Chevorlet 97 chevy suburban is a LEMON Camp Verde Arizona
I bought my 1997 suburban used when it was 3 years old, it didnt have many miles on it so I felt I was getting a good deal on it. The purchase price then was $21,000.00 a good deal for a fully Loaded used vehicle of that nature. Within the first few months there was antifreeze leaking into the engine via a faulty manifold gasket, easy repair we caught it right away and had it fixed.
Less then 6 months from that time the engine "blew" well I luckily had bought an extended warranty on this truck as you will see I really have needed it. The warranty company sent an inspector to make sure I was not abusing this vehicle, all the inspector saw was a brand new looking suburban, with some dust on the engine. after all this is Arizona. But, no rough housing here, my truck looked like it just drove off the show room floor.
They (warranty company) paid for the engine replacement. according to the inspector the engine spun a bearing, not opperator error. Less then 50,000 miles on the vehicle. The repairs were done at Steve Coury buick, pontiac and GMC. It took them 23 days for an engine swap. warranty company pays 3 days for a rental car. um 20 days with out your beloved vehicle. ok, new engine. ready to go again right? Wrong. then it needs a new steering box. nice the vehicle has less then 50,000 miles and still looks brand new at this time. even to this day.
Lets see whats next on the list of repairs, my AC broke, This is Arizona in the summer its a little warm. ok we take it to have that fixed also, covered by warranty. AC works again yeah!! Opps almost forgot now it needs a second steering box cause the first one was rebuilt and didnt last more then a year.
then there were the factory recalls one for the mirror switch cause apparently it gets hot and causes fire inside the door. ok take it to the dealer and they replace the part, opps mine had already caught fire inside the door and melted to the inside panel. glad it didnt burn my whole house down with that one!!
Oh lets not forget the windshield wiper problem, seems there is a short somewhere and when its raining your wipers will all of a sudden choose not to work. Yes agian this is Arizona and those of you who know what its like here you know we dont get much rain but when we do its a downpour and you cant see very far in front of you... problem fixed tragedy averted...
lets see now we need a pinion seal cause mine is leaking, no big deal, a common occurance in GM vehicles and an easy fix. no problem cause its still under warranty.. ok by this time there is still less then 75,000 miles on the truck. well now gas prices are going up. so we park our big truck and drive some economy car. ok save some money to take a vacation and drive my truck because despite all that has been wrong with it, it still looks like you just drove it off the showroom floor. dont get me wrong I still to this day love this truck and I want to drive it to the next state over because not only is it large and roomy its comfortable. I love this truck but getting very distraught over the repairs..
We pack up for vacation have the kids, luggage and movies loaded in the truck and we are ready to go! we made it about 150 miles from home and there was such a strange noise coming from the vehicle we had to stop and return to a repair facility, it seems there was now a broken axel and bad bearings in the rear end. um, there is still under 76,000 miles on the vehicle. yes I know, I did buy it used and yes it is almost 8 years old but this is Arizona, we dont get snow they dont rust, we do have some light wind and lots of dust. I have trucks with over 250,000 miles and they are still on the same engine and rear ends.. I am here because if I can spare someone else the trouble and hassle of the repairs of this large lemon it was time well spent.
fact: yes the truck is getting old, but still not many miles on it. right now has 75,358 it still looks brand new, there is a soda stain in the back seat from the kids but other then that it looks brand new. am I really the only one in the world with this problem????
well still about 2 years and 25,000 miles left on the warranty. what else can go wrong, the truck is practically new with all the parts that have been replaced it may as well be.
Angela
COTTONWOOD, Arizona
U.S.A.
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7 Updates & Rebuttals
Joe
Platteville,Wisconsin,
U.S.A.
This worked for someone I know
#8Consumer Suggestion
Fri, October 21, 2005
Try this....go back to the dealer and very quitely and firmly state that if something isn't done to remedy the situation, you are going to go down the street, come back later, point the car at the dealership and drive right into their showroom while you miraculously jump out at the last minute...and sue them for all they're worth.
Why? Because with all of the other problems with your vehicle, any court of law will reasonably figure that the car was acting indescribably "funny" again and something must have gone wrong yet again to cause a sudden accelleration or inability to control the car (and you were on your way to get checked out) and that you were obviously sold a defective car. You're last minute escape from the vehicle will be seen as miraculous, and the press will have a field day with the whole thing.
Not to say this is totally legal or ethical, but it did work very well for someone I know. They didn't actually have to do it, but the mere firm, matter-of-fact, and calm manner in which he described to them how this would play out scared the crap out of the dealer enough to replace the car.
Who's the court going to believe? Why...you've got a track record of repeat visits and shoddy mechanic work, along with an overall defective car. One more thing going wrong with the car will look totally normal given your vehicle's mechanical history, and your "accident" and miraculous escape will make nice 6 o'clock news material and press that the dealer will not want to have get out there for all to see.
You will need to use your best poker face...and really intend on doing it or they will see right through you.
Marc
Makaha,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
Who did the repairs?
#8Consumer Suggestion
Fri, October 21, 2005
Where I live anyways, there is a little trick the car dealers play. You buy the warranty, but on a used vehicle the dealer's shop doesn't actually do the repair. As soon as you are out of sight your car is towed a block away to to a shop that does their used car work. Some are good, some are not so good. I'd check the parts they are using, are they dealer parts or El Cheapo crap? Why would a dealer install a rebuilt? When you buy a used vehicle you do assume some risk, and it doesn't look like your Chevy is all that bad, considering it's a 97 with unknown history. Just consider yourself lucky as you won't be buying any of Katrina's flood cars which are now appearing on dealer lots and being sold as "like new".
Marc
Makaha,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
Who did the repairs?
#8Consumer Suggestion
Fri, October 21, 2005
Where I live anyways, there is a little trick the car dealers play. You buy the warranty, but on a used vehicle the dealer's shop doesn't actually do the repair. As soon as you are out of sight your car is towed a block away to to a shop that does their used car work. Some are good, some are not so good. I'd check the parts they are using, are they dealer parts or El Cheapo crap? Why would a dealer install a rebuilt? When you buy a used vehicle you do assume some risk, and it doesn't look like your Chevy is all that bad, considering it's a 97 with unknown history. Just consider yourself lucky as you won't be buying any of Katrina's flood cars which are now appearing on dealer lots and being sold as "like new".
Marc
Makaha,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
Who did the repairs?
#8Consumer Suggestion
Fri, October 21, 2005
Where I live anyways, there is a little trick the car dealers play. You buy the warranty, but on a used vehicle the dealer's shop doesn't actually do the repair. As soon as you are out of sight your car is towed a block away to to a shop that does their used car work. Some are good, some are not so good. I'd check the parts they are using, are they dealer parts or El Cheapo crap? Why would a dealer install a rebuilt? When you buy a used vehicle you do assume some risk, and it doesn't look like your Chevy is all that bad, considering it's a 97 with unknown history. Just consider yourself lucky as you won't be buying any of Katrina's flood cars which are now appearing on dealer lots and being sold as "like new".
Marc
Makaha,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
Who did the repairs?
#8Consumer Suggestion
Fri, October 21, 2005
Where I live anyways, there is a little trick the car dealers play. You buy the warranty, but on a used vehicle the dealer's shop doesn't actually do the repair. As soon as you are out of sight your car is towed a block away to to a shop that does their used car work. Some are good, some are not so good. I'd check the parts they are using, are they dealer parts or El Cheapo crap? Why would a dealer install a rebuilt? When you buy a used vehicle you do assume some risk, and it doesn't look like your Chevy is all that bad, considering it's a 97 with unknown history. Just consider yourself lucky as you won't be buying any of Katrina's flood cars which are now appearing on dealer lots and being sold as "like new".
Michael
Winchester,Kentucky,
U.S.A.
1997 suburban
#8Consumer Comment
Thu, October 20, 2005
quite funny i didnt think i was the only one with a piece of junk. i also bought my suburban being only three years old with 30000 miles truck looked brand new still does. 6 months later antifreeze leak intake mainifold had it fixed 6 months later new engine time no warranty so that cost me only the beginning. air condition replaced twice still has a leak to this today that no one can find. rear axles,bearings,axel seals u-joints, wiper do not function properly they work but will just stop at anytime they had a recall on the wiper circuit board which i replaced free of charge but now there screwed again. three sets of brakes in 4 years i know its a heavy truck but come on thats a little to muchh had to replace taillamp circuit boards were so crudded up where the taillights leaked they no longer worked.same switch in drivers door replaced luckily no fire.after doing the engine swap i use green antifreeze instead of dex-cool will make the same suggestion for everyone else.dont think im leaving anything out just a really unhappy chevrolet owner cant really sell or trade it in due to such high repair bills. would take a big loss just have to hope the truck doesnt burn to the ground.
Robert
Jacksonville,Florida,
U.S.A.
Not a "Lemon"
#8Consumer Comment
Thu, September 29, 2005
While I'll grant you, the truck is a "pile", and you have been saddled with more than your fair share of troubles with it, it does not qualify as a "lemon". Every problem was different, and not one was a problem 3 times.
You never posted the mileage on the truck when you bought it. The next time you purchase a used vehicle, look at the mileage. Why is the mileage very low, or very high. If the mileage is averaging about 15K miles per year, it is getting normal use. If the vehicle is 3 years old and shows 15K miles total, there is a problem. If it's 3 years old and shows 90K miles, it's been abused. Nobody who drives that many miles on a vehicle changes the oil as they should or does any other maintenance to it. They don't have the time. I think you got someone else's headache. It may have even been turned back in under a "lemon" law. You can use CARFAX and find out. I would use it if I was looking for a used vehicle. Try CARFAX and see what shows up on the report. You can get 3 reports for $25, not a bad deal if it turns up something you can use. Good Luck.