NHTSA Complaint #10450788 — 2011 CHEVROLET COLORADO

ON FEBRUARY 14, 2012 I WAS DRIVING ON A CLEAN, DRY, STRAIGHT, AND LEVEL ROAD AT 35MPH. I WAS NOT ACCELERATING, BRAKING, OR CORNERING. THE ALARM BELL RANG AND THE DASH BOARD DISPLAY INDICATED "TRACTION FAULT, REDUCED POWER, SERVICE STABILITY SYSTEM". THE VEHICLE DRAMATICALLY REDUCED IT'S ENGINE POWER TO THE POINT IT COULD NOT BE SAFELY OPERATED IN TRAFFIC. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACCELERATE WITH TRAFFIC, MERGE, OR MAKE A LEFT TURN. I WAS ABOUT 3 MILES FROM THE DEALER. I DROVE TO THE DEALER TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT RIGHT AWAY. THEY TOLD ME I HAD NO APPOINTMENT SO THEY WOULD NOT LOOK AT IT. I GOT THE NEXT AVAILABLE APPOINTMENT TWO DAYS LATER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DRIVEN FROM THE TIME OF THE ALARM UNTIL THE TIME OF THE APPOINTMENT. ON FEBRUARY 16TH I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND IT OPERATED AT FULL POWER. THERE WERE NO LIGHTS OR ALARMS. THE DEALER SAID THE COMPUTER HAD A HISTORY OF SOMETHING BUT DID NOT RETAIN THE DETAILS. THEY SAID GENERAL MOTORS WARRANTY POLICY WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE WITHOUT A SPECIFIC TROUBLE CODE THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO MINIMIZE THE WARRANTY EXPENSE. I INFORMED THEM THAT THEY MADE ME LEAVE TWO DAYS PRIOR WHEN IT WAS OPERATING UNDER REDUCED POWER AND SHOWING ALARM DETAILS IN THE DASH DISPLAY. THEY SHOULD HAVE DIAGNOSED AND/OR FIXED IT THEN. IT IS UNACCEPTABLE THAT THE VEHICLE CREATES A SAFETY ISSUE BY REDUCING ENGINE POWER WHEN THERE IS NOTHING WRONG. IT IS EQUALLY UNACCEPTABLE THAT AN ISSUE SERIOUS ENOUGH TO CAUSE REDUCED ENGINE POWER IS NOT RETAINED BY THE COMPUTER SO IT CAN BE DIAGNOSED AND REPAIRED. THIS IS LIKELY TO CAUSE A VEHICLE ACCIDENT WHERE SOMEONE COULD BE INJURED OR WORSE. THEY DID TELL ME THAT IF I PAID FOR THE EXTRA COST ONSTAR SYSTEM IT COULD HAVE GIVEN THE DETAILS ON THE PROBLEM. IF THE VEHICLE REQUIRES ONSTAR TO SAFELY OPERATE, IT NEEDS TO BE A FREE SERVICE. *TR