I Will Never, Ever Buy Another GM Vehicle…
Those were the words I told Desiree in GM’s Legal Department Thursday.
And I mean it, with a vengeance.
You see, GM is reporting record profits, yet is still relying on legal maneuvering to continue not to honor the class action lawsuit by approximately 150,000 Saturn Vue and Ion owners (2003-2005) whose vehicles had or have the VTi transmission that GM discovered (as did far too many owners) was prone to premature and catastrophic failure. Here’s what they did:
- On April 14, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted final approval to the class action settlement.
- GM was then to mail out notification of the settlement
- Instead, they took TARP bailout funds, and went into bankruptcy protection on June 1, 2009…a month and a half after settlement.
- They then chose to single out this settlement and said they (as “new GM”) would not honor the agreement.
Great summary here.
Did GM, because of not wanting to assume the liabilities of “old GM”, void the warranties of all vehicles prior to that date? No, not at all.
They’ve even reiterated the issue with the VTi transmissions, and have changed their policy several times since that date in how they would deal with it. All fall far short of the settlement. By a significant amount.
My Vue, now sitting in the driveway since the big storm, would have been covered under the settlement at 75% of the repair cost, plus added coverage for towing expenses, rental car expenses, etc. As it is now, there’s nothing. Cost of repair far exceeds value of the Vue…and replacing with another VTi transmission, also prone to failure (since issue has never been corrected) isn’t much of a fix. Also lost, the value of the vehicle, from $3500-$4000 to….well, there’s the about $450 the junkyard offered me.
Their current offer to Saturn owners affected shows they not only don’t care, but they just don’t get it.
Special Reimbursement Policy #09280 states that those owners, whose vehicles are outside the 5 year/75,000 mile warranty, but within an 8 year/100,000 mile period, can take one of two options: 1) reimbursement for 50% of the cost of transmission repairs, or 2) a $5000 trade-in credit towards the purchase of a new vehicle manufactured by New GM.
They think, after the way they’ve dealt with this issue that affects 150,000 Saturn owners, that many or most of us would EVER buy another GM product? Really?
I certainly won’t. And you should give second thought to owing a GM vehicle…your warranty or settlement may be next.
Record profits–after taking taxpayer money–come before doing the right thing.
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Another great place to follow the info about the settlement here.
Those were the words I told Desiree in GM’s Legal Department Thursday. And I mean it, with a vengeance. You see, GM is reporting record profits, yet is still relying on legal maneuvering to continue not to honor the class action lawsuit by approximately 150,000 Saturn Vue and Ion owners (2003-2005) whose vehicles had or…
I am never buying another GM vehicle again either. I bought my Saturn Vue 2003 in Nov 2010. I had no idea it had a faulty transmission. After a few months of driving I noticed things were not smooth down below. My mechanic told me the drive train was going out. I owed 7200$ with taxes and an extended warranty. I thought Id be okay with the extended warranty(Mission). After a year my vehicle now only goes 25mph. I took care of it best I could but I have been stuck with it. I called the extended warranty. They would only give me trade in value 2400$. I still owe 5300$. A new transmission they said would be 3800 if I'm lucky. I am so stuck. Not able to pay for a transmission and not able to pay off the vehicle.
So this is my real issue. Shouldn't GM be providing a transmission to vehicles that never had it replaced. My electrical was replaced. I'm not sure my vehicle is either 100,000 or 140,000miles. It doesn't matter. History on the vehicle never showed a replacement of a transmission. This does not make sense to me and kills my repore with GM or Saturn. They'ld probably have me forever as a loyal customer if they just covered there faulty transmissions til there off the market. Nobody buys a vehicle wanting it to last only 20,000 miles like mine did. Or making it to only 140,000 miles. But according to the settlements I've been reading thats there mentality. I don't know about other folks but me and my family take very good care of our cars. They usually last 200,000+ and beyond. As a buyer I don't want a short lived vehicle.
So my sob story is this. Because of GM's decision this highly competent 35 yr old woman is having to bike in the snow, rain, and dark to get from point A-B with no chance of relief and a 4yr loan. I will never buy a GM vehicle again.