Friday June 18, 2010

Our terrible experience with the Uplander has ended. Prompted by the need for a whole new suspension and the fact that we actually had built some equity in the vehicle we decided to trade and start anew.
At the time of trade these are the things that were wrong and threatened to add more expense. Cracked third taillight, peeling paint around this cracked third taillight, non-working rear wiper, alignment issues, brake issues, suspension issues, both key fobs were non-working, weatherstripping had fallen off both sliding doors.

We're hoping our new VW will bring us better luck.

Approaching 100K

As we get closer to 100K miles more and more problems.

The rear wiper has stopped working. This was fixed once under a warranty. Obviously an issue but now it's our responsibility.

Both Sliding doors have problems with the weather stripping. It keeps falling off.

August 2009

I have to admit that 2009 has been rather uneventful for the Uplander. We've switched to a none GM dealer for maintenance. I feel much more comfortable with this change.

The third brake light has caused more paint to peal and the Chevy Bowtie on the front is even more tarnished. (how ironic)

Yet another full set of brakes and third set of tires - with 80K miles. We have one year left on the payments (fortunately it's at 0 APR)and we'll drive it until it becomes to much to maintain. I recently received a letter from Chevrolet's VP Brent DeWar stating my Dealer will no longer be an Authorized Dealer. This should have happened 4 years ago. Other than the poor quality of my van they are the mane reason my family will never buy from GM again.

2005 Chevy Uplander - 09/15/05 - Present

In September of 2005 my wife an I purchased an Uplander minivan. A few days later we took it on our first family trip. The molding around the windshield became loose and the lights flickered several times during the evening drive. This was just the start of what has become a 33 month(and counting)nightmare of several problems with our minivan.

After very poor dealer service (this was from the dealer I purchased it from, the current dealer has been very helpful and accommodating)several brake problems, alignment issues, premature tire wear, several electrical problems and now a pealing paint problem I decided to document every thing and present it to the world.

I am post dating the posts to keep them as close to the actual order of service.

07/07/08 - Called dealer to speak about lens/paint and brake sheilds

On Sunday 07/06/08, about a week after the last dealer visit, I drove to all the chevy dealers and used car dealers I could find in the area and found several other vans (not all chevys but hey were the same body type) with the same problem. Some were as bad as ours and some were just starting to have the small crack in the paint. See side bar for a link to the photos I have taken of several other vans over the last few weeks.

I called the dealer back to tell them that I'd like the tail light lens / peeling paint problem documented since the paint/corrosion warranty ends at 60K miles. They only told me the body shop would give an estimate. They hadn't put it in writing.

I also spoke to the dealer about TSB# 07-05-23-003 again. He said he was still looking into the shields and the paint problem.

The dealer SM was trying to get the district service manager to look at our vehicle history. He said the DSM did not think it was out of the ordinary and didn't think he woudl do anything. He hadn't heard back form the district service manager regarding the paint issue or the brake shields yet.

Peeling Paint

Look for peeling paint near your third brake light (top of rear door)

See the link in the side bar for pictures of other vans with the same problem.

06/27/08 - 56247 Miles - Tires Rotated - More Brake Pulsation - Left Control Arm

Tires are rotated.

There is a lot of pulsation during braking again. Test drove to verify. Found front rotors blued (again I tell them we do not drive with left foot on the break or ride the brakes period) Rear pads are at 10%.

Front rotors are re-surfaced, calipers serviced, replaced left rear rotor, resurfaced right rear, replaced rear pads, serviced rear calipers.

Replaced left front control arm bushing under warranty ($100 deductible)

I also had the body shop look at the third brake light on the rear door. The paint is cracking on the left and right edges and the lens is cracked. The dealers body shop response was: "You tightened the screws too tightly on the lens causing the lens to crack and also causing the paint to crack." We have never had the lens off.

The next day I drove to the same dealer and found a Saturn Relay that had the same peeling paint problem as our Uplander on their own lot.

I called the dealer at the beginning of the week (06/30/08) to tell about the Relay and to tell them about a TSB that I found that might explain the rotor problems we had been having.

This was TSB# 07-05-23-003 which talks about the possibility of the vibration and pulsation problems being caused by the front brake shields. The brake pads and rotors may wear uneven due to debris.

05/01/08 - 52592 Miles - right front wheel bearing replaced, transmission service

Found right front wheel bearing needs replacing. Cover under extended warranty - plus $100 deductible.

04/05/08 - 50530 Miles - Tire Rotation , Alignment

Tires Rotated and Alignment checked.

01/26/08 - 46446 Miles - Tires Rotated

Tires Rotated on Schedule -

Note: Left Rear - Inter Brake Pad - is down to 20% will need to replace the rear brake pads at next service.

12/28/07 - 45164 MIles - Brakes again !!! Tires Rotated

The vibration is back in the front of the Uplander.

Dealer test drove and felt pulsation, inspected all brakes, found front rotors have gotten hot and blued. Check calipers, all are free at this time. Will need the front rotors replaced to correct condition.

The calipers had been seizing when we first started having problems early in our ownership. I suspect they might be gettign stuck again since the only other way the dealer said the rotors would "blue" is from riding the break or driving with your left foot on the brake pedal all the time. We have done neither.

We paid for the new front brakes. The extended warranty does not cover wearable items such as brakes.

Tires are rotated and tire wear is inspected.

12/01/07 - 43131 Miles - Tires Rotated

Tires rotated again - wear ok.

09/25/07 - 39897 Miles - Oil Change and Tire inspection / rotation

Tires are rotated and are wearing ok.

08/07/07 - 35339 Miles - All Radio Issues now fixed

We had the van in for an oil change and the ongoing radio issues. The Radio was replaced and all the radio, speaker, DVD issues were finally taken care of.

The dealer SM has been speaking to Chevrolet Customer Service about our concern of all the issues we've had and our concern going forward as we only have 661 miles left on our warranty. They offer us an extended warranty of 3 years or 36000 miles. There is however a $100 deductible.

06/26/07 - 33903 Miles - New Tires, - Radio looked at again

The tires are now to a point where they are no longer safe. During the 06/13/07 visit it was stated by the dealer that Wear on tires appears to be from lack of rotation even thought we had them rotated several times. We travel a lot on the summer and have decided to bite the bullet and buy new ones. With only 33903 miles on this van that we purchased new we are now putting new tires on it!

Up to this point we have had to put very little money into the van other than expected maintenance items such as oil changes and other minor issues. As you can see by the documentation of trips to the original dealer up to this point, inconvenience was the issue along with the worry of what would happen once we passed our warranty period. (only about 2100 miles left at this point and we haven't even had the van two years yet) As of now we are not only being inconvenienced by this poorly manufactured van, we are now also paying for it.

06/13/07 - 32264 Miles - New Dealer, a new start

I was asked by the new dealership's Service Manager to provide a list of what was to be looked at. I did this and they checked everything out (12 items)on the first trip.

Will add copy of this later

So far so good with new dealer

05/18/07 - Mileage unknown - No Paperwork - Last Time with Orginal Dealer (less than 30K)

As per the advice of the owner of the dealership, I dropped off the car with a list of issues to be looked at.
Here are the issues that were to be looked at.
1. Check DVD player - Not working correctly since the radio was replaced 04/17/08
2. Rear wiper only works occasionally. It will stop in the middle of the window.
3. Rattling Noise near rear left sliding door - TSB 06-08-64-009A
4. Loud Buzzing / Humming Noise from front at highway speeds. Possible TSB# 06-02-58-001
5. Clicking Grinding Noise when making sharp turns at low speeds. Possibly TSB# 06-02-32-005.
6. Random Rough Starts - Car turns over, make loud grinding noise and stalls. Possibly TSB#01-08-45-005E.
7. Front and Back Chevy Bow tie Emblems are pitted and discolored. This had originally been brought to the attention of the dealer on 08/06/08. TSB# 06-08-111-004
8. Driver's Side Door Molding is comning off again. Was replaced in February 2006. No TSB found on this but both sliding doors were replaced in December of 2005 and the front doors in February of 2006 under warranty.
9. Low to Medium volume whistling noise heard from engine area when accelerating at highways speeds.
No TSB found on this, but saw several accounts on internet bulletin boards with this and other GM brands of the mini van being replaced under warranty.
10. Wheel Alignment and uncharacteristic tire wear.
Tires rotated at 7059 miles
Tires rotated at 11198 miles and tire wear was noted by owner and dealer.
Dealer said alignment with in spec.
Tires rotated at 15951 miles
Request made by owner to rotate tires at 23838 miles. Service manager would not rotate because of poor condition of tires. Said he would order new tires under warranty, alignment was within spec.
This Service Manager left the dealer. Possible TSB# 05-03-07-009A released 09/28/06.
The TSB states that using incorrect or outdated specifications may result in unnecessary adjustments, irregular and/or premature tire wear and repeat customer complaints.
Other: The Suction cup and numbers on the glass are asked to be looked at again.

I called the dealership to see how the work was coming. Here's as much of the conversation that I can remember. I was taking notes as we spoke but I was also very upset because of the way I was treated.

SM:(service manager) "We were able to look at what it was in for today.(apparently not everything on my list was able to be looked at because the only thing they were expecting was the followup with new parts form the last visit in April) Looking at the list . . the DVD player is working as it should"
Me: "What?, the speakers don't work."
SM: "It's working as it should."
Me: "What?, you can't hear the DVD sound over the speakers!"
SM: "Ok, I'll look at it myself"
Me: "What?, why didn't you already?"
SM: "You're not going to be asking 40 questions about everything, Come and pick up your car and find another dealer!"
Me: "Can I talk to XXXX (the owner)?"
SM: "No!"
Me: "What?"
SM: "Come and get your car!"

After this I called Chevy customer service and they found me a new dealer. Apparently a dealer can refuse to work on your vehicle if they feel you are complaining to much. I feel that we were treated badly by this new Service Manager. He was trying to fix our problems and had done a better job than the previous SM's but he was doing it on his own terms and and history we and our van had with this dealer and the SM's did not count. We were essentilayy startign over and had to prove the problems all over again.

I had asked the owner for paper work from several of the earlier visits that we made with the van. There were several times that they did not give us paper work. I wanted everything so I could present everything to GM. When they sent the paperwork at the end of 03/2007 it was with a statement saying we owed $310.55! The bill consisted of the open work orders from late 2006 and early 2007 before that last service manager started. several of the items had not even been completed. Finally after a couple of months of calling back and fourth I was able to get all of the bill canceled. This was our last contact with the dealership we purchased the Van from.

04/17/07 - 29668 miles - Radio fixed - NOT !! - Other Issues

The radio was finally in at the dealer. An appointment was set up for 04/17/08. I showed up with TSB's I printed off AllData.com. I paid for a one year subscription to see if I'd have better luck figuring out what was going on with our Uplander. The new service manager didn't like it that I brought in a list of possible TSB's. I said the TSB on the radio that you found last week was issued in the summer of 2005 and we bought the van in September of 2005. The other service managers did not find a TSB that was there since before we even owned the vehicle!!

I gave him my list and he said they were not valid and that only GM TSB's were to be followed. He said there was more on my list than what was on the schedule to be looked at and fixed today. I agreed and said I was just bringing them to the dealer attention. I became upset. All I was trying to do was give him some history on our old problems and current problems, and he said to stop or he'd throw me out of the business. Another professional employee. I think he felt that I was showing him up by having the TSB's. This was nothing against him. He had found the radio problem, the DVD issue, and the dimming light problem the last time on 04/04/07.

After I picked up the van that evening (after hours) I tried the DVD player and it didn't hiss or have static anymore because it didn't work. I tried the DVD player and there is only a picture. No Sound - unless you plug in a set of head phones, not not the wireless headphones that come with the Uplander, regular wired ones. If you try to switch on the DVD player says "No Radio". Unbelievable.

04/04/07 - 28461 - Drop off for new service manger to look at.

On 04/04/07 I dropped off our Uplander to see what the new service manger could figure out and fix. The Radio issue was confirmed and a new radio was ordered. Other issues were looked at(DVD Static, dimming headlights)and parts were ordered. I do not have paper work for the 04/04/07 visit.

03/27/07 - Miles unknown - Call to dealer for followup of 12/27/06 Service

I called to check on the tires under warranty and the radio that was ordered. To my surprise there was no record of the radio being ordered or the tires. There was a new service manager and once again no record was left by the other service manager. I asked to speak to the owner. I explained that we were still waiting for parts ordered back in December of 2006. He explained that the previous service manager had health problems and left. He said give him a few days to look everything up and he's get back to me. He mentioned he doubted the tires were covered since they are a wearable item.

I had not heard anything from the dealer for over a week so I called back on 03/27/07. I called and asked to speak to the owner. He said, "Hi Lance", I'll put you through to the new service manager. He forwarded me to the new manager. His first words were "What can I help you with?" I said "The owner has filled you in on my van's problem?" and he said no, I don't know anything about your car. I lost it!!! I asked to speak to the owner again. I asked why the service manager knew nothing about my van's issues. He had over a week to work on it and never did a thing! I was so upset I hung up after saying that he had sold us a piece of crap car that has had problems since purchased it.

I immediately sent a fax to him explaining why I was so upset, everything from the poor quality of the van and poor service we have received from his dealership. The car was under 30k miles at this time and the brakes were acting up again, the moldings were coming off the doors again. Note only were we unhappy with the quality, we were very upset with the inconvenience of having to drop the car off so many times to be fixed. We are a two car family and we need this van!

I sent a list of all issues with my fax. We set up an appointment to have the car looked at on 04/04/07. The owner assured me that this new service manger is very good and he will fix our problems.