2014 Chevy Silverado LTZ Z71 Problems

donaldusmc2003 · April 7, 2014

Just thought I'd post some of the issues I have had with my truck. Purchased December 31st 2013.

2014 Chevy Silverado Z71 LTZ Problems -

Day Purchased - Tire Pressure Low Nitrogen Filled Tires (Dealer doesnt have Nitrogen and no one else around does) Paid 50,000 for a truck and the dealer cant add Nitrogen? Steering wheel leather was coming up by the corner of the airbag.

2500 Miles - Check Engine Light Came On. Took to dealer (Dealer found the wire to the #6 spark plug came off) Was repaired and the truck was washed and they filled my tank up. I was impressed that the dealer did this. They did however tell me that they couldnt add nitrogen to the tires and if I wanted them properly inflated I needed to take it somewhere else that has nitrogen.

4800 Miles - Steering wheel arrived. Took truck in for oil change and steering wheel. Asked about my heated seats as the butt was the only part getting warm. Steering wheel and oil was changed. (Note this is a one time use steering wheel. You have to drill through the plastic to get it off.) Picked truck up and was told the heated seats worked like they were supposed to.

4900 Miles - Wife and I went to dinner and I asked her to drive the truck. She confirmed that the drivers seat did not heat like the passenger side. While on the passenger side I noticed that the side molding by the windshield was coming off where the grab handle is. Called dealer back and asked when I could bring the truck back in. They said next week as they didnt have any loaners. Monday arrived and I didnt hear from the dealer so I gave them a call. They said to bring it in and they would look at it. Took truck in and spoke to the mechanic who previously worked on it and also the service advisor. They both agreed this time that seats were not working properly. Dealer ordered parts with 1 week ETA. Its currently Sunday almost 7 days and I'm still in the rental.

Problems from previous truck 2012 GMC Sierra Texas Edition which I traded in my Chevy Impalla for - Traded 2012 Sierra for the 2014 Silverado mentioned above.

Ok so I got medically retired from the Marines in June of 2012. Moved to Texas for a job. Traded in my Chevy Impalla and Purchased a 2012 Sierra new in September 2012 and had problems from the first day.

The finance guy was a jerk - He kept trying to sell me the extended warranty even after I refused he then slid a peice of paper accross the desk and said well if you know what it is then write it down and show me. I stood up and started to walk out. I turned as he was shaking his head and making a face and said do you want to sell this truck or not. He said yes so we started the deal again with a sigh. I should of just kept walking.

Molding on door - The glue was melting and running down the paint. Took to dealer as they requested and they said I'd have to come back another day as the guy who does this work wasnt there. Brought truck back a few days later. Left truck and took rental. Recieved a call from the service manager that they broke my windshield. Waited a few days then went to pick truck up. The old trim was on the back seat with dirty feet prints all over the seats like they were crawling through the truck and there was a greasy hand print on the headliner on the driver side. The new door moldings were already peeling off and there was still melted glue on the paint from the previous ones. I refused the truck and told them to fix it. Truck was fixed.

I asked the owner of the dealership to take it back and give me a different truck. He refused and threatened to sue me for demation of character if I posted anything to rip off report or BBB. Thus this is the first time I have came public other than speaking to GM. And yes I have all the emails and even sent them to GM showing the owners threats.

Driver Side Window Molding and Paint - Ok so a few days later I noticed a chip by the rear window seal. The window seal was shifting and causing the paint to chip. Within days the chip got bigger to the size of a nickle. Truck was repaired.

Same problem again - Truck was repaired and they cleaned the truck including waxing the entire outside paint. The paint now had very noticible swirl marks all over it and the antenna had a deep gouge from what looked like they took it off with a pair of vise grips. I complained to GM and they offered free oil changes. I declined as I was already recieving free oil changes and tire rotations for 12 months from the dealer from the purchase. A replacement antenna was mailed to me.

7000 Miles on truck - Noticed oil in my drive way. The oil pan and rack and pinion were leaking. Took to a different dealer for repair.

Shortly after the paint on the rear door by the window started to chip again. Dealer told me they couldnt send to the body shop now and to call back.

Called back a few months later and it was the same thing. Couldnt get truck into body shop.

Now its winter time. Called back and spoke to there new automotive manager and he stated that I needed to take the truck somewhere else as they would not warranty the paint again. I called GM and they said that its no longer in there hands as now each dealership has there own rep. Guess whos name they gave me to call? The same manager who told me to take it somewhere else.

Ok so we took it to the dealer who repaired the oil leak. We made an appointment and were told only there manager could warranty paint work and they more than likely wont as they dont warranty other peoples work. (Really this is a manufactor defect as the window seal is rubbing the paint) Ok so we took the truck in for our scheduled appointment and the service manager wasnt there.

Called GM to tell them I wanted a different truck. Truck now has almost 20k miles on it. They refused and said I could request a lemon law but I would have to hire a lawyer to get anything done.

Spoke to my wife and decided to trade it in. We went to the dealer who did the oil pan as they were local and seemed like straight shooters which they have been mostly except for the service manager not being there for our appointment.

So we traded the 2012 Sierra for a 2014 Silverado LTZ Z71 mentioned above.

I also traded my wifes GMC Sierra Hybrid 4x4 for a Chevy Equinox.

Spent 75k that day.

Lost thousands on the trade in of the 2012 Sierra.

Immediatly had problems with the 2014 Silverado.

Lessons learned - Dont buy another GM product as they do not stand behind there customers.

Ok so now what will happen is a GM rep will contact me and say they want to help. They are just showing face. They have no power to do anything. Im tired of arguing with them. My intentions of this email are to warn others of how GM does business.

mike94silverado · April 7, 2014

Sorry you are having problems with your truck I would keep bringing it back until it was right...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

desert · April 7, 2014

What went wrong with your 2014 ?

(I have one on order)

TooTall1 · April 7, 2014

So the only problems with the 2014 that were build related was a bad seat heater and the leather on the steering wheel, which are both being repaired under warranty. The nitrogen is strictly dealer related and NOT a GM issue. Nitrogen fill is a rip off anyways as atmosphere is 70% nitrogen.

greg74 · April 7, 2014

Yeah, from what I've heard about newer GM trucks I'd never buy a new one. If I were to buy a new truck it would probably be Toyota Tundra or might even drift over the dark side and buy a new F150. I've owned a 2 Fords, a Dodge and this is my 4th Chevy(2 S-10's and 2 half-ton full size trucks) so I'm not totally biased toward GM. The quality seems to be somewhat marginal in the new GM trucks. It would drive me nuts to have to take a new vehicle constantly back to the dealer to fix things even though it were under warranty.

desert · April 7, 2014

Oh, I get it, you were talking about your 2014 mostly, I got confused at the end when you mentioned your 2012.

I agree things can get weird when the topic of extended warranty comes up. I've been saying no to that one for so long that I can now afford to pay for anything that breaks out of pocket. I think there's a commission involved judging by how antsy they get. LOL

donaldusmc2003 · April 7, 2014

Tootall the problems with the 2014 were

Steering wheel leather coming up

Heated seats not working

Spark plug wire came off causing truck to missfire and check engine light on

Grab handle on passenger side molding coming off.

I have owned it since Dec 31st 2013 and this is already the 3rd time in the shop for warranty repairs.

The 2012 was a different story as it was problem after problem.

donaldusmc2003 · April 7, 2014

One other thing i have noticed with 4 wheel drive gm trucks is the tires will cup on the inside if not constantly rotated. The problem we encountered with this was the 2010 Sierra 4x4 Hybrid we had. Most dealers wouldnt honor the maintenance plan if the oil life percentage wasnt below 10 percent. With that being said it was putting over 7k miles between oil changes and tire rotations causing the front tires to wear uneven. I paid the dealer to do an alignment and it was the same thing by the next oil change only now my back tires which were rotated to the front now were cupped. The new local dealer agreed with me but had to ask gm to pay for tires and gm refused saying its the alignment. So i contacted the dealer who did the alignment a gm dealer and they said they warranty there alignments for 30 days only. So my new dealer who i purchased my 2014 from does the maintenance work every 5k miles or 25% oil life.

Hopefully theres no issues with the 2014 wearing tires uneven.

My friend has a 2011 Silverado Z71 and his also wears the front tires uneven between oil changes if not rotated around 6k miles.

So with that being said has anyone else had issues with how long gm wants to run these trucks without changing the oil or rotating the tires?

soltys · April 7, 2014

Not to be a jerk, but do people type on the forum, filled with 2014 owners - some of them even happy, and then proceed to complain about the 2014 lemons and how people shouldn't buy them? Like I said, not a jerk - just wondering.

tbarn · April 7, 2014

One other thing i have noticed with 4 wheel drive gm trucks is the tires will cup on the inside if not constantly rotated. The problem we encountered with this was the 2010 Sierra 4x4 Hybrid we had. Most dealers wouldnt honor the maintenance plan if the oil life percentage wasnt below 10 percent. With that being said it was putting over 7k miles between oil changes and tire rotations causing the front tires to wear uneven. I paid the dealer to do an alignment and it was the same thing by the next oil change only now my back tires which were rotated to the front now were cupped. The new local dealer agreed with me but had to ask gm to pay for tires and gm refused saying its the alignment. So i contacted the dealer who did the alignment a gm dealer and they said they warranty there alignments for 30 days only. So my new dealer who i purchased my 2014 from does the maintenance work every 5k miles or 25% oil life.

Hopefully theres no issues with the 2014 wearing tires uneven.

My friend has a 2011 Silverado Z71 and his also wears the front tires uneven between oil changes if not rotated around 6k miles.

So with that being said has anyone else had issues with how long gm wants to run these trucks without changing the oil or rotating the tires?

3900 miles and I can here my tires starting to sing to me already. Better get them rotated. I will do it myself anyway.

pm26 · April 8, 2014

So the only problems with the 2014 that were build related was a bad seat heater and the leather on the steering wheel, which are both being repaired under warranty. The nitrogen is strictly dealer related and NOT a GM issue. Nitrogen fill is a rip off anyways as atmosphere is 70% nitrogen.

Actually, nitrogen makes up 78% of air by volume.

TooTall1 · April 8, 2014

Tootall the problems with the 2014 were

Steering wheel leather coming up

Heated seats not working

Spark plug wire came off causing truck to missfire and check engine light on

Grab handle on passenger side molding coming off.

I have owned it since Dec 31st 2013 and this is already the 3rd time in the shop for warranty repairs.

The 2012 was a different story as it was problem after problem.

Still the problems were pretty minor and being fixed under warranty. The spark plug wire could happen on any make or model of vehicle. They are put together by people after all. I wouldn't condemn the whole product line based on your minor issues.

donaldusmc2003 · April 9, 2014

Still no call from the dealer. Its been over a week now in a rental.

donaldusmc2003 · April 10, 2014

Still no call from dealer. Already put 800 miles on there rental.

I must say i like my silverado better than this sierra im in. Im in a 2014 sierra 2wd texas edition. This thing cost 42,340 bucks. Thats way to much for a 2wd cloth interior truck. It has a rough idle shakes the truck and the driver side seat moves when you turn corners.

It was not cleaned when i got it and the same spoon from the previous time i had this same truck is still in the passenger side door. Theres also 2 blank checks and hotel booking info in the glove compartment from who ever had it before me.

So far this is the 3rd time i have been in a rental since buying my truck in december.

donaldusmc2003 · April 11, 2014

Got my truck back today. They replaced the seat blower motors and heating elements. The heated seats now work.

The hand rail on the passenger side was not fixed. The service advisor agreed and took a picture to show the shop manager. Then he offered to fill my truck up next time for the inconvenience of having to bring it back again to have the hand rail replaced. Theres a big gap at the top between the plastic and headliner where they meet.