NHTSA Complaint #10336004 — 2001 CHEVROLET PRIZM

I OWN A 2001 CHEVY PRISM LSI. IT HAS ALWAYS EXPERIENCED A NUMBER OF ANNOYING ISSUES THAT I'VE HAD MECHANICS INSPECT/DIAGNOSE THAT NEVER SEEMS TO GET CORRECTLY DIAGNOSED. IT USES ABOUT A QUART OF OIL A MONTH (BUT NEVER SMOKES OUT OF THE EXHAUST PIPE), HAS ALWAYS HAD A HESITATION PROBLEM, AND HAS A WEIRD PROBLEM WITH NOISY 'EXHAUST' SOUNDS THAT SOUND LIKE THEY ARE COMING FROM THE FRONT OF THE CAR AND ARE WORSE (VERY LOUD) IN WET CONDITIONS. UPON COLD START, THE ENGINE HESITATES PRETTY BADLY WHEN PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. THE HESITATION GETS MUCH BETTER ONCE THE ENGINE HAS WARMED UP, BUT STILL HAS MINOR HESITATION UPON INITIALLY PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. MECHANICS HAVE SAID THEY THINK THE FUEL PUMP MAY BE STARTING TO GO OUT (I WAS TOLD THAT 5 YEARS AGO AND IT HAS NEVER GONE OUT) AND THEY SAID THERE WAS A 'LEAN MIXTURE CODE' WHEN MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON AT ONE POINT BUT WERE UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHAT THE OFFICIAL CAUSE OF THAT CODE WAS AND IMPLIED IT WAS PROBABLY THE FUEL PUMP SLOWLY GOING BAD. THEY RAN A CARBON CLEAN WHICH SHUT OFF THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT BUT THE HESITATION AND OIL CONSUMPTION HAS ALWAYS REMAINED. NUMEROUS TIMES, THE HESITATION HAS BEEN AN ISSUE IN TRAFFIC WHEN I PRESS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND THE ENGINE DOES NOTHING UNTIL I PUMP THE PEDAL A FEW TIMES TO GET IT GOING...LEADING TO A POSSIBLY SAFETY HAZARD IN CERTAIN TRAFFIC CONDITIONS. NOBODY HAS BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHY IT HESITATES AND FIX THE HESITATION PROBLEM AND I'VE READ THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM ALONG WITH THE OIL CONSUMPTION PROBLEM FOR CHEVY PRISMS/TOYOTA COROLLAS (ESPECIALLY THE 2001 MODEL). MECHANICS HAVE ALSO INSPECTED MY EXHAUST SYSTEM TO TRY TO FIND THE ISSUE WITH THE NOISY EXHAUST BUT HAVE FOUND NO LEAKS. I'M HOPING A RECALL CAN BE ISSUED TO HELP FIX SOME OF THESE ISSUES SINCE MECHANICS CAN'T SEEM TO FIGURE OUT THESE COMMON PROBLEMS. IT SEEMS THAT TOYOTA AND GM ARE BOTH AWARE OF MOST OF THESE ISSUES AND HAVE DONE NOTHING TO RESOLVE THEM. *TR