so as some of you know, i am having clutch problems on my car. my car is an 05 pontiac sunfire with 11,000 miles.

The first problem i had with this car was at 4k miles. the power steering pump decided to fail on me in the snow storm almost causing me to slide down a hill. Not cool. I take it to the dealership and the replaced it the next day the pump went out again, so they take it back in again and replace the pump a second time. my car was out of submission for 4 days.

The next problem was the transmission at 6k miles. The gears rattleed all the time shifting and the transmission "rattled under anyhting over 50% throttle. Took it in and said that is just how the transmission is made and all 2003-2005 cavilers and @!#$fires with the "getrag" transmissions just have to deal with it. The @!#$ty transmission still grinds at rattles now and then almost everyday but ofcourse they wont do anything about it.

The next problem was when a drunk driver was next to me and we were turning onto nall off of college. they was an january 1st. He decides in the middle of the turn to stop turning, which in turn causes me to try and swerve to avoive getting raped by this large white van. It was semi wet out the evening and i hit the brakes and slid into a crub. The white van busted through the 2 red lights and hopped onto 435 never to be seen again. The result: $1000 in front end damage including a bent control arm, split bushing mount, bent wheel, broken tire bead, and no hubcap(still to this day). The dealer ofcourse charged me out the ass and even charged me an $89 doller disposal fee to get rid of the old control arm or whatever it was.(WTF??). anyway a month later i keep hearing a poping noise from the right front end. I take it to firestone(KICK ASS SHOP) at 95th and nall to get an oil changed. as i am waiting the mecanic comes and gets me and tells me to come look a few things he noticed while he was underneath the car. I said ok. He took me out to show me 2 of my other wheels are bent on the inside rim, and i then proceeded to tell him about the noise i ahve been hearing about. him and 3 other mecanics stop what they are doing and all come around my car to see if they can find out what is wrong. They find it in about 2 minutes or less.

The @!#$ dealership decided to not bolt something back onto the car when they did the $1000 suspension work. They started to cheak the wheel it was that loose to find where the bolt was. they found it just laying on top of the front transmission mount. one mecanic shook it agian and the bolt feel to the floor. All in all the shop fixed the loose and falling out bolts free of charge, and saved me from probablyh a wreck becaus ei would ahve lost control of suspension if that bolt was not in place.

Now the newest problem. I am driving home thursday night, pulling to a 4 way stop right down from my house when i hear a noise to sound like someones brakes are low type of squealing. By the time i get home it is making the noise still. THe next morning i come to see there is fluid all over the engine bay around the clutch fluid resivour. I then fill it back up with fluid and the noise went away but i still took it back to the dealership. the call me and tell me its the clutch master cyclinder, but it will be 2 days before they can get the part overnighted and installed. I then ask if it is drivable until then, they said yeah come get it just watch the fluid level. All i do is drive it home and part it last night. I come out this morningto drive to jccc because i had a paper due. I try to push the clutch to the floor and it almost falls to the grouund. it took 3 attempts to get the car started. then i got it started and it was in neutral i tried to push it into gear it would not go into any gear. i was like @!#$ i had a paper due in like 15 minutes. So long story short i didnt get to jccc on time and the tow truck just pulled away with the car. i am extreamly pissed at the dealership for 3 reasons.
1.selling me a @!#$ty ass car(party my fault i guess)
2.realeasing the car back to me telling me it was drivable.
3. saying i might ahve to pay for the tow charge.

so in summary
screw gm
screw pontiac
screw andy klien

i am going to be looking at new honda civic si's at olathe honda this weekend. my parents took delivery of an 06 civic ex this morning from there and they were great to us.

I have a Getreg in mine.. and it rattled like a mofo, I switched Form that dextran bull @!#$ to REdline Synocomesh and it fixed that problem 10 fold. As for the rest of your issues.. I guess every now and then a bad car is built.. Mine has 130K on it (80 miles) and it's still runs like a top and I have never had a problem whats so ever, the car has been grate.

*knocks on wood.*

Odd, I have an 04 Getrag in my Cavi and it came with GM Syncromesh and is as quiet as a mouse, never had a problem out of it.

It sounds to me like you NEED to find a new dealership as the one you've ben going to must have morons working there !

Get a new dealership and see if things don't get better. Its not all your poor cars fault that dealer never fixes it correctly the first time around.





Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.

Find a new dealership, those people are complete IDIOTS!! I have an '03 cav, 5 speed and the getrag used to rattle some, expecially when i was on it. I changed the crappy GM syncro-crap and put in stick shirt full synthetic, Dex-III and it's quiet and smooth as a baby's butt shifting. (saw that trick on this site, works GREAT). Your repair problems really suck, the dealership i deal with is very good and gives out replacement cars if required. (GM cars under warrenty work only). Find a new dealership, i went through 3 before i found the one I like and it's been great ever since. Problems fixed right the first time and no BS. I've also had good luck with Firestone repairs and the NAPA repair center. Warrenty work i always to back to GM.
Don

unfortunatly sice 1/3rd of my warrenty is gone and there are problems lke tis every 3 months and it continues past the warrenty i would be screwed.

but yeah this whole ting sucks i was planning on ordering my rims today as well

Torch the car, best advice I have


- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

Rob S wrote:Torch the car, best advice I have

Well thats helpful Rob.


Check out your states Lemon Laws as you may have an out since you ahve so so many problems.




Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.

you should complain to the regional directors from GM, i work for a dealership, and i know mine (although mine is a volvo, not GM) is not that shady...but if we were...one complaint to the regional guy and he'd be here, in the manager's office, the next day, expecting a full explanation. just cuz you got a lemon from a fruadulent dealer..doesent mean all GM cars suck...just means that dealer does!!


_________________________________________________________________

this useless post brought to you by the alcoholic known as LUNDiS

Jackalope wrote:

Rob S wrote:Torch the car, best advice I have

Well thats helpful Rob.


Check out your states Lemon Laws as you may have an out since you ahve so so many problems.

I was actually just kdding.

What advice can we give, just keep going to back to the dealer, or sell the car.




- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

It seems like you only had two problems that were caused by GM. The powersteering, and the transmition. I would have found a different dealership after the first problem.

Rob S wrote:

Jackalope wrote:

Rob S wrote:Torch the car, best advice I have

Well thats helpful Rob.


Check out your states Lemon Laws as you may have an out since you ahve so so many problems.

I was actually just kdding.

What advice can we give, just keep going to back to the dealer, or sell the car.

Ok I thought you were being an ass, my bad. Sorry. Anyway I'd say find a new dealership that would be the first thing.




Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.

agreed. gm in general has had its problems, as have other companies, but theyre not that bad... its all the dealership thats screwin you over man. and its messed up that theyd do that. find a new dealership. one with people that can actually tell you what the problem is, and then fix it rite the first time. i mean it happens sometimes, lemons can happen to anybody, but thats why theres a warrantee. i would consider talking to those regional directors as lundis said. theyll most definately try their best to fix your problem.

well i hope you dont just go to honda, because thats the easy way out in the tuner world, as many others will say, but whatever you may choose, best of luck and hope this all gets solved.

And what makes you think hondas dont have a sluuuu of problems! A car treats its owner the same way the owner treats it!

Yeah, I have a 2003 sunfire w/ a getrag, 67,000 kms, and I've never had any trans rattling or clutch problems.
One thing's for sure though, I would tell that dealership to go !!!!!! themselves. A disposal fee for a control arm!?! I'd tell them I can dispose of it myself; in one of the windshields on the lot!

Cars in general are a huge pain in the a$$. I want to go back to riding horses. At least when a horse breaks something you get to shoot it. (although after spending almost 2000 bucks on misc electronics for my sunfire and STILL idling rough, I've been close to shooting it)


.


John Wilken
2002 Cavalier
2.2 Vin code 4
Auto

If its got wheels or tits its gonna cost you and be a pain in the ass !




Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.

haha well yesterday teh car got towed and i never heard from the @!#$ dealership what a joke! i am going to class and ill wait from a phone call on what is @!#$ up now with the car.

Can't help you much on the JoCo side of things for a Pontiac dealer, but I have dealt with more than one Chevy dealer in the KC area. Had the best luck with I think it is Kahan? Down at 88th and Metcalf area? Best treament and service out of the 4 other Chevy dealers I had visited. As for Pontiac dealerships, all my maint is now done at Gaylen-Boyer on Noland. I know people there and have had good luck for the past 5 years there.

It does sound like you need to complain more to GM directly about your car in general before you do run your warranty out. I had issues with my Cav when I bought it and complained lots and at least got offered extra rebates offered if I wanted to buy a different car. My issues weren't nearly as severe as yours otherwise I would have expected more from them.

well i got an update. i jsut called the dealership since i never get lucky enouf for them to call me. the car got towed there yesterday at noon, and didnt even get looked at when they closed at 7pm. i called this moring to find out that the part that was supposed to arrive yesterday at 2pm isnt even there yet. he also thinks there is now even more @!#$ wrong with the car seeing as now the shifter wont get into any gear while the car is turned on. i just aout went off on the guy. i am going into class and once i get out of class i am calling him back and if the part still has not gotten there then i am going to go down tehre and get a rental car, seeing as i am only 17 my father will take the rental car and i get to drive his car a 2005 V6 accord hehehe, or my moms new 2006 civic ex that we picked up from the delership last night. this whole ongoing situation with my car is degrading by the moment and its all very unfortunate.

oh and Jackass the dealership that i am going to is on like 79th and metcalf.


i will try and keep everybody updated but i dont relaly know who to complain too once this situation is over, my car is already half way to complying with the kansas lemon law and i still ahve 2 years left before my warrenty goes out and the lemon law can no longer be enforced.

Read the back of your manual, it provides the numbers and process you must follow for complaints with GM. One thing you can do is file a complaint with the BBB and allow them to open a case with GM. While your car is under warranty, they have a predefined process of negotiations with GM on how to handle this type of situation.

Oh yeah, keep your cool when talking to the service writers and managers. Be persistant and demanding, but don't get irrate with them....that would just give them an excuse to ask you to leave without any type of resolution.

i have always found the Saturn dealers around here are much better then the chev or pontiac dealers. they do everything right the first time. and even call me a few days after to make sure everything is ok with the car.

it sux your getting screwed around by the dealer. just keep trying different dealers until you find one that does things right.


http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/my2005cav/my%20car%20the%20bash.jpg

i am about to go up to that dealership and shoot every last person in the service department lol.
i do try not to get agravated with them but when you are talking to complete morons its kinda hard.
i got a chance to call him back again and he put me on hold for 15 minutes so i jsut hung up. 45 minutes later i call again and i ask the lady for serrve department. it rings for 11 minues and 43 seconds before someone picks up the phone UM ok wtf.
i then tell him who i am as he knows me fairly well not and he is like HEYY ADAM WHATS GOING ON i am like is he part in then his voice changed completely and said no. so i said so its not going to be installed today....he said no... whats the chances of it being installed tomorrow...he saad not very good even if the part shows up... he then told me saturday is when he hopes to get my car out of the shop


WTF M8 6 and a 1/2 days @!#$ this.

so when my dad gets off work i am going over there with him to get rental car and i will driv his 05 v6 accord until whenever the fuk it gets fixed.

this is the last time i buy an american can and the very last time i even step near that dealership. i am steering anybody who is even looking for a car away from that place in the future.

05 DarkFire wrote:oh and Jackass the dealership that i am going to is on like 79th and metcalf.

I know where Andy Klein is....my buddy who is at Gaylen-Boyer previously worked at Andy Klein. I was referring to the Chevy dealership that is a bit further South on Metcalf.

You can't get too angry at the dealership for the part not arriving. Quite often that is out of their control. Purely up to which ever warehouse they have to order in from. Sometimes another dealership in town has it, other times it has to come in from out of town or even out of state. So I'd be pretty happy that at least he is being fairly truthful in how long it is going to take. It would be even worse if he promised it to you tomorrow and then didn't have it done till Saturday.

As for buying a Civic instead of something domestic? Just because the sales guys are nice to you doesn't mean you'll have any better luck with the service department. I liked the sales guys at Molle when I bought my cav...they were awesome. But when it came to their service department, they needed some help. I have no issues with buying an import instead of domestic, I just did it last year. My current car is a tC and I get it serviced at Adam's Scion. Their sales team are a bunch of morons, however their service guys have been great so far. It is all hit and miss depending on what dealership sales people as well as service people you interact with.

Anyways...good luck with you car and hopefully they finally do get it all fixed for you.

tahts the problem i took the car in on monday and he called me monday mid morning and said the part will be at out dealership by 2pm on tuesday and your car will be completely fixed by close tuesday....here we are on wensday and the part isnt even here yet...tahts why i am mad about the part.