Hello; I'm new here with an old problem & I hope somebody out here can help me, lend some advice, etc.

To be brief: in March 2007 I purchased a brand-new 2007 Hybrid Silverado. A whole HOUR after I'd taken delivery & was driving 55mph during rush hour, the digital screen beneath the speedometer flashed that the 120V was malfuctioning. An instant later, the steering became so stiff that it was difficult to turn & the brakes simply had nothing to them; this lasted approx 5 seconds.

When I regained control of the truck, I pulled off to the side of the hwy, rather panicked & in disbelief. I called the dealership [for whom I worked weekly as a bumper repair vendor for 3 years--one of my best clients, really] who said almost cheerfully, "Oh, we know about that: IT HAPPENED TO US, TOO!" I asked them to send a tow, but they refused, saying I should drive the 15 miles back on a side road.

To make a long story short, they could not diagnose the problem, much less fix it. The fellow who told me he knew was the very man who I did business with every week--so much for trust. The owner refused to take the truck back, as it was "obviously fcked up & I have 10 or 12 other 'brand new rigs' on my lot that are just fcked up as yours. I don't make 'em, I just sell 'em, & that's the way it is." There happened to be some GM representative in his office at that time, who seemed a bit alarmed that I was having this ongoing problem. I have that on a digital recorder. I was constantly on the phone with GM, who repeatedly objected that it was not a lemon, even though the problem persisted multiple times, daily. The anxiety of potentially being responsible for the death of some family set in & gradually my business failed. The WA state attorney general was useless, as were both state senators & every congress person I'd contacted: they all refused to help.

Finally, I wound up, in September of 2007, getting the dealerships' own service records on the truck, which went back to the day THEY took delivery from GM: December 20, 2006 [nearly four months to the day previous of when I took delivery of the truck from THEM, March 17, 2007. Their own records clearly state that they were indeed aware of the problematic Hybrid component with their first issue occuring the very day they did take delivery [Dec 20, 2006], there are at least four instances of the truck losing steering & brakes & needing a tow back to the shop during the four months before I was deliberately sold a dangerously defective $50K truck.

The salesman used to laugh at & taunt me about it. The Hybrid tech was constantly annoyed that I repeatedly brought the truck back because he hated spending time on something he told me right after they had to replace the entire Hybrid component due to it's "meltdown", that it had been a problem since the day they got it. The replacement did not stop the problem & there was no recall. Due to my business, I know about a half dozen other guys who also owned a 2007 with the same trouble; one or two even crashed [I believe God protected me in that regard].

I've lost my business now & reside in a VA hospital being treated for PTSD, related to experiences in the Marines. I have almost no money; attorneys have looked at the documents, sometimes a-drool, but needing a few thousand dollars as a retainer.

Any ideas? What can I do? Thanks. r