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Comments
The process would add 1-4 days to the job and often they were looking for any reason to deny a claim. You had to chose your words carefully with these folks as they would jump on something they thought would help deny the claim.
If the claim was denied or partially denied sometimes the agent's response would make the repair shop the villian in the car owners eyes. If you said the parts were "shot", the agent would say the trans was simply worn out from normal use and deny a claim. I learned to keep my mouth shut and tell the agent that "what you see is what you get for a decision".
I also did some consulting on transmissions in the 1990's for auto insurance companies. THis usually involved a car that was repaired and later the transmission would fail. Naturally the car owner felt the failure was a result of the previous accident. This was about 50/50 as I recall if the failure was accident related.
After an incident in a trans shop when the car owner showed up while I was inspecting a unit I stopped working with the insurance companies.
The car owner got very "intense" with me as he grew more angry as I explained to him signs I looked for in a transmission from a collision. His failure was not from the collision or the resulting reapir. The trans was simply worn out.
I believe the process is much improved from the early days.
When the engine hestitates and stumbles, at what speed were you traveling? I had the same problem. My engine hestitates when going at startup (10-15mph). Once it hesitates, I immediately let go of the gas pedal. Engine then runs back to normal.
Anyway, I had my PCM software upgraded. It's been 2 weeks now. So far so good. No engine hestitation thus far. I will follow up once I confirm that the hesitation is completely gone.
Contact your dealer and have them upgrade your PCM software.
From the article that Teo mentioned at consumeraffairs.com it
looks like it's something that will happen again. Bad design.
And GM gets to keep selling the same bum part over and over.
But I still love the Impala.
So far i think only one of us has had to have the tranny torn down.
ISS and cradle problems aside, the impala seems to have a great reliability record.
For me, I never bought one on a car but I do have them on just 2 major home appliances - the refrigerator and dishwasher - nothing else. When I was a kid, my parents bought an extended warranty on their first color TV year to year. Over 6 years they wound up paying RCA almost as much for the "insurance" as they paid for the set - over $700. ( Yes, a top of the line console 21" color TV cost about $800 in 1962! That would probably be about $3200 today !)
The set worked flawlessly after the second year and they replaced it in 1971. By that time, the more rectangular-shaped picture tubes were perfected.
Regarding a HOME WARRANTY on an existing home - I worked for a few years in real estate and my strong opinion is DON"T DO IT. The horror stories outnumber the successes about 4 to 1. The warranties are all but worthless. Every job has a deductible of $50 to $100 and the companies will make you jump through a hundred hoops to get anything out of them. On most you have to use "contractors" from their lists and you don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure out how that scam works. The list of exclusions, exceptions and limits is endless. The whole thing is set up to screw you over and over.
Recently, with our new (to us) home, the heater developed a serious problem (roll out). I won't go into all the detail but our warranty proved worthless. It cost us $100 to have someone come out who told what the problem was. He said it was beyond repair and needed to be replaced. By company policy, he provided us with no written report of his "inspection" to the warranty company. Remember WE PAID for the inspection. Furthermore, neither would the ahs warranty company provide us with a copy of the heating contractor's report. They said that was their report and that we were not entitled to it. Even IF the warranty company replaced the furnace, it would have only paid $1500. The actual cost for the new one we had installed was almost $3600.
We hadn't bought the warranty; the seller had. Although extended warranties on some things make sense, home warranties are a waste. Save your money.
I get good inputs from my brother who is a parts man for a smaller city's public service dept. Buses, Fire trucks, Ambulances, and a whole fleet of Impala Police cars they started converting to a year ago. They've had a few of the intake manifold leaks and also the tie rod ends failing. But so far they are holding up way better than the Ford Crown Vics they replaced. In general most of the mechanics he deals with are Chevy guys. These are Base Impala's with 200 HP 3800 with a different chip in them ..not as speed limited as regular ones. bye
It is great for me, because i don't get the calls from my clients.
And they don't feel bad about the home inspector or me, as their realtor when something breaks.
It stops lawsuits and gives the buyers peace of mind.
Oh yeah, AHS pays half of what you or I pay for parts. That $3600 system probably would have cost them $1800. The service company charges less also because they get a certain amount of business from AHS. The $45 service call fee also covers their diagnostic fee and time. This is straight from my AHS representative.
The downside to AHS is they are only allowed to put in what was there before. So if the airhandler is undersized then they put back in an undersized air handler. No exceptions.
I am starting to see more base models on the road (but still, only one or two each way during my 65 mile roundtrip commute). Rarely do I see an LS though. Not sure why that is. When I bought my car they had very few LSs left, but plenty of base models.
On a side note, my husband did indeed end up getting the Jetta turbo. I could not talk him out of it or persuade him to go for the Golf. He couldn't have gotten a turbo Golf with 4 doors, apparently, and that was a necessity for driving the kid around and dropping her off at school. I sat in it a little while ago and it seemed chintzier than the Impala interior. It wasn't as chintzy as the Saturn or the Japanese cars we've owned previously, but it didn't give me the luxurious feeling I get in the Impala (and I don't even have leather seats).
Armor All, if applied BEFORE waxing, is fairly effective at keeping the wax from sticking to the side moulding. If it's too late, the problem is much more difficult. I got a bunch of wax on mine the first time and ended up scrubbing it out with softscrub and a toothbrush. Don't know if that's the greatest solution, but it worked. I hated using even a mild abrasive so close to the paint but it was the best I could come up with. The WD solution, if it works, would be a better bet but still fairly labor intensive.
So my suggestion is, get some softscrub (or WD), a toothbrush, a cool whip container of water, a lawn chair, a six pack, a radio, and a sunny day, and have at 'er.
The previous furnace was a 60%efficiency unit. The lowest I'm aware of today is 80%. Maybe that's why they didn't replace it ? ;-). Yeah, right!
In ANY warranty on anything, the company offering the "protection" is betting they will never have to pay for a repair. They usually don't. If they did - they wouldn't make any money.
It's a safe bet that has proven itself over the years. That's why stores push extended warranties on every appliance and gadget. My guess is the salesmen - whether it's appliances or automobiles - also get a piece of that warranty charge. Do the home warranty companies pay a commision to the realtors?
IMO, home warranty companies are the worst. They usually don't pay off. If the same guy in one trip comes out to inspect a problem with your gas range and your gas hot water heater, you pay TWO deductibles - one on each piece and that limitations and exceptions list is formidable. Face it, on a $450 annual premium for an entire house, how many repairs do you really think they're going to authorize and compensate? The warranty companies do what they can to avoid paying for repairs, they pocket the premiums and go their merry way - that's how they stay in business. The warranty period runs out and they go on to do it again - millions of times over.
If warranty companies were paying for any significant number of repairs, dollars paid out would exceed dollars taken in. The warranty companies wouldn't be in business or the premiums would be so high nobody would buy their "protection".
Yes I'm serious.
Several people on the Zaino board swear that this works better and easier than any other method. If it doesn't work you can always remove the moulding and put it in a sandwich.
My comment about only putting back what was there was due to a situation i had last year.
The house had a 2.5 ton condensor and 1.5 ton air handler. It never worked correctly. When it finally broke after 9 years AHS put back in a 1.5 ton. Of course it didn't work either.
My seller's were able to get a discount on the previous repair but had to put an a 2.5 ton air handler out of pocket.
Brett....
Keep in mind that you car is almost 3 years old at the end of this year. Unfortunately this could well mean that your state's Lemom law statues of limitations might have well already expired. In most states, Lemon Law runs out in 18 to 24 months or between 15K to 20K miles, whichever comes first. In most states also, you are required to go through BBB arbitration FIRST before you are legally allowed to invoke State Lemon Laws. I would suggest for you to contact your attorney for professional legal counsel in these matters. Again you might or might not have a shot at legal recourse.
Now, if you or your wife are thinking on calling the 1-800 Chevy number to [non-permissible content removed] and curse GM for their product, think again. This tactic (Albeit you have a genuine reason for being frustrated), will not get you anything or anywhere. The customer service representatives that answer the phone for you are SITEL employees which are not really GM employees. So if you tell them off, you'll have better luck barking at your own house wall.
Your best course of action (Besides getting in touch with an attorney specialized in Lemon Law matters) is to have a calm and productive conversation with your Service Director. Remember that these guys do have decision making power or at least are the highest rank employees in the dealership. He has all the phone numbers to the District Managers and all other key people at GM.
Tell him what you want. However, be warned: You'll have much more success asking about a full vehicle replacement (Whether it is for a new Impala or any other GM vehicle) or vehicle trade assistance than to ask for a full refund. Full refunds involve court proceedings, attorney fees, etc.
Also remember that if GM accepts to buy back your car, you will be charged for the mileage you have put in it. Your best counter defense measure is to go back and look at your past service receipts to determine at which mileage the problem was first reported. If the problem was reported first at 15K miles, then they will have to deduct mileage for 11K miles, not 26K miles.
Given the age and mileage of your car (You are almost if not out of warranty) I see it very difficult for you to get GM to purchase your car back, without the intervention of a Lemon Law lawyer. Again my suggestion is to seek legal counsel and explore your options.
Worse come to worse Don, is to "Bite the Bullet" cut your losses, get rid of the car, get something else that you like and move on with life. Sometimes this is much better in despite of the financial hit. Crosley did it and he got himself a new Ford Truck. He lost money in the deal, but wasting time in solving an unfixable and costly problem proved to be futile. Remember, same as you he really liked his Impala but had to let go of it.
You and Crosley bought first year (1999 manufacture date) Impalas, albeit first year cars with all the "Bugs" fresh from factory. I learned my lesson to never buy a first year car from any Manufacturer whether it is GM, Toyota, Ford, BMW, etc.
My 2001 LS with 13K miles has been flawless and the car is running great, not a single problem yet.
To me my 2001 has been way, way better than my 2000 LS ever was. GM seems to get its cars better by the second or third year of production.
Last, but not least, all cars from all manufacturers will experience problems sooner or later. Fords have problems (Different issues but annoying ones nevertheless), Chryslers, Hyundais, Hondas, Mazdas and even the mighty Toyotas are falling prey to the cheapening of current issue Japanese products.
If you want a pick up truck this time and hate to deal with frequent problems, then I might suggest you take a look at the Toyota Tundra V8 full size pick-up truck instead. Fords might be good or not, but my past experiences with Ford products and their current performance still haven't convinced me about their "Quality Improvements". Ford products are plagued with recalls and problems that often don't become apparent during early ownership but later in the life of the product.
I have heard mixed reviews about the Crown Victoria quality. Some praise it, some people truly complain about it.
Move on, life is too precious to waste it griving over a problematic car.
Luckily i have had no noises in the impala.
You should also check your state's web site. Do a search for Lemon Law, and see what the mileage limitations are. They may consider the date you first brought it in for service, which I'm sure is well within their time limits.
Also, in some states, filing with the BBB is the first step in the Lemon Law process.
Give it a try though.
He has a very early production car, so his problems are unfortunately not outside of the norm.
Sometimes I question the ability of the dealer to carry out specific repairs.
How come vehicles are using this without the consumer knowing about it. They could use this against you in court.
Also read somewhere that GM will come out eventually with a "baby Avalanche" based on the S-10 replacement; same extended cab/midgate setup, but a smaller vehicle.
I have seen preview pics of the Colorado and looks very nice, much better than the current Ford Ranger.
The Current S-10 is seriously outdated, hence the heavy rebates offered on it to move it out of the dealer lots.
Don::: Have them check your car, I have the feeling that neither the Cradle or ISS are the culprits this time around. You could have a problem along the lines of the steering rack assembly or the tie end rods, just a tought.
http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/2004/chevrolet/colorado/guide.html
Good looking eh?:
http://pc99.detnews.com/autosinsider/sneakpeek/index.hbs?myrec=4
He also said at the conference that the 2003 Chevy Avalanche will not have any sort of body cladding in it. He also stated that future Pontiac models will not boast any kind of plastic ribbing in its future models.
GM will now offer clean sheet, crisp looking designs from 2003 on.
I remember hearing about this in Corvettes and Camaros. I don't know if it's in all GM products.
My Bonneville SE is free of the cladding that SLE and SSEi models use and is far cleaner looking IMO.
Glad to hear future Pontiacs will be free of this cladding 'affliction'.
Don, where you able to re-install the A pillar moldings without braking the single securing flimsy plastic clip tab?
If so, how you did it?
For instance, a dealership used it to prove the powertrain damage was the driver's fault. He had attempted to shift from 5 to 4, but missed and hit 2 instead at like 6000 RPM or something. The black box knew this.
not much extra for your money...
And so, at this point we are planning to work the best end-of-quarter deal our neighborhood chevy dealer will do on a new LS with sunroof this weekend.
ARE WE DOING THE RIGHT THING? I have scanned your board and -other than brake rotors and some gripes on the stereo- I can't see anything that would make us change our mind. Is there anything I'm missing?
Any last minute comments would be appreciated. THANKS!
I have had mine for 9 months also, and have over 16K miles on it.
No problems with brake rotors, and any impala with a build date after 12/00 will have the new amplifier.
I have not had any ISS problems or engine cradle problems.
21-22mpg around town and 30 mpg at 80 mph!
One trip where I drove slower i got 34 mpg!
very comfortable and solid car with all the bells and whistles.
Buy it!
2001 Impala LS bought April 25, 2001 (Build date 4/01):
13K miles and ZERO problems!
No regrets either. I can relate to the excelent fuel economy posted by other happy owners here. 20 to 21MPG in the city and around 30 to 32MPG in the highway. The 3.8 is a solid performer and the tranny is buttery smooth. Great A/C (I also live in Florida) and comfort/room is top notch.
Go for that loaded 2002! Now you can get until April 2,2002 a $2002 rebate and/or 0% GMAC financing for 36 months.
Take it from me. I have had 8 Honda/Acura products during the past 14 years. This car is simply great!. Buy it!
Brett.