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Dealer Refuses to Fix Steering - What do I do?

9K views 27 replies 9 participants last post by  Boostaddict-g6 
#1 ·
Hi folks. New user and first time poster. As I bet you all imagine I am experiencing the dreaded loss of power steering in my 2005 Pontiac G6, but the dealer refuses to fix it. Let me run down what I've went through with this.

A couple days ago I was backing out of my driveway when I got the dreaded ding and notice on my stereo that there was a power steering problem/failure. After turning off the car a couple times, it still wouldn't come back.

So I got online and researched the problem and found the bulletin providing the special warranty on the steering. I am well under 100K miles at only 64K so I contacted a local dealer and had him order the parts for the power steering replacement. Today I go there and they work on my car. When the work is completed, I am told good news and bad news. Good news is they replaced the sensors in the steering column, but the bad news is that didn't fix my problem. Okay, so I ask the service manager what the problem is now? He informs me that the power steering motor/module is bad and will need to replaced as well at a cost of about $450. He says the warranty does not cover this part and I will have to pay for that out of pocket and he wants me to sign some kind of form. I tell him there's no way I'm signing any form until the problem is fixed. He tells me okay and gives me the number for GM/Pontiac. Before I leave I ask him if bad sensors in the steering column could possibly affect the power steering motor. He says he cannot say for sure one way or the other if it would or not, but there's a chance that it could. Pretty vauge.

So after going round and round with GM on the phone for a few hours they basically tell me I am SOL and the warranty does not cover this part even though I point out to them that the bulletin is written pretty vaguely and could be interpreted that it covers the whole power steering system. The supervisor disagrees with me and agrees that it was written poorly but she is correcting it for me. (Does she have the legal power to do that?)

So what do I do or what would you do in my case? Am I SOL? Would you just give in and pay for the part out of pocket? Where do I go from here? Pulling my hair out over this.
 
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#2 ·
yikes...

If you talked to GM they prolly flagged all this under your VIN so going to another
dealership wont help.

I dunno.....unless you want to pay for an attorney (which is way more than $450)
you are screwed. I wouldnt pay for any sensor replacement that didnt fix the problem though. If they try and charge you for that tell them to put back your old ones that worked fine.
 
#4 ·
I'm not entirely positive if the old ones were faulty or not or were the cause for the power steering motor/module going bad on the car. The service manager couldn't tell me for sure if that's what it made go bad or not either. The way the special warranty reads is vague and it sounds to me like it applies to the whole power steering system but according to who I spoke to at GM it doesn't and she was revising the bulletin herself over the phone if that's even legal or not.
 
#6 ·
Your issue was documented before the revision...I would argue they should cover it.
I would also ask for the supervisor of that supervisor and keep going up the chain until you find someone to reason with.
 
#7 ·
Oh believe me. I've already asked to speak to that supervisor's supervisor and plan on talking to whoever I can until they decide to help. The supervisor I spoke to though pretty much sounded like a broken record and was admanat that GM couldn't help me. Even when I asked to talk to her supervisor she had the nerve to say, "Why? They are going to tell you the same thing I am..." And I said, "Well I don't want to hear what you THINK they will say. I want to speak to them myself." Their supervisor is supposed to call me Monday but it was like pulling teeth to finally get her to allow me the privilege to talk to her supervisor.
 
#8 ·
Fight the good fight. Changing it so it specifically knocks you out of the warranty is a
deceptive trade practice. You have civil recourse. But I would exhaust all means before going that route.
 
#11 ·
They didn't show me the work order until after the vehicle was "done". I had explained to the service manager on the phone beforehand the symptoms of my car and how they basically matched the symptoms in the bulletin for the power steering. He ordered the parts that he said were part of the steering assembly and I brought it in.

On the paper he gave me afterwards it says that they replaced sensors in the steering, but it did not fix the problem and the vehicle needs a new power steering motor/module. They did not give me this information until after they had "completed work" on the vehicle.
 
#14 ·
I have now written a much more detailed report of what has exactly happened up until this point with this case and put it on RipOffReport.com. I had written the story in more than one place so I wasn't sure if I had shared all the details here initially, but the report at RipOffReport pretty much covers it all. If you'd like you can read that all at the following link:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/auto-wa...otive/mansfield-automotive-group-ma-c1a31.htm
 
#15 ·
Thats a tough one
The way I see it, you took your car to be fixed UNDER WARRANTY, and they chose to fix something that was not covered under warranty without informing you that there would be an out of pocket expense for said work.
You were right in not signing anything though, that does give you a stronger case
Talk to the dealership manager then try to get a hold of the regional rep if that fails. Calling GM may not get you anywhere, it is unlikely that anyone you would be able to talk to would be able to do much for you.
If all else fails, call up GM and tell them that you are going to the media or consumer reports, etc. I did that with Apple a few years ago and within (no joke) 20 minutes someone from corporate security called from head office saying that they would be complying with my requests...WIN
 
#16 ·
Well they said that the part they replaced is what the warranty covered and it didn't cover the power steering module. However, after reading through the warranty myself and talking to other G6 owners who had their power steering module replaced, i don't see how they can say it isn't covered. According to the warranty, it covers the power steering system. Wouldn't the power steering module be considered part of the power steering system? I would think so. That's pretty cut and dry.

On top of that, the supervisor I spoke to at GM tech support on the phone tried to tell me that the power steering module is not part of the steering assembly inside the car. They tried to tell me it was under the hood. But after researching it myself I see the part is indeed part of the assembly inside the car. So the tech supervisor either has no clue what they're talking about or is a very bad liar. I'm not sure.

I am attempting to get the article published that I wrote regarding the whole situation via consumerist.com and also through a few local news places. I think if either one of them decide to publish it that it will get their attention.
 
#17 ·
Hey Darkimus, what number did you happen to call? I think you may have talked with someone that really doesn't know anything. If you know the number PM me, because I have called GM head office myself on a dealer and this person actually investigates what happened at the dealership+warranty information. If it is written in warranty that it is covered, then it should be.
 
#21 ·
Good news guys. I don't know how but the GM Regional Manager read about this and has contacted me and says they will do the repairs free of charge. He said that the dealer should have done them in the first place and he apologized for everything. He was nicer than anybody I've talked to concerning this matter. So I'll report back when this is fixed for confirmation. I guess the squeaky wheel does get the grease.
 
#24 ·
With the computer age, it would make sense that GM would pay at least someone to watch all of these "GM" owners club boards. A person with a good experience will tell maybe 1 person. Person that had a bad experience will tell at least 3 people.
 
#25 ·
Very true. I'm also on ls1gto.com (from the 7 years of when I had my GTO) and there were times that the board's former owner (and a friend of mine) would tell me that he would get a call here and there from a GM rep regarding something on the board. They (GM) even went as far as flying him out to Arizona to get a first look at the 06' GTO and even drive it before they went on sale.

So I'm positive that GM has eyes on all these boards at some level.
 
#26 ·
I'm just glad that this problem got solved and somebody at GM saw to it. I actually had the car fixed a few days ago. The regional general manager I spoke to at GM was the nicest person I spoke to throughout this whole ordeal. I was surprised that he actually took the time to call me and make sure this problem was taken care of.

When he had me call another local dealer to have this problem fixed he had me give them his name and say it was to be fixed free of charge per him. When I told the service manager at the dealer his name he almost flipped his lid and couldn't believe that I had talked to someone that high up in the company. He had actually heard his name before and said he was pretty high up.

Not to mention that the Regional GM also threw in $100 worth of service coupons for all the trouble I had been through. He also called me back a couple days after the problem was fixed to make sure I was satisfied with what he had done. I do appreciate GM's concern.
 
#28 ·
Glad to hear you got it fixed.

What was the part number of the sensor they originally replaced (should be on your paperwork)? Reason I ask is that GM says the torque/position sensor itself is not serviceable, only available as a complete assembly with the motor and module. Therefore, the dealer was likely giving you a line of BS about replacing the sensor unless you have a part number in front of you. What I suspect is more likely is that using the Tech2 they checked the signal coming out of the torque sensor and it was within spec so they blamed it on the module.

As we know the torque/position sensor is servicable but is only available as an aftermarket part and for the price you can get a complete low mileage steering assembly.
 
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