2003 CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER EXT Complaints

I HAVE INTERMITTENT SMELL OF FUEL COMING FROM VEHICLE; CONSISTENTLY DECLINING MPG; SES LIGHT COMING ON; TAKEN IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AFTER HAVING RECEIVED A LETTER STATING THAT THERE WAS A FUEL TANK OR PUMP ISSUE; THEY DIAGNOSED THAT THE FILLER NECK WAS CRACKED A ND LEAKING BUT STATED THAT IT WASN'T PART OF THE REPAIRS FROM THE LETTER AND SAID IT WOULD COST A $1000 TO REPLACE MY FUEL TNK AND THEN THEY WOULD REPLACE THE FUEL PUMP MODULE FOR FREE. *TR

ABOUT A MONTH AGO I STARTED TO SMELL GAS VAPORS WHEN I DROVE MY CAR. ONE DAY I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AND A PERSON NEXT TO ME HONKED HIS HORN AND TOLD ME THAT HE SAW GAS LEAKING UNDER MY CAR. I WAS NEAR PEP BOYS AND PULLED IN THE PARKING LOT. I SHUT MY CAR OFF AND LOOKED UNDERNEATH IT. I SAW A LOT OF GAS DRIPPING FROM UNDER MY FUEL TANK AND FALLING ONTO THE GROUND. I WENT INSIDE PEP BOYS AND TOLD THEM THE PROBLEM. IT WAS NEARLY CLOSING TIME SO I LEFT THE CAR OVERNIGHT AND CALLED FOR A RIDE HOME. PEP BOYS CALLED ME THE NEXT MORNING AND GAVE ME AN ESTIMATE OF $270 JUST TO DROP THE TANK AND LOOK AT WHAT MAY HAVE CAUSED THE LEAK. THEY SAID IT WAS LIKELY A BAD FUEL PUMP OR BAD FUEL LINES. I ASKED THEM ANOTHER ESTIMATE ON HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST TO FIX MY GAS LEAK. THEY SAID IT WOULD COST AROUND $600 TO $800 TO FIX MY CAR IF THE FUEL PUMP OR BAD FUEL LINES WERE REALLY THE PROBLEM. I TOLD THEM TO NOT WORK ON THE CAR AND SAID THAT I WOULD PICK IT UP. SO I TOWED THE CAR BACK HOME AND PULLED IT INTO THE GARAGE. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT MY CAR HAS LEAKED GAS. THE NEXT DAY I TOOK OFF THE FUEL TANK TO CHECK WHERE THE LEAK WAS COMING FROM. WHEN I LOOKED AT THE TOP OF THE TANK, THE FUEL PUMP WAS CORRODED AND THERE WAS GAS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE PUMP. ALSO WHEN I TOOK THE TANK OFF, THE FILLER NECK HOSE WAS CRACKED AND WAS NOT CONNECTED TO THE GAS TANK. I CALLED A JUNK YARD AND ORDERED A FUEL PUMP FOR $150. I ALSO CALLED MY LOCAL DEALER AND TOLD THEM MY ISSUE. THEY SAID THAT MY CAR HAD TOO MANY MILES ON IT AND WAS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY ANYMORE. SINCE THE DEALER COULD NOT HELP ME, I CALLED GENERAL MOTORS CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ISSUED A SAFETY DEFECT ON MY VEHICLE. THEY SAID THAT THERE WAS A EXTENDED SPECIAL COVERAGE ON MY VEHICLE THAT MIGHT COVER THE REPAIR. I CALLED ANOTHER DEALERSHIP AND I AM WAITING FOR THEM TO CALL ME BACK. RIGHT NOW MY CAR HAS BEEN IN THE GARAGE FOR ALMOST A MONTH. THE ONLY WAY TO FIX IT IS TO BUY A NEW GAS TANK FOR $500. *TR

I HAVE A PROBLEM SIMILAR TO MANY OTHERS. I HAVE RECENTLY PURCHASED A 2003 CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER. I HAVE ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM WITH THE SPEEDOMETER ON THIS VEHICLE. THE SPEEDOMETER OCCASSIONALLY STOPS WORKING ENTIRELY FROM TIME TO TIME AND OTHER TIMES, HAS A MIND OF IT'S OWN AND DECIDES TO MAKE A RANDOM NUMBER THE ZERO MARK AND INCREASE SPEED FROM THAT POINT. I KNOW THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AS THERE ARE TIMES THAT I HAVE NO IDEA HOW FAST I AM TRAVELING. I HAVE SINCE TAKEN THIS MATTER TO GENERAL MOTORS IN AN ATTEMPT TO GIVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECTIFY AN UNSAFE SITUATION. IN RESPONSE, THEY ASKED ME TO TAKE THE VEHICLE INTO A CERTIFIED GM DEALER FOR A VEHICLE DIAGNOSTIC AND REPAIR. I DID JUST THAT. MY VEHICLE WAS FOUND TO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. THE DEALER WAS NICE ENOUGH TO INFORM ME THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL RELATED PROBLEMS THAT GM HAS ISSUED A RECALL FOR... UNFORTUNATELY, I SEEM TO HAVE THE ONLY MODEL IN THIS VEHICLE CLASS THAT IS NOT COVERED IN THIS RECALL. AND GM WAS NICE ENOUGH TO OFFER TO DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN MY CASE... WHICH INCLUDES NOT REFUNDING THE COST OF THE DIAGNOSTIC THAT THEY REQUESTED IN ORDER TO GATHER THEIR INFORMATION. IN MY DISAPPOINTMENT, I HAVE DONE SOME ONLINE RESEARCH AND COME ACROSS SEVERAL LAWSUITS AGAINST GM FOR THIS EXACT PROBLEM... SOME OF WHICH EVEN INCLUDE THE TRAILBLAZER. MY QUESTION IS THIS: DO I HAVE ANY OTHER COURSE OF ACTION? ALSO, HAS THERE ALREADY BEEN A COMPLAINT SIMILAR TO THIS THAT MAY BE OF ASSISTANCE TO ME? *TR

LISA WAS TAKING KIDS TO SCHOOL WHEN SHE NOTICED PROBLEMS WHEN STOPPING GOT TO MOMS HOUSE AND CALLED SHOP. ON WAY TO SHOP FRONT DIFFERENTIAL CAME APART AND TOOK STEERING AND AXLE WITH IT. *TR

NO WARNING LIGHTS, NO WARNING SOUNDS. WHILE CROSSING AN INTERSECTION, TRANSMISSION WENT OUT. 0 FORWARD GEARS, REVERSE WORKS. VEHICLE JUST REACHED 82,000 MILES. SERVICED REGULARLY. *TR

MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON BUT THE VEHICLE RAN O.K. TOOK IT TO MECHANIC AND WAS TOLD THAT THE OIL PRESSURE GAUGE WAS NOT WORKING AND HE BELIEVED THERE WAS A RECALL ON THIS. IT WASN'T A RECALL SO WE WERE TOLD WE WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPAIRS OURSELVES AND SINCE WE REGULARLY CHANGE/CHECK OUR OIL I WASN'T TOO WORRIED. NOW WE HAVE NOTICED THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE HAS SHOT ALL THE WAY AROUND AND HAS STAYED BUT WHEN IT IS REALLY COLD OUTSIDE IT DROPS BACK TO NORMAL. THE SPEEDOMETER AND THE RPM GAUGE ALSO STICKS. SPENT MANY DAYS FOR A FEW YEARS TRYING TO SOLVE PROBLEM WITH THE RADIO AND DVD PLAYER NOT WORKING PROPERLY AND SWITCHING STATIONS ON ITS OWN AND AFTER SEVERAL REPLACEMENTS FINALLY GAVE UP BECAUSE IT WAS NEVER CORRECTED. THIS IS A REAL CONCERN AS I DO TRAVEL BY MYSELF AND RELY ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND THIS SEEMS TO BE A REAL PROBLEM WITH THE TRAILBLAZER AND SHOULD BE RECALLED BY CHEVORLET. *TR

THREE OF THE FOUR DOOR LATCHING MECHANISMS HAD TO BE REPLACED IN THIS TRUCK. THE DOORS WOULD LOOK LIKE THEY CLOSED BUT THEY WOULD OPEN AS YOU TURNED A CORNER. THIS OCCURRED TWICE WHEN I HAD MY KIDS IN THE TRUCK, FIRST ON THE PASSENGER LEFT SIDE THEN A FEW MONTHS LATER THE PASSENGER RIGHT SIDE. I AM GLAD GM DIDN'T SCREW UP THE SEAL BELTS TOO. THIS IS DANGEROUS. *TR

THE TRANSMISSION COOLING LINES CORRODED WHICH CAUSED THE TRANSMISSION FLUID TO LEAK OUT WHILE ON A 20 MILE ROUND TRIP FROM OUR HOUSE. THE TRUCK STARTED TO RUN ROUGH AS WE PULLED IN THE DRIVEWAY AND THERE IT DIED. I HAD IT TOWED TO A LOCAL TRANSMISSION REPAIR SHOP WHERE THEY CONFIRMED THE TRANSMISSION WAS DEAD, REBUILD OR REPLACE. I PAID TO TOW IT TO THE GM DEALERSHIP WHERE I BOUGHT THE TRUCK AND THEY CONFIRMED THE TRANNY WAS DEAD. ALUMINUM COOLING LINES ROTTED OUT, DRAINED THE FLUID AND THE UNIT FRIED. THERE ARE NO WARNING LIGHTS OR MONITORING OF THIS FLUID LEVEL PER GM. THIS TRUCK HAD BEEN SERVICED BY THIS DEALERSHIP. THE SERVICE MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT THIS IS NOT A COMMON OCCURRENCE BUT THIS IS NOT RARE EITHER. HE SAID GM WILL NOT HELP WITH THE REPAIRS AND HE WAS RIGHT. I HAD THE LOCAL TRANNEY SHOP DO THE REPAIRS FOR 2500.00, LESS THAN GM'S 4500.00. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS TRUCK, I WILL DO ANOTHER REPORT REGARDING THE FAILED DOOR LATCHES, AND I GAVE GM THE TIME TO REPAIR THEIR PROBLEMS AND THEN THEY TELL YOU TO "STUFF IT" WHEN THEIR BAD DESIGNS GET REAL COSTLY. LAST GM IN MY DRIVEWAY. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER EXT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHENEVER THE VEHICLE IS FILLED WITH FUEL, THE SENSOR THAT INDICATES THE TANK IS FULL FAILS TO WORK. AS A RESULT, GASOLINE OVERFLOWS AND LEAKS FROM THE TANK OUTSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. SINCE DECEMBER OF 2008, THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN REPAIRED FOUR TIMES, WHICH INCLUDED A FUEL TANK ASSEMBLY AND TANK REPLACEMENT. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 55,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 CHEVROLET TRIALBLAZER. THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS TURNED ON AND OFF AUTOMATICALLY WITHOUT USING THE SWITCH. NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 04V046000 COMPONENT: VISIBILITY: WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER IS RELATED TO THE FAILURE. THE DEALER CONFIRMED THAT HIS VIN IS NOT A PART OF THE RECALL. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 160,000.