A Little Forethought on Vehicle Breakdowns

Transient · July 9, 2021

Nobody likes it when their new truck breaks down. And, some even think that because they spent more for a higher trim they should have a more reliable truck. The truth is, the opposite is true. I'll explain why.

GM is currently selling between 625,000 to 650,000 Silverados per year in the US and Canada, 90% of which are sold in the US. The same can be said with GMC's Sierra at 285,000 to 305,000. This doesn't account for sales in Mexico, and we should account for those sales because they are often the same truck, and many of the trucks in the US and Canada were made at GM's Silao plant. So, let's just make it an even 1 million trucks per year to keep the math simple.

Now, let's talk about estimated or planned for vehicle problems. The automotive industry average, utilizing Six Sigma, is projected at 1 per 1 million vehicles. Does that mean only car per year will experience a part failure? No. Why? We haven't taking into consideration the number of parts a typical vehicle has. After all, we're talking about parts failures, not vehicle failures. A vehicle doesn't really fail. Only the parts it's made of do.

According to Toyota, because that's the only place I was able to find this info, a typical vehicle is made of 28,000 to 30,000 parts. Let's assume lower trim levels have fewer parts, because they do. Is the difference as big as 2,000 parts? Likely, not. However, this is for demonstrative purposes only.

Since we're talking about parts failures, and the math is simple, we can assume a new vehicle failure rate of 28,000 to 30,000 per 1,000,000 made. Reduced, that's 2.8 to 3 per 100 vehicles.

Therefore, before complaining about your broken jalopy, realize "stuff" happens and you're just one of the unlucky ones this time around. And, if you had a lower trim level the odds of the situation having happened to you would be slightly lower. With that said, sometimes it pays to have the "nicer" and more expensive vehicle. Just look at how GM replaced all valve springs on the 6.2, but not the 5.3 in the valve spring TSB last year. But, you wouldn't have a V8 with a lesser trim level, would you? Therefore, you wouldn't have had to worry about that problem.

I wrote this because I noticed a bunch of people complaining that they spent $60k to $70k on a new truck and are dealing with a problem. I spent a lot of money, too, on a loaded Trail Boss LT with the 6.2 and a bunch of accessories, but that doesn't mean I'm entitled to preferential treatment.

KARNUT · July 9, 2021

The problem is these are no one offs. You would hope that before introducing something new it’s tested. Stuff happens. So when it does own it, fix it. Steering column rattle. I’ve had a few models with that. Speedometer failure. For awhile I couldn’t get it fixed. Sometimes I had that and the rattle. Problems happen own it fix it. At least I could drive them. Engine failure because of cylinder deactivation. Expensive.

Liquid Plumber AT4 · July 9, 2021

I understand things happen and there are many moving parts to a vehicle. The problem I have is that the dealers seem to be getting lazy and love to say "its normal", or "gm has no fix for that". A chirping engine sound from a 6.2 litre on a 2021 truck or ticking sound for 30 seconds upon starting is not "normal".....like most dealers will try to say it is. I think its time for more quality control from both GMC engineering and training to the gmc techs on fixes for all these so called "normal issues". Ive had 5 GMC sierras over 20 years and can honestly say that the last one I had and now this new 2021 1500 AT4 have had the most issues brand new off the lot. My biggest beef is that they are replacing all these defective valve springs with the same shitty valve springs and refuse to shut of the DFM and AFM which we all know is what is causing this problem, I mean just come up with new valve springs nd deactivate the damn DFM and AFM. It's just a shame there is not more quality control.

With that being said, I still love my new GMC and will get these issues sorted out eventually. They still make a great looking/riding truck.....but just need to up there game on quality control. Just my .02 cents.

Transient · July 9, 2021

6 hours ago, Liquid Plumber AT4 said:

I understand things happen and there are many moving parts to a vehicle. The problem I have is that the dealers seem to be getting lazy and love to say "its normal", or "gm has no fix for that". A chirping engine sound from a 6.2 litre on a 2021 truck or ticking sound for 30 seconds upon starting is not "normal".....like most dealers will try to say it is. I think its time for more quality control from both GMC engineering and training to the gmc techs on fixes for all these so called "normal issues". Ive had 5 GMC sierras over 20 years and can honestly say that the last one I had and now this new 2021 1500 AT4 have had the most issues brand new off the lot. My biggest beef is that they are replacing all these defective valve springs with the same shitty valve springs and refuse to shut of the DFM and AFM which we all know is what is causing this problem, I mean just come up with new valve springs nd deactivate the damn DFM and AFM. It's just a shame there is not more quality control.

With that being said, I still love my new GMC and will get these issues sorted out eventually. They still make a great looking/riding truck.....but just need to up there game on quality control. Just my .02 cents.

I have a 2020 Trail Boss LT with the 6.2, and have had the ticking on startup since day 1. My dealership has been adding some sort of powder or lubricant to the belt to help it, but it's still there. However, having had a Tahoe with AFM previously, DFM/AFM is not the source of the squeak. Some people have said it's the alternator pulley. Others have said it's the harmonic balancer. What I want to know is if the Camaro and Corvette are having the same problem. If not, why?