Hey guys.
I just posted this over at TTAC, because they know me pretty well there and they know I have had troubles and were asking.
Long story short-ish...
So, I am going to start with the good, for what that's worth. The 2.0T puts a smile on my face every time the boost comes on. My lifetime is 8.6L/100 kms (27.35 us mpg). I currently have 37000 kms (23000 miles) on the clock. I seem to average 35mpg through the Canadian Rockies. The car is fantastically comfortable, dead quiet, the Buick Intellilink works well, and we love the dual zone auto CC, it works really well for a generally warm guy and generally cold lady (climatically speaking :-). The car is right-sized for our lifestyle, and we really like it on the road. Take note: If not a lemon, this car would be a really great car for us. Issues not lemon related are; the headlights aren't stellar, the car is pretty rolly polly in the curves, and it has a turning circle roughly the size of the USS Enterprise, CVN-65.
So...
Within the first week, I had the car back into the shop because the clutch hydraulics were misrouted. They were rubbing on the frame. If I wasn't so picky, I wouldn't have noticed the clunky clutch and I would have had to use roadside when the line burst. Since then, you guys know that I was never happy with the way the trans feels. It makes a "release-bearing"-esque grind on the 1-2 and 2-3 upshift. This still exists, and they've never been able to figure out why. They replaced the trans, but reused every bit of hardware around the black box. Made the shifter action worse. Multiple shop foremen on multiple test drives acknowledge hearing the noise, but I was either treated with "we could not replicate after you left", "it was a loose heat shield rattling, we replaced it you should be good!" (no change) "I think this is a new manual trans for 2014, it might be normal". This last one really pissed me off, a cursory google search is enough to indicate the F40 debuted in 2007 in the G6 behind the 3.9. Don't fabricate if you don't know!
Anyways, while that's more of an annoyance, last summer, the CEL came on. I took it in, Clutch Position Sensor code. They swapped the sensor, no problem. Around Christmas, I kept getting recurring CELs...CPS again! The dealerships response was "Well, we replaced it already...it’s probably fine." I was like, I bet you, sooner or later, the car won't start. Finally, June 19th, I was stranded on the departure ramp at the airport. Push clutch, press starter, car goes to accessory and tells me to "Push Clutch to Start Vehicle." CPS ruins my day! The worst part, couldn’t even bump start it, because the push button start wouldn't allow it to go past accessory, with the car not thinking the clutch was pushed. Got towed to my new chosen dealership, they replaced the sensor. Fine.
A week later, we drive 5 hours away to Jasper to camp. Saturday morning, we go to start the car, and....nothing. CEL!!! Luckily we have service. Call roadside, and we get towed to the nearest dealer, an hour away in Hinton (6 hours from home). Luckily, the weekend oil and lube tech they had working was a total boss. Pulled the (dozen or so) codes, found that he was getting shorts and communication faults when he wiggled the main comm harness. So, he figured there was a short. He managed to start the car, we drove straight home on one tank. My new dealer followed up, pulled up the floor, found a sharp spot in the floor plan. (Another manufacturer defect, IMO) They filed it down, replace the wires, cleared the codes and gave it back. At this point I don't know what to think. Seems like a likely root cause right?
A week later, we are in Vernon BC after touring Okanagan Wine Country, 6 hours from home. We start the car....CEL comes on! I scan it...P0806, clutch position sensor. We fill the car with a gas can, get our bags from the hotel, (still had to pay), and drove straight home...through the night. It DID start the next day, but we didn't want to take any chances. Took it to the dealership. They had it for well over a week and had to place a tech support call, GM engineer in Detroit told them to replace the harness from the clutch to the ECU.
Have had it back for a week, and now...we have a long weekend road trip planned this afternoon, 2500kms round trip!
Other mechanical maladies as of yet unfixed/undiagnosed include, a random rough idle when cold, (almost stalling), and sometimes the engine is very hesitant when accelerating. They cleaned the MAF and it was smooth as silk...for about a week.
So, about a month ago, I started a case with GM customer service in Ontario. I've been making the case that the car has demonstrated multiple factory defects, that have left me stranded, and worse, the same subsystem keeps acting up in multiple new and creative ways. Because of this, we have decided the car is not trustworthy, and the fact that "they have fixed it" (and they have, my new chosen dealer has dealt with every problem swiftly, as they have manifested). As I said, it keeps screwing up in new ways, on the system they "fixed". So I have been pushing that they need to buy the car back, because they built and sold a demonstrably faulty vehicle. So, last week, we were talking about "trading in", i.e., I would give them my car back, and I would finance a (very specifically specified) Cruze, as it would be a very economical car for the 15000 kms in road trips we have planned in the next year. And, we know from multiple Jack Baruth Rental Reviews, the Cruze is a damn solid economy car. I've enjoyed this little stretch of a premium car, but, I figured this would be an opportunity to just get something functional and plan for the future. So, they come back and tell me I can give my car back, and finance a Cruze for my lease payment....for the next 84 months!!!! They tried to lump the lease residual into the new finance! I was so gosh darn ticked off (family website, trying to keep it clean). Offended, shocked. I let the guy know, that despite the verbiage we used....this is not an "appraise this early lease break and make customer pay residual" situation. Whether I am financing a new GM vehicle or not (which now it’s not, due to my anger at the crap they tried to pull) this is not a trade, it’s a buy back. If I was going to spend 45,000!!!!!! dollars on a Cruze, I'd just keep the Verano and buy another car!
It's been a week of silence since that discussion. Calling him back this morning actually...
