Topic: GM 'Most Reliable' ad

[ktm525]

What shocked me regarding the V8 in my G8 was not that it had excessive piston slap when cold (sounded like a 30 year old lawn mower until fully warmed up) but rather the GM representatives explanation, comments and actions on a car well within it's warranty:  He basically said GM's quality control was poor and some engines were OK and others not good. He said it was cheaper for GM to deal with problems than to invest in tightening the quality during engine assembly. In my case the short skirt pistons used had "variable" quality" GM acknowledged there was a problem and agreed to attempt a fix by replacing one piston at a time but would not authorize doing more than that. The head Foreman said he could hear at least two, possibly three bad pistons but they would need to do one at a time and each attempt would be 1-2 weeks at the shop.... I sold it full disclosure to a young GM slappy.

\


The piston slap was an odd one. We had it really bad in our Suburban 5.3, after close to 300,000km it never got worse or better and I'll bet its still out running around. My Dad in Law has a 2007 SS Trailblazer that has it too (6.0 corvette mill) it stated at 10,000km or so and is now around 170,000. GM said ignore it, he did and its been fine. I find in the last 15 or so years piston slap has been an issue in many other makes, seem the short skirt light weight pistons are part of the issue.

It still awful to hear on a new vehicle.

Mine was bad enough to drown out the stereo in any weather below -5 degrees. Harmful or not it is unacceptable. The old mans Yukon Denali has the same mill and it is tomb silent with 200k kms. The variability and the refusal to correct issues is what it comes down to. Toota replace the front axle bushings in my truck when it had over 200k kms and was 12 years old. That is stepping up.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Stupid ad, but I've owned tons of GMs and never really had dud. 84 Camaro is over 320kms with nothing but maintenance and wear items, plus and exhaust and an alternator. Escalade is pushing 260K and is flawless.

Their 80's/90's vehicles were pretty bulletproof, though.  The engines (particularly the 350) were especially reliable.  but they were also simple.  None of them had cylinder deactivation, or stop/start, or variable valve timing.  The chassis were pretty ordinary, they weren't trying to do anything magical with suspension setup, or whatever.  It was all tried, tested and true. 

I think when the 2000's rolled around is when they started adding technology to their drivetrains and started getting higher failure rates.  That's probably also around the time they started to lean put more content into their vehicles, so in order to still make money on vehicles with more content while holding the line on price, they needed to cut back in some areas that couldn't be seen. 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Dad had a 1992 Sierra with the 350 auto. It thumped like a pile-driver when shifted into drive, but was reliable. His 1996 Chev Cheyenne 2500 with the 350 and manual had piston slap from new, but likewise, was dead reliable.

[ktm525]

70s GM? Bulletproof drivelines  perhaps but I still remember when the door pull of my fathers 77 Caprice Classic ripped out of the door when it was a month old. It appeared to be attached with a couple drywall screws lol.

[KD]

Meh, just another dumb car commercial, like 90% of them.   

[ChaosphereIX]

Just today:
Cruze turbo replacement. This is common.
LEA engine in Terrain threw timing chain. Junked. Another LEA is a head gasket blown.
Colorado brand new needs oil pumps. Have 3 waiting for parts.
3.6 LFX coolant leak. This is common.
Brake lines blown on 3 quarter ton HD truck. Common.
More I cant remember.

[ChaosphereIX]

Enclave needs new gear selector assembly just came in. Under 30k on it.

Encore blew a heater core. Trax has Hvac controls inoperable. Full cold AC in winter no way to turn off.

[Gurgie]

I never seen issues with GM powertrains & driveline bits over the years when my parents exclusively were GM slappies. But it's been a while, the last one they had was a 2002 Pontiac Montana that my Dad sold to my brother in law. Before that he had a few GMC Safari's & my Mom had a Chevy Corsica. All were reliable & didn't leave them stranded anywhere ever. Sh!t went wrong with other things, but they started & drove every day.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[Ex-airbalancer]

If you keep your Truck/Car only as long as the warranty lasts, you will be OK... After that point, you will pay and pay, for a poorly made truck :-)

My 4 trucks have been very crappy :-)

My Sierra was a 2009 with 200,000km. It was flawless.

GM (like many manufacturers) makes some duds. Let us please not turn this into a retarded thread.

Some are fine, some are Duds.  I think it's luck of the draw.  The Bankruptcy era GMT900 trucks (2007-2014) were relatively poorly made because GM was cutting costs both in materials and labour.  Some trucks were absolutely fine, and then others were just crap.  Ever felt warped front brake rotors?  It was a common problem.  Same with broken leaf springs.  My brother had a broken leaf spring on his 2010 Sierra with 100 000kms.  And it's not like he was overloading it.  It was a daily driver, and so hauled air most of the time.  A few other things let go on that truck. 

A brand's reputation for reliability is not built on the vehicles that never break down and owners who have great experiences, but rather the ones that end up being duds.  If a brand has more duds than shining examples, their reputation suffers.  Look at Chrysler, for example.  It just so happened my van happened to be a shining example.  I didn't have a single issue with that van, all the way up to 100 000kms, and I used that thing HARD.  BUT, Chryslers are known to have many, many problems.  If you were to go based solely off my experience, one would think Chrysler is the pinnacle of reliability and solid engineering.  But we all know better.  The same goes for Chevy.  Instead of looking at VMango's truck that happened to be perfect, look at my boss's wife's Equinox who needs a brand new 2.4L engine at 170 000kms, due to a known problem with excessive oil consumption. 

Anyway, all this doesn't matter.  They're bringing new plants online in Mexico soon, so those vehicles won't have any problems with them, right???  Riiighht?

More BS from you 
My truck is 2011 , it is running just fine
My does not haul air like yours , and avg 15l/100 km 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

If you keep your Truck/Car only as long as the warranty lasts, you will be OK... After that point, you will pay and pay, for a poorly made truck :-)

My 4 trucks have been very crappy :-)

My Sierra was a 2009 with 200,000km. It was flawless.

GM (like many manufacturers) makes some duds. Let us please not turn this into a retarded thread.

Some are fine, some are Duds.  I think it's luck of the draw.  The Bankruptcy era GMT900 trucks (2007-2014) were relatively poorly made because GM was cutting costs both in materials and labour.  Some trucks were absolutely fine, and then others were just crap.  Ever felt warped front brake rotors?  It was a common problem.  Same with broken leaf springs.  My brother had a broken leaf spring on his 2010 Sierra with 100 000kms.  And it's not like he was overloading it.  It was a daily driver, and so hauled air most of the time.  A few other things let go on that truck. 

A brand's reputation for reliability is not built on the vehicles that never break down and owners who have great experiences, but rather the ones that end up being duds.  If a brand has more duds than shining examples, their reputation suffers.  Look at Chrysler, for example.  It just so happened my van happened to be a shining example.  I didn't have a single issue with that van, all the way up to 100 000kms, and I used that thing HARD.  BUT, Chryslers are known to have many, many problems.  If you were to go based solely off my experience, one would think Chrysler is the pinnacle of reliability and solid engineering.  But we all know better.  The same goes for Chevy.  Instead of looking at VMango's truck that happened to be perfect, look at my boss's wife's Equinox who needs a brand new 2.4L engine at 170 000kms, due to a known problem with excessive oil consumption. 

Anyway, all this doesn't matter.  They're bringing new plants online in Mexico soon, so those vehicles won't have any problems with them, right???  Riiighht?

More BS from you 
My truck is 2011 , it is running just fine
My does not haul air like yours , and avg 15l/100 km 

Whatever you say, Dude.

[rrocket]

My G8's engine made it all the way to 65k kms. Quality.

I never knew it popped the engine!

[draghon]

Just today:
Cruze turbo replacement. This is common.
LEA engine in Terrain threw timing chain. Junked. Another LEA is a head gasket blown.
Colorado brand new needs oil pumps. Have 3 waiting for parts.
3.6 LFX coolant leak. This is common.
Brake lines blown on 3 quarter ton HD truck. Common.
More I cant remember.

Enclave needs new gear selector assembly just came in. Under 30k on it.

Encore blew a heater core. Trax has Hvac controls inoperable. Full cold AC in winter no way to turn off.

To play devils advocate, working in a service center you are only going to see cars with issues.

What percentage are you seeing at your service center vs the cars that are happily motoring away trouble free? All makes and models will have a certain percentage of cars with issues.

[ChaosphereIX]

Just today:
Cruze turbo replacement. This is common.
LEA engine in Terrain threw timing chain. Junked. Another LEA is a head gasket blown.
Colorado brand new needs oil pumps. Have 3 waiting for parts.
3.6 LFX coolant leak. This is common.
Brake lines blown on 3 quarter ton HD truck. Common.
More I cant remember.

Enclave needs new gear selector assembly just came in. Under 30k on it.

Encore blew a heater core. Trax has Hvac controls inoperable. Full cold AC in winter no way to turn off.

To play devils advocate, working in a service center you are only going to see cars with issues.

What percentage are you seeing at your service center vs the cars that are happily motoring away trouble free? All makes and models will have a certain percentage of cars with issues.

I see plenty of healthy cars getting regular LOFs and air filters and maintenance. Plenty. I am just mentioning the ones that came in with issues today that struck me.

I don't have numbers of healthy vs. sick cars, but all I can say is GM is far from "most reliable"

[KD]

I never seen issues with GM powertrains & driveline bits over the years when my parents exclusively were GM slappies. But it's been a while, the last one they had was a 2002 Pontiac Montana that my Dad sold to my brother in law. Before that he had a few GMC Safari's & my Mom had a Chevy Corsica. All were reliable & didn't leave them stranded anywhere ever. Sh!t went wrong with other things, but they started & drove every day.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

My friend's wife still has her 2000 Grand Am that she bought as a demo in 2001.  It's got over 300k on it now.  It's had a few parts replaced over the years but no major failures.  He said engine and drivetrain are still solid.  She did buy a new replacement car last year but keeps commuting in the Grand Am.  He figures what the hell, it's not worth anything, but not costing anything either. 

[Seafoam]

I never seen issues with GM powertrains & driveline bits over the years when my parents exclusively were GM slappies. But it's been a while, the last one they had was a 2002 Pontiac Montana that my Dad sold to my brother in law. Before that he had a few GMC Safari's & my Mom had a Chevy Corsica. All were reliable & didn't leave them stranded anywhere ever. Sh!t went wrong with other things, but they started & drove every day.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

My friend's wife still has her 2000 Grand Am that she bought as a demo in 2001.  It's got over 300k on it now.  It's had a few parts replaced over the years but no major failures.  He said engine and drivetrain are still solid.  She did buy a new replacement car last year but keeps commuting in the Grand Am.  He figures what the hell, it's not worth anything, but not costing anything either.

It sounds like it's been a good car. When a car becomes of that age the body has to be solid. Did he have it regularly undercoated ?
A few years ago i purchased an old 98 pickup with a fairly solid body. I have continued to undercoat it even though it isn't worth much. Cancer is what takes a lot of cars off the road. Most people don't experience this because they don't keep  a car long enough.

[KD]

I never seen issues with GM powertrains & driveline bits over the years when my parents exclusively were GM slappies. But it's been a while, the last one they had was a 2002 Pontiac Montana that my Dad sold to my brother in law. Before that he had a few GMC Safari's & my Mom had a Chevy Corsica. All were reliable & didn't leave them stranded anywhere ever. Sh!t went wrong with other things, but they started & drove every day.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

My friend's wife still has her 2000 Grand Am that she bought as a demo in 2001.  It's got over 300k on it now.  It's had a few parts replaced over the years but no major failures.  He said engine and drivetrain are still solid.  She did buy a new replacement car last year but keeps commuting in the Grand Am.  He figures what the hell, it's not worth anything, but not costing anything either.

It sounds like it's been a good car. When a car becomes of that age the body has to be solid. Did he have it regularly undercoated ?

Honestly, I can't remember if they rust proofed the thing and i haven't seen the car up close in a long time.  I would have to assume so.  They bought it within a few weeks of my wife buying her new 2001 Focus wagon.  Our Focus rusted out really badly in the ten years we owned it, so i sold it for $2500.  Surprised I got that for much for it really.  Mechanically it was almost flawless.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Here is 'Mahk's take.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_wdo4ihcd8

[EV Dan]

Here is 'Mahk's take.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_wdo4ihcd8

 Tawk about backfire 

[EV-Light]

LMAO

[ArticSteve]

^^^

GM is a rudderless operation.   Looking forward to what's next.