NHTSA Complaint #10722886 — 2007 CHEVROLET TAHOE

A POP WAS HEARD UNDER THE ENGINE AREA AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAT THE CAR BEGAN TO IDLE VERY ROUGH. IT WOULD NOT RUN PROPERLY AND HAD TO PULL OFF THE STREET INTO A GAS STATION. INSIDE THE CAR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND THE STABILITRAK SERVICE SOON LIGHT WERE ON. AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES WE TURNED THE CAR OFF AND THEN ON AGAIN, WE DECIDED TO MOVE AGAIN AND THE IDLING WAS WORSE. THE STABILITRAK AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WERE FLASHING ON AND OFF. WE BEGAN TO MOVE BUT THE CAR WAS IDLING VERY BAD AND SHIFTING VERY HARD AFTER A FEW FEET OF MOVEMENT. WE DROVE THE CAR TO THE NEAREST FIRESTONE DEALER TO SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. FIRESTONE CALLED TO NOTIFY US THAT THE CYLINDER #1 WAS EITHER STUCK/FROZE AND THAT WE WOULD NEED TO OPEN THE CYLINDERCOVER TO SEE EXACTLY WHAT WAS WRONG. THE NEXT DAY FIRESTONE NOTIFIED US THAT THE CYLINDER ROD WAS BROKEN AND THAT WE NEEDED TO DO A CYLINDER REPLACEMENT ON THE CAR. THE CAR ONLY HAD 88K MILES AND WE ARE THE ORIGINAL OWNERS, THIS IS TOO EARLY TO HAVE THESE PROBLEMS ON A CAR WITH LESS THAN 100K MILES. I FOUND SOME ARTICLES ON-LINE WHERE THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH GM AND THAT THE 20007-08, 5.3L V8 ENGINES, THE FIRST WITH THE FLEX FUEL SYSTEM, ARE STARTING TO FAIL AT THE 80K PLUS MILES RANGE. WE HAVE HAD OUR SERVICE PERFORMED AT OUR LOCAL CHEVY DEALER AND THE CAR HAS BEEN MAINTAINED WELL. IT IS AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR THAT SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED ON A CAR WITH LOW MILES AND GOOD MAINTENANCE RECORDS. FIRESTONE HAS FIXED THE CAR FOR $2,600.00 DOLLARS, AND CAR RENTAL FEES. THIS ENGINE FAILURE IS A DEFECT AND A SERIOUS DESIGN FLAW AND WE AS CONSUMERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS EXPENSIVE REPAIR WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM GM IF THEY ARE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND HAVE NOT FILED A FORMAL RECALL ON THIS MODEL YEAR ENGINE. THIS COULD BE A DANGEROUS CONDITION IF YOUR DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AND THE CAR LOOSES THE ENGINE PERFORMANCE AT HIGH SPEEDS. *TR