NHTSA Complaint #10672499 — 2013 CHEVROLET EXPRESS

THE FIRST AND SECOND (OF THREE INCIDENTS) BOTH APPEARED MINOR, LASTING ONLY A FRACTION OF A SECOND. ABOUT HALF WAY THROUGH A 150-MILE DRIVE, THE ENGINE WENT DEAD BUT AS QUICKLY FIRED UP AGAIN SO AS NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY ME. BUT A THIRD INCIDENT WAS WORRISOME. WHILE DRIVING ABOUT 50 MPH ON A STRAIGHT, FLAT-AND-LEVEL STRETCH OF A MACADEM FARM ROAD, THE VAN SUDDENLY, VERY ABRUPTLY, SHIFTED INTO WHAT MUST HAVE BEEN ITS LOWEST GEAR, AND DURING ABOUT 15 OR 20 SECONDS THEREAFTER IT JERKED BACK AND FORTH AS IF IT WERE STRUGGLING TO CLIMB A VERY STEEP HILL. I HAD NOT BEEN SHIFTING OR TRYING TO SHIFT GEARS, AND HAD BEEN TRAVELING UNEVENTFULLY BEFORE I WAS THROWN AGAINST THE STEERING WHEEL. (NO BRAKE LIGHTS WOULD HAVE WARNED OTHER VEHICLES THAT THE VAN WAS ABRUPTLY SLOWING DOWN, HAD I BEEN IN BUSIER, FAST MOVING TRAFFIC.) I VISITED THE (FAIRFIELD, LEWSIBURG, PA) DEALER FROM WHOM I BOUGHT THE BRAND NEW VAN, AND HE APPEARED UNABLE TO DISCOVER ANYTHING WRONG BUT "BRUSHED" CLEAN THE CONTACT POINTS WITHIN ELECTRONIC DISPLAYS (AS I UNDERSTOOD HIS EXPLANATION) ON THE DASHBOARD . BUT THE INCIDENT COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED JUST BY TEST DRIVING. HOWEVER, MY CONCERNS GREW AT THE PROSPECT OF AGAIN DRIVING LONG DISTANCES ON BUSY HIGHWAYS. I EMAILED CHEVROLET (AS DIRECTED IN THE VAN'S MANUAL).. LAST I RECALL, CHEVROLET ASKED THAT I RETURN A SURVEY SENT TO ME OVER THE INTERNET, BUT EACH OF NUMEROUS TIMES THAT I TRIED TO, USING THE PASSWORD THEY PROVIDED, I COULD NOT ACCESS THE SURVEY. THAT SURVEY SNAFU MAY BE WORTH MENTIONING BECAUSE WHEN I COMPLAINED ABOUT THEIR WEB SITE NOT FUNCTIONING, THEY REPLIED THAT THEY HAD NO PROBLEM ACCESSING THE SURVEY! ODD REACTION? SO I WAS NOT ABLE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY, WHICH IS PARTLY WHY I AM SENDING THIS MESSAGE INSTEAD TO YOU. (THE VAN TO DATE HAS FEWER THAN 2,000 MILES DRIVEN.) *TR