2002 OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA Complaints

GM HAS A KNOWS ISSUE ON 02,03 AND 04 BRAVADAS, TRAILBLAZERS, ENVOY'S AND RANIERS. THE TRANSMISSION COOLER LINES HAVE A HARD INTERFERENCE WITH THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. ONCE IT WEARS THROUGH A STEADY STREAM OF FLUID LEAK ONTO THE CONVERTER. THIS ISSUE IS DOCUMENTED IN SERVICE BULLETIN PI01573. THEY DO NOT FEEL IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE EVEN THOUGH I SEE OTHER VEHICLES HAVE BEEN RECALLED FOR THE SAME THING. *TR

TRANSMISSION AND ALL-WHEEL DRIVE PROBLEM WHEN BEGINNING TO MOVE, THE CAR JERKS 3 OR 4 TIMES AND THERE IS A METAL CLINKING NOISE UNDER THE FRONT. THE ALL-WHEEL DRIVE FAILS TO ENGAGE. THERE IS ALSO A PROBLEM WHEN TURNING THE WHEEL SHARPLY AT REDUCED SPEEDS. THE CAR WILL JERK AND THERE IS A WEIRD NOISE. I JUST TOOK MY CAR IN AND THIS REPAIR IS GOING TO COST BETWEEN $2000 - $4000 DOLLARS. *TR

ON 2/19 I WAS DRIVING HOME FROM WORK ONE NIGHT AND THERE WAS A SMELL IN THE CAR AND I THOUGHT IT WAS THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME AS I KEPT DRIVING IT GOT WORSE. I STOPPED AND PULLED OVER AND CHECKED UNDER THE SEATS AND I DID NOT SEE ANYTHING, AS I DROVE FURTHER IT GOT WORSE. I THEN HAPPENED TO LOOK OVER AT THE PASSENGER SEAT AND IT WAS SMOKING, AND A BLACK HOLE WAS STARTING ON THE SEAT. I PULLED OVER AND PUT SOME SNOW IN THE HOLE AND IT STILL WAS SMOKING, SO I FLAGGED SOMEONE DOWN AND GOT A BOTTLE OF WATER TO POUR IN THE HOLE. I CALLED MY CAR INS AND GENERAL MOTORS ON 2/20, MY CAR INSURANCE WAS VERY HELPFUL, BUT GM, NOT! AFTER TALKING TO 3 DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND NO ONE EVER CALLING ME BACK GM CASE NUMBER CASE FILE NUMBER - 71-604440275, FINALLY ON APRIL 29TH, I WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS NOTHING GM COULD DO FOR ME. THE FIRST EXCUSE WAS THAT MY INSURANCE WAS INVOLVED THEY WILL NOT BE HANDLING ANYTHING, AND THEN THEY SAID THAT THEY WILL NOT PAY FOR ANYTHING BECAUSE "THERE WERE NO FLAMES" THEY DID OFFER ME A $2000 LOYALTY VOUCHER TO USE ON A NEW CAR TO BE USED IN 1 YEAR. I AM PICKING UP THE CAR (IT HAS BEEN FIXED BY A GM DEALER) TOMORROW AND THE BURNED SEAT (TO KEEP) AND AM VERY UPSET THAT THEY WOULD NOT PAY FOR THE DAMAGE OF $638 (MY INSURANCE DEDUCTIBLE AND A PART (THE PART THAT CAUSED THE FIRE). I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD BE OF ASSISTANCE TO ME. I HAVE THE SEAT AT HOME. *TR

WHILE GOING HOME THE OTHER DAY, IT FELT AS THOUGH MY SHOCKS WENT OUT WHEN I DROVE OVER A LITTLE BUMP. WHEN I GOT HOME, THE BACK END OF MY CAR HAD DROPPED. MY CAR HAS APPROXIMATELY 74,000 MILES. I TOOK IT TO A GARAGE AND FOUND THAT THE AIR COMPRESSOR IN THE BACK END HAD FAILED. *TR

THE TERMINAL OF THE REPLACEMENT (EIKO) TAIL BRAKE LIGHT MELTED IN THE SOCKET. THE BRAKE LIGHT ON MY 2002 OLDS BRAVADA WENT OUT SEVERAL DAYS AGO. WHEN I REPLACED THE BULB, I NOTICED IT WAS NOT BURNT OUT BUT LOOSE IN THE SOCKET. I COULD NOT GET IT TO FIT PROPERLY IN THE SOCKET SO DECIDED TO REPLACE IT. WHEN I PULL THE BULB OUT I FOUND THAT THE TERMINAL WAS MELTED. I FEEL THIS IS A SEVERE FIRE RISK. I DON'T FEEL CONFIDENT ALLOWING MY WIFE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE. I HAVE DIGITAL PICTURES OF THE BULB IN QUESTION AS WELL AS THE BULB ITSELF. I DID ALSO HAVE THE RECALL PERTAINING TO THIS : NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER : 04V527000 COMPLETED ON THE VEHICLE. *TR

THE DRIVE TRAIN NEEDS REPLACING AT 64K MILES. THE CAR IS BASICALLY IN CONSTANT 4WD, WHICH MAKES TURNING AT SLOW SPEEDS VERY DIFFICULT WITHOUT LOTS OF GAS AND IT IS NOISY. THIS CAR IS TOO YOUNG TO BE FACING THIS TYPE OF ISSUE AND WITH LOW MILES (USUALLY 100K FOR THIS SORT OF THING). *CN

LAST MONTH MY OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA'S GAUGES AND INSTRUMENT WARNING LIGHTS STARTING OPERATING ERRATICALLY AND AT TIMES DID NOT WORK AT ALL (I.E. THE GAUGES READ ZERO). SEARCHING THE RECALLS FOR MY BRAVADA I FOUND 3013. 3013 CONCERNS INOPERATIVE INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTERS. THE FAILURE IMPACTED MY BRAVADA'S ABILITY TO MEET FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS NO. 101 AND NO. 208. BACKGROUND. I BOUGHT MY BRAVADA...USED IN JANUARY 2005 FROM EVERETT CHEVROLET IN EVERETT, WA. IT HAD 25671 MILES. CURRENT MILEAGE IS 62600. PRIOR TO MY PURCHASE, MY BRAVADA HAD SEVERAL RECALLS PERFORMED WHEN THE VEHICLE CAME OFF LEASE...IN SEPTEMBER 2004. RECALL 3013 (INSTRUMENT PANEL GAUGES INOPERATIVE) WAS PERFORMED ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2004...AT 25,184 MILES. I MADE APPOINTMENT AND TOOK MY VEHICLE IN FOR SERVICE ON 20 NOVEMBER 2007. THE DEALER WE USED WAS: FREYSINGER PONTIAC, GMC, BUICK 6251 CARLISLE PIKE MECHANICSBURG, PA 17050 717-766-8422 THE DEALER STATED THAT SINCE 3013 WAS ALREADY PERFORMED ON MY VEHICLE THAT THE NEXT STEP WAS REPLACEMENT OF THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER...AT MY COST. REPAIR WAS COMPLETED ON 21 NOVEMBER 2007. DOUG NEWELL *TR

THE DIFFERENTIAL AND NOW THE CAM BEARINGS ARE GOING. THE VEHICLE HAS 108,000. WE DID REGULAR OIL CHANGES AND MAINTENANCE ON THE VEHICLE. WE EVEN BOUGHT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY BUT THAT RAN OUT AT 100,000. DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD THE VEHICLE STARTED TO LURCH THEN WOULD NOT GO OVER 35 MPH. FRONT DIFFERENTIAL HAD A WHOLE THE SIZE OF A BASEBALL BLOWN OUT. THE DEALER HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT. IT WAS IN SUCH A PLACE THAT YOU WOULD NOT HAVE HIT ANYTHING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. NOW THAT THAT IS REPAIRED WE ARE LOOSING OIL PRESSURE AND HAVE BEEN TOLD THE BEST WAY TO REPAIR THIS WITH A MOTOR WITH THIS MANY MILES IS PULL IT AND PUT A CRATE MOTOR IN IT AT $4-5,000. THE VEHICLE ITSELF LOOKS LIKE NEW. NOW IS $36,000 PILE OF JUNK! AND WE STILL OWE ON IT! *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA. WHILE MAKING A LEFT TURN AT APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS, THE VEHICLE SWITCHED FROM TWO WHEEL DRIVE TO FOUR WHEEL DRIVE. THE VEHICLE CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. THIS TYPE OF FAILURE IS CALLED A CROW HOP. THE CONTACT HAD TO ACCELERATE IN ORDER FOR THE VEHICLE TO DRIVE AGAIN. WHILE MAKING ANOTHER TURN, THE FOUR WHEEL DRIVE LOCKED. EACH TIME THE FAILURE OCCURRED, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT MOVE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND THEY CHANGED THE DIFFERENTIAL FLUID, BUT THAT DID NOT CORRECT THE FAILURE. THROUGH A SERVICE BULLETIN ISSUED BY THE MANUFACTURER, THE CONTACT DISCOVERED THAT THE ENCODER SENSOR FROM THE TRANSFER CASE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND THE TCM SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 40,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA. FIVE DAYS AFTER PURCHASING THE VEHICLE, THE CONTACT EXPERIENCED FAILURES WITH THE INSTRUMENT PANEL GAUGES. HE STATED THAT THE FUEL GAUGE DID NOT PROPERLY DISPLAY THE AMOUNT OF FUEL IN THE TANK, CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO FREQUENTLY RUN OUT OF GAS. THE SPEEDOMETER AND ODOMETER WERE ALSO FAILING, WHICH MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE VEHICLE'S SPEED AND MILEAGE. HE TOOK HIS VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THEY INFORMED HIM THAT THE RECALL ON HIS VEHICLE EXPIRED. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THE RECALL WOULD NOT COVER HIS VEHICLE BECAUSE THE WARRANTY EXPIRED WHEN THE MILEAGE EXCEEDED 100,000 MILES. THE SPEED AND MILEAGES COULD NOT BE DETERMINED DUE TO THE GAUGE FAILURES.