Topic: The "GM" is starting to show

[sailor723]

Well,the SRX just turned 4 and unfortunately the "GM" is starting to show in this Cadillac.

Needed a new battery last month (I know, not completely unusual at 4 years but it's a "unique" size and shape and therefore $250  ). That was bad enough but the dealer hosed me $90 for an AVR test that would have cost 39.95 anywhere else. Their excuse?.....  "We menu price here"
On top of that it needed a boost once in August and again in Sept and both times (while still under warranty) the dealer reported no problem with the battery or charging system and suggested i must of left something on.

On the same visit they installed my winter tires and put the car outside with a leaking valve stem (tire was down to 20 lbs when I picked it up an hour after it was finished). new valve stem was $45 (with TPMS)....funny...it was fine when it when in the shop but "No....it wasn't anything they did changing the tire"

I installed my winter mats a few weeks ago and when I went to take the carpet mat out of the drivers side the hold down snap pulled right out of the carpet leaving a 1/2 inch diameter hole. (The clip on the passenger side broke last year)

I went to get out of the passenger seat the other day and the overhead assist handle came off in my hand.

Now,yesterday, the drivers side power mirror will only adjust down but not side to side or up.


I like the look, interior finish and drive of my SRX very much but it's beginning to become apparent that between all the niggling little failures and the iffy service from Brett Chev Cadillac (emphasis on "Chev" when it comes to the level of service) that this car has the potential to become a PITA in the future.

[footlong58]

With the GM's I've owned, family has owned, etc, I'd say 50% of the problem is the level and quality of service from the dealerships.

I used to work at an Acura dealership.  Night and day to my grandfather's experiences with the Caddilac service department...

[HeliDriver]

On top of that it needed a boost once in August and again in Sept and both times (while still under warranty) the dealer reported no problem with the battery or charging system and suggested i must of left something on.

Our '07 Suburban has refused to start on us a handful of times in the four years we've owned it. I wanted to replace the battery a year ago, but the dealer said it tested fine and wasn't the problem.

A couple of weeks ago the truck had a malfunctioning coolant temperature sensor, so we took it back to the dealer. Coincidentally, it refused to start again in the dealer's parking lot! Again, it started with a boost, and when the dealer tested the battery "it checked out fine."

To their credit (sort of) they didn't want us to spend any money replacing parts that they thought were okay, but when we pressed them on the battery they tested it again and said they found a bad cell. We replaced the battery for a couple hundred bucks and haven't had any problems so far.

Overall, I love this truck and don't mind putting up with some of its "GM-ness". Plus, we're probably lucky to have a good local dealership (which is about a 10-minute walk from our house - very convenient).

[Sir Osis of Liver]

If it makes you feel any better, the battery went on the Outback. The dealer did a load test and found out it had a dead cell. At first they thought it was an after market battery and didn't want to cover it. I suggested they look a bit closer, as the car is only 2 years old. They did cover it but it took them the better part of 2 hours to locate a replacement and swap it out.

I've been pleased with them so far, and I wasn't in any particular hurry, so it wasn't a big deal. I wasn't particularly happy about a battery failing after two years and stranding Lady Osis though. She waited an hour and a half for CAA to show before someone else gave her a boost.

[sailor723]

With the GM's I've owned, family has owned, etc, I'd say 50% of the problem is the level and quality of service from the dealerships.

I used to work at an Acura dealership.  Night and day to my grandfather's experiences with the Caddilac service department...

Heck! You don't even need to go to a premium brand. The level of service I got from the local Nissan dealer for my '03 Pathfinder was head and shoulders above what I've had with the Caddy. Mind you, I only ever had two repairs done on the Pathfinder in 5 1/2 years  and 145,000 kms that weren't a wear item or routine service.

Man!  I wish Nissan hadn't screwed up the Pathfinder so badly in the '05 redesign! 

[mmret]

Sounds like much of the issue is with the dealer. Then again manufacturers should pay attention to quality of the dealers...

[PJungnitsch]

You might still have battery problems in the near future. If the dealer is right (and load and charging tests are pretty easy), an erratic electrical short could be draining down the battery completely on occasion. This will kill a regular non deep cycle battery after a few times.

In other words the battery failing could be a symptom, not a cause.

[tenpenny]

With the GM's I've owned, family has owned, etc, I'd say 50% of the problem is the level and quality of service from the dealerships.

I used to work at an Acura dealership.  Night and day to my grandfather's experiences with the Caddilac service department...

Heck! You don't even need to go to a premium brand. The level of service I got from the local Nissan dealer for my '03 Pathfinder was head and shoulders above what I've had with the Caddy. Mind you, I only ever had two repairs done on the Pathfinder in 5 1/2 years  and 145,000 kms that weren't a wear item or routine service.

Man!  I wish Nissan hadn't screwed up the Pathfinder so badly in the '05 redesign! 

Tell me about it; years ago, I had a company car that was a Chev, so I had to take it to Bretts.  Even when the service writer was a high school classmate, their service sucked.  And the cars were worse.


Me, I love my Subaru, but I'd not hesitate to look at the Nissan dealer, 'cause I know that Joe would look after me, he used to coach my daughter in hockey.

[sailor723]

Well,the saga continues. At 94,000 kms I'm getting a whirring sound from the back....both rear hubs are bad (actually wheel bearings but they are a sealed unit). One rear was already replaced once and one front hub has also been replaced. The good news is they are covered under the 5/160 warranty.

The bad news is that I need rear brakes...again....... (for the third time!

The annual MVI is due by the end of February......I shudder to think what it may show.  The sad thing is I really like the car. I just wish it had been built by someone other than GM

[Arthur Dent]

My Nissan Quest burns through brakes really fast - I wondered why under I changed them myself last time - tiny little pads.

[sailor723]

My Nissan Quest burns through brakes really fast - I wondered why under I changed them myself last time - tiny little pads.

There's actually a thread on this at Edmunds. People seem to be only getting around 30-35,000 kms on the SRX. The general consensus seems to be that the brakes are undersized for this vehicle and others on this platform (Sigma?)

[Julie]

Are you thinking of trading?

[sailor723]

Yes,although I may wait until late Summer to make a move. Maybe I should start a "what car?" thread like Wetson.

[sailor723]

The saga continues......

Well, I have an appointment for Tuesday to have the overhead grab handle reinstalled (I hit a bump on the weekend and instead of hanging down by one end it fell off entirely ) ,the nonfunctioning power mirror looked at and the annual provincial safety inspection done. I now have a tail light out that I'm told is way more complicated than an 1157 bulb. (It's a LED panel and requires about an hour of interior trim disassembly and reassembly just to access  ....could be wiring or could be the circuit board. With the way my luck with this car is going it will require an entire tail light assembly for about a zillion dollars. 

To give some credit Brett's (the local Chev/Caddy dealer) are paying for a rental because I had asked to have the mirror and the interior handle looked at the last two times I was in and both times they were either too busy or "the tech that does that stuff" was booked.

[CanuckG35]

^ I hope you get everything sorted out and fixed on Tuesday, keep us posted.

I agree with you about our local Nissan dealership.  Outside of my new Edge, the last five vehicles for me have been 3 Infiniti and 2 Nissans.  They've serviced all of them and I haven't had anything but great things to say about that dealership. 

[sailor723]

The saga continues......

Well, I have an appointment for Tuesday to have the overhead grab handle reinstalled (I hit a bump on the weekend and instead of hanging down by one end it fell off entirely ) ,the nonfunctioning power mirror looked at and the annual provincial safety inspection done. I now have a tail light out that I'm told is way more complicated than an 1157 bulb. (It's a LED panel and requires about an hour of interior trim disassembly and reassembly just to access  ....could be wiring or could be the circuit board. With the way my luck with this car is going it will require an entire tail light assembly for about a zillion dollars. 

To give some credit Brett's (the local Chev/Caddy dealer) are paying for a rental because I had asked to have the mirror and the interior handle looked at the last two times I was in and both times they were either too busy or "the tech that does that stuff" was booked.

Well, not as bad as it could be. The Mirror unit needs replacing ($350 plus 1-1.5 hours installation) the good news is it comes already painted. The tail light turned out to be corroded wiring and while it took about $235 in labour to find and fix that's a whole lot better than replacing the tail light assembly. Turns out it would have been $750 for the part alone  . Other than that it passed MVI so I should be good for a little while (knocks on wood). Brett's was actually pretty good on this one. They provided a rental and repaired the grab handle that pulled off at no charge

 I do think I'll keep shopping though as I suspect these kind of problems will become the norm in the future. It's too bad because I really like the car and would prefer to keep it if I thought it would be reasonably reliable in year 5 and 6.

[rrocket]

Man...$350 for a side view mirror...on a 3-4 year old car?  That's a pretty expensive item that doesn't usually crap out so early.  I think you're right..GM quality is starting to rear its ugly head...

The mold for the rear light assembly was done in China.  We had to fix it when it came back from China is was so butchered from their un-skilled tradesmen...

[articsteve]

 I think you're right..GM quality is starting to rear its ugly head...

The only thing that has changed at GM are the designs and styling; much improved.  However, the under engineered parts such as the brakes are still happening.


Automotive News -- February 8, 2011 - 2:29 pm ET
 
General Motors Co. is expected to dole out 2010 profit-sharing checks that average at least $3,000 to U.S. hourly workers, several media outlets reported today.

Same ole GM ppl. 

[Erik]

Hmmm. I never saw how profit sharing was a bad thing. Do it with my staff every year. I am sure AS would give his profit sharing check back, as he didn't want anyone to think he was like a GM worker?

Sadly, yours is still very much an "old GM", pre-Lutz product. Yes, I know Lutz was there, but the car was introduced in 2003 as a 2004, which means the design was locked in before he had any say in it. All indications show that the NEW, post Lutz arrival, GM product, is of vastly better quality than the stuff they were doing in the early 00's.

[Erik]

Man...$350 for a side view mirror...on a 3-4 year old car?  That's a pretty expensive item that doesn't usually crap out so early.  I think you're right..GM quality is starting to rear its ugly head...

The mold for the rear light assembly was done in China.  We had to fix it when it came back from China is was so butchered from their un-skilled tradesmen...

Where you been shopping for your replacement body parts, rrocket? $350 from a DEALER for a replacement mirror sounds about right. I am willing to bet the dealer will ask about the same for a mirror for your Lexus.

***edit** Just for fun, cause I was bored this morning, I called Don Valley North Lexus and asked for a replacement drivers side mirror for a 2006 Lexus IS 350. He couldn't give me and exact price because he needed the VIN number, but including the mirror glass, he said it would be in the $700-$800 range,plus HST.