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Comments
If you operate the wiper before then after doing this, you'll see that the drops spread out over the glass like there's no surface tension in the water afterwards. Sometimes I do it twice. It last for a couple of months before I'll get skipping again.
Too rub the contact edge of the rubber with the pad.
It does not scratch the glass. IF you're concerned try a small corner at the bottom edge. After rinsing you'll see that the coating of oil and particles that's on the windshield is gone.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
When my back wipers chattered, I just replaced with a new rubber filling replacement and that seems to do the trick. I replaced about once a year. The windshield seems to start chattering much earlier - about 4 to 6 months.
K2QO/Rover here. Used my RDV in the big Amatuer Radio Relay League's VHF Sweepstakes two weekends ago. Check out the photo:
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~msadams/RDV%20Photos/K2QO%20in%20EN9- 2%20Jan%202004.jpg
Some other rover photos are here:
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~msadams
and, full contest reports:
http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/?con_id=64
Due to the cold and need for power for the radios, my RDV ran from noon on Saturday to past midnight only being shut off for a few minutes for a dinner stop. Same thing on Sunday.
Once nice thing is that it uses very little fuel while idling, a nice bonus for this type of service.
The antennas are mounted via a 2" receiver hitch in the back and on 2x6's mounted to the Yakima rack. Each year the operations gets better. This vehicle is the next best thing to a full size van, a vehicle that would not suite the other 355 days per year when I am not contesting :-)
73 (i.e. Best Regards)
Mark K2QO/R
Yeah, it's been a while since I've been on... so long the email I used to use doesn't even work anymore so I had to re-register... oh well.
Anyway, about 2 months ago the warranty expired on my 02 CXL... just as I expected, everything started falling off my car... well, not literally, but close enough. BCM died again (that makes #6...), my steering is going (it makes a very audible growling noise now, but the dealer still can't hear it... I recommended Miracle Ear and was promptly asked to leave...) my alternator has seen better days and is screaming at me all the time... gotta love alternator whine, i tell my friends i superchargd my engine, that's what it sounds like. My battery warning light comes on everytime I start the car now and stays on until i restart the car. Every monring on the way to work my car refuses to shift out of 3rd gear, thus my gas mileage is barely above 10 mpg now... I'm averaging 210 miles/tank... my rear wiper leaves a nice pizza-slice shaped area on the back window at the apex of it's path, apparently it doesn't like to wipe the top of the window... my front wipers move at the speed of special-olumpic hurdlers (can i say that on here?)... my rear passenger captains chair is hanging on by a whim right now... it slides around during slow corroring and there's something loose on it, so it sounds like the chair is attempted to send secret german codes via moorse code while I drive... i only got about 30k miles out of my stock tires, i picked up a set of yokohama YK-420's from Discount Tire... VERY impressed w/ them, would be even more impressed if they were on a different car, but it's just not in the cards, yet...
There's tons more but I'm sure i'm limted to characters and you're all probably tired of reading this... so I'll stop...
Overall, I'm sorely disappointed in this vehicle... heck, my 99 Trans Am has less problems and you could take that car apart with spare change...
Recently I've submitted my case to a few lemon law lawyers so we'll see what happens... that's what got me into the RDV in the first place so hopefully it's what will get me out of it...
I'll post more in the coming days, as well as some pictures of the car so you can see what my eggplant looks like...
Later dudes and dudettes!
~Lance
http://lswaidz.home.insightbb.com/rdv/
~Lance
We put 17,000 trouble free miles on the RDV and then two weeks ago electrical troubles set in.Its been in the shop for 5 days now and they have decided its the BCM.One is on order and will be here on Monday.I'm glad that we still have our dependable 2000 LS Regal to drive plus my 85&86 T-Type Regals.
If you will check at the RDV Problems and Solutions board you will see that the BCM is a common problem with RDV's now that they are getting some miles on them.GM needs to acknowledge this.
My wife likes our RDV because its easy to get in and out of but I've never been a big fan of it as she is.Buick made a very poor choice of engines.To maintain speed at 70 MPH on a slight grade the RDV has to downshift.They should have used the 3800 in it.
We will give the RDV one more chance but if it lets us down again its probably gone.I guess I'm spoiled as I have been used to trouble free Buick Regals since 1984.
~Lance
Our car has over 31k miles and we have had no problems with it except the slow clock (lose a
minute a week or so).
We had a honda before and I have a v6 97 camry still. We like our Buick though it does not compare with the honda/toyota, but then again, since it was GM, our expectation were lower from the beginning. We expected the GM to not be as quiet, smooth, ... I guess since our expectation were lower, we have been pleased with the car.
We chose the buick because of the room, price (21k), ...
My wife and I won our arbitration about two weeks ago (GM didn't even challenge our claim) and we just sent in our "acceptance" letter. GM is paying us back our original purchase price, plus sales tax, finance charges, and unused registration. After paying off the remaining loan balance and an "offset for use fee," we are left with about $7000 in our pockets...much more than if we had simply traded it in.
We've already purchased a replacement...a Volvo V70 wagon with 3rd row jump seat. We love it!
Good luck!
first, what options were you offered? the law firm i've been talking to has said I can either keep the RDV and get a check minus a "mileage penalty." right now I have under 37,000 miles... what sort of 'penalty' do you think that would incur?
They also said I could sell the car abck to GM... I've been thinking about going up the cadillac SRX if that happens... do you think I'd get more towards the new vehicle if i just sold it back?
Lasty, what exactly ws the process you went through? I've just started this whole ordeal... when i had my trans am i was about to start it but the buick dealer offered to buy the trans am for the purchase price with the condition i buy a new car from them...
let me know what i'm looking at here, i'm slightly misinformed...
~Lance
With all 02-03 Rendezvous having the 3.4 V-6 why should we all have to pay $4-600 to have this done?Lots of 3.1-3.4 engines built from 1997-2001 are now failing according to the gmv6lemons website.Most of these are in the 40,000-80,000 mile range where our Rendezvous will all soon be.
GM needs to recall all 3.1-3.4 V-6 powered vehicles and make things right.GM has a service bulletin out telling about this but if it wasnt for the internet I wouldnt have known about it.
Also lots of us are losing BCM's on our RDV's.Just replacing them isnt the answer.Some thing is causing them to fail.This needs to be addressed.
We have a 2000 Regal LS and a voluntary recall was issued last year for all cars running Series II 3800 V-6's as they have bad intake gaskets too.
Weve ran mostly all GM since 1976 but this may come to an end if GM doesnt own up to its problems.
http://www.gm-v6lemons.com/
Don't waste $1500 on a lawyer! 10 minutes on the internet will tell you what you need to know.
If you want, tell me what state you live in and make your e-mail address available, I'll do a little research and walk you through it.
It sounded like you had payments left on your vehicle... my RDV is paid for... will that affect the payout I might recieve from GM?
Thanks again
~Lance
pc- you can contaact me at lswaidz@hotmail.com if you wish... I check edmunds a couple times a day though too, so either way, i look forward to your response.
Check this website and call your state AG to be sure...and ask them to send you an information package with all the requirements.
http://www.ag.state.il.us/consumer/lemonlaw.htm
Good Luck!
~Lance
http://www.yourlemonlawrights.com/state_laws/illinois.htm#Illinoi- s-Law-Lemon
If the state can't help you, go with the Feds.
I wish you well!
I'm sure glad my wife has our 2000 Regal LS to drive and that I have my dependable 1985 T-Type Regal.If we didnt have them we'd really be mad.
Try the same thing with your new Honda Accord that you did buy from a dealer. Read in the Honda Accord discussions (3 or them) about people not being given loaner for warranty work..., some within weeks/ months of brand new!
Talk about ingratitude from those foreign brands.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
thanks
Our problems were ever present, but mostly just minor annoyances, so I didn't let them sour my ownership experience...that is until they grew in severity and frequency. Here is a rundown for you:
08-15-01: Two-driver memory setting malfunction
03-04-02: Emergency brake inoperative, Automatic door unlock intermittent
11-20-02: Emergency brake inoperative
04-02-03: Whistling steering column, Wandering compass, Two-driver memory setting malfunction
05-19-03: Whistling steering column, Air conditioning inoperative, Two-driver memory setting malfunction
06-10-03: Remote lock confirmation malfunction, Wandering compass
09-24-03: Emergency brake inoperative, Rear sonar park assist malfunction
10-07-03: Two-driver memory setting malfunction
My RDV went through 2 BCM's, 2 mirror motors, 2 instrument clusters, one A/C compressor, one steering rack, and was out of service for a total of 59 days.
After some research, I concluded that all of the electrical problems were BCM related, and that our RDV qualified as a lemon under Washington State law.
We had 40,000 miles on our RDV when we won our claim and I really wish we could have stayed with GM. Although it never left us stranded, and was always comfortable and versatile, I just didn't trust it for the long haul.
To this day, my principal problem with Buick/GM is their customer service attitude. Last fall when I first contacted Buick Customer Care, I told them that if they would just extend my warranty, I wouldn't pursue arbitration. They blew me off, which demonstrated to me that they didn't care about my satisfaction and/or thought I was bluffing. From what I've learned after several years of participating in townhall, I believe that most people with a lemon don't pursue arbitration and simply trade their lemon in on a new car (at a huge financial loss). GM knows this, so it's no wonder thay didn't respond to my complaints.
I pursued arbitration as much for my self-respect as my wallet. I wanted my money back, but more importantly, I wanted to stick it to GM and show them I wasn't going to lie down and go away. I was satisfied on both fronts.
As for your ownership experience, I am personally against extended warranties. These warranties are good business for the companies that sell them because they know that most defects will appear during the factory warranty period. After that, it's just wear and tear.
I would say that if you've gone 60K miles without any problems, you're probably going to be fine. As for the engine, the 60 degree V-6 has been around a long time and is basically bulletproof. It's one of the RDV's strongest attributes.
I have the car set where the AC is blowing out the top vents. I then move the temperature gauge to hot and the air stops blowing out the top vents and now only comes out of the floor. The heater also does not appear to blow that much air out though the car eventually warms up.
I realize heaters normally blow from the bottom; however, I am use to my toyota and our previous honda.
On those cars, the air blows out of the vent that its set for. If you chose the top, then the top, if you chose bottom, bottom, if you chose defrost, .... regardless of whether or not the temperature is set to cold or hot.
On the Buick, moving to the hot air, always changing the direction of the airflow to the floor. I like the idea of being able to turn on the AC and switch to hot and have hot air hit me directly in winter from the top wents. The buick does not allow it.
Does your buick Rendv behave the same way or does mine have a problem.
I appreciate any help. We are down to 4k of warranty
I cant believe that we paid a Buick price for a vehicle with a mediocre 3400 Chevy engine.If we do keep our RDV we will purchase an extended warranty as the Chevy 3400 engine has a history of both external and internal coolant leaks.The RDV would be a much better vehicle with a 3800 Buick in it.
GM,are you listening out there or are you going to brush us off like you did fedlawman?
Thanks
tidester, host
Service manager said the replacement BCM is ours to replace after 3-23-04 when our 3 year warranty is up.That doesnt seem right.I bet you money it eats another BCM.Its either dump it or get an extended warranty.We are talking to GM customer complaints next week.
http://lswaidz.home.insightbb.com/rdv/
good luck
~Lance
First, press the mode button until the indicator shows air coming out of the upper vents. NOTE THAT THIS WILL TURN *OFF* THE AUTO MODE. The temperature is then controlled *manually* by the temp knob.
So second, twist the temp knob to the highest setting (90º) - just like you would on a car that does not have an auto control.
Last, adjust the fan speed as you like.
It is no hurricane, but seems to work.
I think quite a few 3400 powered 2002-03 RDV's will develp intake leaks as they get some miles and age on them.Check out the Chevy Malibu board.I did a search and came up with 5 pages of them.
Buick pulled a bad blunder using the intake gasket leaking under powered 3400 Chev V-6 in our RDV's.They had the proven Buick 3800 or SC3800 engine available but because they used the Aztek platform I hear it wont fit.What a bad mistake.
Everyone be watching the coolant level on your 2002-03 RDV's.Out of warranty an external leak costs $700 and if not caught an internal leak may be $6,000.
It used the 3.1 V-6, just like the Chevy Lumina and Buick Century.
By the way here is our 2002 RDV right after we got it last year.
http://redpowermagazine.com/uploads/upload.cgi/Rendezvous1.jpg
Here is why I go by regalluvr2.
http://redpowermagazine.com/uploads/upload.cgi/Buicklineup0004.jp- - - - - - - g
This picture was taken in 2001.Left to right 85 T-Type Regal,86 T-Type Regal,91 Regal Limited,98 Regal GS,and the 00 Regal LS.The arent very clean as our rural roads were terrible then.It was cold and the sun was going down so didnt wash them.We still have all of them except the 98 GS which was traded for the 02 RDV.We'd love to have the 98 GS back now.
The wife just called and she is having more electrical problems with the RDV so she is going by our GM dealer on the way home from work.Hopefully its just some thing needing reprograming after the new BCM.Our dealer just finished an intake gasket fastener recall on out 2000 LS Regal so she may have to trade vehicles with them.
At 25000 we had a new ignition switch, new fuel pump and new BCM.
We now do not have any backup alarm and the seat memory does not work.
Also need the back hatch catch recall work done.
Can i check for the manifold leak or should I leave that to the dealer next week and hope he is honest?
Thanks
Kiwijim
http://www.gm-v6lemons.com/gmservbull.pdf
If you have an external intake gasket leak you will smell it or see moisture on the engine or a small puddle on the floor,etc.If you have an internal leak you will keep adding coolant and wont know where its going to.
Lots of RDV's will never develop intake gasket leaks in their life time.Its just the fear of not knowing whether the one you own will leak or not.My trust in our 02 RDV's 3400 GM V-6 is gone.
Reading the horror stories at the bottom of the website below doesnt instill much confidence in the 3100 and 3400 GM V-6's.
http://www.gm-v6lemons.com/
When are the 2004 RDV Ultras coming out with the all new 245 HP DOHC 3.6L engine?The sales literature says it was to be avaialable in Jan 2004 but I havent seen any yet.As much trouble as we are having with our 02 CXL we probably shouldnt even consider an Ultra with an unproven engine and the possibility of the same electrical problems as our 02 model.
~Lance
~Ken
The BCM that is used for Buick would likely be used in other GM lines as well.
For every one person that posts on here I'll bet theres 2-300+,maybe even more out there having the same BCM problems.If it wasnt for Edmunds I'd be thinking we were the only ones in the world having this problem.There are 6-8 RDV's in our town and susposedly at the present we are the only ones having a BCM problem.Most however are CX's.Since our BCM is on back order we know there has to be a bad problem nationwide but Buick isnt going to admit it.
islandpete,our confidence in our RDV is gone.It has 31,000 miles on it and the warranty is up 3-23-04.I dont trust the electrical system and I dont trust the intake gasket leaking 3.4 engine.Ours could be one that will go well over 100,000 miles with out ever leaking or it could start tomorrow.Also if it does leak will it be external or internal?
We are either going to send our RDV down the road or buy an extended warranty.My wife has been getting quotes off the internet(not GM)and a decent one is around $900 or more.I cant find the figures right now.
I'm having trouble believing that its all the BCM's fault.There has to be a bad componet,bare wire causing a short,poor ground,loose connection,or something causing the BCM's to go bad time and time again.Iswaitz2 is on his (7th) BCM now.
The wiring on all newer vehicles is a nightmare and its easier to slap on a new BCM rather than it is to track down the problem.
We live 8 miles out in the country and drive alot of rough roads.Our troubles first started when we would hit a bump or go over a railroad track.Our electrical system would go off for 1-2 seconds and then come back on.This would make me think its more the reasons I listed above,but the GM dealer says its the BCM probably because its a quick fix which in our case only lasted one week.
Opinions anyone??
After having my first BCM replaced after 2.5 years, besides all the other problems that occurred (alarm, mirrors, compass), I now find that the button on the console/dash for the rear hatch unlock ONLY WORKS if ALL FOUR DOORS are unlocked. Dealer says that's OK! Anyone else find this?
Since purchasing the car, I have had my door locks set to only open the drivers door on initial unlocking. I used the dash button without thinking twice,EVER. Now I have to purposely open all four locks to use it.
These quirks have really ruined the otherwise nice experience.
I won't even complain that my dealer's "customer parking area" for the service department features spaces SO NARROW that you can almost guarantee a door ding or worse. That is if you are able to extricate yourself from the vehicle to see the damage. This is at a place that also sells GMC vehicles and large commercial trucks/vans as well. C'mon guys!