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My GM LEMON!!!

My GM LEMON!!!

MY 2001 SILVERADO LEMON

Hello everyone! I would like to tell you about my truck.It is an 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 4.8L with a 5 speed manual transmission.Beautiful black with a sport-side bed. Too bad that it will NOT drive!!! You see I purchased the truck new from Spencer Chevrolet in Norman, OK. It now has 9765 total miles & here is my story...Problems first appeared at 200 miles, clutch felt odd. Took to David Stanley Chevrolet in OKC,OK . They just said everything is new, give the parts time to "mesh" properly."Don't worry,everything is FINE." Truck began popping out of 2nd. gear & a burning smell developed from the clutch. Back to David Stanley, they said "they could not duplicate my concerns." BOOM! The clutch exploded at less than 3000 miles.Had to fight GM tooth & nail to get them to replace the clutch under warranty. Even with the new clutch truck was still popping out of 2nd. gear.After multiple visits to David Stanley Chevrolet for this problem,I finally gave up & took the truck to City Chevrolet in OKC,OK. They replaced 2nd. & reverse gear(letting me know that the truck was missing the shift lever pin & clutch spring. Things still did not improve. Now the truck would hardly go into 3rd. gear & rapidly returned to popping out of 2nd. gear.I should have become suspious much sooner...when I realized from the dealers repair order that they had performed a double flush of fluid on my transmission per a single repair. Did that indicate metal particles in my transmission? Kept taking the truck back for clutch/transmission concerns.Since they were either unwilling or unable to find the problem, they told me "just keep driving the truck, eventually something has to give.THEN we can find your problem." Well,something gave all right! On May 20,2001, while trying to get onto the highway, the rear wheels of the truck locked up! This caused the truck to go into a skid causing me to plow up an embankment & damaging the frame/underbody of the truck.Thankfully I was able to stop the truck & no one was injured.Feeling sure that NOW City Chevrolet could find out what was wrong with the truck, I had it towed in.After all, this was the 12th. time the truck had been taken in for clutch/transmission!!! YES, 12 times @ only 9765 miles.Instead, City Chevrolet removed my clutch, transmission,drive shaft & exhaust system from the truck & threw it all into the bed of the truck!!! This was done at the behest of Matt Stapleton, area service manager for General Motors. He has refused me warranty service & indeed placed a warranty block on the entire power train of the truck! Their diagnosis of the trucks problem was "overloaded clutch." They said transmission was fine, & rear end was fine.How could I possibly overload a clutch on a half ton pickup when I shifted by the shift light & never trailered or towed with this truck? I contacted GM customer service for help.They maintained that the decision was made by Matt Stapleton & they must support his opinion. This truck was NOT "abused" ! Next,I pursued arbitration through the BBB. I felt I couldn't lose. I had tried 12 times to get the truck repaired through the dealers. I didn't know that the arbitrator had no mechanical knoledge.Suprise! He ruled that although the truck qualified for replacement,"in his opinion, it could have been customer abuse." therefore he ruled in the favor of GM. What more could I have done? Neither the service advisor at City Chevrolet nor the GM rep could ever explain to me exactly what overloading a clutch means.However they can refuse to repair the truck because of it! Also, after telling(& writing on the repair order) that the transmission was fine,I took it to Blumenthal's to be checked out before going to the expense of having a new clutch installed. The transmission is damaged. If repaired through a GM dealer ,the nearest estimate I can calculate is roughly between 3 & 4 THOUSAND $!!! I again contacted GM hoping they would do right. NO luck at all! Both GM customer assistance & GM area service mgr. Matt Stapleton have refused me any help or relief through my warranty. The window sticker indicates this truck came with a 36 month or 36,000 mile warranty.( Of course this excludes maintainence items.)They advertise that Chevy trucks are "LIKE A ROCK". The only resemblance my truck bears to a rock is that is just a big lump that sits in my driveway!!!Am tired of making payments & paying insurance on a truck with only 9765 miles which requires a tow truck to move!! What has happened to General Motors? Why not just close down "Customer Service"? Do you people care at all? I am telling everyone I know & everyone I can reach by internet what a shoddy uncaring company you have become! You sure didn't mind taking my money,Now how about delivering on the promise(warranty) that went with this truck? Sure hope someone from GM's executive office reads this!
Looking for a good attorney in the OKC area.
Anyone else out there stuck with a GM lemon? My name is Debbi. My email is SEABO@aol.com
This is an update for anyone out there wondering about the out come. Today is november 13, 2003. after 18 months of trying to work out my problems with GM I have realised that I am going to have to file suit against GM. Tried everything I can think of to settle this without going to court, but it is just NOT going to happen. It has now been 18 months since the truck last ran..18 months of payments & full coverage insurance for that useless "ROCK" in my driveway.Expecting my attorney to file the suit in the next few days. I wish the nightmare would end!!

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My dream car WAS this truck!

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