GM Shoddiness & Crappy Build & Materials Quality

[Motornoggin]

Originally Posted by Bricen18

How many of you have experienced the leaky crimp fittings on the oil and tranny cooler supply and return lines. For example 05 Chevy truck (oil) 06 Chevy 2500 (oil) Pontiac grand Prix (tranny).

grand Prix had tranny replaced under warranty under 60K miles WTF

Chevy wheel bearing design is garbage as well.

I sell way more Ford and Dodge bearing assemblies (and steering/suspension parts) than GM, by a large margin.

[Nailhead]

Originally Posted by Motornoggin

Actually, they are made from tool steel (many, many different varieties of treatable steel), hardened, then precision ground, just like a bearing.

I did not know that.

Glad to hear it.

[Nailhead]

Originally Posted by Bricen18

How many of you have experienced the leaky crimp fittings on the oil and tranny cooler supply and return lines.

Yes-- see "S10" above.

Saw the same problem on a PS hose crimp under an '07 F150 the other day.

[LuciferMutt]

I hate Rav4s.



























But I'd still own one over any GM product...

[a1fa]

Originally Posted by Motornoggin

I sell way more Ford and Dodge bearing assemblies (and steering/suspension parts) than GM, by a large margin.

That's because Fords are being driven while GM sits at junk yards.

[Fishizl]

Originally Posted by nofate

Ridgelines aren't considered trucks in northern Ontario. In my town there are more pickup trucks than cars and I haven't seen a single Ridgeline except for the odd summer tourist.

that's true, although I owned a ridgeline for 7 years and when I took it into norther quebec it held it's own quiet well. I used it to haul my boat and camper from time to time, but overall it was my cottage truck. I put on 230,000km and had zero issues with that vehicle. I was hoping Honda would have come out with a full size truck like toyota but they never changed, and are still the same vehicle they came out with in 2006.

I ended up buying a new RAM Laramie to replace it and couldn't be happier.

Depending on what you need a vehicle for, the Ridgeline is one solid, extremely dependable vehicle.

[Mambo Dave]

Originally Posted by Elburrito

that's true, although I owned a ridgeline for 7 years and when I took it into norther quebec it held it's own quiet well. I used it to haul my boat and camper from time to time, but overall it was my cottage truck. I put on 230,000km and had zero issues with that vehicle. I was hoping Honda would have come out with a full size truck like toyota but they never changed, and are still the same vehicle they came out with in 2006.

I ended up buying a new RAM Laramie to replace it and couldn't be happier.

Depending on what you need a vehicle for, the Ridgeline is one solid, extremely dependable vehicle.

As much as I dislike to do it, my truck is getting older and in need of head gaskets... where-as I have a source to possibly pick up a Ridgeline for a low price.

My days of 'hopeful' mudding are probably over ('hopeful' because I never could afford a real mudding truck anyway), but at least the Ridgeline seems to have a long enough bed to pick up one of my stranded motorcycles if need be.

[Fishizl]

Originally Posted by Mambo Dave

My days of 'hopeful' mudding are probably over ('hopeful' because I never could afford a real mudding truck anyway), but at least the Ridgeline seems to have a long enough bed to pick up one of my stranded motorcycles if need be.

A mudding truck, the Ridgeline is not. I did find the bed on the small size, but it was big enough to carry my new KLR home when I bought it.

[Mambo Dave]

And that's all I guess I need. That, or an El Camino... but IIRC, El Camino's had no good tie-off points for motorcycles.

Originally Posted by Elburrito

A mudding truck, the Ridgeline is not. I did find the bed on the small size, but it was big enough to carry my new KLR home when I bought it.

[Nailhead]

I remembered another GM engineering plum:

The door hinge pins on S10's whose bushings crack and fall out without regular lubrication (think monthly in dusty environments). The pins then wear into the hinge bracket which is welded to the cab.

The fix is welding the holes up & redrilling them, which is not an easy operation according to a friend of mine who owns a body shop.

[Nailhead]

Anyone noticed where GM put the exhaust fluid reservoir on recent D-Maxes?

[Nophix]

Originally Posted by Motornoggin

My daughter's Camry is a total pile of crap. 142K miles and we've had to dump $1000 just so it won't randomly stall. Still can't trust it.

The blue interior has turned an odd shade of green in many areas as well as starting to disintegrate.

Not a huge GM fan any longer, but Toyota's aren't without problems either. I don't think I would buy either make at this point.

Also, getting 200k out of any car is doing pretty good. Wasn't too long ago that every car was scrap after 60-80k.

My wife's Mazda MPV has 200k on it, runs like a top. I've been driving it to and from work every day for the last 2 weeks while I wait for the radiator for my Volvo. 140 mile round trip.

Speaking of the Volvo, 250k miles, and rarely an issue. The radiator is seeping a bit at the seam, but it's original, so I can't blame it.

The Durango we sold had 240k on it, our old minivan had 490k on it when we finally sold it, and its still running.

We rarely get rid of cars until well after 200k miles. I hate car payments!

[nskitts]

Had a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix and it aged better than my 1997 Honda Accord. It had the 3800 V6, had great torque, and got almost 30MPG. At 160,000 miles all it required was a A/C blower motor relay and a new starter.

And then I looked out the window last winter after I got home and saw this:







Now where is that pesky recall letter about underhood fires related to oil dripping on the exhaust manifold...we will get around to it eventually...

[JR Greenhorn]

Originally Posted by nskitts

Now where is that pesky recall letter about underhood fires related to oil dripping on the exhaust manifold...we will get around to it eventually...

I literally laughed out loud when I read about that the first time a few years ago (we owned a 2004 Grand Prix at the time, which I think was not included in the recall). They didn't bother with the source of the fire, which is the leaking valve cover gaskets common to all 3.8's (including our 2004's Series III engine with it's "improved" gaskets that still leaked), which dribble oil onto the exhaust manifolds. Instead, they replace some plastic parts of the spark plug wire guides which allow the fire to spread. Classic GM half-assed approach to solving a problem.