I Think Life Has Given Me A Lemon...

[BlakSilvr]

...and I can't even make lemonade out of it because I think the lemon is my damn truck.

 

Here's the deal. I bought my truck exactly a year ago today, on Sept. 24th 2007. It had 200 miles on it when I took delivery so it was literally brand new. I have only put an additional 9700 miles on it in the past year so not only is it just a year old but its very low mileage.

 

Around April of this year, my Service Airbag warning message and light came on. I took it in to the dealership, and since the light didn't come on during their diagnostic, they chalked it up to a computer glitch and sent me on my way.

 

Mere weeks later...what should happen but the message comes back. This time, it flickers randomly on and off. (Here's video of what it does for anyone interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zqrr_2jvjI ) I wasn't near my dealership so I used the in-car OnStar button and talked to them. Their tech said that while I need not worry about my airbag blowing up in my face while driving...it may not deploy when needed.

 

So, of course, I take it right in. This time they see the light, and the computer codes causing it and determine that the problem lies in the seat belt latch mechanism. They have to order the part so I bring it back the next day. They install it and send me on my way.

 

Guess what happens not long after that. Yeah. It comes on again. This time I'm incredibly busy with school and am unable to take it right in. It seems to go away for a while, returning intermittently. I finally found time to take it on Monday, this now being the third time I've had to bring it in for this same problem. They run their checks and determine it could be a computer module. They order the part and tell me to come back today and they will install it and test it out.

 

So that is what they did. They installed the part and tested it out (using up the better part of my remaining half tank of gas in the process) and called me to say it checks out great and to pick it up around 5:00pm.

 

I took a 10 min. break from work to pick it up. Luckily the dealership is maybe a half mile down from where I work. I picked it up at 5:00pm then went back to finish the last hour of my shift. I leave work at 6:00pm, and have been on the road for maybe 5 minutes when...

 

...you guessed it.

 

The ****ing message came back. Again.

 

I called the service dept. but of course, they close at 6:00 and nobody is around. I left a rather irate message and told them I'd be back tomorrow.

 

I did a little reading on California "lemon law" and this is what I found.

 

 

The Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act (beginning with Civil Code section 1790) provides protection for consumers who lease or buy new motor vehicles. The law requires that if the manufacturer or its representative in this state, such as an authorized dealer, is unable to service or repair a new motor vehicle to meet the terms of an express written warranty after a reasonable number of repair attempts, the manufacturer is required promptly to replace the vehicle or return the purchase price to the lessee or buyer. The purchase price that must be returned includes the price paid for manufacturer-installed items and transportation but does not include the price paid for nonmanufacturer items installed by the dealer. The lessee or buyer is completely free to choose whether to accept a replacement or a refund. Whatever the choice, the manufacturer is also responsible to pay for sales or use tax; license, registration, and other official fees; and incidental damages that the lessee or buyer may have incurred such as finance charges, repair, towing, and rental car costs.

It seems to me that I am perfectly eligible for this law to be applied to the truck, but I'm not 100% sure if it is or what to do if it is at this point. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Zembonez]

So... let me get this right. Your truck is a LEMON because of this one problem? It sounds like a connection somewhere is breaking down. Most likely a ground. These can be difficult because of their intermittent nature to fix. Nobody at the dealer has a working crystal ball.

 

Things do break. Some are hard to locate and solve. It sucks but it hardly makes the truck a lemon.

[BlakSilvr]

Yes, one problem that has, according to the dealership, been fixed 3 times now. If it does potentially cause the air bag to fail, its a safety risk. The law doesn't say anything about exemptions if the problem is "intermittent" or not.

 

BTW, they actually fixed a ground problem this time, said there was a connection under the rear seat that needed to be repaired/replaced. A lot of good that did...

[Zembonez]

Well, if anybody made perfect cars, there wouldn't be any need for a warranty would there?

 

I'd try a different dealership.

 

Good luck.

[2000DV4.8]

I agree with Jim. I wouldn't give up on an otherwise good truck because of an incompetent dealer, try somewhere else.

[minibike132]

I wouldn't rely on a paragraph to tell you all you need to know about the lemon law. With quite a bit of litigation you might get a buy back and in the process you will loose money on the deal. It's not really worth it. Intermittants can be hard to fix, I know if you are not someone that has to deal with these things it can be hard to understand. I can't qualify weather the tech(s) that are working on this are good ones or not. If you are not happy with this dealer go to another one before you start with the lemon talk.

 

 

I just have to add that anyone calling onstar for diagnostic purposes, they do not have anyone on the other end of that line with any expertise at all with diagnostics. All they can do is read the code which most times tells you very little.

[nme904]

You will have to look at the case law to figure out what a "reasonable" number of repair attempts is, or speak to a lawyer that has experience with lemon law cases. This may cost some money though. If you do decide to pursue the lemon law route you will probably have to pay a lawyer to handle it for you because I doubt GM will not put up any fight at all. This costs needs to be added in to your decision making process to decide if it is worth it or not.

[Zembonez]

James,

 

You've been around here a while and contributed to the site. I don't figure you for a guy that will let this one thing make you believe the truck is a lemon. I know it's frustrating when a dealer can't fix a problem but it hardly makes the truck a lemon. I still think another dealer is the answer.