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Comments
I can have a brand new Bravada and they will void my lease and give me a new lease with either the exact same terms or the current terms whichever one I prefer. Give me a 2,500 mile extra mile allowance and provide the upgraded Onstar service for the entire 3 years of my lease.
OR
Void my lease, give me all monies paid, including the June payment, and let me walk away.
We'll see what they come back with. I really don't want to give up on the Bravada. In talking with the Service Re. this really looks like an instance that goes way back to the manufacturing of the material that goes into the manufacturing of the air bladders. I doubt they will ever get to the bottom of it and I'm not sure if it would even be worth it.
What we agreed on is that probably in the manufacturing plant for the rubber there was some sort of incident. For some reason the rubber was patched and it went on to the company who manufacturers the bladders. It would definitely be a daunting task to track down the person who may or may not have patched it and then what?
Now to comment on your posts:
Couimet: Lots of cars have air suspensions and if you think of the problems that we have with our "normal" suspensions I doubt that the air bladders are more problem prone. After driving the Envoy and Trailblazer I wouldn't trade the Bravada's ride for a once-in-a-lifetime problem.
rpageau: Yes, they have three Bravada. The two that were built on the same day as mine are equipped exactly as mine is (was?). One is even Blue like mine. The GM was telling me that they ordered that way because that is what they thought would move. They have sold a total of 12 so far and mine was the only one that had a sunroof and the Bose stereo. I'm actually kind of glad because since the 1995 Explorer revision I have liked the body style (except the 2002). I couldn't get myself to buy, however, a car that I saw constantly on the road. One thing about the Blazer I had before the Bravada is you didn't see as many of them on the road.
hambone7: Well, I look at this way. No one at the dealership (or most likely the manufacturing plant) had anything to do with the problem and it would make no sense to lose my temper with them. I used the old "get more flies with honey" philosophy with this one and it paid off. I got my Bravada at Royal Oldsmobile.
I'll keep the board informed.
In closing let me say that as someone who seriously considered the BMW X5 - I'm glad I didn't get it. What a piece of junk (as far as BMWs go). I've had two 5 series and they were excellent qualities cars. This X5 has the build quality that pretty much is on par with most American makes. I really hate to say it but I don't understand why we (American's) don't have the work ethic to build a quality car. It's a shame.
My question is this: Does anyone have any "formal" (i.e. TSB or literature) documentation that this is a problem? This to me sounds like the old "where there's smoke, there's fire" situation, especially since it's a brand new engine design.
Any other thoughts, comments, suggestions?
Thanks !
Allen
Looks like mfullmer is not the only one who is having suspension problems.
Haven't posted here in awhile and decided not to get a SUV this time around. I early terminated the lease on my intrigue because i couldn't get my olds dealer to fix my car. I purchased an impala ls with incentives from GM.
I would urge anyone who is considering the bravada to turn and walk away. Olds has got some serious problems which will not be fixed.
Russ
As far as that Envoy you saw, B4Z, it was probably a standard suspension one. I noticed right off when I was looking at the Envoys on the lot that the standard suspension (as well as on the TB) makes the car look a little lower in the rear than with the air suspension. Trust me, there is no way that the Envoy you saw could have had the same problem I had. I have seen the air bladders and they are about 7-8 inches tall. My Bravada looked like the front was going to bob off of the ground.
So, whats going on with it? I got a total of 8 calls yesterday (from 3 different) people. It seems GM and Oldsmobile really want to make sure that they keep the customer happy. Hey, this is not their fault and they have no reason to be defensive, right? So here is the offer:
1. Pick another Bravada and they will lease it to me with the same terms (Thats not much of stretch since the only options mine didn't have were the red paint and the heavy duty axle ratio). They would also add 2,500 extra miles to the lease, give me three years of the Premium Onstar service, Free maintenance for the lease term and free loaners ANYTIME I bring the car in. They would also credit the one payment I have made to the cap cost reduction (as well as all of the money I paid up front).
OR They would void the lease, give me back all of the money I paid up front, including the first payment as well as give me back the one payment I have made.
I decided to take the first deal as there is no way I am giving up my Bravada. I decided NOT to take the Blue one that was built on the same day as mine - it was exactly like mine and well, I guess I superstitious. In any case they found a Blue one just like mine but built at the end of May on the way down to a dealership in Macon. They will have that ready for me on Tuesday.
So, I'm a happy customer. They have made that happen - imagine that!!!
Looks like GM is taking care of you.
The impala that i bought 3 weeks ago had some overspray from a factory touch up job by the driver's side door handle.
My dealer offered and got another car for me, which i did not take because it was a much earlier build date.
I wish my olds dealer has taken care of me the way my chevy dealer is.
I might be wrong but that would mean it's bladders (both of them as only one of mine failed due to pressure the other one was fine but the seal blew) had come from the same sheet of torn and patched rubber and had ended up on the same vehicle. I guess it could happen but it seems unlikely.
I was mainly taking issue with your "stay away from Bravadas" comment. I looked long and hard for another SUV and it basically came down to the Bravada being the only one that had the style/size/features/power, etc. that I wanted. That includes rejection of the TB and Envoy also. One major problem on ONE vehicle that stems from a material problem hardly seems like reason to discount ALL Bravadas. I say One because looking at the parts and the fact that there never was a failure with a consumer I don't count the front suspension problem as major. It was mostly preventative as far as I see it.
On the running boards the Bravada's are different from the TB's. The flares in the rocker panels to the wheel well openings is different. Gmpartsdirect have them priced about $90 more. They come in black and clear annodized. The rocker panels on the Bravada are painted the body color whereas the TB is the dull black that's used on bumpers. I don't know what black and clear anodized means. I think that if they were painted red, my body color, and the dull black in the step areas it would look best but it sounds like alot of work.
I will say that I'd have expected xenon for the money, but these are fine.
rpageau - what dealership did you visit for the pricing on those Rails?? I live in West Orlando area...
Also -- to everyone else - We have a TB LS - and I am looking for the Square Trailer Hitch Cover. I saw it on an LTZ -- but our LS didn't come with one...Was wondering if anyone seen this available thru GMPartsDirect...or suggestions??
Thanks!
GM PartsDirect has them at $209 + $38 shipping if you can figure out the freight delivery.
Russ
Kirk
Has anyone else heard a noise toward the left rear door when you're in the driver's seat? The noise sounds like a rattle or creaking and can be a little annoying, considering that the vehicle is fairly quiet to begin with.
Turning up the radio makes it "go away", but that really isn't fixing the problem. :-)
I hope someone has found it and found a fix for it.
TIA.
Vince
Has anyone else had a similar experience. I am getting very impatient since my order was placed nearly 4 months ago.
I ordered my Envoy 4-25, was given a build week of 6-11 and it was del. to me on 6-25. I am in Virginia. The dealership got it in that morning and had it ready by 12 noon. I love it. Do watch out for the rear cargo storage cover, when my husband opened it he thought it flipped up and one of the tabs broke. You have to slide it toward you to remove it. That is a bad design but overall I can't find anything else wrong and believe me I have checked everything I have read about on these boards. Good Luck
My new is exactly like my old one except it only has 12 miles on it (my other had 43 when I picked it up). Everything went as planned things are back to normal.
I will be going back though because the front passenger seat is really squeaking badly. It happens during all driving conditions and is very high pitched. I'm sure it's the seat because if I take my hand and push down on the seat it stops (I know, not the safest way to drive but I only did it to test it out.)
Other than that, things are great!
As for steering, I had a 98 Bravada and it was more sensitive in my opinion. In other words, it takes more turns of the wheel to make the Envoy turn than it did the old Bravada. It also seems that the Envoy has a variable assist system which tightens the steering ratio as speed increases. It takes a lot of turns when maneuvering into a parking space but takes less steering wheel movement at higher speeds. I got used to it very quickly.
Allen
also, you may want to examine the paint on the rear tailgate where the license plate holder piece is frenched into the metal. My paint is chipping off and GM will have to have the tailgate repainted. Probably put on too early at the factory or the edge of the license plate holder scored the paint and caused the flaking. Either way, I am not too bothered as a friend of mine works at one of the finest body shops in Bellevue, Wash. and hopefully he can supervise the repair. I would be more upset had that not been the case.
Typical GM, just like Porsche can't paint a car worth a damn, but then again the FEATURES are spectacular and the paint is repairable.
Kirk
Steer is slower than my old Blazer and vans, however not a problem to get use to. I have not noticed a rattle in door or headline.
I did have out of balance tires, this was very noticeable at 75 mph and very bad at 80 mph. Most people would not notice it however below 65mph. GM will do a complete balance and alinement for vehicles up to 7,500 miles or 9 months which ever comes first. I would recommend this to everyone. The improvement in ride was uprising.
Drive door panel was loss and had to be fasten, no algienment problems with rear door.
Check your paint on Tailgate, my paint at bottom of the gate had a number of chips right at the seam.
All this item are minor for a new vehicle, I would reccomended this vehicle to anyone.
-I too have a rattle near the drivers side rear door, but it only seems to happen when the road is really screwed up or hit a nasty pothole.
-One other thing I've noticed is when driving on the highway and the vehicle is usually over 55mph, under certain conditions after accelerating and easing off on the gas petal I feel a vibration under the floorboard through the petal My wife has also felt it from the passenger seat. It's happened under different road conditions, and there seems to be no lose of vehicle power. I first thought it may be the cranny. Does anyone have any ideas??
Thanks...
NFORMATION ON HEADLINER REPLACEMENT, HEADLINER HARNESS ROUTING, AND REPLACING OR SERVICING THE SUNROOF ON VARIOUS MODELS INCLUDING THE 2002 CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER. *TT
You may want to question the dealer on this
HAVE A TRAILBLAZER DAY!!!!!!!!!!
Boat10, are those tabs visible from underneath? Will putting in bolts work, you think?
Does anyone know the correct hi/lo beam bulbs for these trucks? It's not stated in the owners manual, and the dealership didn't know either! And how do you get to access that bulb anyway?
And check this out, the owners manual says the correct oil filter is a PF59, but the factory installed filter is a PF58! Anyone know which is the correct one?