Random GM issues due to design flaws...

[Slo Yelo C5]

I have to say...

...I will never buy a GM product again.

Girlfriend owns a 2013 Equinox with the 4 cylinder Equinox. The car only has 65k miles, so it's not too old. Oil changes every 3,500 or less miles, no accidents, all other fluids changed, etc

About 3-4 years of Equinox have this horrible design flaws due to bad piston rings. Some units seem okay, the one behind that unit on the assembly line blows a motor. Perfectly normal.

There was a class action on these in ~2018 and GM agreed to extend power train warranty to first of 10 years/100k miles. So ours is out of warranty.

It guzzles oil. Guzzles it. Reservoir holds 5 (or 5.5?) quarts of oil. I just had it topped off 60 days ago. In 1,500 miles it burned about 2.5-3 quarts of oil. Incredible.

I called GM. Despite the design flaws, there's nothing they're willing to do. So we either trade it in on massive loss or put a quart of oil every 400-800 miles in it. Complete joke.

This is why I will never buy a GM again. They have design flaws in nearly EVERY single vehicle they build and sue, deflect, etc to not take responsibility. My C5 only has 27k miles. I worry about EBCM, SWPS, etc. No replacements, no help from GM. Just "buy another" is their response. Complete garbage and exactly why they lose buyers every single year.

Anybody else experienced the same and left GM? What did you start buying instead?

[Rodnok1]

Countless people have been the victim of AFM, many of my friends have been burned by the failures. I wouldn't own one with it period. Any newer vehicle out of warranty is a potential money pit.

Is there an updated ring package you could have put in?

[dvarapala]

Originally Posted by Slo Yelo C5

Girlfriend owns a 2013 Equinox with the 4 cylinder Equinox.

There's an Xzibit meme in there somewhere...

[Onebadcad]

Stay away from vw, as both my daughter's beetle and neighbor's passat drank a quart every 500 miles after they hit 50k miles.

[dvarapala]

Originally Posted by Slo Yelo C5

What did you start buying instead?

No oil consumption issues with a Tesla.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by dvarapala

There's an Xzibit meme in there somewhere...

...

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Rodnok1

Countless people have been the victim of AFM, many of my friends have been burned by the failures. I wouldn't own one with it period. Any newer vehicle out of warranty is a potential money pit.

Is there an updated ring package you could have put in?

@aerovette had to have his engine rebuilt due to the cylinder deactivation crap, and I have a friend with a Dodge truck that had to have his Hemi rebuilt for the exact same reason. If I was to buy another truck, at this point, I'd seriously consider a diesel just to avoid a blown engine in the future. The problem is, you're spending quite a bit more money up front, and at every fuel up.

You'd think at some point the manufacturers would simply admit defeat and stop building ticking time bombs and go back to what works. Same thing with direct injection. Great for squeezing out a bit more mileage, not so great for longevity. And our own government is practically forcing the manufacturers to seek out and put this engine killing tech in their products with unrealistic CAFE requirements.

At least give customers the choice.....have the engine plant build some of the engines without AFM. I'm betting if there was a choice, no one would be buying the AFM trucks, and they would stop selling them, as it was a very unpopular option.

[Yesfam]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

@aerovette had to have his engine rebuilt due to the cylinder deactivation crap, and I have a friend with a Dodge truck that had to have his Hemi rebuilt for the exact same reason. If I was to buy another truck, at this point, I'd seriously consider a diesel just to avoid a blown engine in the future. The problem is, you're spending quite a bit more money up front, and at every fuel up.

Additionally almost all problems with the current diesels come back to the DEF systems. They are the weak link.

[MidLifeinMI]

Originally Posted by Slo Yelo C5

I have to say...

...I will never buy a GM product again.

Girlfriend owns a 2013 Equinox with the 4 cylinder Equinox. The car only has 65k miles, so it's not too old. Oil changes every 3,500 or less miles, no accidents, all other fluids changed, etc

About 3-4 years of Equinox have this horrible design flaws due to bad piston rings. Some units seem okay, the one behind that unit on the assembly line blows a motor. Perfectly normal.

There was a class action on these in ~2018 and GM agreed to extend power train warranty to first of 10 years/100k miles. So ours is out of warranty.

It guzzles oil. Guzzles it. Reservoir holds 5 (or 5.5?) quarts of oil. I just had it topped off 60 days ago. In 1,500 miles it burned about 2.5-3 quarts of oil. Incredible.

I called GM. Despite the design flaws, there's nothing they're willing to do. So we either trade it in on massive loss or put a quart of oil every 400-800 miles in it. Complete joke.

This is why I will never buy a GM again. They have design flaws in nearly EVERY single vehicle they build and sue, deflect, etc to not take responsibility. My C5 only has 27k miles. I worry about EBCM, SWPS, etc. No replacements, no help from GM. Just "buy another" is their response. Complete garbage and exactly why they lose buyers every single year.

Anybody else experienced the same and left GM? What did you start buying instead?

Same, and for the same reason - 2010 Equinox started showing gas in the crankcase at about 45K miles; took it to Chevy dealer, and they had a TSB about the HP fuel pump (part of DI) allowing fuel past the seals when shut down at high pressure. GM replaced the HPFP, flushed the oil system, but the damage had been done already. The engine ran rough, and mileage dropped by 1-2 MPG.

I had a co-worker with the same vehicle, but with higher miles due to a long highway commute. His engine failed (same problem) at 105K, and despite the TSB, GM made him pay for a new engine. To avoid a similar fate, I traded our 'Nox in on a Ford Escape (my son is still driving it, at about 130K miles) and haven't set foot in a GM dealer since. That was a big step for someone who grew up in a GM family (my dad was a 29 year employee).

[Slo Yelo C5]

Originally Posted by Rodnok1

Countless people have been the victim of AFM, many of my friends have been burned by the failures. I wouldn't own one with it period. Any newer vehicle out of warranty is a potential money pit.

Is there an updated ring package you could have put in?

Not that I'm aware of. My understanding is just keep putting excessive amounts of oil in it until the engine has pre-mature failure at some point.

[Slo Yelo C5]

Originally Posted by MidLifeinMI

Same, and for the same reason - 2010 Equinox started showing gas in the crankcase at about 45K miles; took it to Chevy dealer, and they had a TSB about the HP fuel pump (part of DI) allowing fuel past the seals when shut down at high pressure. GM replaced the HPFP, flushed the oil system, but the damage had been done already. The engine ran rough, and mileage dropped by 1-2 MPG.

I had a co-worker with the same vehicle, but with higher miles due to a long highway commute. His engine failed (same problem) at 105K, and despite the TSB, GM made him pay for a new engine. To avoid a similar fate, I traded our 'Nox in on a Ford Escape (my son is still driving it, at about 130K miles) and haven't set foot in a GM dealer since. That was a big step for someone who grew up in a GM family (my dad was a 29 year employee).

Funny you mention GM employee.

My girlfriend's father worked for GM for 40 years. The excessive oil consumption was first noticed by me about a year ago. He was at our house over the summer (we are in PA and he lives in the Midwest).

He was boasting about how great GM is. I came out and said "I'll tell ya what...GM is complete shyt. You practically forced her [his daughter/my girlfriend] to buy that Equinox 4 years ago. It's been a complete money pit. And now the oil consumption is a clear sign it's going to have pre mature catastrophic failure. Don't come in my house and tell me how great GM is. Her Equinox is a pile of garbage. My Corvette has un-repairable SWPS and EBCM. You yourself had to trade in your GMC SUV because it had an extensive number of problems at 60k miles...as of that's "old" for a modern SUV.

We're trading in that hunk of shyt Equinox and getting a Mazda SUV. At least they stand behind their products and don't file law suits and deflect endlessly when EVERY product they build has design flaws".

His reaction was like the grandfather in Gran Torino who went nuts when the adult kids tried to put him in the home.

[MidLifeinMI]

Originally Posted by Slo Yelo C5

........

We're trading in that hunk of shyt Equinox and getting a Mazda SUV. At least they stand behind their products and don't file law suits and deflect endlessly when EVERY product they build has design flaws".

The sad part is, we actually liked the Equinox until the oil consumption issue started. It was easily the quietest vehicle we'd owned (thanks to the extra door seals), and the sliding rear seat was a really helpful design feature.

Besides the Equinox issues, the straw that broke THIS camel's back as far as GM was concerned was my experience working for them as an equipment supplier. I worked for an assembly machine maker which supplied automated engine/transmission assembly systems to several automakers. GM was consistently the worst customer in the business, both from a Purchasing practice standpoint (the "Lopez years"), and from a project engineering standpoint. Nearly ALL of our customer contacts thought they were God's gift to the auto business, and treated all their suppliers like shit.

Conversely, Ford was pretty reasonable to work for, and I got exposed to several of their engine lines & plants while they were first introducing the EcoBoost concept. I figured I'd reciprocate and support a good customer, so bought the 2013 Escape, a Focus ST (since sold), and a 2017 F150. It seems like Ford's quality has recently taken a downturn, but our F150 is easily the most trouble-free vehicle I've ever owned.

(Forgot to mention, we also now own a 2021 Mazda CX-5. Zero issues in 2 years.)

[Mike Mercury]

after being a lifetime GM dude; I now have an order in for a 2024 Honda Ridgeline.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

after being a lifetime GM dude; I now have an order in for a 2024 Honda Ridgeline.

We have a strict don't ask, don't tell rule here at the barn. I'm pretty sure this is some sort of violation

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Slo Yelo C5

Not that I'm aware of. My understanding is just keep putting excessive amounts of oil in it until the engine has pre-mature failure at some point.

On the bright side, all you'll have to do is change the oil filter every so often, since the oil is constantly being refreshed.

[GTOguy]

My newest GM Vehicle is a 1967 model. My other two are 1961 and a 1966 model years.
No worries. Well built, simple, reliable. Not disposable appliances like every car made since 2005.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

after being a lifetime GM dude; I now have an order in for a 2024 Honda Ridgeline.

Originally Posted by ZipZap

We have a strict don't ask, don't tell rule here at the barn. I'm pretty sure this is some sort of violation

Did they ask for y'alls pronouns on the order contract?

[ricks327]

Wife has a 2019 Equinox with 14k miles, so I will keep an eye out as it gets a bit older. I was unaware of the engine issues.

[LATB]

Only thing GM produces that would be of any interest to me is their HD pickup trucks.

And why would I buy one when the Ford SuperDuty is a superior truck IMO.

Doubtful I will ever own another GM vehicle. Surely not a modern one.

[PLRX]

This is what happens when new punks try to reinvent the wheel.