NHTSA Complaint #10425989 — 2003 PONTIAC AZTEK

IN APRIL 2011 ON BUMPY ROADS A GRINDING NOISE WOULD COME ON AND IT TOOK LONGER TO STOP THE CAR. I CALLED THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD IT WAS PROBABLY THE ABS SYSTEM AND COULD BE A NUMBER OF THINGS, THE COMPUTER MODULE MAY BE BAD, THE SENSORS ON EACH WHEEL COULD BE BAD. I TOOK THE CAR IN FOR SERVICE IN MAY, HAD TO REPLACE THE WHEEL BEARINGS ON ONE WHEEL AND WAS TOLD IT WAS FIXED $540. THEN IN JUNE THE CAR STARTED DOING THE SAME THING, TOOK IT IN AGAIN, WAS TOLD ANOTHER WHEEL NEEDED NEW BEARINGS $740 WITH A WARRANTY. IN AUGUST CAR STARTED THE VIBRATING AND GRINDING AGAIN, YOU CAN HEAR A VIBRATION LIKE A MOTOR OR SOMETHING COMES ON AND THEN WHEN YOU TRY TO STOP YOU HAVE TO PUSH REALLY REALLY HARD. AT THAT POINT I WENT ON LINE TO CHECK IT OUT, SEEMS LOTS OF PEOPLE WHO OWN EITHER A 2003 PONTIAC AZTEK OR A 2003 BUICK RENDEVOUS ARE HAVING THESE SAME ISSUES. THE DEALERS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A DEFECT IN THE CAR. ALL THE BLOGS THAT I SAW ONLINE ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. MANY PEOPLE HAVE REPACKED THE BEARINGS ON ALL WHEELS, REPLACE SENSORS AND THE HARNESS TO THE COMPUTER MODULE AND NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK AND THE DEALERS DON'T SEEM TO KNOW HOW TO FIX IT ONCE AND FOR ALL. MY CAR HAS ALWAYS BEEN WORKED ON BY THE DEALER. SO FAR MY DEALER HASN'T MENTIONED THE COMPUTER SENSOR BUT I'M SURE AFTER I'VE REPLACED ALL WHEEL BEARINGS THEY WILL GET TO THAT. BOTTOM LINE IS IF ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS SAME SAFETY ISSUE, YOUR DEPT NEEDS TO LOOK AT IT. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE WITH THE ABS BRAKING SYSTEM AND NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW HOW TO FIX IT. WE ARE KEEPING OUR CARS LONGER AND THEY SHOULD LAST WELL OVER 100,000 MILES WITH PROPER MAINTENANCE. SO NOW I HAVE A PERFECTLY GOOD CAR WITH A PERFECTLY GOOD ENGINE, BUT NO ABS BRAKING SYSTEM AND IT CAN'T SEEM TO BE FIXED! *KB