Dear GMC -

My Wife and I purchased a 2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid from Covert GMC in Austin Texas in February of this year. The vehicle was supposedly "Certified Pre-Owned" but within 100 miles of picking up the vehicle we had to return it to Covert for a broken winshield washer pump, a leaking front windshield, leaking rear hatch, broken drivers seat track, etc. So much for your certified pre-owned "inspection" process. Also, Covert was kind enough to charge my warranty (that I bought with the vehicle the preceding week) for the work that rightfully should have been covered under the certified pre-owned inspection. I am pretty sure that is a violation of the warranty companies T&C's.

That aside, what is most troubling is the hesitiation, stalling, stumbling or whatever you would like to call it that oocurs on the truck from time to time.

The problem occurs on an irregular basis but results in the engine revving to 2K or higher RPMs and a very slow creep. This is extraordinarily dangerous if you are attempting a left hand turn or cutting across a roadway. Despite the MULTIPLE threads on this site describing the EXACT same problem...no one at GMC has been able to "duplicate" the issue and henceforth the problem has left me with a vehicle that my wife is afraid to drive.

I am firmly convinced that I am not the only owner experiencing this issue and that as an owner community we should be reaching out the NTSB on this concern. The NTSB has forced recalls on much less serious issues and I am sure they would be interested to hear our stories.

This will be my last GM vehicle and my last vehicle from the Covert family of dealerships.

Brian

 

Has the vehicle given you a "Service" light or message? If so there are codes stored that a dealer can read.

 

There are no dtc's (diagnostic trouble codes) set and no lights. That is consistent with what others have reported and the main reason why the gmc dealer keeps telling us "This is normal operating behavior for a hybrid yukon". This is our third hybrid and none of our other hybrids have ever done this. Very dissapointing to say the least.

 

so you have two other gmc hybrids?

 

No, our two prior vehicles were a Lexus rh400h and a escape hybrid

 

beckel2013,

I truly apologize that you are having this concern. I would like to look further into this with you and your dealership. Can you please private message me your name, VIN, phone number, mileage, and name of your GM dealership? I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Erica Tiffany
GM Customer Care

 

Brian, please provide Erica above with the requested information. Just because there is no light or codes does not mean it can't be detected and fixed. Just about every odd thing a modern vehicle has experienced has some sort of bulletin published about it. Now days these are electronic and easily key word searchable. Back when they were paper and mailed to the dealerhips (my day) they were much harder to find. NO excuses for this "normal behavior" dissmissal. Back in the day when a customer came to my shop, waits in line, re-schedules their whole day or vacation, deals with indifferent service write up staff, and is back for the second or third time about something that makes them afraid to drive their ccar... It deserves attention!

When it acts up, does the engine speed increase ( in drive ) and it doesn't feel like it wants to go? I assume you are still in Texas. Does this happen only on hot days? Does it happen right after start up or take a while? Once in this "bad mood" does it last minutes, days, etc? These are all things that can be searched for in electronic data bases.

Why oh why in this age of technology is there no device that a dealer can loan you for maybe up to a month to plug in and when a real oddity happens... you push a button???? Then pop out the SD Memory chip and email the file to somebody. I started in dealerships before Check Engine Lights. With lots of total system information, you rule out what is NOT broken. Then form a hypothesis of what might be broken. Then test that hypothesis.

Good luck.

 

I 100% agree with your assesment Hillbilly. It is tough for me to believe that just because they dont experience the issue on the dealerships short 10 minute test drive that the issue does not exist. Why would any sane individual subjest themselves to the hassle of driving across town to drop off a vehicle, drive a smaller loaner car and generally be inconvenienced if a real issue did not exist?

The problem is most pronounced in the summer. When you attempt to accelerate the vehicle RPM's increase to 2K or so and the car moves very slowly for roughly 3-4 seconds. What is scary about it is the vehicle moves fast enough to push you out into traffic but not fast enough to keep you from being rear-ended. I am suprised the NTSB has not picked this up yet.

Thanks for your help and I will send over my info to Erica. Lets see if they can help get this moving!

Brian

 

I think what you are complaining is a normal behavior of the 2 mode hybrid-no wonder you cannot duplicate it. it is a three speed CVT transmission and if you are used to a regular torque converter and even worse a DCT auto-tranny, you will complain that it is slipping. do you have an AWD or 2WD? try putting it in 2wd hi if you have the AWD or turn off the stabilitrack if you have 2WD and try to accelerate. you will notice a difference! it doesn't have the same 405 hp of the regular escalade so don't expect similar numbers.

btw, don't try your last second left turns. that is not safe in any kind of vehicle. that reminds me of buses and trucks with trailer thinking they can clear the road while traffic is approaching.

 

beckel2013,

Thank you for reaching out. I have received your private message and will reach out to your dealership now.

Erica Tiffany
GM Customer Care