as they might be in a simple generic accessory switch.

Our original proprietary Bobcat prints were archived, which caused a protocol to change to plan B. If the GM parts always used the same prints, but a minor vendor error, or short-coming, was corrected, I could understand why the GM number would not change. That might not excuse the engineering department from not having caught the vendor internal print error before any builds proceeded, though.

I don't know the whole story. Still, I feel as though the rest of us need to be financially protected from folks that spill hot coffee in their laps and sue.

Wes
...
Tystevens
Explorer
Jun 16, 2014
We've had 3 GMs since 2007, and they have all been great vehicles. As far as repairs that I can recall:

2005 Suburban -- some little fuel cannister solenoid or something at about 80k miles. 2 minute, $10 job. Intermediate steering shaft repaired due to clunking. $200 or so at the dealership. That's it for that truck, traded in at 145k miles.

'06 Silverado 2500 Duramax. Dealer replaced seeping transmission cooler lines when I bought it. No other issues. Sold at 135k miles.

'10 Suburban. Steering shaft sensor replaced at about 75k miles. No other repairs, 86k miles and going strong.

Perhaps ironically, my two most unreliable vehicles since 2000 have been an '02 Acura TL sedan (2 transmissions, a bunch of electrical issues in 65k miles, leaving my wife stranded waiting for a tow 3 times in 3 years of ownership) and an '07 Subaru Outback (leaky head gasket, bad shocks, electrical bugs by 65k miles), which are 2 brands with highly rated liability.
kennethwooster
Explorer
Jun 16, 2014
My first cars, and pickups were GM. Starting late 60s quality hit a bottom. Not only the vehicle , but definitely the engines. However was died in the wool GM. In the the80s I tried GM made in house diesels, The first one used oil like crazy so bought another one since they would not try to repair the one using oil. The nest one when you backed up would at times just die. They could not find the problem. Even left it with them for a week while on vacation, and it did not get repaired. Traded for 84 Chev, 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive. At 120 thousand after spending thousands to keep it running, it just burned up. Not even running. GM has cost me nothing but money. Tried Dodge (didn't want to try Ford), a gas and diesel. The Gas was ok the diesel keep losing lift pumps and even an injection pump. AT 70,000 a salesman friend talked me into a Ford diesel, the comfort was fantastic, especially compared to a Dodge. It's been Ford ever since and doubt if I ever go back. One more thing about GM. Their warranty was worthless after about 1970. They just would not honor it. Dodge, and Ford have been excellent. Since going to the 6.7,, they just don't have any problems, Just my thought on GM.
Fordlover
Explorer
Jun 16, 2014
Wes Tausend wrote:
...

GM is ok. So is Toyota and all the others. America has changed.

My thought is GM didn't do so bad on the switch. I can easily see how it never registered as anything too important in engineering since it is unlikely that anyone knew that some minimal deaths were occurring indirectly because of inept consumer behavior. Who da thunk? The switches worked fine when used in a normal manner. Jeepers.

It seems that consumers should bear some responsibilty to realise that they had too much junk on their key rings and that this excess weight could cause the key to turn off. I'll bet some inadvertant turn-offs even occurred shortly after starting sometimes, as the heavy, over-weighted keys still swung from having just been inserted. Didn't everybody realise they needed to lighten the keyrings? Some probably did, corrected their error and others unfortunately became Darwin award winners. I don't think manufacturers can completely compensate for dumb consumer choices. There are no idiot-proof machines and never will be.

What if somebody adds another two pounds to their Ford or Chrysler keyring, which have stronger detent springs, and it shuts off the ignition? Should they sue, and we, the rest of the buyers pay for their poor judgement? Or should auto manufacturers go the way of U.S light aircraft manufacturing when irrational lawsuits abounded.... quit?

Wes
...

What made the situation bad wasn't a defective switch detent, it's the fact that the Engineer didn't issue a Revision or new Part number for the new part. This is Design 101. A huge mistake.

Even GM's own internal investigation couldn't figure out why the newer switches were performing better than older units.
Wes_Tausend
Explorer
Jun 15, 2014
...

GM is ok. So is Toyota and all the others. America has changed.

My thought is GM didn't do so bad on the switch. I can easily see how it never registered as anything too important in engineering since it is unlikely that anyone knew that some minimal deaths were occurring indirectly because of inept consumer behavior. Who da thunk? The switches worked fine when used in a normal manner. Jeepers.

It seems that consumers should bear some responsibilty to realise that they had too much junk on their key rings and that this excess weight could cause the key to turn off. I'll bet some inadvertant turn-offs even occurred shortly after starting sometimes, as the heavy, over-weighted keys still swung from having just been inserted. Didn't everybody realise they needed to lighten the keyrings? Some probably did, corrected their error and others unfortunately became Darwin award winners. I don't think manufacturers can completely compensate for dumb consumer choices. There are no idiot-proof machines and never will be.

What if somebody adds another two pounds to their Ford or Chrysler keyring, which have stronger detent springs, and it shuts off the ignition? Should they sue, and we, the rest of the buyers pay for their poor judgement? Or should auto manufacturers go the way of U.S light aircraft manufacturing when irrational lawsuits abounded.... quit?

Wes
...
ksss
Explorer
Jun 15, 2014
My 2012 2500HD with a 6.0 is now at 47K, pulling more than it should, has yet to have an issue. I use an 08 2500HD DMax for work and it has 93K and has never missed a day of work. It has been more flawless than my personally owned and much vaunted LBZ. My only personal significant issue with any of the new GM's I have bought since 01 is head gaskets in my 5500. I attribute that to an idiot employee but the LLY does have some history of that issue, so it was really a perfect storm.
Targa
Explorer
Jun 15, 2014
dodge guy wrote:
GM...How bad are they ?

Bad enough that I have and never will own one! My 12 year old X is much more reliable!

Lol.... I am a Dodge guy myself but one thing is for certain, when someone loves a particular brand so much that they have it as their user name and then declare to everyone how much more reliable there truck is compared to anything else....well it just isn't gonna hold much water. I know my 6.7 Ram had issues, my favorites were the turbo issues and the death wobble ( That issue was really fun and exciting) I got rid of it and went with a Hemi. My 6.4 Ford work truck (Fleet ) has had more issues than I care to get into. What issues with GM products have you experienced?

Now I will just wait for a certain member here, another diehard Dodge guy, to pop in with the tired old argument that Cummins is the best motor because its an inline 6 just like all the semis are using on the highway.....:B
Ron3rd
Explorer III
Jun 15, 2014
lanerd wrote:
The current GM recall fiasco is very similar to the Toyota recall fiasco a couple of years ago. Those who have been around awhile will remember there was a Ford/Firestone recall fiasco in the not too far distant past And remember the rear gas tank fire issue with the Ford Pinto...and the side impact gas tank issue with the GM pickups....???? The list goes on and on.

I currently have three toyotas and a GMC Terrain. All four have been excellent vehicles....are they perfect? I seriously doubt it, but they are and have been problem free.

The big corporations just need to stop worrying about having sufficient profit to provide their corporate big-wigs with super sized bonuses every year and spend some of that money on fixing what they "know" is wrong with their autos.

My .02 cents...

Ron

Toyota got hit with a recall a couple years ago regarding air bags that could throw shrapnel on the passenger if deployed. This recall extended to Honda and Nissan too as they used the same air bag supplier. No one's immune.

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GM...How bad are they ?

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