2001 CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO Complaints

WHILE AT A STOP, THE DRIVER PROCEEDED TO GO AND THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT MOVE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE HAD TWO TRANSMISSIONS REPLACED WITHIN 70,000 MILES. THE DEALER SAID THE FLYWHEEL AND FLEX PLATE BECAME DISENGAGED FROM THE ENGINE. *AK *SC *JB

WINDSHELD WIPERS PARK STRAIGHT UP VERTICAL. HEATER RESISTOR FAILED. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ALWAYS ON. STEERING WHEEL RATTLES WHEN CORNERING SLOWLY. LIGHT ALWAYS ON SAYING ANTIFREEZE LOW DESPITE IT NOT BEING LOW. TOO MUCH BASS IN RADIO ROUGH SHIFTS. BRAKE PADS DONE AT 70,000KM SEEMS TO BE FALLING APART AS SOON AS WARRANTY WAS UP.

THE ONLY REASON I AM SUBMITTING THIS IS THAT I KNOW OF 3 OTHER MONTE CARLOS IN THIS AREA WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. GM DOES NOT WANT TO RE-ISSUE A FULL WARRENTY ON THE REPAIRED PART. WE STOOD OUR GROUND WITH THEM AND GOT A 50,000 MILE WARRENTY IN WRITING FROM THE DEALERSHIP, BUT ONLY AFTER TELLING THEM I WOULD CONTACT THE ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE...WHICH I DID ANYWAY. SEEMS THIS IS A PROBLEM THEY ARE AWARE OF AND ARE TRYING TO KEEP IT QUIET. PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT THEY NEED TO ARGUE WITH THE DEALER FOR A GOOD WARRENTY.

MY 2001 MONTE CARLO SS DEVELOPED A LEAK BETWEEN THE UPPER PLASTIC INTAKE MANIFOLD AND LOWER ALUMINIUM INTAKE MANIFOLD. I STOPPED AT A DEALER AND ASKED THEM ABOUT IT AND THEY SAID THEY KNEW OF NO PROBLEM BUT WHEN I ASKED THEM HOW MUCH TO REPAIR THEY REPLIED ABOUT $800 WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE CAR. I CONTACTED GM CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THEY TOLD ME TO TAKE THE CAR TO A DEALER FOR AN ESTIMATE, WHICH I DID. THEY THEN TALKED WITH THE DEALER AND CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO FOR ME. IN THE MEANTIME I DID SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN OUT ON IT. GM CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THE DEALER SAID THAT SINCE THIS IS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE NOTHING COULD BE DONE BECAUSE THE CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY AND THAT I SHOULD HAVE PURCHASED THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. SO I WAS STUCK PAYING A GARAGE $880 TO REPLACE BOTH MANIFOLDS AS DIRECTED IN THE TSB AND THE WORRY THAT MY YEAR AND A HALF OLD CAR MY LAUNCH ITS MOTOR AT ANYTIME DUE TO THE CONTAMINATION OF THE OIL WITH ANTIFREEZE FROM THE LEAK.

CLUNKING NOISE WHEN MAKING A TURN CAN ALSO BE FELT THROUGH THE STEERING COLUMN. THE SAME THING CAN BE FELT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS.*AK

WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, VEHICLE TENDS TO DRIFT TO EITHER SIDE CAUSING VERY POOR HANDLING. FLAWS IN THE ROAD CAUSES THE VEHICLE TO WANDER ALL OVER THE PLACE. TRYING TO HAVE THE PROBLEM FIXED FOR 2 YEARS NOW HAS COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED ME, YET THE PROBLEM STILL EXIST. I HOPE AND WISH FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN RESULTING IN REPAIRS BEING MADE TO MY CAR, BEING THAT THIS IS MY FIRST NEW CAR AND I SAVED FOR YEARS TO PURCHASE IT. *LA

FOR THE PAST YEAR I HAVE BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH ENGINE COOLANT LOSS FROM MY CAR, WHEN I FIRST NOTICED IT I BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALER'S ATTENTION AND WAS INFORMED THAT WHAT I WAS SEEING WAS A "GASKET SEALER" AND I WAS NORMAL WITH A NEW CAR; HOWEVER, 4 MONTHS LATER I AM LOSING COOLANT FROM THE INTAKE MANIFOLD LOOSING UP, AFTER THE FIRST REPAIR, WHERE THE BOLTS WHERE SIMPLY TIGHTENED UP IT WAS OK , NOW IT IS LEAKING ALL AROUND THE INTAKE GASKET ON TO THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM AND TRANSMISSION. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER, AND WAS TOLD THERE WAS A RECALL ON THE MONTE CARLOS FOR THIS PROBLEM BUT MY ENGINE IS NOT AFFECTED I HAVE A 3.4 LITER AND THE RECALL WAS ON 3.1 AND 3.8 ENGINES. I HAVE BEEN GOING BACK AND FORTH WITH THE DEALER AND CHEVY USA ON THIS FOR SEVERAL MONTHS NOW WITH NO RESOLUTION, MY CAR WAS UNDER WARRANTY WHEN I FIRST NOTICED THIS AND WAS TOLD IT WAS "NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT" NOW IT IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY AND THE PROBLEM IS WORSE I AM HOPING IN WRITING YOU THIS IT CAN BE INVESTIGATED AS TO WHY I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY CAR AS THE OTHER ENGINE SIZES BUT MY MOTOR IS NOT PART OF THE REPAIR RECALL, IT IS OBVIOUS TO ME THAT THIS IS A DESIGN DEFECT ON MY MOTOR. THE INTAKE SHOULD NOT JUST COME LOOSE FROM THE ENGINE AFTER 20,000 AND 40,000 MILES SHOULD IT? THE VEHICLE IS A 2001 CHEVY MONTE CARLO LS WITH THE 3.4 LITER V6 AUTO TRANSMISSION. *LA

WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS AT THE DEALER FOR AN OIL CHANGE DEALER INDICATED THAT HEAD GASKET WAS LEAKING COOLANT FROM THE MANIFOLD. *AK

PROBLEM WITH THE STEERING COLUMN IN MY 2001 MONTE CARLO SS, WANT TO KNOW IF OTHERS ARE HAVING ANY PROBLEMS. THE PROBLEM STARTED AT 33,000 MILES, MY DEALER REMOVED THE COLUMN, GREASED IT AND REINSERTED THE OLD ONE, AT 56,000 MI WE ARE STILL EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM AND GM WILL NOT PAY TO FIX IT. *LA

ON TWO OCCASIONS, WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 40-50 MILES PER HOUR, THE ENGINE STALLED -ONCE IN A CONSTRUCTION ZONE AREA. LUCKILY, WE WERE ABLE TO TURN OFF ONTO A SIDE STREET, BUT JUST BARELY SINCE THE POWER STEERING WAS OUT. *AK THE CAR HAS A HARD TIME STARTING. IT REQUIRES STEPPING ON THE GAS PEDAL - JUST LIKE THE OLD DAYS.