NHTSA Complaint #11320369 — 2013 CHEVROLET IMPALA

WITH NO WARNING THE ENGINE OF MY CAR HAD A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. DUE TO DEFECTIVE TIMING CHAINS AND GEARS. KNOWN TO BEING PROBLEMATIC AND BREAKING AROUND 85,000 MILES. MANY ON LINE COMPLAINTS WITH THIS ENGINE, BUT GM WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE IT AND DO A SAFETY RECALL. IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE WHEN MY ENGINE FAILED THERE WAS NO WARNING LIGHT TO ALERT US TO A PROBLEM. THE CAR WAS RUNNING FINE AND IT MADE A CLANGING NOISE ALONG WITH A THICK CLOUD OF BLUE SMOKE.. WE WERE LUCKY TO GET THE CAR OFF THE SIDE OF ROAD BEFORE GETTING REAR ENDED. TIMING CHAINS ARE NOT A REGULAR MAINTENANCE ITEM. THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO LAST THE LIFE OF MOTOR. IF THEY ARE FAILING AT 85,000 MILES OR LESS WHY ISN'T A SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE LISTED FOR IT. OUR CAR WAS REGULARLY MAINTAINED AT 4,000 MILES WITH SYNTHETIC OIL. I DID NOT USE A CHEVY MAINTENANCE MECHANIC I USED A MECHANIC WHO HAS CLOSE TO 50 YEARS EXPERIENCE. JI CALLED GM UP TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPEN THEY SAID THERE WAS NO RECALL AND I CAN'T GO BY ON LINE FORUMS. THEY WANTED ME TO TOW THE CAR TO A CHEVY GARAGE FOR A DIAGNOSTIC TEST. I ASKED THEM IF THEY CAN HAVE A MECHANIC COME TO WHERE MY CAR IS, BECAUSE I COULDN'T AFFORD ANOTHER TOW AND IT WAS PRETTY OBVIOUS THE ENGINE FAILED. THEY REFUSED. I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO REPLACE A MOTOR AT 85,000 MILES WHEN MOST IMPALAS GO 200,000 MILES. AFTER ON LINE RESEARCH THERE WAS MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ENGINE WITH TIMING CHAINS AND ALSO A CLASS ACTION SUIT WITH DIFFERENT MODELS, BUT SAME ENGINE. I HAVE NO MONEY TO REPLACE AN ENGINE AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO.