nicka,

I applaud you for your patience. Being towed 3x and not getting resolution was enough for me. You had your engine replaced and now a new tranny. That would certainly blow my confidence.

 

Picked up the Tahoe this evening. It spent two days at the dealer. For the second time in less than 6 months some transmission auxillary pump crapped out making the tranny almost unusable. I have an early '08. Got the truck home and the CEL is on again. I'm going to push for a new tranny not just keep swapping parts.

 

I purchased a 2009 cadillac escalade hybrid for the size and safety minded of my family. With 4400 miles on it, june 25 2009, my wife and infant son narrowly missed rear ending a vehicle in front of her. She started the vehicle normally, waited at least 45 seconds before engaging Drive. Drove through parking lot approx 500 feet, approach stop sign with one vehicle ahead stopped applied the brakes to find out she had to STAND on the brake pedal to stop the escalade as the vehicle ahead moved out of the way. The DIC showed stabiltrak, ABS, check engine light illuminated. She (at the stop sign) shut down the vehicle waited a few moments, restarted and cautiously continued to drive home. She called me as i was out of the country told me of the near accident. I would not allow here to drive the vehicle until this unsafe condition is rectified. Local cadillac dealer sent a flat bed truck to retrieve vehicle. The dealer said they would update software, and test drive before returning the vehicle. Currently awaiting details, will provide updates. I did file a compliant with NHTSA. Very disappointed with a $70000+ unsafe vehicle, following advice regarding lemon law procedures here in Wisconsin.

 

First, glad to hear she did not have an accident! The problem with the loss of power braking has always been greatly increased stopping distances, due to the fact that you don't know you have to press harder until you start pressing. I've had it happen on a few cars over the years, as most of you older drivers probably have, back when engines would stall when coasting down.

Second, the lemon law is for problems that they cannot fix. They, under most laws, get three tries to repair the exact same issue without resolution. Ask a Mercedes dealer if you need expert advice here, they are the typical targets of lemon law buybacks. I had that experience with them, but Merc's are much more dangerous than just an increased braking distance (you heard about their brake-by-wire system that didn't brake). My shiny-new E320 would just stop at 70mph for no reason. This is uber-dangerous when you are on SoCal's super-speedway (I-5) at rush-hour. Saw one in the same place as mine just the other day (maybe an electo-magnetic force? ) My car also decide on a couple of occasions to squish me against the steering wheel (al la Christine) while driving my kids to school. The dealer told me it wasn't supposed to do that (really?). Oh, also they replaced the fuse box (!!!) while trying to fix the random shifting to second gear at highway speeds (not good for the diesel engine). The shifting was easy to fix, just shut the car off and count to five, then restart. Unfortunately, it only did it on the freeway, which is an inopportune time to be shutting off the car...

So, for $70k, I don't think you are getting anywhere near the lack-of-quality you should expect from the high-rollers. My friend at work here got his BMW bought back under the lemon law. Obviously, you need to have many more issues for the dollar than Cadillac's top quality ratings can provide. I'd take it back, too.

BTW, if you ever want to talk problems, we can discuss my Aston Martin...

 

As I am reading this thread, it reminds me of all the software issues I have had with GM cars over the years. My 1989 Corvette was one of the first with electronically adjustable shocks, and the suspension computer faulted every few days. My 1995 Trans Am sometimes starts on what feels like three cylinders. More throttle does not help, and all I can do is shut it down and restart it. My 2000 Corvette was one of the first with Active Handling (stability control), and it gives error codes backing out of driveways, and sometimes going forward over commercial driveway ramps. I don't know what GM's software test parameters and test programs are, but whatever they are, they really stink. This is one of GM's weak points. I also purchased a Toyota truck, and while the software was good, they are prone to front fenders cracking, rear axle gears blowing out, and windshields cracking. You just can't win.

Michael

 

My Tahoe Hybrid did the same thing almost two weeks ago. Fortunately, I was in a neighborhood going about 25, I stopped the car...restarted it a few minutes later and within 30 yards it happened again. At 25 mph and standing on the brake pedal it still was incredibly difficult to bring to a complete stop, had I been on the highway I would have either plowed into the car in front of me or into the railing. It has been in the shop ever since with no real indication that anyone has a clue on how to repair the problem (at this point I think they are just changing parts and seeing if anything works).

This is the 3rd extended stay at the shop since it was purchased the vehicle in March, unfortunately they have all been for different reasons. But I am sneaking up on the 45 day rule portion of the Lemon Law, and it can not get here soon enough...the purchase of this vehicle has been a horrible experience.

I have already requested that GM repurchase the vehicle, but the claim was denied. I do not feel that this vehicle is safe to drive, and judging by the number of people on this small forum who have had the same problem (and most seem to be within the first 5000 miles) it is a known problem that GM seems to be ignoring, by now it certainly should have been recalled. I certainly would not recommend to anyone considering purchasing this vehicle to do so...they would just be flushing 50K down the toilet.

 

It's probably known, but I very much doubt GM is ignoring the problem. They don't ignore safety problems. I don't think they know how to fix it yet. In order to fix it, you have to reproduce the problem, and it is sporadic at best. If you can even get it to do it, you then can look for a cause. What they will probably have to do is fully instrument a vehicle monitoring every sensor and drive it hundreds or even thousands of miles until the problem rears its ugly head. They they will hope they captured some anomoly when it did occur. It could be a software, and from someone who works on software, that can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Once they have the problem found and they think it is corrected, they will have to test the fix for probably thousands of miles to be sure it works, and doesn't cause some other problem. It can take some time.

Michael

 

...could you change this post so people cant respond anymore...its a dead horse

 

How can it be a dead horse if the problem keeps happening to more people who own this truck? If people didn't like the layout of the instrument panel I could see your point. But, this is a huge safety problem that could lead to some getting seriously injured or killed if this happened in the wrong place.

Maybe if you or someone in your family experience this ongoing issue and GM's response (or lack thereof) you would find this thread to be more relevant...or maybe someone who is considering purchasing this very expensive vehicle would like to know about this not so isolated problem.

For now why don't you just skip this topic when coming to the forum? No one is forcing to to open it and continue reading.

 

It will be a "dead horse" when GM provides a resolution. Until then, it's helpful for people to see when and where this occurs. It might even help GM. If anything, it probably should be made a "sticky".

Michael