NHTSA Complaint #11404619 — 2012 GMC TERRAIN

WHILE DRIVING TO WORK ON THE FREEWAY, ENGINE BEGAN MAKING A KNOCKING/RATTLING SOUND; CHECKED DIPSTICK THE NEXT MORNING AND THERE WAS NO OIL ON IT. OIL HAD JUST BEEN CHANGED 2,500 MILES PREVIOUSLY. VEHICLE IS CONSUMING OIL AT AN ABNORMALLY HIGH, ABOUT ONE QUART PER 500 MILES, AND HAS NO WARNING LIGHT TO ALERT THE DRIVER WHEN THE OIL LEVEL IS TOO LOW. WE ARE AT RISK OF EXPERIENCING ENGINE FAILURE AT ANY TIME WHILE DRIVING. WE HAVE DISCOVERED THIS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE AFTER OUR OTHER VEHICLE OF THE SAME YEAR, MAKE AND MODEL SUFFERED CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE LINKED TO LOW OIL PRESSURE. VEHICLE HAS 93,400 MILES AND WE HAVE OWNED IT SINCE APRIL 2020. THIS MODEL YEAR VEHICLE IS KNOWN TO BE EQUIPPED WITH FAULTY PISTON RING ASSEMBLIES WHICH LEAD TO EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION. ADDITIONALLY, THERE IS NO OIL PRESSURE SENSOR TO ALERT THE DRIVER TO THE LOW OIL; CONSEQUENTLY, THIS MISLEADS THE OWNER INTO OPERATING THE VEHICLE WITH INADEQUATE OIL LEVELS AND CAUSING ENGINE DAMAGE. COMPLETE ENGINE FAILURE CAN OCCUR SUDDENLY, CREATING AN ENORMOUS SAFETY HAZARD; WE ARE LUCKY WE WERE NOT DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS OR IN HEAVY TRAFFIC AT THE TIME IT OCCURRED. GM ISSUED A SPECIAL COVERAGE ADJUSTMENT, BUT IT WAS NOT NEARLY ADEQUATE TO COVER THE EXTENT OF DAMAGE THAT CAN AND DOES OCCUR AS A RESULT OF THIS DEFECT, LEAVING MANY DRIVERS STUCK WITH UNRELIABLE, UNSAFE VEHICLES OR ASTRONOMICALLY EXPENSIVE REPAIRS.