NHTSA Complaint #11321173 — 2014 CHEVROLET MALIBU

REQUEST #282669 COMPLAINT15 APRIL, 2020 TRACKING # 11321107 THE FOLLOWING COMPLAINT REFERENCES MY 2014 CHEVY MALIBU, ECOTEC 2.5L DOHC ENGINE, VIN #[XXX]. PURCHASED 9/15/2014 FROM GEORGE HAHAS CHEVROLET IN WILDWOOD, FL. THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY WITH ~23,300 MILES ON IT. IN OCTOBER 2019, THE VEHICLE BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH AT 20-25 MILES PER HOUR (ODOMETER: ~21,000) AND THE VEHICLE ENGINE LIGHT TURNED ON. THE ENGINE GAS MILEAGE ALSO DECREASED. I TOOK IT IN FOR REPAIR AND WAS TOLD THAT THE ROCKER ARM VALVE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED (UNDER WARRANTY). IN ADDITION, THE ENGINE WOULD NEED TO BE CLEANED DUE TO THE EXCESSIVE CARBON BUILD UP DUE TO THE MALFUNCTIONING PART. THIS CLEAN-UP WAS NOT UNDER WARRANTY, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE WARRANTED PART. I WAS TOLD IT WAS SAFE TO DRIVE THE CAR UNTIL THE ENGINE LIGHT BEGAN TO FLASH. AT THAT POINT I WAS TO PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED AS IT WOULD NO LONGER BE DRIVABLE. THIS REPAIR WAS ATTEMPTED DURING THE GM WORKER STRIKE AND THE PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE. AFTER THE STRIKE, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE FROM GM OR ANY AFTERMARKET MANUFACTURER. AFTER WAITING UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR, I AGAIN CONTACTED NAHAS CHEVROLET AND WAS TOLD THAT THE PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE, AND GM HAD NO PLANS TO PRODUCE IT. FURTHER, A WARRANTED PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE FROM ANY MANUFACTURER. I WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT OVER 20 VEHICLES AT THIS SINGLE DEALERSHIP NEEDED THIS SAME PART. ON MARCH 2, 2020 I CONTACTED GM CONSUMER SERVICES (CASE # 9-5847264087). THEY INFORMED ME THAT THEY WERE INFORMED THAT GM HAD NO PLANS TO MAKE THIS PART AND KNEW OF NO AFTERMARKET MANUFACTURER WHO COULD SUPPLY A WARRANTED PART. THEY TOLD ME OF THREE UNWARRANTED MANUFACTURERS, BUT IF THE PART EVER CAUSED FURTHER DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE, THE REPAIRS WOULD NOT BE UNDER WARRANTY. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR