NHTSA Complaint #10488361 — 2009 BUICK LUCERNE

BOUGHT CAR WITH RAIN SENSITIVE WINDSHIELD WIPERS 7/09. REPLACED WINDSHIELD WITH RAIN SENSITIVE GLASS 7/10 DUE TO LARGE CRACK IN WINDSHIELD FROM A STONE OR ROCK. SEPT. 2010 I NOTED THAT THE AUTOMATIC WIPERS DIDN'T ALWAYS COME ON WHEN IT STARTED RAINING BUT I COULD MAKE THEM WORK MANUALLY IN THE HIGH SPEED SETTING ONLY. WHEN CAR IN FOR SERVICE AT GM DEALERSHIP, THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM, THEREFORE COULD NOT FIX IT. IN MARCH 2011, SERVICE TECH NOTED THAT WINDSHIELD GLASS WAS NOT STAMPED AS GM GLASS. SAID THEY COULD NOT CALL GM TECH SUPPORT OR CHECK THE SWITCH UNTIL WINDSHIELD IS REPLACED WITH OEM GLASS. I ELECTED NOT TO PURCHASE AS NEW WINDSHIELD AT THIS TIME. THE INTERMITTENT WIPER PROBLEM CONTINUED AND BECAME INCREASINGLY DANGEROUS IN ICE AND SNOW DRIVING. IN MARCH 2012 I HAD A NEW WINDSHIELD INSTALLED AT THE GM DEALERSHIP. THAT DID NOT CORRECT THE WIPER PROBLEM. TOOK CAR BACK TO DEALERSHIP AND THIS TIME THEY CALLED GM TECH SUPPORT AND WERE ADVISED TO REPLACE THE MOTOR, WHICH THEY DID. THE AUTOMATIC WIPERS WORKED CORRECTLY UNTIL OCT. 2012 WHEN I TOOK THE CAR IN FOR AN OIL CHANGE. I WAS ADVISED THAT MY WINDSHIELD WIPERS NEEDED REPLACED AND I TOLD THEM TO GO AHEAD AND DO IT. TWO DAYS LATER WHILE DRIVING IN THE RAIN, THE WIPERS AGAIN DIDN'T COME ON AUTOMATICALLY. AGAIN, I COULD MANUALLY SWIPE THE WINDSHIELD ON HIGH SPEED ONLY. IN NOV. 2012 I TOOK CAR BACK TO SERVICE DEPT AT DEALERSHIP AND THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM AS THE WIPERS WERE WORKING CORRECTLY ON THAT DAY. THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT CALL GM TECH SUPPORT FOR ADVICE. WHICH LEADS ME TO FEELING LIKE I'M DRIVING AN UNSAFE VEHICLE---NEVER KNOWING IF THE WIPERS ARE GOING TO WORK CORRECTLY..