NHTSA Complaint #10219280 — 2003 GMC SIERRA 2500

AT AROUND 102K MILES, SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE QUIT RETURNING TO ZERO WHEN THE VEHICLE STOPS MOVING. NEEDLE MAY COME TO REST AT ANY POINT ON THE DIAL WHEN VEHICLE IS STOPPED, AND THE REST POINT MAY OR MAY NOT CHANGE WHILE THE VEHICLE IS UNDERWAY, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO ESTIMATE SPEED (E.G., NEEDLE MAY INITIALLY INDICATE 30 MPH AT REST, BUT ACTUAL SPEED UNDERWAY ISN'T NECESSARILY 30 MPH LESS THAN INDICATED BECAUSE THE REST POINT MAY HAVE CHANGED). AND WHEN THE DIAL ZEROS AT 120 MPH, THE TRUCK EFFECTIVELY HAS NO SPEEDOMETER AT ALL RATHER THAN JUST AN INACCURATE ONE. I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM GM WARNING OF POTENTIAL INSTRUMENT FAILURES AND OFFERING FREE REPAIR ON VEHICLES WITH LESS THAN 70K MILES; AN EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE WITH GM CONFIRMED THAT THEY WOULD NOT REPAIR MINE FOR FREE OR AT REDUCED COST. INTERNET DISCUSSIONS AND ADS FOR INSTRUMENT REPAIRS REVEAL THIS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM ON A RANGE OF '03-'06 GM VEHICLES. THE GM DEALER I CALLED WILL FIX THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER FOR $500 -- ROUGHLY 3 TIMES WHAT REPAIR SERVICES ADVERTISING ON THE INTERNET CHARGE TO REPLACE ALL THE DEFECTIVE STEPPER MOTORS IN THE CLUSTER. THIS PROBLEM IS CERTAINLY SAFETY-RELATED (THINK OF MISJUDGING SPEED IN A ROLLOVER-PRONE VEHICLE GOING INTO A SHARP CURVE), AND TO THE DEGREE THAT IS VIRTUALLY INEVITABLE ON CERTAIN VEHICLES, GM SHOULD ISSUE A RECALL RATHER THAN A LIMITED "SECRET WARRANTY". *TR