Problematic 2016 Colorado Diesel

brazdaz · May 29, 2019

Where to start with the terrible experience I have had with this problematic little diesel. Bought brand new in the winter of 2016. At the time I was driving all over Saskatchewan and Alberta for work, usually driving 600km (372mil) twice a week for 6 months straight. The problems always start when the terrible Canadian prairie winters kick in. I would get constant check engine lights while highway driving warning me that my truck is in "reduced power mode" and it was all to do with the emissions system. DEF tank and lines always freeze up. Running out of DEF during the winter months, on the side of a highway in -40c weather attempting to fill the DEF tank was problematic to say the least. The DEF gauge would read OK one minute then all of a sudden I'm out of DEF fluid and the gauge reads 1%. I took the truck to 5 different dealerships throughout the province when I was working in or close to town that had a GM dealership. Each time the culprit was always the DEF tank and lines. Finally my local dealership decided to replace the DEF tank, lines, etc. I thought great I can get back to enjoying my new truck. Within an hour of being on the highway I was greeted with that ever so lovely check engine light and was stuck going 60km/hr on a highway....in the middle of one of the worst winters to date.

Fast forward to the end of another brutal winter.....I notice a loud wine/whistle noise that followed the RPM's, the more acceleration the higher the wine became in both pitch and volume. It only took a few searches and I found a lot of threads regarding turbo problems that sounded similar to what I was hearing. Booked it in to the dealership I bought it from and dropped it off a few days later. The same day I get a call from the service manager telling me that the truck was leaking diesel from the fuel rail and that they were unable to diagnose my initial concern regarding the turbo until this issue was addressed. Sounded somewhat odd but what do I know, I'm far from being mechanically minded. He then proceeded to give me a $4000 quote because this was not a warrant-able issue. Really? A fuel rail sounds to me like a fairly important engine component or at least part of the system that makes an engine behave like an engine? I was beyond disappointed. This dealership has never once put me into a loaner vehicle throughout all of my issues with the truck. I have missed work numerous times due to it, was threatened by a former boss that I needed to have a reliable vehicle. It was part of my job and part of the reason I got paid what I did. I decided that if my truck needed that amount of work I did not want that dealership to be doing it and had it towed to a local diesel shop. The truck was there for 4hrs before they called to say yes my turbo had failed and the leaking fuel was coming from the fuel rail....$5000 quote. After paying for now the 3rd tow, I contacted the other GM dealership where I live and asked if I could bring my truck and buisness to them. Of course they jumped at the idea and a few hours later my truck was towed there. 2 days later I get a call from the new dealership and to my surprise everything was covered under warranty! New turbo and new fuel rail system was to be ordered and replaced on my truck. Great, finally some good news. Now fast forward 6 weeks later.......6 WEEKS and I still did not have my truck back. I rented a vehicle for 6 weeks, totaling just under $1200, plus $210 in tows!

I was at the end of my patience with this lemon of a vehicle. I reached out GM directly through their customer service # and thus began the battle. I have spoke to 5 different customer service people including 1 manager and to say GM's service is bad is understatement. I started a file/claim with them on April 6/2019. That almost 2 full months and still nothing has been done. I call and leave voicemail at least once a week as I never get any status updates or anything. I've received calls 2 Saturdays in a row and both times I'm told that they haven't forgotten about me and that they are waiting on communication from the dealership.

After all this I don't think I could ever buy another GM vehicle purely for the reason of how bad their customer service is. Granted a lot of has more to do with the local dealership than anything, but at the same time if they are under the GM umbrella I would never want to deal with them again. I'm hoping someone within GM Canada stumbles upon this and could take 2 mins out of their day to contact me. I'm at a loss of what to do and feel I have been patient and accommodating but I'm starting to feel like from the consumer level I don;'t have alot of options besides selling this truck and taking a huge loss on it.

Cheers

Mike