How did GM burn you?

I’m writing this not to start a who knew buying a GM vehicle would suck bash me post. I’m writing this for the person who’s considering making the change to think it out or at least wait until they work a lot more of the kinks out. These trucks are very temperamental and I can’t see how they’re gonna last long with all the tech, screens etc. not to mention the piss poor build quality.

I owned a 2nd gen Tacoma for nine years. Great truck only issue I had was the window fell of its track once when I was at the bank. Needed new tires and some maintenance items done. Then I had a giant a/c system failures well as we were having issues with our daughters car seat fitting. So I ended up selling my Tacoma to my dad so that piece of this story worked out.

I did a bunch of research and went with a 2024 Colorado. . I had a S10 before the Tacoma (still own it today!). . So I’ve had my share of GM Corning cutting but overall it was a great truck (also had the 4.3 which helped). Now I know GM truck is not exactly a fair reliability competitor to a 2nd Gen much more basic Tacoma. however the reviews were good. I know a bunch of people who had 2nd gen GM missizers and for the most part reliable obviously a different truck. Also mind you I did look at 3rd gen lightly used ones but between the car seat issue and the prices I couldn’t justify it to those Tacoma purists who are gonna read and say I’m an idiot etc.

I owned the truck for two months and in that time the frame already started rusting in a few spots. Paint coming off the rear differential and talk about thin sheet metal.. their small gripes we shouldn’t see on a truck bought in July. The main problems were the truck bricking for the over the air updates. Having to be towed to the dealer for them to get the battery up and then it taking five days because it kept dying after using several batteries. I did extensive research and saw that this was a problem with the 2023s but supposedly they fixed it for 2024 and now have an option to turn it off. Evidentially it turns out this is for the google updates the GM ones override this and will still try to update. This is all done through your vehicles ONSTAR.

the other issue was the trunk made this creaking banging fart noise a tiny bit when you turned it on and then would do it for like a minute a few minutes after you turned it off. The dealer said it was one of the actuators told me that the truck has six and would require the whole dash and console to be ripped out to see which one it is for replacement. Of those six two or three are excessive in which they would have to rip stuff out under the hood to get too. I know every manufacturer has it me problems but at this point a month and a half in on a brand new truck this is insanity.


I ended up selling the truck to carvana and got a little less then a. Thousand I paid for the whole thing back. Ended up. Buying a new frontier and am pleased so far!


All I can say is this left a sour taste in my mouth with GM so my question is to those who have been burned by owning a GM product who post about it and trash them what led you to be anti General Motors?

 

Always liked General Motors vehicles up until 1980 and owned many over the years. My problem was going Japanese in 1986 with my first new vehicle. A Mazda B2200 pickup. I drove that truck until nothing was left of it 180K later . I live in Ohio and I loved the heck out of that little truck. I replaced it with a brand new 2004 Chevrolet S10 LS which promptly grenaded the engine 2 years later with 20K on the odometer. No real warning other than loss of power and it let loose about a mile from the dealership as I was taking it in. They said it spun the main bearing. GM replaced the engine. I promptly traded it in and bought a Toyota. At the same time we also owned a Buick Rendezvous we bought new and was approaching 60K when it began overheating. Realizing it was a head gasket starting to go and being out of warranty we dumped it on another new vehicle. Toyota. I have driven nothing else since. We also had a 93 Grand Prix plagued with brake rotor issues and electrical issues as well. The passenger window went up nearly catching my arm one day and I got mad at my wife for rolling the window up on me like that but it wasn't her. It was also kind of cool how the radio would change settings sometimes when you turned the steering wheel. All the new clunkers we ever had were always American cars. I have 2 Toyotas and a Mazda in the driveway now.

 

What engine in the S10? I inherited mine right before I got my license from my grandfather. Mines a 2003. I still love that thing. Mine was pretty much flawless until around 100k then I had to do the head gasket replacement due to dexcool. I was in college this was around January 2013. Before then I could always see the build quality difference between my dads Toyotas and the Chevy but it was more cost cutting then anything I saw. After the head gaskets it started the little stuff needing to be replaced here but obviously the mileage was increasing and the age kicked in. Nothing extreme I now have 200k on it. The air doesn’t work and isn’t being fixed but it’s still a good little work truck and I enjoy it more than anything else I’ve ever driven and obviously it has sentimental meaning as well. When I bought my Tacoma I heavily cross shopped the Colorado this was in 2015 but it was not my style didn’t like how it drove. Got my Tacoma and never looked back. Now here we are in 2024 lol

 

My teaching partner’s GMC Acadia has literally brought her family to the brink of bankruptcy. Out of warranty. Still making big payments. Bad transmission. $$$ Bad steering rack. $$$ Now it’s dead in the driveway with no oil pressure and a terrible knocking sound. $$$ Low resale kept them from selling. Still looks great and she’s always kept it neat and clean. Terrible vehicles hurt hard working Americans.

 

Wife is currently running a 2021 Canyon.
She tows with it. She runs it in 4x4 often. It has 45k and so far, has been trouble free.
I do regular maintenance on it with oil/filters/tire rotations.
We needed a four-door to tow with. Couldn't fit full-size in the garage. Couldn't afford a Toyota. (My Taco costs me $23k brand new in '17. Couldn't repeat that in '21.)

 

They haven't yet, I am interested in a 2.7 Sierra 1500 RCSB. I haven't got any real interest in a midsize from GM, mostly because of that big beautiful infotainment screen and dash. Sales look to be decent on the nee mids from GM.

I can't recall hearing of any 2.7t issues from GM, but I haven't looked. I can't recall hearing good things about GM's 8 spd, which is why I'm skeptical on Toyota's 8spd auto.

I also have interest in GM's HD trucks. Growing up my mom purchased three new Chevy Fwd cars a 4cyl Corsica I can't recall any major issues but that was long ago, she also purchased a 3.4 and a 3.8 Monte Carlo, again no major issues or failures they may have been a recall or something else the dealership had to take care of. I can't say that has any relevance in 2024.

 

I have friends who drive older GMs but even they admit it takes a lot to keep them on the road.

 

On another note, one of my best friends is the service manager for one of the largest GM dealerships in the area. He said he would never buy one or own one out of the warranty period. He also said that the most difficult customers to deal with are ones making payments on a $100,000 vehicle that’s chronically in and out of the service department. Statistically he said most of them are OK, but there’re enough expensive and chronic problems that he’s never going to have one in his driveway.

 

Can't go so far as saying they burned me but the quality/design of many of the components they used went seriously down hill by the early 2000's in my experience. My early and mid 90's GM's commuters had far less issues than the early 2000's ones my wife and I both drove for years. One was at 250,000 when we traded it in and the other is at 165,000 and still limping along but they have both had lots of relatively minor things go wrong (especially front wheel bearings).

 

My 99 GMC Yukon dissolved in 5 years do to salt and brine in Vt. Undersized brakes guaranteed frequent rotor replacement. Purchased in Virginia. When the recall for the low speed sensor came out for salt corrosion was issued. It only covered Maryland north. No help from GM. Super scary when you get down to about 5 mph and the brakes quit working.
Never forgave GM for that one. There callouses when contacted made it clear that they did not want my future business as a consumer.