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Suburban - Fit & Finish

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Suburban • Transmission • Fire • Fuel pump • Fit & finish • Miscellaneous problems News • GM Buys Back Some Models With Noisy Engines

Nancy of Baltimore (9/7/02):
on our 9th annual trip in our third Suburban with the same 9-year-old bikes and bike rack attached in the same manner to the rear door and luggage rack of our 2002 Suburban, the GM left hinge which was formerly metal and is now all plastic failed which allowed the luggage to flap free and spill all the bikes across the NY State Throughway!

By the grace of God nobody was killed. I reported this to GM mostly to aid in the prevention of future accidents. All assistance was declined in the repair of the Suburban and bikes. The reason cited was that I did not use a GM-issued part. Can't believe that the integrity of the rack system is impaired by attaching a non-GM bike rack or suitcase or whatever!

Facts are that the Suburban has endured design changes which have impaired the function of the vehicle and those of us who have come to use these vehicles as we have in the past have not been notified of the deliberate change in specifications. Nowhere in the manual are there any specs disclosed for the roof system. Customers will logically asume the new vehicles are to be used as previous models.

I am very offended at the callous dismissal of my modest claim and am humbled by the the horific bullet I dodged on the Throughway. I could very easily be involved in a huge lawsuit today and many innocents could be dead.

Stephanie of Wayburn, Sk., Canada
I purchased a 1999 GM Suburban in December 2001. Until recently the repair bills were what I consider to be reasonable. In the last 3 months, however, the door noise is getting worse, the doors will not lock automatically, and the transfer case was leaking and had to be replaced. There is now a whinning/popping sound in the front end. The vehicle has been to the garage twice. The second time they could hear it but until it gets worse or breaks down they can't find it. The fuel pump has now quit. It's 3-5 hours labor to repair and approximately $600 for the part. We have a large family and need a reliable vehicle.

"K" of Northridge CA (9/27/02):
In January 2002 the automatic door locks stopped working on my '99 GMC Suburban. I feel that at 55k miles it is way too early for this planned obsolesence. When I called the dealer to schedule my car, they said they had another car, same make and model, with the same problem in the shop. I think there is a trend. It will cost more than $700 to repair and I feel that GMC should cover it.

Richard of Antioch, CA writes:
I am the owner of a 1999 GMC Suburban. We have experienced problems with the doors rattling, rubbing paint off top and bottom of door frame. I have taken this truck in three times in the past year for this problem. The dealer adjusted the doors each time.

When they finally fixed the top of the doors rubbing, apparently the bottoms became so loose that they allowed road dirt to get under the weather stripping. The response has been that the cause is from road dirt entering the bottom part of weather stripping and rubbing but that according to both the dealer and GM this is normal wear and tear.

I was told it is my responsibility to clean and dress this weather-stripping periodically. I have kept and maintained this vehicle in a like new condition, washed it weekly, garaged it and now have a strip of paint coming off at the base of each door. End result will be corrosion of the body.

I told both the dealer and GM this is unacceptable on a $40,000.00 automobile and their design is flawed or this was caused by the dealer adjusting the doors too loose, allowing dirt to get under the strip. I have owned several new vehicles in the past several years and none of these vehicles deteriorated in this fashion.

Both the dealer and GM denied responsibility, nor a solution explaining this happens to Suburbans. I told the dealer if this vehicle can't be repaired, then I would like to have it replaced or they can give me my money back. I think this is a result of a poor passenger door design, factory out of spec. manufacturing flaw or the dealer made a mistake adjusting the doors in the first place when they rubbed the paint off on top. Either way it is not a result of owner neglect.

If the doors are this loose now at 24,000 miles what condition will they be in two or three years from now. Again, I think this is unacceptable.

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