NHTSA Complaint #10564785 — 2008 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN

MY 2008 SUBURBAN STARTED BURNING A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF OIL. SEEMS LIKE I WAS CONTINUOUSLY ADDING OIL. RAISED THE ISSUE WITH THE DEALER, WHO INDICATED IT WAS A COMMON PROBLEM BUT PROBABLY NOT WORTH THE EXPENSE OF FIXING IF I COULD KEEP CHECKING THE OIL. THIS ADVICE WAS ALSO BASED ON THE FACT THAT ALL MY MAINTENANCE HAS BEEN PERFORMED AT THIS DEALER, SO THEY KNOW THE VEHICLE WELL. THE LAST WEEK IN JANUARY WAS VERY BUSY AND SAW ME DRIVING ABOUT 100 MILES A DAY. ON THURSDAY, ABOUT 30 MILES FROM HOME, THE CHECK ENGINE AND TRACTION CONTROL LIGHTS STARTING BLINKING, THE CAR LOST POWER, AND THE ENGINE BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH. THIS WAS ON A VERY BUSY HIGHWAY (U.S. ROUTE 50 NEAR ANNAPOLIS) DURING RUSH HOUR. THIS CREATED A DANGEROUS SITUATION. I WAS EVENTUALLY ABLE TO GET THE CAR HOME. WHEN I BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALER, THEY SAID THE OIL WAS DRY (I HAD CHECKED IT THE PREVIOUS WEEKEND), A LIFTER HAD BROKEN, AND A PISTON HEAD WAS SCORED. THE COST OF WORK TO FIX WOULD EXCEED THE COST OF A NEW ENGINE. I NOW HAVE A NEW ENGINE, THE COST OF WHICH WAS NOT IN MY BUDGET. THIS EXPERIENCE REFLECTS WHAT HAS BEEN HAVE REPORTED FREQUENTLY ON AUTOMOBILE RELATED WEB SITES.. GIVEN THAT THIS IS A DESIGN FLAW, CHEVROLET SHOULD BE COVERING AT LEAST PART OF THIS FIX. *TR