NHTSA Complaint #11153638 — 2018 BUICK ENCORE

DURING FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON HERE IN PA, HAD A WET/HEAVY SNOW. SNOW WAS REMOVED FROM WINDSHIELD, BUT NOT THE GULLY BELOW WIPERS. NO BIGGIE, THIS IS HOW WE'VE DONE IT ON EVERY CAR SINCE I WAS A KID, CLEANING OUT THE GULLY WHEN WIPERS CANNOT GO DOWN ALL THE WAY. AS I WAS DRIVING AND SNOW WAS COMING DOWN, SOME FROM ABOVE THE WINDSHIELD CAME DOWN AND ADDED TO WHAT WAS IN THE GULLY. THE WIPERS STOPPED WORKING! IMAGINE MY SURPRISE, THE WIPERS CAME TO A STOP AND WERE NOT MOVING. I COULD NOT SEE IF BLIZZARD LIKE CONDITIONS, PULLED OVER WHEN I COULD, AND STARTED SCRAPING OUT THE GULLY. WIPERS WERE FREAKING OUT DOING A SPASTIC SHORT SPURT AND WOULD NOT CLEAR. RE-STARTED CAR, AND DID THE SAME THING. HAD TO GET EVERY PIECE OF WET PACKED SNOW FROM AREA OF THE GULLY (UNDER WIPERS) AND RE-START CAR FOR WIPERS TO FUNCTION NORMALLY AGAIN. AGAIN, DRIVING, COMING TO A STOP TO MAKE A TURN, AND SNOW ABOVE THE WINDSHIELD THAT HAD ACCUMULATED IN THE HEAVY SNOW, FELL DOWN TO THE WIPER GULLY AND MADE WIPERS STOP COMPLETELY. IT SEEMS THE DESIGN OF THE WIPER MOTOR DOESN'T JUST STOP WHERE IT HAS TO STOP AND THEN KEEP WORKING, AS WITH 99.9 PERCENT OF OTHER CARS MADE IN THE LAST 50 YEARS, IF IT CANNOT RETURN TO COMPLETE HOME, IT JUST STOPS WORKING. NO CAR I'VE EVER OWNED HAS DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, THE WIPERS WERE STILL TRYING EVEN AFTER BEING TURNED OFF AND WAS PINCHING MY HAND AND FINGERS BETWEEN THE HOOD AND WIPER ARMS. AS THEY TRIED TO GET OUT OF THEIR SPASTIC MODE. IT WAS SO BAD, I TOOK A BATH ON TRADING IN THIS CAR FOR A CAR THAT IS KNOWN NOT TO HAVE THAT HAPPEN. AN AWD CAR THAT CANNOT DRIVE IN THE SNOW DUE TO A SERIOUS WIPER MALFUNCTION SHOULD NOT BE SOLD IN THE USA.