NHTSA Complaint #11066556 — 2013 CHEVROLET CAPTIVA

I WAS ON MY WAY TO WORK AND WAS APPROXIMATELY 25 MINUTES INTO MY COMMUTE WHEN MY OIL LIGHT BEGAN TO FLASH OFF AND ON. APPROXIMATELY 2 MINUTES LATER, MY CAR BEGAN TO STALL AND I HAD SMOKE COMING OUT FROM THE HOOD OF MY CAR. I HAD TO PULL OVER ON THE SHOULDER OF THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY I WAS DRIVING ON, WHERE IT WAS NOTICED I HAD OIL LEAKING UNDERNEATH OF MY CAR AND THAT OIL SPRAYED ALL OVER THE BACK OF MY CAR. THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I TOOK MY VEHICLE HAD TO TEAR DOWN MY ENGINE TO DIAGNOSE THE CAUSE OF THE BREAKDOWN. WATER GOT INTO THE PCV VALVE AND FROZE INSIDE OF IT (IT WAS 3 DEGREES THAT MORNING WHEN THIS OCCURRED). THE ICE CAUSED A BLOCKAGE OF AIR WHICH CAUSED MY REAR MAIN SEAL TO LEAK OIL TO A LOW LEVEL THAT DAMAGED MY ENGINE. WHILE THE OIL WAS PUMPING OUT, IT BROKE A ROD,A PISTON, SCARRED UP CRANK BEARINGS, WIPED OUT THE TIMING CHAIN, AMONG OTHER ENGINE PARTS. I HAD AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ON MY VEHICLE, WHICH DID NOT COVER THE DAMAGE TO MY CAR. WHEN I SPOKE TO THE SUPERVISOR OF THE WARRANTY COMPANY, HE EXPLAINED TO ME THAT MANY VEHICLES ON EAST COAST HAVE SUFFERED THE SAME DAMAGE (THERE WERE 8 VEHICLES IN 10 DAYS IN THE SHOP WHERE MY CAR IS IN ST. LOUIS, MO THAT HAD THE SAME THING HAPPEN AS WELL). SINCE THE WARRANTY COMPANY DID RESEARCH TO FIND OUT GM HAD A DESIGN FLAW WITH THE PCV VALVE, THEY SUGGESTED I HAVE GM COVER THE REPAIRS. GM ALSO HAS A SPECIAL COVERAGE ADJUSTMENT (14882) FOR THIS SAME ISSUE. HOWEVER, THEY ARE CLAIMING THAT SINCE MY VEHICLE WASN'T MADE AT A PARTICULAR PLANT, THE REPAIR WOULD NOT BE COVERED AT 100% AND QUOTED ME A BILL OF APPROXIMATELY $6800 TO FIX MY CAR. I HAVE KEPT UP WITH MY CAR MAINTENANCE, I HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO MY CAR, ESPECIALLY DRIVING DOWN AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. THIS DAMAGE HAPPENED IN A 3 MINUTE TIME SPAN. THIS PART SHOULD BE RECALLED, AND GM SHOULD BE LIABLE FOR THE REPAIRS TO MY VEHICLE.