NHTSA Complaint #10141319 — 2002 GMC YUKON

I AM WRITING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT MY RECURRING ISSUES WITH MY STEERING COLUMN IN MY 2002 YUKON XL. IN SHORT, IT RATTLES. ON THE ROAD, IT RATTLES AT A LOW THUD, THUD, THUD SOUND. TURNING CORNERS, IT RATTLES WITH THE SAME SOUND. INITIALLY, WHEN I TOOK IT TO BERGLUND CHEVROLET, IN ROANOKE, VA, THEY ATTEMPTED TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM WITH A LUBE KIT. WHEN THE PROBLEM SURFACED AGAIN, I BROUGHT IT BACK AND THE INTERMEDIATE STEERING COLUMN WAS REPLACED. 20,000 MILES LATER, I FACE THE PROBLEM FOR THE 3RD TIME. I DRIVE ON THE ROAD, NEVER OFF ROAD. I HAVE OWNED A NUMBER OF VEHICLES, AND ALWAYS HOLD ON TO THEM UNTIL THEY EXCEED 150,000 MILES. NEVER HAVE I HAD TO REPLACE ONE STEERING COLUMN, IN ANY VEHICLE, AND I OBVIOUSLY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF A VEHICLE REQUIRING MORE THAN ONE. I HAVE LEARNED FROM GMC THAT THERE WAS A FIRST GENERATION FIX AND A SECOND-GENERATION FIX. I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHICH GENERATION I GOT, BUT I DO KNOW IT WAS NOT A FIX. AFTER SOME ARGUING, THE FIRST REPAIR WAS COVERED. THE SECOND WAS COVERED, AS WELL, BUT ONLY AFTER ARGUING ONCE MORE. IT SEEMS PERFECTLY CLEAR TO ME THAT THIS SHOULD BE REPAIRED AGAIN, AT NO COST TO ME, BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED A SATISFACTORY REMEDY TO THIS PROBLEM '' A PROBLEM ACKNOWLEDGED BY GMC AS NEEDING TO BE REMEDIED. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT MY VEHICLE HAS NOT GOT THE STEERING COLUMN SOLUTION THAT WORKS. I HAVE SAFETY CONCERNS. NO ONE SHOULD EXPECT TO REPLACE A STEERING COLUMN ON A VEHICLE EVERY 20,000 MILES. IT IS NOT A FILTER OR FLUID THAT NEEDS CHANGING AT INTERVALS, AND I REFUSE TO HAVE THIS TREATED AS IF IT WERE REGULAR MAINTENANCE. I AM WORRIED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF A UNIT THAT WEARS OUT SO QUICKLY, AND AM VERY DISTURBED BY THE COMPLACENCY OF GMC ABOUT SUBJECTING ME TO CONTINUOUS REPAIRS, AND APPARENTLY HIDING BEHIND POLICIES RATHER THAN DOING THE RIGHT THING WITH A CUSTOMER. *NM