NHTSA Complaint #10764032 — 2008 BUICK LACROSSE

WHILE DRIVING, THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, FOLLOWED SHORTLY THEREAFTER BY THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT.THEN THE ENGINE BEGAN TO LOSE POWER AND THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL DID NOT WORK. A NOTICE APPEARED ON THE DASH CONTROL: "ENGINE POWER REDUCED" AND "SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL". IF I HELD THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL DOWN ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR, AFTER ABOUT 5 SECONDS THE CAR BEGAN TO ACCELERATE QUICKLY. I COULD THEN MAINTAIN SPEED BY ALTERNATELY STEPPING ON AND RELEASING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL QUICKLY. ACCELERATING FROM A STOPLIGHT IS A VERY SLOW AND DISRUPTIVE (TO TRAFFIC) PROCESS. THIS HAS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES AND HAS FAILED SEVERAL ATTEMPTS AT REPAIR. ON SOME OCCASIONS, THE CAR HAS BEGUN TO ACCELERATE ON ITS OWN DURING THIS PERIOD OF MALFUNCTION, SUCH THAT I HAVE HAD TO RIDE THE BRAKE PEDAL. ON SOME OCCASIONS THIS PROBLEM HAS REMEDIED ITSELF AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS, WITH TURNING THE ENGINE ON AND OFF TO REBOOT. THE PROBLEM CAN LAST FOR DAYS AT A TIME. I HAVE REPLACED THE THROTTLE BODY SENSOR TO NO AVAIL. INTERESTINGLY, I ALSO OWNED (UNTIL LAST WEEK) A 2007 LACROSSE WHICH DOES THE EXACT SAME THING, AND HAS ALSO HAD THE THROTTLE BODY SENSOR REPLACED WITH NO LUCK. I HAVE SEEN MULTIPLE DESCRIPTIONS OF THIS BY PEOPLE ONLINE, DESCRIBING EXACTLY THE SAME CONDITIONS AND WARNINGS. THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE WHEN IT HAPPENS, AS I CANNOT SAFELY ACCELERATE IN BUSY TRAFFIC, AND THE CAR SLOWS DOWN TO SPEEDS UNSAFE FOR THE CONDITIONS. I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE GM DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS, IN THAT I HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH 2 LACROSSES. THANK YOU. *TR