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been having fits with my tow rig


FlatH20

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To make a long story short - tow rig is out of commission - auto dealer has been pretty unreliable(broken promises) I call to cancel my service and de-win on the bu' due to the suburban being out of comission - AWS dispatches a vehicle to retrieve my boat. - I live 2.5 hours away from my boat dealer... can't say enough positive for the folks at Active Water Sports - Warren and his gang didn't think twice, just said "you're a great customer - when would you like us to show up?- we got you covered" FANTASTIC!!!

- my local GM dealer on the otherhand - gives me the song and dance regarding my tow vehicle- "it'll be ready by thursday at the latest..." I pulled my kid out of school, loaded up our gear in the Bu' and had everything geared up for a friday season opener where we planned for a couple sets behind the "river-test" of our boat - but the auto dealer calls at the last minute on thursday and tells me that it's not going to be done until 9:00 on friday - no tow rig.... kid disappointed, no crushed - and here I am - finally got the tow rig back at noon...

having a tough time being loyal to the domestic builds - the attitude of the dealer is what peeves me the most - my only request: - give me a loaner tow rig -it's all good - no dice....

the issue - broken camshaft - 20k miles on the rig... everything is under warranty but I've been to the dealer four times now for warranty issues - what says the crew??? is this outrageous? normal or am I just too particular??

that part about AWS - wow... hats off to those guys I never expected that...

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Bummer on the tow rig. I wouldn't say that it's time to dump on domestic rigs, I've never had a warranty issue with any of my domestic vehicles (or any of my imports either). [knocks on wood] I would however look for a different dealership to patronize. Loaners never have tow packages on them, not sure why. Probably liability. Glad to hear your Malibu dealer has it going on. The old Nor Cal dealer didn't have a clue and now they're GONE!!!

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To make a long story short - tow rig is out of commission - auto dealer has been pretty unreliable(broken promises) I call to cancel my service and de-win on the bu' due to the suburban being out of comission - AWS dispatches a vehicle to retrieve my boat. - I live 2.5 hours away from my boat dealer... can't say enough positive for the folks at Active Water Sports - Warren and his gang didn't think twice, just said "you're a great customer - when would you like us to show up?- we got you covered" FANTASTIC!!!

- my local GM dealer on the otherhand - gives me the song and dance regarding my tow vehicle- "it'll be ready by thursday at the latest..." I pulled my kid out of school, loaded up our gear in the Bu' and had everything geared up for a friday season opener where we planned for a couple sets behind the "river-test" of our boat - but the auto dealer calls at the last minute on thursday and tells me that it's not going to be done until 9:00 on friday - no tow rig.... kid disappointed, no crushed - and here I am - finally got the tow rig back at noon...

having a tough time being loyal to the domestic builds - the attitude of the dealer is what peeves me the most - my only request: - give me a loaner tow rig -it's all good - no dice....

the issue - broken camshaft - 20k miles on the rig... everything is under warranty but I've been to the dealer four times now for warranty issues - what says the crew??? is this outrageous? normal or am I just too particular??

that part about AWS - wow... hats off to those guys I never expected that...

Great service by your Bu dealer.

Your suburban experience sounds similar to mine. I have a 2007. It had the full AC system replaced at 34K miles. Power steering system replaced at 45K miles. Transmission crapped out at 55K. I posted recently that it is bad enough when you recognize faces and know names at your GM service dealer...and even worse when they know your face and your name when you walk thru the door.

It has been good for 40K miles...has 93K now...knock on wood. I am scared to keep it past the 100K warrantee...

Despite the problems, we love it. Great truck, I just wish it would be more reliable.

-- Mike

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Im in a pretty good mood tonight so I wont get to into it. But after the trouble Ive had with my Dodge 1500 which i bought new and have not abused. I know for a fact I will never give mopar my business again, NEVER.

My truck has been a nightmare since the original motor literally burst into flames at 1300 miles.(leaky injector and electric wire short combo.

Aw hell, To start Dodge refused to give me a new truck or new motor, even tried to claim it was my fault and not under warranty and i had a leaking radiator that caused overheat. Which caused it to burst in to flames?? I had to take it to two independent shops to get proof of what really happened. And then they found a junkyard motor from a wrecked truck with the same mileage to replace mine with. I have also been through 6 yes SIX power steering pumps. They stopped letting me use the warranty after the 4th. My tranny also shifts extremely rough and they refuse to look at it because it still works.

The truck was bought brand new in 06 and has only 60k now. I have never even taken it offroad and the biggest thing ive ever pulled is my skier.

Sorry for that everybody..

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YIkes... i am sure every manufacture has their bad stories.. and while i can understand that sometimes things break (and i can accept that)... i would be pissed if the new truck i purchased broke repeatedly and the dealer/manufacture didn't stand behind it. I had a new Tundra and it was flawless (although i know they have had a few minor issues as well.. but Toyota stepped in and fixed it for the guys that had issues)... and i know that Toyota's loaner Tundras have a tow package.. they made a point of telling me that when i purchased mine. Next i had a 5.6L Armada... gain... flawless and never let me down towing the boat around (flakey fuel gauge. but Nissan finally sent a letter out to everyone and fixed it.) I guess i have just had really good luck with my tow rigs. I've now really gone out on a limb and have a V10TDI Touareg and a Q7 TDI for towing around the 23LSV... no issues so far.. but i am sure when something breaks it will be complicated to get fixed... but so far so good. Those Germans really know how to make things complicated. Good luck wihichever direction you choose.

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martinarcher

Im in a pretty good mood tonight so I wont get to into it. But after the trouble Ive had with my Dodge 1500 which i bought new and have not abused. I know for a fact I will never give mopar my business again, NEVER.

My truck has been a nightmare since the original motor literally burst into flames at 1300 miles.(leaky injector and electric wire short combo.

Aw hell, To start Dodge refused to give me a new truck or new motor, even tried to claim it was my fault and not under warranty and i had a leaking radiator that caused overheat. Which caused it to burst in to flames?? I had to take it to two independent shops to get proof of what really happened. And then they found a junkyard motor from a wrecked truck with the same mileage to replace mine with. I have also been through 6 yes SIX power steering pumps. They stopped letting me use the warranty after the 4th. My tranny also shifts extremely rough and they refuse to look at it because it still works.

The truck was bought brand new in 06 and has only 60k now. I have never even taken it offroad and the biggest thing ive ever pulled is my skier.

Sorry for that everybody..

You have seen the light. Thumbup.gif

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Sorry to hear about all the issues with the tow vehicle.

On the other hand, I have had several Ford, Chevy and Dodge vehicles and all have been pretty darn good. There are always some Lemons. On the I have had issues with dealers. The best dealer and vehicle I have ever owned was my 1994 Volkswagen Jetta. And at the time Volkswagen didn't have the best reputation.

We all say to the new Malibu owners that they will have some issues. I am a firm believer in a good dealer supports his product. We all say to the new Malibu owners that they will have some issues. And that is fine as long as the dealer, and manufacturer step up to the plate and do the right thing.

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unfortunately if your having problems with the engine in your suburban you cant really get away from the gm v8 cause that is also what is in your bu.

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OK - thanks, I'm not the only one out there with a few issues... rrkyle- dang that stinks bro - worse then me -shouldn't have to be such a struggle. yeah, I like the advice regarding the dealer - I need to find a new one. I'll give the rig a couple months to see how things go- the way I feel now is that I won't own this one past 35 months. I'll take my lumps and trade in on something else (probably a toyota Sequoia) we'll see. I just don't want to get stranded and the suburban is the wifey's primary driver so it's imperative that I keep the boss happy.

Since my boats with AWS -I pulled in the suburban in the garage and popped the hood - those guys left a greasy mess.. I sent off an E-mail to GM and they called back - we had a nice chat and they forwarded my concerns on to thier regional rep whom I hope to speak with sometime next week.

khelfrich- so true - but it goes to show that you can indeed make lemonade out of lemons... if Malibu can do it - why can't GM?

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I've now really gone out on a limb and have a V10TDI Touareg and a Q7 TDI for towing around the 23LSV... no issues so far.. but i am sure when something breaks it will be complicated to get fixed... but so far so good. Those Germans really know how to make things complicated. Good luck wihichever direction you choose.

Very jealous of the V10 TDI. I seriously thought about finding one for my tow rig, but settled on a 5.7 Tundra instead, since I kinda need the bed for work around the house.

OP: sorry about your problems. I just bought a new truck for the express purpose of towing our Bu around. I hope I don't have to go through the things you are. Best of luck getting it all back on the road.

:beer:

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Greg, how does the Q7 TDI do towing the 23LSV. I am interested in how well it handles, mileage in daily driving and mileage when towing. I was close to pulling the trigger on that but ended up with getting another Yukon Denali since I already knew how well it was for towing. I was thinking of replacing my car with the Q7 TDI next year but was not sure how well it was towing. I would still have the Denali but the Q7 would get a lot better milage.

Thanks,

Kris

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First - what are the lemon laws of your state? I have had to lemon a vehicle, it is not a fun process, but once the dealer realized I was serious they got a regional manager involved and ended up buying my truck back with 38K on the clock. Lemon laws vary state by state, so it depends greatly on how consumer friendly your state is.

Second - every car manufacturer makes lemons. It happens. I have had Dodge trucks go for 200K plus with nothing but normal maintenance. The one lemon I had was a Dodge...go figure. I had a Chevy Tahoe that was married to the dealer, but it does not mean all Chevy trucks are bad. I have seen plenty of Toyota's and Honda's with their fare share of problems (had an Accord that never had A/C. The dealer finally admitted he had no idea what was wrong, but Honda refused to budge, it was operator error in their opinion, apparently you are not supposed to actually turn the A/C on...) Point is, every maker makes some bad ones.

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Ditto on the issues with Dodge. I love telling the whole story, but I will cut to the best part. The service advisor noted that my trans would not go into gear when cold. The advisor witnessed it. The service manager denied it ever happened. When I asked the service manager why he has a note on my vehicle that was entered into his computer by his own service advisor, he said "my guy said you forced him to do that". Believe me when I tell you, Dodge will do ANYTHING to keep from paying for a warranty repair.

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the issue - broken camshaft - 20k miles on the rig...

A broken cam!?

That settles it, I've always said I'd never buy an American car again (have 2000 F250) and this household never will.

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Just google any car brand........you will find people making that exact same statement "Ill never buy X again." As a part technician I know this is the case. Heck I Love subarus and had a guy comment that he'll never buy another one cause he couldn't understand why he had to do cam/ crank seals during a timing belt change. :Doh: Yet Some 2.5 models (2 different generations) are know for head gasket issues. Subaru's fix was some stop leak in the radiator.....

Seriously do the search...... do it on the best selling car in America "camry" and see what you get.

You'll find some really upset people with headbolts that popped and need whole new engines.........out of warranty. You will also find people with oil sludging problems.

Hope you do this on any make or model and you will see my point.

BTW- If reliability was a huge concern to me my next vehicle would be a Ford

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I know i was just the unlucky SOB that bought a lemon I have buddies with Dodges for ranch trucks that are unstoppable. My biggest issue besides the truck has been that the dealer i chose turned out to be a crook.

Im almost sure that my next vehicle will be a 4 door tacoma 4x4 with the v6. Last time my truck was in the shop i got to drive one for a week and fell in love.

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Buy a Ford as Ruffdog stated. I have never owned a vehicle that took the abuse that my F-150's over the years have taken and consistently ran flawlessly. As with any manufacturer, there were little things that I took care of under warranty that never returned. Each of the 5 of them I have had were well over 100,000 miles and were used to haul, tow, and beat up in 2-tracks, and the never skipped a beat as a daily driver. Next time I buy, I will likely buy a 3/4 ton super duty.

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as will Ford, Chevy, Honda, Toyota...

I will correct you on that. Ford never tries to deny a LEGITIMATE warranty claim. Alot of things have to be done correctly as far as procedure goes. As long as they are I have never seen them deny a legitimate claim. You also need to understand that not all the things some people try to claim are in fact legitimate. When this happens the dealer will be the one footing the bill if things are not poperly documented. It doesnt take very many of these unpayed claims to severely hurt the profitabilty of a dealership. That is why some dealers are very hesitant to make what we call "shotgun" repairs without properly identifying the root cause of failure. These things sometimes take time to properly diagnose and follow procedure,and the customers demeanor will sometimes have alot to do with the willingness of the dealership to stick they're neck out for you. I have been surely suprised by things that sometimes DO get covered.

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Greg, how does the Q7 TDI do towing the 23LSV. I am interested in how well it handles, mileage in daily driving and mileage when towing. I was close to pulling the trigger on that but ended up with getting another Yukon Denali since I already knew how well it was for towing. I was thinking of replacing my car with the Q7 TDI next year but was not sure how well it was towing. I would still have the Denali but the Q7 would get a lot better milage.

Thanks,

Kris

The Q7 does great... plenty of power and very very stable. I can honestly say the Q7 doesn't really drive any different when the boat is pack there... it's very very stable (I have the air susp and that's they key.) When you hook up the trailer lights on the Q7 or the Touareg (they are basically the same car) the entire car goes into tow mode... lots of things change to ensure the drive is as stable as possible. The Q7 has plenty of Torque.. but the boat does slow it down a little (not much)... the Touareg on the other hand.. well it's kind of fun to out accelerate other cars who don't have a trailer behind them:) It's really pretty amazing. Can't stress enough to spend the money for the air suspension.

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Very jealous of the V10 TDI. I seriously thought about finding one for my tow rig, but settled on a 5.7 Tundra instead, since I kinda need the bed for work around the house.

OP: sorry about your problems. I just bought a new truck for the express purpose of towing our Bu around. I hope I don't have to go through the things you are. Best of luck getting it all back on the road.

:beer:

I did love the Tundra... but it was just HUGE and as you know the seattle area isn't the best for a Tundra as a daily driver... the Touareg is perfect... drives around town with ease... is a blast to drive... and tows the boat up highway 2 without breaking a sweat... 70MPH in 5th or 6th over the summit.

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Man that really sucks! I know people here are knockin on the Dodges, but I will buy another Dodge when my current tow rig bites the dust. I am the original owner of my 1993 Dodge Dakota V8 with 200k+ miles, and I estimate more than 50% of the miles are done towing a boat. Only things I've replaced are the water pump and radiator. (knock on wood)

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