NHTSA Complaint #11289527 — 2012 CHEVROLET TRAVERSE

MY WIFE WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN IT LOST SIGNIFICANT POWER AND STARTED RATTLING VIOLENTLY. SHE WAS ABLE TO PULL INTO A BUSINESS PARKING LOT. STABILITRAK SYSTEM, TRACTION CONTROL, CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS ALL CAME ON. AFTER SITTING FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES, IT STARTED BACK UP WITH LESS VIOLENT SHAKING BUT STILL WITH REDUCED POWER, SHE WAS ABLE TO 'LIMP' TO THE PELLEGRINO DEALERSHIP IN WILLIAMSTOWN, NJ. IT HAD FAULT CODES P0300 AND P0303 FOR RANDOM ENGINE MISFIRE AND CYLINDER 3 MISFIRE. THEY DIAGNOSED AS "MINIMALLY NEEDING CYLINDER #3 FUEL INJECTOR PLUS ADDITIONAL DIAGNOSTICS AFTERWARDS TO DETERMINE FULL EXTENT OF ISSUE" FIRST THRESHOLD WOULD BE $1500 AND POSSIBLY SEVERAL THOUSAND POSSIBLY INCLUDING AN ENGINE REPLACEMENT. THEY OFFERED $2000 TRADE-IN TOWARD ANOTHER VEHICLE THERE. WITH HARDLY ANY DIAGNOSTICS, I WAS SURPRISED OF 'POSSIBLE ENGINE REPLACEMENT' DIAGNOSIS, SO I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO ANOTHER SHOP TO DO THE FUEL INJECTOR REPLACEMENT PLUS CHECK PLUGS, COILS (ALL GOOD), CLEAN REMAINING FUEL INJECTORS AND INTAKE MANIFOLD FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT THE DEALERSHIP QUOTED. CYLINDER COMPRESSION WAS GOOD, BUT THE SAME RANDOM MISFIRE P0300 CODE AND P0303 CODES STILL COME UP AND IDLES VERY ROUGH WITH ENGINE NOISE AND SIGNIFICANT REDUCED POWER. CLEARLY, THE INJECTOR WAS NOT THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. IF FUEL IS GIVEN MORE AGGRESSIVELY, ALL THE STABILITRAK LIGHTS COME BACK UP. IN DOING ADDITIONAL RESEARCH ONLINE, IT APPEARS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE. OIL CHANGES WERE PERFORMED ROUTINELY AT THE DEALERSHIP SINCE WE HAD A "LUBE FOR LIFE" CONTRACT. MILEAGE IS 116,640.