Out with the old POS, in with the new

Hellgate

Hellgate

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<<Photos Added>> Holy Cow Batman!!! This car is amazing! I like it better than my MB E500 and possibly my old 2002 Carrera.

Well today was the last straw, my 2009 Malibu is gone.

That's it, I punted, I'm out.

Long story short I traded the Bu today for a 2010 G37 sedan with 17,000 miles and was a Nissian USA Fleet Car; 328 hp helps too. :p The Bu stalled out in an intersection this weekend and I managed to get it home, then it proceed to run fine all day today (50) miles. I can't keep dragging the car to the dealership and back, they've been great and GM CS has been great but I'm done (6 trips in 6 months just for this issue). My car was rock solid up to 31K then it's been in the shop over and over.

I had the following issues:

Brake booster replaced
Control arms replaced
Suspension bushings replaced
Cam actuator replaced
Cam soleniod replaced
Brake rotors turned and pads replaced at 35k-ish
All four door stops fell off the frame - finger tight..er..loose
Fuel Injectors replaced
Head Replaced - Valve guides loose in head

Intermittent rough idle, miss at high speed cruise - not able to resolve.

I pick the car up Thursday.

My first mod will be a U-Haul trailer hitch so I can take the R6 to the track.


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FZ1riderNY said:
All those things were bad?! Geez! I believe you had gotten stuck with a lemon Pete. I think someone fell asleep on the assembly line. I wish you better luck with the new ride.
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Thanks Billy, the Malibu was supposed to be a very good car, but mine has been at total a dud. There is no way I could sell it to an individual so I traded it in. Thank goodness it performed great when the dealer checked it out, I was sweating bullets.

The new car is a rocket ship, has amazing brakes and steers as fast as you think; I'm really looking forward to it.
 
We had a 1996 (new at that time) Chevy Lumina that we ditched in 11 mos. It was broke down two weeks after we drove it off the lot! It was a myriad of problems from day one and as you, we grew weary of it and decided to cut our losses and go back to Toyota THANKFULLY! Should have known better than to stray...
 
I too ditched a 2004 F350 for a myriad of problems. It was almost the mentality of the those who own boats, Loved it the first day. Could not get rid of it fast enough during the remainder of its life owned by me.....

Pics of the new ride??
 
BroHay said:
I too ditched a 2004 F350 for a myriad of problems. It was almost the mentality of the those who own boats, Loved it the first day. Could not get rid of it fast enough during the remainder of its life owned by me.....

Pics of the new ride??
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I agree! No photos yet, and I can't seem to grab the ones from Auto Trader for some reason. I'll post them Thursday after I pick the car up.
 
You need to be able to depend on your transportation, good luck with the new wheels. I usually buy Japanese, the only two cars I have had other than Japanese was a VW Rabbit (1985) and an Audi A4. The German cars are great when they are in good working order but my experience was that they needed a lot of maintenance.
 
I gave up on GM 25 years ago, then 12 years ago I caved and bought a Astro Van -WRONG.
It was gone in a year and a half and never again. Sucks those clowns can't build a car you can trust.
 
OneSizeFitsAll said:
I gave up on GM 25 years ago, then 12 years ago I caved and bought a Astro Van -WRONG.
It was gone in a year and a half and never again. Sucks those clowns can't build a car you can trust.
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Oh I know what you mean. I read the reviews in Consumer Reports, Road and Track, and Motor Trend. They all raved about the car, and it does drive great, but it sure didn't age well. That said the chassis is still very tight at 52,000 miles, no sqeaks or rattles at all. The odd thing is most of my issues are motor related and from what I understand is Hyundai builds the motor for them.
 
i know the feeling. maybe you got a car built on a monday or friday lol. i had a crap ton of issues with my 08 cobalt as well. 3 manual tansmissions replaced, 2 steering columns, numerous trans work finally traded it in for my 05 colorado. i had gm customer service on speed dial, when i told the i had my 65 corvair and it had less issues than my coblat the finally caved and paid a couple payments for me. ill keep my trucks and out of my experience ill stick back to ford when the colorado takes a crap. ( i got it for a really good deal on leave to get rid of the cobalt) but ive had a 01 f150 with 225k miles on the original eng and trans! no more govt motors for this guy!
 
I had a 64 1/2 mustang with 240,000 on the original tranny. replaced the engine around 200k for misc parts taking a puke simultaneously. It could of been my lead foot, *ahem*, I mean responsible driving, but the car took everything this teenager could throw at it, not to mention what my Grandfather threw at it on his trips to Vegas, just burying the needle on the highway to make good time.

If they could do it back then, why couldn't they continue the trend in today's world???
 
I disagree that foriegn cars are superior. I have great luck with American cars, Fords specifically. I have owned 2 Ford Tauruses. The first a 2000 which I put 279,000 miles on only replacing an O2 sensor($55.00) which I traded in while it was still getting 28-29 mpg.
I now have a 2006 Taurus with 175,000ish miles which I changed the water pump on($75.00) at 60,000 miles. It still gets 28-29 mpg so I haven't even changed the plugs yet. I just replaced the fuel filter this past winter! I have a 2008 F150 that I haven't put a dime into other than oil/tires and a brand new Chevrolet Impala(jury still out on this one).
 
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I'm really surprised you had such problems Hellgate. Actually, I'm not surprised but I am disappointed. I really thought GM was getting their act together and starting to build a decent car again.

I suppose if you consider the fact they need to build a cheaper car with more features to attract buyers and couple it with the laziest, unmotivated, most overpaid workers; you have a recipe for disaster.

The 'foreign' cars are often built completely in North America now but it seems like they also suffer from the curse of North American 'workers' because they are typically of lesser quality than the ones built overseas.
 
Dustin said:
I'm really surprised you had such problems Hellgate. Actually, I'm not surprised but I am disappointed. I really thought GM was getting their act together and starting to build a decent car again.

I suppose if you consider the fact they need to build a cheaper car with more features to attract buyers and couple it with the laziest, unmotivated, most overpaid workers; you have a recipe for disaster.

The 'foreign' cars are often built completely in North America now but it seems like they also suffer from the curse of North American 'workers' because they are typically of lesser quality than the ones built overseas.
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Me too Dustin, I really figured this would be a good car.

I participate in True Delta, an auto quality web site. And speak with the guy who runs it he's noticed that the newer GM products start off great but don't age well at all. Obviously the older a car the more issues you'll have vs. a new one, but in the case of GM the older a car gets the rate of repair exceeds the normal trend.

TrueDelta Car Reliability and Gas Mileage Information
 
Japanese cars are usually the best for quality and reliability. The resale on them is much better over here in Australia too.
Our locally built Holdens and Fords lose about 50% value after 2-3 years.
I have a Subaru and a Nissan personally, both of them run like clockwork and have been trouble free since I bought them.
 
Honda Gone Bad

Was driving my 06' Civic with 80K on the clock in December when I noticed that my temperature gage rising. Thought I had busted a hose so I took it to Meineke. After looking at it the tech brought me to the car and showed me that I had busted the engine block. I about shat my pants. I filled the radiator with cold water and drove it to Honda dealership to try to trade it in without them noticing. They did a long test drive and the temperature gage rose as expected....but to my disbelief, the guy didn't notice it. He was a tall guy and with the way the dash is shaped, he couldn't see it. He gave me full trade in. Now I'm back to a 09' Civic SI (supercharged).

I know that this could be considered Bad Karma.....but a few years back that dealership left my Honda Ridgeline windows open during a severe rainstorm, and they just replaced one seat, I had all sorts of electrical problems after that (not to mention a moldy smell).......so in my mind, they can suck it.

Choppastyle.
 
You will LOVE that car! I have an '09 G37xS (x=all wheel drive, necessary here in Colorado winters). We have put 37K miles on it in almost exactly 2 years of ownership. It has been an all around awesome car, and I see no way I would get rid of it...lord willing!

Enjoy the new ride...but get some kind of convertible trailer hitch, because those kinds of cars just do NOT look right with a hitch coming out of the rear end.
 
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