Uplander problem doors open by themselves

[Tina Harris]

we purchased our 2006 uplander on 9/5/06, by march we started having trouble, I came out from my daughters dance class to find an inch of snow in my van, the passanger slider was open, but all other doors were locked, I checke the vehicle to make sure nothing was missing, I did not know what to expect. This happened again the first day of soccar but to the other sliding door, and again, I took it to the dealership where I was pretty much told I was out of my mind, they also fixed this terrible shaking that was in the steering wheel, turns out the front brakes were installed wrong, and it was metal to metal. Even though there were many other problems the doors were especitally terrifing as I have two small children. After the dealer had checked this problem and told me I was crazy, I continued to have problems, we were in South Carolina when the doors opened while the van was moving, this was enough, we didnt know what to do so we contacted onstar and had one of their service reps on the phone for quite sometime, trying to disable the door, the door would not shut, it kept retracting, this on the auto setting or manual, and the dinging would not stop, when we returned home the car immidiatly went back to the dealer, who had it for about a month, we asked that they replace it, but the area manager over the dealer would not, *they could not reduplicate the problem, so they did however guarantee me that this would never happen again, well in early November it did, when I called the dealership, they said they had to have permission to see the vehicle (which was still under warranty) I was so upset that I filed a complaint with the Better Business Beru, this finally got their attention, I also dropped off a packet to the dealership listing 28 different people who had the same issues around the counrty, one of which I know had the vehicle repurchased. This I feel added to the decision for GM to buy it back. since the decision to buyback took place, we have encountered some issues, I have to pay $2000 for milage, this was a purchase, but milage is charged, and since chevrolet does not make a vehicle with three rows, that is under $35000, we decided on an arcadia, this would work very well for us, when we told our rep they said it could be "any" gm vehicle, now it is that it can "only" be a chevy, which would not work, I am going round and round and ready to scream. I do not know what to do next as the department does not have supervisors, go figure and when you deal with the legal department, no other department is allowed to speak to you!
Does anyone have some insight on this?

[mini1]

Get rid of the vehicle. It is the worst van going. Why did you buy it? What made you say "gee... that looks like it is better then all the other vans out there, I'll take it!"?

[likearock00]

Let them buy it back and buy a Suburban. The rebates on the 07's should erase any mile overage.

[CRBoyd91]

Yeah get a Suburban. The Uplander factory must be possessed.

[King Riffle]

Or better yet buy a minivan from a different manufacturer. GM shouldn't be rewarded with your business after putting you through all that. All that does is tell the execs that you'll buy whatever they build; that they don't have to try to earn your money. There's no reason that they couldn't build a competent minivan.

Luckily the Zafira is coming. A good minivan at last.

I don't get the point of your poll though.

[GMCSonoma]

That's a hard-hard read...

I'dpress on to speak to the GM zone manager...

[Neanderthal]

Contact GM regional/zone director, and Ralph Nader's organization.
Just google Nader.
Given his history of no love lost with GM, his outfit will probably wallow in this like a pig in hist.

[darndot]

Some of us forget the general public does live and breath cars. I could never buy on based just on how they looked. Sorry that you bought one of the crazy things.

Listen to GMC, he will steer you in the right direction.

[86fleet]

turns out the front brakes were installed wrong, and it was metal to metal.

how the hell does an line worker not know how to install brakes? Better yet how doesn't this come to the immediate attention of the QC guys? These vans really do symbolize everything wrong with the old GM.
Wish you luck with in getting this straightend out.

[Neanderthal]

Originally Posted by 86fleet

how the hell does an line worker not know how to install brakes? Better yet how doesn't this come to the immediate attention of the QC guys? These vans really do symbolize everything wrong with the old GM.
Wish you luck with in getting this straightend out.

Same way an auto shop can install front wheel bearings backwards, I guess.
It happened to me.

[Triple-X08]

it is a common problem with the uplanders, we have fixed a few of them. it is rather unfortunate, but it is GM's van biting them back in the ass for building such a incompetant pile of crap. complete waste of metal and resources, and a total waste of time and money. thank god there will be no more uplander after this year

[GMC-70]

I have an 06 Uplander as well. While I have not experienced the problem to the extent that you have, I have seen the drivers side door reopen immediatly several times after it was shut--like the sensors are sensing an obstruction. But this never happened while the van was moving and if it did I would be pretty angry to say the least!

Its going in for service next week so I will bring this to their attention.

[Tina Harris]

Would love to buy a suburban or tahoe, but when they do a buyback it is msrp to msrp, no rebate or "special's" apply.
The great "zone manager" well he is some type of god or somehting that has a magical pager number, then he will return a call only to GM, not to the customer, that is "not his job" we delt with that whole issue in September, the only way I seem to be getting any results is witht he BBB. As far as a reason for buying it in the first place, looked less like a mini van, I may be a mom, but that dosn't mean I need to drive a bread box!! Lol!

[mini1]

Originally Posted by Tina Harris

Would love to buy a suburban or tahoe, but when they do a buyback it is msrp to msrp, no rebate or "special's" apply.
The great "zone manager" well he is some type of god or somehting that has a magical pager number, then he will return a call only to GM, not to the customer, that is "not his job" we delt with that whole issue in September, the only way I seem to be getting any results is witht he BBB. As far as a reason for buying it in the first place, looked less like a mini van, I may be a mom, but that dosn't mean I need to drive a bread box!! Lol!

Sell it yourself and go buy something else. On the other hand, I'm sure you could keep on their case and negotiate for a buyback (at what ever you paid, minus mileage) then negotiate for a new Tahoe or Burb at or below invoice. Just don't take no for an answer! Worse case would be parking at the entrance to the dealership with a big sign on the side of the craplander saying something bad about it or the lack of help from the dealership with this POS. They will start talking to you within a couple minutes, believe me. You could also get a lawyer involved.

[GMC-70]

Originally Posted by Tina Harris

Would love to buy a suburban or tahoe, but when they do a buyback it is msrp to msrp, no rebate or "special's" apply.
The great "zone manager" well he is some type of god or somehting that has a magical pager number, then he will return a call only to GM, not to the customer, that is "not his job" we delt with that whole issue in September, the only way I seem to be getting any results is witht he BBB. As far as a reason for buying it in the first place, looked less like a mini van, I may be a mom, but that dosn't mean I need to drive a bread box!! Lol!

That's exactly why my wife likes it--becuase it looks less like a minivan! She couldnt stand the tradional minivan options out there and the Uplander suprisingly appealed to her. So far though--everything is good with the van and she loves it. So as long as it holds up thats all that really matters.

I however, knowing some of the history of the problems with this van am I liitle skeptical about the longevity of the van and I do make sure I check into it closely when I drive it for any potential issues. The only ones I see so far is the overly sensitive drivers door issue, and the ever so slighlty flickering lights issue when the van is at idle--this I have seen on other GM cars though and I will have it addressed at service.

Besides the problems you described (which I agree are major) what else has gone wrong with the van?