Dealer Car Warranty

This is regarding GM Warranty’s failure to follow their contract and pay for repairs.

I purchased a 2008 Pontiac G8 GT 888 to be able to make trips and to commute when my old Pontiac Bonneville was in the shop. I knew I was going to have a short period of unemployment as I planned on repairing and selling my house to move to Utah.

When I purchased the car, I did not dispute or try to negotiate the price as it looked to be in mint condition. I purchased the GM warranty and several things to be completed before picking it up.
I wanted it to be just right, so I spent money on paint touch up (minor), bra, paint protection and other items. This took about 3 weeks to complete. I purchased from a reputable dealer instead of private owner so I could obtain a valid and good warranty. I later found the equivalent car from car max was half the price, shipped in.

When I purchased the car, I noticed a couple minor noises and had problems with the fobs locking/unlocking the door. Coulter agreed to do the following before I signed the contract:

1. Replace the key fobs.
2. Replace the old tires including the spare.
3. And agreed to replace dry rotted rubber belts, hoses, etc.

After I picked up the car, I continued to hear noise, but the dealership told me that everything was fine. At that point, I talked to my regular mechanic. He said to have them check it out more thoroughly, as I was planning to make my initial trip to Utah in February 2018.

1. I took the car back to Coulter where I purchased it and asked them check it out. I was told they would have to charge me to check it out if they didn’t find anything wrong. When they called and said they hadn’t found anything, I asked them to continue looking. Then they called and said they believed it was the rear end.
2. Coulter called the GM Warranty about replacing the rear end. I paid the $100 deductible for the rear end. The first rear end was lost in transit. Due to time constraints, I decided to drive my 2001 Pontiac Bonneville with over 200,000 miles to northern Utah. I did not want to take this car on the trip due to the age & mileage on the vehicle. My regular mechanic had also recommended that the Bonneville should only make the trip once, due to the elevation changes.
3. Coulter ordered another rear end to replace the one lost in shipment. When the second order came in, they replaced the rear end. This rear end was also flawed and had to be replaced when the first one finally showed up. The first ordered rear end was good. While they had the vehicle, they changed out the engine and air conditioning belts.
4. During this time period, the fobs gave me trouble locking and unlocking the doors. This caused the latch to be locked when trying to shut the door and the latch had to be physically moved out of the way to shut the doors. When I took it back to Coulter, it was necessary to replace the door cylinders, ignition, etc. These parts only come as a kit and GM warranty would only pay for the bad parts in the kit and some of the labor.
5. Also during this time, I mentioned that the temperature gauge was not as stable as the one in the Bonneville. That gauge never varies. The temperature gauge varied at times as much as 10 degrees and my concern was that there was something wrong.
I picked up the vehicle in April 2018. In addition to the rear end work, Coulter had replaced the instrument panel, ignition cylinders, transmission mounts, etc. At this time, the dealer was sure the car was repaired. I tried driving it to Utah in mid-April 2018.

1. The first major failure was right before a recreation restroom stop outside of Cedar City, Utah. I saw the temperature gauge go up and started to pull over to the edge but then the temperature gauge was almost back to normal. I carefully watched the gauge and turned into the recreation area. The temperature was running normal again, but I waited to let the car get cold so I could check everything. It was really windy and an older gentleman held the hood while I checked oil and water. I didn’t see anything wrong. I then held the hood while he verified the levels. He thought they looked normal too.
2. I continued the drive into Cedar City. The temperature gauge seemed to be running normal, but I wanted it double checked. I pulled into the first place I could to stop, googled for a certified GM dealer and Bradshaws was listed. I I proceeded to call Bradshaws and was told they couldn’t look at it for me until the next day. So I checked for a reputable shop and drove there to verify the levels for me. They indicated that everything looks normal, but they are not GM certified, so to watch for any additional variations, as it had already happened once. I decided I could just watch the temperature gauge and drive further as I was on a time limit. I made it 38.3 miles before it got hot again. I pulled over and called a tow truck to take it back to Cedar City to Bradshaw’s and called them to let them know it was coming. I stayed in a hotel room across from the dealership so I could get there in the morning. When they opened, they checked the car and said it was the radiator, the thermostat and the overflow. They also had to order all of the parts. They contacted GM and GM agreed to pay for it. Except for another $100 deductible.
3. I had my doubts when they said it was the thermostat so I called my regular mechanic and asked him if it sounded right. He didn’t think so either. He said it sounded more like a head gasket or something of that nature. I asked Bradshaws to check for this. I also requested for Bradshaws to drive it long and hard to see if it would fail before I got it back. I rented a car from Enterprise to get where I needed to go. I again contacted Bradshaw’s, they told me they received a bad part (radiator) from GM and it would be a little longer. It took a week. I asked them if they had test drove it and checked for a head gasket, but they were convinced that it was the thermostat that was bad and that it had damaged the other parts.
4. Bradshaws told me the car was fine, that there were no issues with it. Since I wasn’t sure of the diagnosis I decided I would take it back to Coulter. I started to drive it back to Arizona and almost made it to Mesquite Nevada when it started getting hot again. It was hot by the time I pulled over on the side of the freeway. I had it towed into Mesquite and I got a room for the night. In the morning, I had it towed in to Auto Nation in Henderson Nevada as it was the closest certified GM dealer. I let them know that my mechanic thought it was a head gasket and what repairs Bradshaw’s had done. They saw the error codes and couldn’t get to it until the next day.
5. I asked for and received a ride to the airport from Auto Nation (Henderson) and took a flight home as I could not take any additional time off. Auto Nation called me and told me it was a mistake made by Bradshaw’s in Cedar City and that the engine had an air bubble they had to remove. They did some tests and that everything seemed fine. GM warranty was contacted and they refused to cover it. Auto Nation told me they had thoroughly checked the engine out, had driven it to several places and that it was good to go.
6. In late April, I made arrangements to pick up the car and follow my rented moving truck into Utah. After the truck was turned in, I planned on giving everyone a ride home from Brigham City UT to Tempe, AZ. I rented the moving truck and after loading it, they dropped me off at Auto Nation in Henderson and I proceeded to follow them up to Brigham City. At the first gas stop, we noticed that the overflow was making boiling sounds. The temperature gauge was showing normal with the same variation it always had. We decided to stop more often to check the car.
7. Since I have an issue driving at night, I called my daughter to meet us. She met us in Orem Utah and brought 3 people with her to help drive all of the vehicles to her house. We checked the car again and all of the levels looked normal.
8. I rode in the Pontiac G8 to watch gauges. As we approached Brigham City, the car started to overheat. We quickly pulled into the rest stop we were just approaching. We waited for 45 minutes for the car to get cold enough to check the car water, oil, etc. We could not get the radiator cap off. We noticed that the overflow was empty and it was not supposed to be. I called my daughter and asked her to bring us some coolant. She returned to the rest stop with recommended coolant. We added coolant to the overflow, turned on the car and as it came to temperature and the thermostat opened we kept adding coolant to the overflow and it kept going into the radiator. It took the full gallon. It was only a few miles to the house, so we drove it there and it did not have issues those few miles.
9. We unloaded the truck on Sunday morning and looked for a way back for 3 people to Tempe, Arizona, as I did not want to drive the car back since it was showing issues again. We found an Enterprise Car Rental open in Salt Lake City, Utah. I had my daughter take us to there to drop us off. We rented a car and drove back to Arizona.
10. Hansen Motor Company was the closest GM Certified dealer to my daughter’s house. I asked her to drop it off and leave my phone number and ask them to check it for getting hot. The service advisor, Colby, called and asked permission to do a block test as they suspected a head gasket leak from the symptoms. I authorized the block test. It failed the test badly. Colby contacted GM warranty and they would not pay for tear down. So I authorized the tear down. He and I both thought GM warranty would cover it if it was proven to be the issue.
11. They sent an inspector out and the inspector refused to have the GM warranty cover anything. They said I did the damage by continually driving it while it was overheating. I can name every time it got hot. I take extreme care of my vehicles and take them in every time I suspect something is going wrong. My regular mechanic can verify this. I also requested 2 separate GM dealerships to check for the head gasket (Bradshaw’s and Auto Nation) as it was suspected. Colby asked me what I wanted to do, and I agreed to have Hansen’s rebuilt the motor and pay for it.
12. My daughter picked up the vehicle in early June. I asked her to drive it around for a while and she soon indicated that she could still hear boiling noises from the engine block. Looking back, I should have probably taken it back to Hansen’s when the overflow continued to boil. But by then I was losing it. I was extremely upset with GM warranty and said a few things I shouldn’t have when they implied I was stupid enough to drive it hot. This entire situation has done extreme damage to my finances and things planned out. I couldn’t afford to keep paying repairs on the car. I had my daughter tow the car from Brigham City Utah to Tempe Arizona in late June, as Coulter had verbally agreed to trade the car in. I had bought it from Coulter in good faith, but they wanted to check the car over and only provide a portion of the value of what I had paid for it.
13. Coulter to me they found an air bubble that Hansen’s had missed and an incorrect radiator cap and that was causing the issue. I really have no idea at this time if it is fixed. I just know I am out a lot of money for these issues. I do not have a warranty I can trust or a vehicle I that have any faith in. I cannot trade it in without a significant loss.
14. I have money out of pocket for extra motels, airlines, rental vehicles, towing and repairs. I have had in my possession the car less than 50% of the time in the first year of ownership and have invested a significant amount into the vehicle. I have put approximately 10,000 miles on the vehicle. It costs the same amount each month, whether the car is in my possession or not. This car looked good on paper, had low mileage and GM warranty. The problem I am having is that GM does not honor their warranty. This has caused additional financial issues that I have not planned on, as well the additional stress of not knowing if I can trust the car on long trips.

The dealerships that I had used are all certified GM dealers. The dealerships are:

Coulter Buick GMC Tempe
7780 S Autoplex Loop
Tempe, Arizona 85284
480-940-6000

Bradshaw Chevrolet Buick
360 N Main St
Cedar City, Utah 84721
435-572-4176

AutoNation Buick GMC Henderson
330 N Gibson Rd
Henderson, Nevada 89014
702-570-0288

Hansen Motor Company
1175 S Commerce Way
Brigham City, Utah 84302
435-538-7620