NHTSA Complaint #10524223 — 2006 CHEVROLET COLORADO

2006 CHEVROLET COLORADO PURCHASED NEW ON 11/30/05. ON MAY 27,2013 SERVICE ENGINE SOON(SES) CAME ON AND STAYED ON. TOOK TRUCK TO CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP AND DIAGNOSTIC CODE REVEALED AN ENGINE MISFIRE. THEY TURNED LIGHT OFF, TEST DROVE, LIGHT DID NOT COME BACK ON AND SENT ME ON MY WAY. JUNE 17 2013 SES LIGHT CAME BACK ON. TOOK BACK TO DEALERSHIP,THEY PERFORMED A "LEAK DOWN TEST" THAT SHOWED MULTIPLE MISFIRES IN ENGINE, A $4000 REPAIR. CONTACTED GM AND WAS TOLD THEY HAD SENT A LETTER TO COLORADO OWNERS DATED 8/2007 WARNING THEM THIS PROBLEM MIGHT OCCUR AND GM WOULD EXTEND THE WARRANTY TO 7 YEARS OR 100,000 MILES, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST TO COVER THE PROBLEM. HOWEVER, THE LETTER ALSO SAID NOT TO TAKE THE TRUCK FOR THE FIX IF OWNER WAS NOT HAVING THE MISFIRE PROBLEM. I NEVER GOT SUCH A LETTER-DON'T KNOW WHY. I COULD NOT FIX A PROBLEM I DID NOT KNOW I HAD! BY THE TIME MY MISFIRE PROBLEM OCCURRED IT WAS ABOUT 6 MTHS.OUT OF THE EXTENDED 7 YEAR WARRANTY BUT WELL UNDER THE 100,000 MILES. TOLD ALL THIS TO GM BUT THEY SAID "TUFF". IN MY MIND, BY EXTENDING THE WARRANTY AND EVEN DEVELOPING A SPECIAL TOOL TO HELP DEALERSHIPS REDUCE LABOR COSTS, GM IS ACKNOWLEDGING THE DEFECT IN THE FACTORY BUILT CYLINDER HEAD. GM SAYS THE ONLY WAY TO FIX THE MISFIRE IS TO REPLACE THE CYLINDER HEAD AND IT'S INTEGRAL PARTS, AGAIN A $4000 REPAIR. EVEN A CURSORY SEARCH ON THE INTERNET SHOWS THOUSANDS OF COLORADO OWNERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. THIS HAS TO BE A FACTORY DEFECT. *TR