GM is in the hot seat again for causing vehicle owners headaches. Many of GM’s full-size truck and SUV models are the focus of customer complaints regarding vibrations that are – literally – making giving drivers headaches. Complaints also include general discomfort and even vertigo. Are GM’s bad vibes making drivers sick?
GM is in the hot seat again for causing vehicle owners headaches. Many of GM’s full-size truck and SUV models are the focus of customer complaints regarding vibrations that are – literally – making giving drivers headaches. Complaints also include general discomfort and even vertigo. Are GM’s bad vibes making drivers sick?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that some complaints received by the agency indicate that the vibrations begin when these models are travelling at speeds of 40 to 60 miles per hour. NHTSA has been getting complaints from owners of 2015 Chevy Tahoes and Suburbans, Cadillac Escalades and GMC Yukons.
GM said it knows about the issue, described as “not common,” and wants to make it right for affected customers. GM spokesman Tom Wilkerson wrote via email “Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac dealers have a detailed diagnostic procedure to find vibration problems so they can fix them. Costs would be covered by the new vehicle warranty.”
According to GM, the vibration problem could be the result of anything from tire balance to exhaust system resonance. Wilkerson said, “These are potential problems with any vehicle, but the large interior cavity of an SUV, crossover or minivan can amplify the effect, much like the way the sound box of a guitar amplifies the vibration of the strings.” The auto giant is advising affected customers to go to a dealership to get the problem diagnosed and repaired.
This doesn’t seem to be helping some customers, though. One such customer, owner of a 2015 GMC Yukon, filed a complaint with NHTSA saying, “Vehicle has a terrible vibration. Has been to dealer 7 times, for a total of 4 weeks.”
The repairs done in that month included putting on new tires, replacing the ring/pinion, driveshaft and axle and installing new sway bars. The customer added, “They have no solutions that work across the board.”
AutoGuide, a trade publication, is also of the opinion that the solution may not be so easy. The publication referenced as preliminary information bulletin that GM sent to dealerships advising them to check a vehicle’s roof bows to ensure they were properly bonded to the vehicle’s sheet metal roof. If not properly bonded, the roof bows would need to be rebounded and panel control vibration material would have to be installed. Even then, there was no guarantee that fix would do the trick.
This latest issue may be relatively small in that it only impacts a few drivers, but it comes on the heels of a much larger issue for the automaker: the faulty ignition switch crisis that has been linked to at least 124 deaths. GM lost a fair bit of reputation points and this latest issue isn’t helping. Some critics say the company has made business decisions that put profits over customer safety.
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