I personally will never own any GM or Ford product because of all their electrical problems. GM is by far the best company at separating money from their owners and their dealerships always have the highest pressure salespeople. Expensive cars are repaired with expensive parts and labor. When your son turns this into a "ghetto cruiser" he should be aware he can not remove the original radio. In an attempt to force you to have it repaired at one of their very expensive authorized service centers, they built the body computer into it. Got'cha! Without the radio you will not have power windows or cruise control.
WHEN it becomes necessary to replace one of the dozens of very unreliable, complicated, expensive computers, the software must also be programmed in. GM has that all locked up for their dealers only except for three of them as mandated by the government. Dig out your wallet! Only three companies are customer-friendly when it comes to replacing computers and letting independent shops have access to the software. Chrysler and Toyota make everything available except the security system. They do charge a small fee to visit the web site. Only Hyundai allows anyone access anytime to all of their information for free.
On GM vehicles since 2002, all computers, (up to 47 of them) talk to the body computer in the radio and must have the correct VIN number programmed in to work. That prevents you from buying a used computer from the salvage yard. There is only one explanation for that. GM wants to sell you a new computer, ($$$$). Worse still, a mechanic with a scanner connected to these vehicles can select "lock" under the body computer menu. There is no "are you sure" screen, no second chances, and it can not be undone. You will never know this happened until the day the radio / body computer fails and must be replaced. All of the other computers are now programmed to that body computer once "lock" was pressed. Now ALL of the other computers must be replaced as well. They will never work in another car. Got'cha!
Sorry for carrying on but you can see my frustration at having to be the person who explains why the cost of repairs is so high. There is a reason GM is making such huge profits when they lose money on every car they build. Their products are not any better than any others. They just have better advertising. Given their history with rack and pinions and their repair that "just has to last long enough to get it out of warranty, then let the customer worry about it", their miserable generator design that they will not admit is a disaster, and all of their other business practices, your son would be better off in a Toyota. At least the import companies try to help out their owners as much as possible.
I know other people will argue with my opinions, but GM has angered me so many times that I couldn't help responding. Take a look at what mechanics drive. It's not late model GM vehicles unless they have enough money to keep trading before the warranty expires.
Caradiodoc
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Monday, December 6th, 2010 AT 2:57 AM
