NHTSA Complaint #10700945 — 2011 CHEVROLET TRAVERSE

I WAS ON MY WAY THE CHEVY DEALER TO HAVE THE SAFETY BELT AND AIRBAG RECALL REPAIRS COMPLETED ON MY 2011 TRAVERSE. I HAD FOUR CHILDREN AGES (XXX) AND UNDER IN THE CAR WITH ME. AFTER COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP AT AN INTERSECTION I MADE A LEFT HAND TURN INTO THE INSIDE TRAFFIC LANE ON A BUSY 5 LANE ROAD AND BEGAN ACCELERATE TO THE SPEED OF TRAFFIC. AS SOON AS I REACHED 40 MPH, MY SPEED QUICKLY DROPPED TO BETWEEN 15 AND 20 MPH AND THE FOLLOWING WARNING MESSAGES SHOWED UP ON MY DASH: REDUCED ENGINE POWER, SERVICE STABILITRAC AND SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL. FORTUNATELY, I WAS ABLE TO MERGE BACK OVER TO THE RIGHT LANE AND THEN COMPLETELY PULL OFF THE ROAD INTO A PARKING LOT WITHOUT GETTING REAR-ENDED BY THE CARS BEHIND ME THAT WERE TRAVELING AT THE SPEED LIMIT. I TURNED THE CAR OFF, THEN BACK ON, AND ATTEMPTED TO DRIVE. THE MAXIMUM RATE OF SPEED MY CAR WOULD REACH WAS 20 MPH, BUT I MANAGED TO DRIVE IT TO THE DEALER TAKING BACK ROADS AND SUBDIVISION ROADS. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS A FAULTY THROTTLE BODY. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND DISCOVERED THIS IS A WELL-KNOWN ISSUE WITH THESE GM VEHICLES AND A SERIOUS SAFETY RISK. AFTER TWO DAYS IN THE SHOP THEY COMPLETED THE TWO RECALL RELATED REPAIRS WITHOUT CHARGE, BUT MY COST TO REPLACE THE THROTTLE BODY AND AND RESET THE IDLE WAS $513.00. I TOLD THE DEALER THAT I WAS AWARE THAT THIS IS A WELL-KNOWN AND WELL-DOCUMENTED ISSUE SO I DID NOT FEEL THAT I SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR COSTS, BUT THEY REFUSED TO COVER ANY OF THE COST BECAUSE NO RECALL HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS PROBLEM. I BELIEVE THIS PROBLEM SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED AND GM SHOULD ISSUE A RECALL. I AM A FREQUENT HIGHWAY DRIVER AND IF I HAD BEEN MERGING ONTO THE INTERSTATE THIS INCIDENT COULD HAVE ENDED IN TRAGEDY. *TRPARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).