Day 1. March 10th , 1998. 10 Miles.The Whole Sordid Story of The Lemon Suburban
Not for the faint-hearted. Read on if you dare.
Day 1. March 10th , 1998. 10 Miles.
Our story begins on the day of delivery. I made some mistakes that day (aside from the mistake of buying a GM vehicle) many of which any informed consumer could have avoided.
I forgot that you should never take delivery of a vehicle after dark and you should always drive it before signing anything. Easy to say but easy to forget in the excitement of taking delivery. I have since learned several more things that you need to do when buying a Suburban. Too late to help me but they might be useful to others.
Driving home, I discovered the alignment was wrong and my new Suburban was drifting to the right slightly. No problem thinks I, I'll get it fixed at the first service. Noticed the brakes pulling to the left. Must be the same problem right? Nothing to worry about of course. Hahaha. I was more immediately concerned with the rather disconcerting way the drivers seat would rock back and forth and side to side as if it wasn't bolted down right. Ah well, it probably just needs tightening up. Oh, I was so naïve.
April 8th , 1998. 1677 Miles
Getting seasick from the drivers seat so decided to take it in and get it tightened up. Thought I might as well get them to fix the (broken at delivery) overhead console and the plastic trim on the drivers door that had fallen out and wouldn't stay back in. Well, they could fix the plastic trim stuff but it turns out the drivers seat is suffering from more than just some loose bolts. Seems a new seat riser will be needed and the part is ordered. Here we go…
April 21st, 1998. 2228 Miles
The seat riser had arrived so it was time to get it installed and finally fix the wobbly seat. The drift to the right was getting worse so I decided they might as well fix that at the same time. Had the first of many fruitless visits to the dealer. Tom the service writer seems like a nice guy. I think they employ primates to actually work on the vehicles though. The new seat riser hasn't helped at all and the alignment is still wrong. Pulls to the right when driving and left when braking.
May 1998.
Noticed some new problems this month. Starting to get seriously concerned about the groaning, clanking and vibration that ensues when turning the steering wheel to the left The glove box has started an intermittent but annoying rattle. I'll wait and get this stuff fixed at the first oil change. Becoming worried about so many problems on a new vehicle but at least it hasn't broken down yet.
June 8th 1998. 3257 Miles.
Took it in for an oil change and to get some stuff fixed. Asked Tom to fix the alignment and the brake pull. Also pointed out the groaning and clanking noises from the steering and the glove box rattle. Let's see what they do with this lot.
Well, no luck on the alignment. I didn't think it would be that difficult but apparently Suburbans are really tricky to align. Brakes still pull too.
Good news on the clanking from the steering though. A steering gearbox 'broken internally' was the culprit. Seemed innocent enough at the time but I have since learned of other poor Suburban owners with broken steering gearboxes that caused their steering to fail completely. Bet that was a nice surprise. The groaning noise is still there when you turn to the left and whatever they did to the glove box has made the rattle worse.
June 28th 1998. 4271 Miles.
Decided to stop off in St. George, Utah for an ice cream on the way home from a weekend trip. Bad mistake. After purchasing our ice cream we get back into the Suburban to find that it won't start. Nothing happens when I turn the key. It's completely dead, in Utah, 100 miles from home on a Sunday afternoon in the summer. It was 110F in the shade.
By some miracle, there were two guys there eating ice cream who work as mechanics at the local Chevy dealer. Sensing our distress they tried their best to get the heap started. They tried fiddling with the column shift, they tried whacking the starter with various implements and then they discovered a blown fuse. No problem, just replace it with a spare and we are on our way. Except there were no spares. Aha! Lets use the fuse from the stereo instead since it's the same rating and I can live without music on the way home. Popped it in and it blew straight away. Maybe it was faulty. Tried the fuse from some other non-essential system and it blew straight away too. That’s about the end of that. Time to call the GM 24-Hour Roadside 'Assistance' the salesman told us about when we bought the lemon.
Here's a handy tip for Suburban owners. Don't ever rely on GMs roadside assistance as your only means of rescue. Their 24-Hour Roadside 'Assistance' runs 24 hours a day unless it's a Sunday afternoon in Utah. We called them and they basically said there was nothing they could do until Monday then went on to suggest that we get a hotel for the night. I pointed out that there were four people here who needed to be at work at nine the next morning. No luck. If only GM had known that their local Chevy dealer had two 24 tow trucks on standby. I suppose that would have required some kind of organization or planning though so it's to be expected.
So we ended up getting a rental car and driving home. Another tip. Try to avoid being in a situation where you have to get a rental car in St. George on a Sunday afternoon. We got the last one from the airport about 10 minutes before they shut at 4 PM. All part of the exciting Suburban ownership experience.
Drove everyone home then back to St. George the next day to pick up the heap. Problem was traced to a badly installed wiring harness that was shorting out against a metal mount. Quite a common problem according to the mechanic who fixed it. Out of pocket for about $80 of roaming cell phone charges and some excess mileage charges on the rental car that GM won't pay for.
July 7th 1998. 5019 Miles.
The rear seat belt had been getting progressively more difficult to extend without it sticking. We had managed with it up until now by use of a technique known as 'The Force'. This involved pulling very slowly on the seat belt while humming the theme from Star Wars. Too fast or too slow and the belt would lock meaning you had to start again. Quite amusing for a while but the day came when the belt would no longer extend at all no matter how skillfully we exerted our Jedi powers. So back to the dealer again.
In addition to the wayward belt I asked them to take another look at the wobbly drivers seat, the groaning noise from the steering and a couple of new A/C problems. The A/C fan had stopped working on the low setting and the re-circulation control was failing intermittently.
They replaced the A/C control panel, which fixed the low speed fan problem and they ordered a new seat belt and riser. No luck with the steering or re-circulation problems though.
August 13th 1998. 6488 Miles.
Got a card to say the parts are in so took it back to the dealer to get the new seat belt and riser fitted. Unfortunately they had ordered the wrong parts for both the seat belt and the riser so no improvement there. Good news is they finally got the alignment fixed after only 5 months. Still no luck fixing the groaning and vibration from the steering.
August 27th 1998. 7268 Miles.
Got another card in the mail to say the seat belt parts are in so back to the dealer again. This time they managed to get it right and the seat belt was fixed. No sign of the seat riser for the wobbly drivers seat though. Pointed out that the fabric on the underside of the back seat had fallen off so they did a half-assed job of putting it back on for me. Came off again by the time I got home.
I am getting really sick of this now and it would be great to get a couple of months off without a trip to the dealer. Seems like any problem that is even slightly intermittent is beyond their ability to fix.
September 22nd 1998.8443 Miles.
I've been letting the problems accumulate because I'm so sick of being without the lemon every couple of weeks while the dealer hacks away at it. Unfortunately a loud squealing noise from the front end was beyond even my ability to ignore so it's back to the dealer. I tell Tom (service writer, remember) about how it sounds just like brake wear indicators but of course it couldn't need new brake pads after only 8000 miles right? Wrong, the front pads have worn out. Apparently it's not unusual but they replaced them under the warranty anyway which was a decent thing to do. I've heard since from other owners that the stock brake pads usually last between 6000 and 15000 miles from new. They still don't have the seat riser and I've given up on the other stuff.
October 1998.
Had a weird experience this month. On one journey the truck decided that every gear change would be made as violently as possible. It was like being struck in the back with a mallet every time it changed gear. I tried stopping and shifting in and out of park and neutral but it made no difference. Turning the engine off and on again made it go away though. Suburban ownership is never boring I'll give it that.
Got a call from someone at GM customer service to follow up on the recent warranty work. She was very sympathetic when I described all the problems we were having and gave me another customer service number to call. Called customer service on the other number and asked if it would be possible to get a buy-back or replacement or at least an extended warranty given that we had had so many problems. I was told that a buy-back or replacement was out of the question and they would open a file on me and monitor the vehicle's progress. They said that if it continues to give problems they might consider extending the warranty. I reluctantly agreed to take it back to the dealer again and give them a complete list of outstanding problems so they could fix them all at once. Here we go again.
November 4th 1998. 9774 Miles.
Back to the dealer and as per GM's request I gave Tom a complete list of outstanding faults. Some of them very outstanding. I've accumulated quite a list in my effort to avoid trips to the dealer.
Drivers seat still loose. Glove box rattles. Fabric under back seat fallen off again. Groaning and vibration from steering when turning left. Knocking noise under the floor when accelerating. Brakes extremely noisy and still pulling to the left. Ashtray in the right rear passenger door keeps popping out. Mentioned the gearbox problem too but don't expect any results. Let's see what they do with this lot.
Well they fixed the seat fabric in place so that's good. Fixed the knocking noise when accelerating too - a dry body mount apparently. Not so lucky on the rest of the stuff.
They ordered a new seat riser again. HAHAHAHA. Calm. Stay calm. Means another trip back to get it installed. Ordered parts to fix the ashtray too.
Failed to fix the brake pulling and noise, the steering noise/vibration or the glove box rattle.
November 5th 1998.
I knew it was a mistake to take it back again. Today the engine has become really hard to start. Takes about ten seconds of cranking before it stutters into life accompanied a large cloud of black smoke. This is in addition to a new rotten egg smell when driving around and a strong smell of gasoline when it is left standing for any length of time. Glad I don't smoke.
I'll wait take it back when the seat riser and ashtray parts arrive.
November 23rd 1998. 10656 Miles.
Got the new drivers seat riser and ashtray installed. Drivers seat is much better but still moves around somewhat. I can live with it though. Ashtray still pops out. Maybe I'll just glue it in myself.
Tom thinks that the engine starting problem is due to a bad fuel pump. At least that is what their diagnostic computer says. I'm not convinced though. Of course they don't have a replacement fuel pump so it's on order. I suppose I'll just come back later then. Does the fun never stop?
November 30th 1998. 10920 Miles.
Back to get the new fuel pump installed. Asked Tom to lubricate the back passenger doors too as they now squeak loud enough to wake the dead. Of course the new fuel pump has made things no better and lubricating hinges seems to be too complicated a task for GM's certified service technicians.
December 7th 1998. 11166 Miles.
Hey, guess what. Back to the dealer again. Woohoo! Lets see if they can fix the engine starting problem this time. Tom claims that the fuel pump really was dying last time and needed to be replaced anyway but they will take a look at it again.
This time it is attributed to a bad battery that is leaking acid and has corroded part of the wiring harness. Dealer installed a new battery and cables and claimed that the problem is fixed. Of course it isn't and I've had about enough now.
We decide to try Better Business Bureau arbitration. Surely any impartial arbitrator would rule in our favor. GM obviously thinks the same thing as they immediately offered us an extended warranty to settle the dispute. We refused and decided to continue with arbitration.
December 21st 1998.
Had our arbitration hearing. We took the arbitrator out for a test-drive and demonstrated the braking, steering and engine problems. The GM representative (Eric) attended the hearing via the phone and his arguments were feeble and unconvincing in light of the obvious faults. He said that the brakes and steering should not be considered a problem since they had not experienced total failure yet which left us wondering if we had to wait until the lemon killed someone before they would buy it back. Things seemed to go well so we are pretty confident that we will be awarded a replacement or repurchase. Have to wait until after Christmas to get the decision though.
January 1st 1999
We got the decision from the arbitrator and it's an 'interim repair order'. Talked to the BBB and apparently this means that GM get one more chance to fix it and if they don't then the arbitrator has to order a replacement or repurchase. Hmmm. Not as good as we had hoped but what are the chances that the dealer will be able to fix it once and for all this time? Pretty slim. I'm a little concerned that in the decision the arbitrator states that he didn't hear the glove box rattling or the steering noises. My wife and I both clearly heard these during the test drive so I wonder if the arbitrator is maybe a little deaf. Or perhaps he was so intent on telling us stories from his recent vacation that he missed it. Whatever the reason, the ordeal drags on.
January 18th 1999. 12659 Miles.
Left the heap with the dealer. Again. Here's the list.
Brakes are squealing excessively. Groaning noise and vibration from steering when turning left. Strange liquid gurgling noise from under the floor. Brakes pull to the left. Engine is hard to start and coughs out black smoke. Gasoline smell and rotten egg smell. The A/C re-circulation problem that was never fixed. The glove box rattle. The squeaking rear doors and the drivers door that sticks open below 40F.
What are the chances they can fix that lot?
January 26th 1999.
Got a call from Tom at the dealer to say everything is fixed and I can go and pick it up. Tom is very apologetic and says that Joe (the new service manager) took it for a test drive and everything is fixed. Well I can only assume that Joe's test drive must have consisted of a circuit of the parking lot since the brakes still pull to the left (and now sometimes to the right too) and the glove box rattles worse than ever. Still, they fixed the engine and the steering doesn't make those disturbing noises anymore.
Back to arbitration then. We can't possibly lose now provided the arbitrator is at least somewhat impartial.
January 27th 1999.
Got into the heap today after work to discover that the outside temperature display wasn't working any more. Hmmm. Playing with the switch got it to come back on but it's now reading in Centigrade instead of Fahrenheit. I didn't even know it could do that. I finally worked out that if you hold the button down long enough you can switch back to Fahrenheit. Took a while to realize this since the button is rather sticky and requires a lot of pressure to work. Never a dull moment.
January 31st 1999.
New problems. All weekend long the A/C fan has been chirping loudly. It's like having some manic cricket living in the dashboard. Still, it helps take my mind off the rattling from the glove box.
On Saturday, we stopped off at Krispy Kreme for some doughnuts. Upon exiting the heap, my wife tried to close the passenger door only to have it spring back open again with a bang. We tried fiddling with the handle and the lock but to no avail. It just wouldn't shut. Eventually I had to get some pliers and pry the door latch back into the correct position so we could close the door. I thought for a while that we would have to tie it closed with rope to get it back to the dealer so it was a relief when it finally latched.
We got a flat tire on Saturday too. It's difficult to see how that one could be GMs fault but it certainly feels like it is.
March 2nd 1999.
Had the second arbitration hearing today It could have gone better since the brakes refused to pull on the day despite the arbitrator driving it at 70mph in a 45mph zone. At least the glove box was rattling nicely. The GM representative was really stretching for things to say and his arguments were even more pathetic than last time. I can't see how we can possibly lose now unless the BBB arbitrator is either deaf, senile or corrupt. Still can't help worrying though.
March 8th 1999.
We lost. Pretty depressing I can tell you. The BBB has relieved GM of any responsibility to repurchase or replace the lemon. All we get is an extended warranty. Worst part is that the arbitrator clearly states on the decision form that all problems have been resolved which is basically accusing us of lying. Again he says that the glove box did not rattle on the test drive when it clearly did. I really feel that hearing and senility tests should be required for BBB arbitrators. I'm quite upset.
March 11th 1999
Going away for the weekend so decide to let the dealer have another crack at the brakes and the glove box while I'm out of town. Arrived at the dealership around 5PM and got Tom (service guy) to agree to come with me for a test drive. Comments such as 'Jesus!' and 'You can't drive it in this condition' from Tom during the test drive leave me feeling hopeful that he will really make an effort to fix the brakes this time.
March 15th 1999
Picked up the truck in the morning. Apparently they have replaced the calipers again. Didn't work last time so doing it again is bound to work right? Half a mile from the dealer and the brakes are pulling again. I have to laugh so I don't cry. Well at least the glove box rattle seems to be gone. Another hard won victory for the GM certified technicians. If only it didn't need Herculean effort to close the rotten thing. Several hard slams are now required to get it to shut. Still, I could use the exercise I suppose.
March 17th 1999
Went to register the lemon today. Driving home from the DMV I noticed the brakes have picked up a new party trick. At slow speed, applying the brakes now causes a thump from the front end followed by the steering wheel jerking to the left. Can't wait for this one to happen on the freeway.
March 30th 1999
Dropped it off at the dealers again this morning. Told them the brakes were still pulling and asked them to do an oil change. Got a call from the service guy (Lou this time, Tom is on vacation) around 2pm to say that the truck was ready but that there was a problem and I should call him. So I call him back and it turns out that all they have done is the oil change. Apparently Joe (Service Manager) has decided that they can't do any more to fix the brakes and they are not going to perform further brake repairs under the warranty. I'm sure there is some kind of law against that. Magnuson-Moss perhaps?
Went down to pick the truck up and speak to Joe. He told us that until he can identify a solution he will not authorize any further repairs to the braking system. He said that everything they can do has been done and at this point the problem is not fixable. Apparently they have several other 3/4 ton Suburbans at the moment with similar braking problems that are also unfixable. He says that GM is aware of the problem. Well, that’s OK then. As long as it's not just me they're screwing. Joe suggests that when the brakes start pulling I should drive along and apply the brakes while accelerating. Apparently this will clean the dust off the brakes and stop the pulling. Oh yes, that sounds plausible all right.
Well, I thought I exercised great restraint under the circumstances. No shouting or anything. The GM area rep will be at the dealers on April 1st so I will try and talk to him then. Joe promised he would get the guy to call me. I believe him. Really.
Brakes did their pulling thing all the way home from the dealer. I tried driving along with the brakes applied with no result except I'll probably need new pads again soon.
The ashtray has popped out again.
April 1st 1999. 15002 Miles.
Hey, no one called. Surely some mistake. So I called GM customer service. They said they would call Joe and I should call them back tomorrow.
April 2nd 1999. 15020 Miles.
I called GM Customer disService back and guess what? They're closed for Easter. So much for call back tomorrow. You know, I am beginning to suspect they really don't want to help me.
April 5th 1999. 15150 Miles.
I called GM Customer Service back again and spoke to someone else. They in turn passed me on to Eric, the guy who represented GM at the BBB hearing. He can't understand why the dealer is unable to fix the problem and will call them and find out. He denied that the problem is unfixable. Round and round we go, where it stops nobody knows.
The glove box resumed it's rattle on the way home from work too. I'm beginning to think it's possessed by the devil.
May 13th 1999. 16699 Miles.
Joe (service manager) called me a couple of weeks ago claiming that GM had discovered some fabulous new technique to fix the brake pulling problem on 3/4 ton Suburbans. They way he described it, it's something to do with fine sandpaper and aircraft grease. Now, call me a pessimistic old bastard if you will, but it sounded quite unlikely to me so I made no effort to take the heap back and let them have another go. I also had some family problems that took me out of town for a couple of weeks. Time passed. My hand was forced this week however, when a telltale scraping noise indicated that the brake pads had worn out again. I suppose it's fair enough, it has been 4,000 miles since the last time they were changed! So I took it back in again today and they changed the pads and did their thing with the sandpaper and grease. Even though I have been especially easy on the new pads (I'm not hard on brakes at the worst of times) I can already tell that the brakes are still pulling to the left. At least they didn't try to charge me for the new pads, I'll give them that.
Hmmm, let's see. That's 6 failed attempts to fix the brake pulling problem and the 4th set of brake pads in 16k miles. Maybe I'll give Eric at GMC a call next week. Judging from the number of Emails that I have received from other Suburban owners I rather suspect that brake pull is simply a widespread problem that GM is either unwilling or unable to fix.
May 17th 1999. 17439 Miles.
Took the heap down to L.A. at the weekend to attend a computer show. We would have taken our other vehicle but we needed the Suburban to bring a bookcase back with us. First time applying the new brake pads on the freeway nearly had us into the side barrier but it mostly settled down after that. There were a couple of scary moments on the L.A. freeways too, when the traffic stopped in front of us. It feels like the freeway lanes in L.A. are narrower than Vegas and with the heavy traffic I really had to concentrate to keep in lane when braking. Between that, the chattering cargo doors at the back, the good old glove box rattle and the chirping A/C fan it was a good reminder for me to call GMC again. So I did. Eric said he would get in touch with the area rep and call me back in a couple of days. I can't wait.
June 10th 1999. 18017 Miles.
Well, GMC have agreed to buy back our Suburban so hopefully our nightmare is over. Good timing too as last weekend the transmission started to act up. It's spuriously shifting up and down gears for no reason and sometimes won't shift into overdrive at all. Also, every gear change is accompanied by a thud and shudder from the drivetrain. Most entertaining if you can find a nervous passenger to scare with it, but I digress.
I don't think I'll entirely believe it until the check arrives. Is it over? Time will tell…..
June 22nd 1999. 18300 Miles.
It's gone. We dropped it off at the dealership on Friday, signed some paperwork and handed in the keys. The promised check to GMAC was for the correct amount and there were no last minute problems. It's hard to believe it's really gone. What a wonderful feeling.
This came about in the end through the local area GM rep who turned out to be a pretty nice guy once we finally got to speak to him. He said he was concerned about doing the right thing for his customers and seemed genuinely interested in solving the problem. After all this time, it was quite astonishing to speak to someone at GM who has a positive attitude. This sort of thing makes such a difference and you have to wonder why all the other customer service representatives couldn't be like this. I've got a feeling that this could have been sorted out a long time ago if GM provided better access to their area reps instead of forcing all their customers to go through the dealer chain of command. Of course, I have no idea if they are all as accommodating as the rep we spoke to but it would be nice to think so. Anyway, they eventually did the right thing and I'm very grateful for that.
Well it's time to move on to a new vehicle from a different manufacturer and put all this behind us. I'll leave this story here in the hope that it might prove useful or instructive to some of the many people who visit this site in search of relief from their own lemon nightmares. Let's hope that the new model year 2000 Suburbans, Tahoes and Yukons are a little better engineered and a lot better built than their predecessors. Time will tell.
August 27th 1999. ????? Miles.
Well, over two months since the buyback and our Suburban is still not listed as being a lemon by the Carfax vehicle history service at
This somewhat disturbing turn of events has led me to think that I should post the VIN number here since it wouldn't surprise me if GM tried to re-sell the piece of junk. The chances of someone checking here before buying a Suburban are slim but who knows. So, if you are considering a used '98 GMC Suburban 2500 in pewter or if you have already bought one and it has funky brakes and a dying transmission then check this VIN number.
3GKGK26J7WG515168
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