Category Archives: 2008 Chev sunrofs.

Over-engineering

Posted in 2008 Chev sunrofs., CEO Princeple, Computers, Customer complaints by

I needed a battery charger so I bought one a few weeks ago; or at least I thought I did. It was a little expensive but it was a Die Hard name brand so I bought it. This afternoon I got it out to use it and realized it was more than I wanted and less.

Without asking it to, it analyzed my battery and said it was faulty and stopped. Now isn’t that neat. I don’t even get the option of charging the battery anyway. It just stopped. After several more attempts, it just kept saying the battery was bad and stopped. Sure am glad the car was a backup, otherwise I would have had to call a tow truck right then and there. I mean, if I can’t get the battery charged, I can’t drive the car up to the shop and get it replaced.

It might be a really slick battery charger, but in this case, I really did need a battery charger, not an analyzer. Whose idea was that, anyway? At least, now I know why the thing was so expensive. Now, of course I need a real battery charger so I can get my car to a place where I can get the battery replaced. Either that or I will need to call a tow truck. I sit here in front of my computer wondering just which will cost me more.

At any rate, I figured maybe others can profit from my mistake. If you need to buy a battery charger, you just might check before you buy it and get more than you want. Or is it less than you want. Well. actually, if you need an analyzer as well as a charger, it just might be what you’re looking for.

I guess I’ll keep it. Maybe one of these days, I’ll actually need a charger that is an analyzer or an analyzer that is also a charger.

Now! One might ask, why do I need to take the car to the shop to get the battery changed. Well, those that have read my posts for a long time know that I bought a Chevy that I am not so pleased with. One of the really neat things about it is that I can’t change the battery. I have to take it to a shop. That’s right, they really buried it. Some more over-engineering. I have changed over half a dozen batteries in my life. When they built this one, they wanted me to have to come back to the shop. Same for the $50 headlights. The total on that one is $100. 50 for the light and 50 to put it in.

That is another reason I will never buy another Chevy. Worse, they don’t like listening to my complaints. I have searched for hours trying to find a complaint department on the net. Back then it didn’t exist. Maybe they do now. If so, it’s too late. I already bought a Nissan.

Regardless, I suspect they’d not listen to me anyway. Otherwise, why did they make sure not to listen to me before. Those folks building GM autos might want to start making backup plans. If GM refuses to listen to their customers, I suspect their sales will fall, quickly.

And! by the way. It is just another reason to make me hesitate in buying another. It is what I call the CEO effect. If GM CEOs drove their own cars, I don’t think we, the regular customers would need to complain. The CEOs would make sure the problems were fixed.

As a side note to the side note, I bought a FOB over the internet. It’s been working now for about a year. Couldn’t get any of the others to work more than three months. Apparently, others have been having problems with them too. It’s sort of why so many have been selling on the internet.

Now, let me see. I wonder if the Die Hard CEO ever had to charge a battery with this battery charger. I wonder if it told him he had a bad battery.

Why I Will Never Again Buy Another Chevy…or Any GM Product

Posted in 2008 Chev sunrofs., Auto Quality Control, GMC by

At roughly 4 in the morning, I was driving home from work. As one might imagine, the Interstate traffic was very light. About 5 or 6 cars in front of me slowed and stopped without obvious reason.

I slowed and should have stopped. All too late I discovered there was a lamp post lying across all 3 lanes and then some. Instantly I applied the brakes and managed to slow to 5, maybe 10 MPH.

Not wanting to hit the post without the wheels turning, I let off the brakes completely. I guess each wheel had to rise about 10 inches. I had visions of all 4 wheels falling off but they didn’t.

To this day, the undercarriage is fine about 6 years later.

I must admit, that Chevrolet HHR suspension system is great.

With the above, why wouldn’t I want another one.

  1. After about 5 years, the sunroof broke. After checking around, I have determined that this is common. The failing piece is a little piece metal, likely about an ounce. For that, they wanted me to replace the entire sunroof, about $750. Instead, I fixed it myself for about 20. I liked my fix more.
  2. I have gone through 3 FOBs for remote locking. This took me about 7 months. After that I gave up. I am sure I paid for the remote in some way. I didn’t get it. That is not right. More important, it tells me something about their quality control. As a side note, neither the sunroof, nor the FOBs are likey used muc by the management. If they did, they would know about the problems and fix them. Finally, I would guess they pay very little attention to those on the ground level. Why not isn’t someone who is someone find out about it.

For this reason, i will never buy a GM product or recommend one. If they can’t fix the little things why should I expect them to fix the bigger things.

[Incidentally , at 10 years, I also had to replace the radio. I will not hold that against them. The one I put in is far better, though my turn signal is now silent.