Hi everyone! Well I got my car back after a month of arguing with dealerships and pontiac and GM. And still....NO solution!! The dealership still talks as if Im the only one in the whole wide world with this problem. So this is what they did...they installed what they called "similar to a flight recorder box" in my car. So when the steering locks I hit a red button that activates the recorder and it records whats happening in the car. So its locked up on me 3 times in the last 24 hours. Only one of the times was the lock up for an extended amount of time. The other 2 times it was just a second or two of locked steering. The extended time it happened was approx. 10-15 seconds. I was coming to a stop at an intersection and was turning the wheel to follow the curb and continue my turn and it wouldnt budge. So thats the only update I have for now.

I'm having the same issues with mine. The service aSSvisor told me that the computer regulates electrical power consumption, and steering is towards the bottom of the list. Say it's winter, like now, and your running the heater/front defogger on high as well as the rear defroster and your lights and you have to stop, the computer is going to apply most of the power to the brakes and less to the other area like the streering. They told me that the steering issue can be fixed by reflashing the computer. I'm curious, do your lights dim, or the ventalation motor die down when the steering locks?

You know, all these steering issues having me thinking that not only do you all have the most incredible amount of patience going through all the similar occurences that you have, but were it me (thankfully I have not yet encountered this problem), I would raise holy hell with the dealership & demand immediate resolution to this problem in lieu of the service department's excuses. The dealership remains open for one reason: customer satisfaction! "I" would be anything but satisfied if I knew my (or my passengers) safety was in jeopardy even for seconds. When anyone buys a NEW CAR, they expect that the machine is reliable & will get them to & from their destinations SAFELY! NO ifs, ands, or buts about it. If they can't exchange their product to make the consumer happy then, it's time to drop it off & seek out something more reliable. I know we love our G6s, but if they let us down, what real good are they?! Pose this question to the salesman that sold you your G6 & see what back-pedaling doubletalk you get... then seek out the general manager. This is just UNFORGIVEABLE! I am so sorry to have to read about everyone's downfalls when it comes to what should never have happened. :mad:

to be quite honest I dont notice if the lights dim or what not im too focused on trying to make sure I dont hit something or end up in a ditch! Next time it happens Ill try to see what all is going on. Thats rather ignorant of GM I must say! The focus of the electronics goes other places rather then the steering? I cant imagine the computer getting flashed or reset helps matters. It sounds like poor engineering to me.

Say it's winter, like now, and your running the heater/front defogger on high as well as the rear defroster and your lights and you have to stop, the computer is going to apply most of the power to the brakes and less to the other area like the streering.

OK, let me get this straight, we have ELECTRIC brakes in our cars??? :eek:

No.. but the rear lights and power assitance (abs, traction control, wheel sensors, etc) may draw a lot of current. (Just a guess. :) )

hey, maybe we just need to have GM 'beef up' the electrical system by putting a higher output alternator on it!!!

they still have ALTERNATORS, don't they? or does the G6 use a form of the 'flux capacitor' that was used in the DeLorean in 'Back to the Future'? maybe i should get Michael J. Fox to check out my car......i'd probably have just as much success! :rolleyes:

.........oh the madness!!! where does it end??? :eek:

You know, all these steering issues having me thinking that not only do you all have the most incredible amount of patience going through all the similar occurences that you have, but were it me (thankfully I have not yet encountered this problem), I would raise holy hell with the dealership & demand immediate resolution to this problem in lieu of the service department's excuses. The dealership remains open for one reason: customer satisfaction! "I" would be anything but satisfied if I knew my (or my passengers) safety was in jeopardy even for seconds. When anyone buys a NEW CAR, they expect that the machine is reliable & will get them to & from their destinations SAFELY! NO ifs, ands, or buts about it. If they can't exchange their product to make the consumer happy then, it's time to drop it off & seek out something more reliable. I know we love our G6s, but if they let us down, what real good are they?! Pose this question to the salesman that sold you your G6 & see what back-pedaling doubletalk you get... then seek out the general manager. This is just UNFORGIVEABLE! I am so sorry to have to read about everyone's downfalls when it comes to what should never have happened. :mad:


the only reason I"M patient is that i work in a dealership and know how the system works (or more times than not, DOESN'T WORK). i feel for these service departments who have owners come in with an 'intermittant' problem and they can't duplicate it. believe me, the LAST THING they want to tell you is 'sorry, could not duplicate the complaint'. but the bottom line is that if they can't find out what is failing, then they don't know what to replace. and GM will NOT reimburse a dealership their time, effort and cost of the parts to just 'guess'....they have enough money problems as it is!

my complaint with some of these service departments i have read about is the way in which the owners have been treated, or actually MISTREATED.
also, the fact that everytime an owner contacts anyone at GM, they are told that 'this is the first we've heard of this' or 'theres not been one single complaint about this, nationwide'!!! thats just pure B.S. and so it goes to show you its no wonder GM is in the situation it's in........GM's begging for business and then when they get it, they pretty much tell their customers to 'go piss up a rope'!!! DOH!!!!!

stepping down now!!!!

OK, let me get this straight, we have ELECTRIC brakes in our cars??? :eek:

Everything is "fly by wire" in the G6 V6 and GT. Steering, throttle, brakes, even the gear shifter, it's all electronic from the controls to the actual system.

Everything is "fly by wire" in the G6 V6 and GT. Steering, throttle, brakes, even the gear shifter, it's all electronic from the controls to the actual system.

when you say 'fly by wire', that reminds me of, obviously, todays aircraft.

but if you are telling me that my steering in my G6 is like the steering in an aircraft, in which there is no direct link from the steering wheel to the rack & pinion unit, i would have to disagree with you on that. all G6's, regardless of if its equipted with EPS or if its the GTP model, DO HAVE A STEERING COLUMN and it DOES attach to a steering shaft which DOES connect to the Rack & Pinion. so there IS a direct link in this case. in the case of the throttle, yes it is all electronic. i won't comment on the brakes and gear shift, since i have not researched these areas.

but if you have a G6 with EPS, just look under the hood and coming off the drivers side firewall and attaching to the rack is the steering shaft. if it was truly 'fly by wire', it wouldn't be there......sorry

Ok everyone....youre really going to love this! So yesterday I picked my car back up at noon. The guy in service told me to drive the vehicle...hit the button when the steering locks etc...and to bring it back on Dec 20th to get the computer read. Well when it locked I sent my salesman a text telling him...his reply was hit the button and of course I already had...today I actually caught the lock up on my video phone and sent it to him. He called the service dept and they were pissed off because I didnt bring it back in immediately. They told him they told me to bring it back immediately which he didnt head nor did i...they flat out are lying. So the service manager asked him if he knew me "personally" because he was willing to do "alot" for me if I was just a regular customer. My salesman and I met the day I bought my car and I have only talked to the guy when crap goes wrong with the car they sold me! So this guy is now insinuating that I am doing something to the car to make it lock up or we are making this whole thing up! So my salesman drove an hour on his day off to pick my car up and drop another car off to me to use. The service manager said I should have it towed there since Im working and cant drive it to them. RUDE! This is getting flat out ridiculous!!! GM, service, Pontiac...NOBODY is willing to help!! They are all morons!!!

This is interesting... Progressive just sent me a letter saying after January they will forgive my first accident (4+ years no accident policy or something). Hmmm...haha

This is interesting... Progressive just sent me a letter saying after January they will forgive my first accident (4+ years no accident policy or something). Hmmm...haha

Nothing new or unusual about that.

I've had that "first no-fault" for over a year now - something they started to draw new customers and keep existing customers from bailing on them.

Sure would come in handy with your steering issues, though.

man if I were you, i'd just careen into a car or tree or something, and then just sue GM. You'd definitely have a case, and you won't have to worry about your car anymore. Like the one thing that's gonna be on my mind if I lost my steering is to press a button! yea right!

Mike

haha no kidding.

Ok everyone....youre really going to love this! So yesterday I picked my car back up at noon. The guy in service told me to drive the vehicle...hit the button when the steering locks etc...and to bring it back on Dec 20th to get the computer read. Well when it locked I sent my salesman a text telling him...his reply was hit the button and of course I already had...today I actually caught the lock up on my video phone and sent it to him. He called the service dept and they were pissed off because I didnt bring it back in immediately. They told him they told me to bring it back immediately which he didnt head nor did i...they flat out are lying. So the service manager asked him if he knew me "personally" because he was willing to do "alot" for me if I was just a regular customer. My salesman and I met the day I bought my car and I have only talked to the guy when crap goes wrong with the car they sold me! So this guy is now insinuating that I am doing something to the car to make it lock up or we are making this whole thing up! So my salesman drove an hour on his day off to pick my car up and drop another car off to me to use. The service manager said I should have it towed there since Im working and cant drive it to them. RUDE! This is getting flat out ridiculous!!! GM, service, Pontiac...NOBODY is willing to help!! They are all morons!!!


maybe you should refer this idiot to this site and let him read (if he knows how) all the posts from others with the same complaint. this has been my biggest gripe; not the fact that the car has a problem but that alot of us are treated like crap when we take it in to have it looked at.

like i said before; "GM is begging for customers to come back from the imports and buy their cars and trucks. so when we do and when we have to come back for a problem we are told to 'go piss up a rope'!!! great marketing plan, GM! way to keep your customers!!! no wonder you're in such a financial mess..... :confused:

I keep reading all about this steering lock up problem, and worrying that someday it will rear its head in my G, so....

This morning I wake up to a weak battery, thanks to me leaving the DVD player and XM both on overnight. A 15 minute charge and I am on my way to work, and as I approach the drive for my parking lot - a nice, freshly repaved lot, might I add) I speed up, then jam the holy crap out of the brakes as I start to turn.

Guess what? Give up?

Heater kept blowing. Radio kept playing. Wipers wiping. Brakes worked like normal. Steering.......worked like a champ.

The BAD part of all this - my lunch cooler, my jacket, and the freshly painted spoiler that I am putting on the G this afternoon were all in the back seat, and very quickly found themselves against the front seat backs and then in the floor. Of course I am hoping the spoiler, still wrapped up protectively, isn't damaged :(

I keep reading all about this steering lock up problem, and worrying that someday it will rear its head in my G, so....

This morning I wake up to a weak battery, thanks to me leaving the DVD player and XM both on overnight. A 15 minute charge and I am on my way to work, and as I approach the drive for my parking lot - a nice, freshly repaved lot, might I add) I speed up, then jam the holy crap out of the brakes as I start to turn.

Guess what? Give up?

Heater kept blowing. Radio kept playing. Wipers wiping. Brakes worked like normal. Steering.......worked like a champ.

The BAD part of all this - my lunch cooler, my jacket, and the freshly painted spoiler that I am putting on the G this afternoon were all in the back seat, and very quickly found themselves against the front seat backs and then in the floor. Of course I am hoping the spoiler, still wrapped up protectively, isn't damaged :(


my condolences to you and your lunch cooler, jacket and freshly painted spoiler. good news is that you, while a bit shaken, all SURVIVED!!!

but i'm confused....so your steering DIDN'T lock up? you said 'steering.....worked like a champ'. or did you mis-speak yourself?

Yeah..umm..we are not purposely doing something to cause this..hell most of the time it happens right after shifting into Drive and starting to move..not moving + brakes.

I guess it would be better to put to say that the steering didn't fail, with the brakes applied heavily, as is thought to be a scenario that gives higher repeatability.

Oh, and the spoiler is fine by the way :)

Good deal. :) BTW.. ~3 inches of snow on the ground and I eliminated the steering problems for the time being. ;) 300hp, 3450lbs, rwd and scary as hell in the snow... but the steering works 100% of the time. LOL

Good deal. :) BTW.. ~3 inches of snow on the ground and I eliminated the steering problems for the time being. ;) 300hp, 3450lbs, rwd and scary as hell in the snow... but the steering works 100% of the time. LOL

funny you should mention that....i just found an old '91 Dodge Ram250 4X4 that i'm gonna go look at for driving in the winter. but i think i may have waited a couple days too late!!!

the way i look at it, if i wreck it, WHO CARES? its an old Dodge and nobody will miss it! and if i only get 8-10mpg, WHO CARES? i only drive 5 miles, round trip, to work. and if it breaks down, WHO CARES? i'll just push it off the side of the road, take my license plate off and WALK HOME!!

but even after all that, my guess is that the STEERING WILL STILL BE WORKING!!!! ha ha :D

LOL.. thats the spirit. :D

Yeah..umm..we are not purposely doing something to cause this..hell most of the time it happens right after shifting into Drive and starting to move..not moving + brakes.

I never said we were - one of the posts above points to the problem being an electrical underload, with the steering being last on the list. In the case of my car, anyway, that doesn't appear to be the case, and that's all I was saying.

Yeah..umm..we are not purposely doing something to cause this..hell most of the time it happens right after shifting into Drive and starting to move..not moving + brakes.

same deal for me too!!! i've been fortunate that it has happened to me only TWICE, but both times same scenario.......first time, stopped in traffic and when i decided to turn RIGHT and pull into the next lane, BINGO! the second time was pulling out of my driveway, going down a slight incline i turned RIGHT into the street and again, BINGO! HOWEVER, i don't think the 'electrical load' had anything to do with it, because this was in 50+ degree weather. the first time i had the heat on, but on low because we had been travelling for about an hour and a half and it was pretty toasty in there. no defrost, no seat heaters, i don't even think the radio was on as we were talking alot. no wipers, no lights......therefore, i would think no 'load' on the electrical system. the second time when i pulled out of the driveway, only had the radio on, nothing else.....but in BOTH CASES the brakes were being applied!!!

since you posted this info i have PURPOSELY tried to create this situation, but it just won't happen. only when you don't expect it!

has anyone else that has experienced the 'lock-up' have the wheel lock to the LEFT? everyone i have seen post, i think, has mentioned RIGHT!

When I am at work it happens more frequently than leaving my house..so yes..happens turning left too. :(

Yes mine did do it to the left a couple times