trailblazer anger

[chromewarrior]

Really! Because 4 runner or xterra was what I was thinkin for my next car. But then I'd get a crappy dealer and hate them too. Lol. I really thought Chevy would have been different. I guess it's why everyone's going overseas.

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by chromewarrior

Really! Because 4 runner or xterra was what I was thinkin for my next car. But then I'd get a crappy dealer and hate them too. Lol. I really thought Chevy would have been different. I guess it's why everyone's going overseas.

Then on the other hand the Trailblazer is from the time when GM was building pure crap.

[Joe in T.O.]

Actually, the Trailblazer was light years ahead of its competition in 2002. It took several years for other manufacturers to catch up to the 270 base horsepower the I-6 was putting out. I still have mine, tow a trailer regularly with minimal maintenance and it still looks and drives great!

[01cavalier]

Originally Posted by chromewarrior

Really! Because 4 runner or xterra was what I was thinkin for my next car. But then I'd get a crappy dealer and hate them too. Lol. I really thought Chevy would have been different. I guess it's why everyone's going overseas.

The Trailblazer was definitely not one of GM's best vehicles, and I'm saying that from working in customer service. Still, the transmission was not a real problem area. Did the dealer ever tell you what failed in the transmission? Did they also have any idea why it failed? At that low of a mileage I would think there should be a pretty good reason for not doing anything. A call to customer assistance might be a good idea if you aren't pleased with what the dealer decided.

Originally Posted by chromewarrior

Well I have no problems w/ the dealerships when I buy a car. But I have BIG problems w/ them at the service department. Little over a year after I bought my 2005 Trailblazer, engine light came on. My wife took it in on her way to work. They called and told her it needed a head job. I had bought the extended warranty. Then they tried to tell her, oh but we need to check it out to see if maybe someone put something in your gas tank. So she called me. I told her to have the idiot call me. He called me and tried to tell me the same thing. I was like what are you smokin. I had just watched a show of Myth Busters where you can't mess up a car buy putting stuff in the tank because of the fuel filters. Well anyway long story short they had to fly someone in from the mainland ( I live in Hawaii) to check it out, and give the ok to warranty it. He did. Later they told me good thing you had a warrianty, it would have cost you $7000.00 to do a head job. Man I could throw a new engine in my 81 Ford pickup w/ goodies on it for $7000.00 and have change. We've takin it in for other problems, and always the same thing, they fight us tooth and nail. I'm not blaming Chevy, had the same problems w/ Dodge. Man I could write a book on there service dept. But it shouldn't be this way. My wife just drives to work and back, and around town on the weekends. It really make Chevy look bad.

As for your problem with dealers in Hawaii, I know they can be very tough to deal with. I hated having to talk to any dealer there with a passion. Sorry the service there is so bad.

[Michael_S]

The real lesson here is that GM should have had the 7 year/100,000 mile warranty earlier. Then this guy would have gotten his new transmission, and been pretty likely to buy a new GM next time he shops for a vehicle.

As it is, GM has no legal obligation to help him. But if they don't fix his transmission or at least cover half the cost, you can bet he'll end up in something from another automaker next time out.

Oh, and relatives of mine had to replace the transmissions on their Trailblazer at 45,000 miles.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by NfamousZ24

Wow I am glad that I don't have crappy dealers like you guys. Well I had one that tried to give me problems then I just called that 1-800- Chevy - USA number or whatever it is. Lets just say that dealership tried their hardest to get me to come back. Well I won't go back to them because the dealership I go to treats me right. Maybe that is why I go there for all of my oil changes and repairs. I even went in for work on my Envoy that didn't require a rental. But I had to go to work and the Owner let me use his demo Impala SS to get to work and back to pick up my Envoy the next day.

Wait...what dealer was that? Was it in Dayton?

[rmodys]

Wow I am glad that I don't have crappy dealers like you guys. Well I had one that tried to give me problems then I just called that 1-800- Chevy - USA number or whatever it is. Lets just say that dealership tried their hardest to get me to come back. Well I won't go back to them because the dealership I go to treats me right. Maybe that is why I go there for all of my oil changes and repairs. I even went in for work on my Envoy that didn't require a rental. But I had to go to work and the Owner let me use his demo Impala SS to get to work and back to pick up my Envoy the next day.

His dealer sounds like a lover...

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by rmodys

His dealer sounds like a lover...

Nahhh, the dealers here in southwest Ohio just have awesome service. My GMC dealer bought us lunch when the Envoy was stuck in the shop for repairs. The salesmen are awesome too.

[pnkdrews]

I have a 2004 Trailblazer 4x4 LT with the 5.3 L v8 46069 miles. My transmission went out last Saturday. I was going down the freeway at 65 merged onto another freeway and no 3rd gear. Took it to the dealer $150 to look at it. They called back said no errror codes , oil looks burnt, recomend oil , filter change and flush $385.00. Get call back from dealer told oil change didnt fix problem now its $3559.66 to replace with new tranny with 5ry.100,00 warranty. Asked about goodwill and instrument cluster problems. Speedo works intermittantly. Told they have extended warranty on Cluster for Avalanch, silverado,tahoe but not Trailblazer. Dealer said he would cover cost of parts on instrument cluster but i pay labor $300.00 and he couldnt do anything about the transmission. I also have a 2001 sivlerado that the tranny went out at a little over 50k miles in 2006. That cost me $2800. I was thinking of trading in my 2001 for a new avalanche, but not now, next vehicle will be an import.

[ptviperz]

Originally Posted by drees1

Sorry the hear that. Why didn't you buy a Full Comp Extended Warranty? Always buy the full warranty.

Buying the extended warranty is a real good way to make the dealer money.

No way anything major should fail before 100K miles EVER.

NEVER buy an extended warranty

[eurohazard]

Originally Posted by ptviperz

Buying the extended warranty is a real good way to make the dealer money.

No way anything major should fail before 100K miles EVER.

NEVER buy an extended warranty

I wouldn't necessarily say "never" buy an extended warranty. In fact a $1,200 insurance policy (a better way to look at the extended warranty) would have really helped out a dude who needed $4,500 of work done after the 36k mile, but before 100k mile mark.


Now, I do agree NEVER buy an extended warranty at the time you purchase the vehicle. Say factory warranty is 3 years/36k miles. Some people think it's a good idea to spend $1,000 for a 5 year/75k miles warranty. I say why pay NOW for a warranty you may never use?.....if the car is a real lemon in that initial 36k miles, you'll probably ditch the car anyway. Also, since the first 3 years, and 36k miles are FREE, this person would have really paid $1,000 for 2 years, and 39k miles.

So an extended warranty can be a good investment (gamble), but only purchase just before the factory warranty expires. Plus you can shop around....it doesn't need to be bought from the dealership who sold you the vehicle.

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by pnkdrews

I have a 2004 Trailblazer 4x4 LT with the 5.3 L v8 46069 miles. My transmission went out last Saturday. I was going down the freeway at 65 merged onto another freeway and no 3rd gear. Took it to the dealer $150 to look at it. They called back said no errror codes , oil looks burnt, recomend oil , filter change and flush $385.00. Get call back from dealer told oil change didnt fix problem now its $3559.66 to replace with new tranny with 5ry.100,00 warranty. Asked about goodwill and instrument cluster problems. Speedo works intermittantly. Told they have extended warranty on Cluster for Avalanch, silverado,tahoe but not Trailblazer. Dealer said he would cover cost of parts on instrument cluster but i pay labor $300.00 and he couldnt do anything about the transmission. I also have a 2001 sivlerado that the tranny went out at a little over 50k miles in 2006. That cost me $2800. I was thinking of trading in my 2001 for a new avalanche, but not now, next vehicle will be an import.

Thats very odd, and I am sorry to hear you had so many issues with your vehicles. Did you try calling GM directly and see if they will help you? Are you aware that most newer GM vehicles are using a different transmission and that all vehicles that GM sells now comes with a standard 5 year/100k mile warranty? If you don't want another GM vehicle why not check out the offerings at Ford or Chrysler?

***Edit***
Just curious, did you do anything out of the ordinary with these vehicles? My friend owned a 2001 Nissan Maxima and his transmission blew at 103K miles, he did all kinds of crap with that car. I just find it so hard to believe that so many people own these vehicles, and drive them well over 100k miles without any transmission failure. Plus this is a proven transmission.

[pnkdrews]

My 2001 pickup has only had a trailer attached once , and that was a u-haul 1 yard cement trailer. Except for the occasional trip camping in the mountains both vehicles are used to drive back and forth from work. About 12miles one way. Unless my wife is racing on the side, as far as I know no abusive driving. Now my first car a 1975 toyota pick up, I beat the heck out of that thing. I will talk to GM tomorrow, maybe I can get somewhere. Does anybody know if the instument cluster is the same as Avalanche, Tahoe, Yukon, Silverado or anything on their extended warranty bulletin.

[AndrewGS]

Originally Posted by pnkdrews

My 2001 pickup has only had a trailer attached once , and that was a u-haul 1 yard cement trailer. Except for the occasional trip camping in the mountains both vehicles are used to drive back and forth from work. About 12miles one way. Unless my wife is racing on the side, as far as I know no abusive driving. Now my first car a 1975 toyota pick up, I beat the heck out of that thing.

Everyone has an anecdotal story about a particular car or brand that was exceptional or deplorable. I can tell you about my dad's two Suburbans, an '86 that we traded-in with 209,000 flawless miles on it, the '94 that went 215,000 miles on the factory transmission and he sold at 275,000 miles, my dad's seemingly invincible '76 Civic, my cousin's Avalon that has spent more time in the shop out of warranty than in her garage, my grandparents' '95 Blazer that had an EGR and subsequent engine failure at about 60,000 miles or my mother's '88 Maxima that ate fuel injectors and had a transmission and subsequent engine failure at about 130,000 miles.

Fact is, GM now offers a great warranty as standard equipment, something that used to cost quite a bit of money, a zero deductible 5yr./100,000mi. powertrain warranty that is fully transferable and upgradeable to bumper-to-bumper for a reasonable cost.

Another thing, why is it that everyone decides to jump over to an import brand after a bad experience with one domestic brand? Why not look at a Ford? Why does it have to be a Toyota? What did you own between the '75 Toyota pickup and the '01 Silverado? What was your experience there?

[SuperSS27]

I have owned 7 different Chevy's. None of them have given me any major problems at all. The biggest problem I had was a fuel pump that went out in my 96 S-10 and my radiator blew in my TBSS in -4 degree weather when someone put a bad mixture in the radiator. Other than that i put 37k very hard miles on it and the transmission didn't even flinch and I was pushing north of 450HP...