NHTSA Complaint #748231 — 1996 CHEVROLET CAVALIER

MY CAR WAS PROGRAMMED BY THE MANUFACTURER TO HAVE THE A/C ON AT ALL TIMES. SO, DURING THE LAST FIVE YEARS, MY A/C WAS ALWAYS ON, UNBEKNOWNST TO ME. THIS CAUSED THE COMPRESSOR TO MALFUNCTION THIS FALL. THAT'S WHEN THE PROBLEM WITH THE CAR FINALLY REVEALED ITSELF, AND A MECHANIC AT DON RINGLER'S CHEVROLET FINALLY FIGURED OUT THAT THE A/C NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED SO THAT IT WAS NOT ON AT ALL TIMES. MEANWHILE, ALL DURING THE FIVE YEARS, THE BRAKES KEPT FAILING AT VARIOUS TIMES, CAUSING ME TO NEARLY CRASH OR RUN OUT INTO TRAFFIC. MANY TIMES I WAS BRUISED FROM THE INCIDENTS. MY CAR ALSO STOPPED RUNNING ALTOGETHER SEVERAL TIMES WHILE OPERATING AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS, AND JUST AS THE POWER WOULD SHUT OFF, THE BRAKES WOULD STOP WORKING. I HAVE GONE OUT INTO THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAYS, ALMOST BEING KILLED. EACH TIME I TOOK THE CAR IN, I WAS TOLD THAT THE PROBLEM COULD NOT BE DETECTED OR THE PROBLEM HAD BEEN RESOLVED. BEING ONLY THE SECOND CAR IN MY LIFE (THE FIRST ONE, A GEO METRO, CAUSED NO PROBLEMS AT ALL), I TRUSTED THE VERDICT EACH TIME, AND DID NOT KNOW THAT THERE WAS A DEEPER, UNDERLYING PROBLEM TO REPORT. IT TOOK ME FIVE YEARS TO UNCOVER THIS. BELIEVING THE MECHANICS AT CHEVROLET DEALERSHIPS EACH TIME THAT THE PROBLEM HAD BEEN RESOLVED, I CONTINUED TO KEEP CAREFUL MAINTENANCE ON IT WITH THE VERY BEST QUALITY CARE. THIS FALL, I WAS TOLD THE SAME THING, THAT IT WAS SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE REAL SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM, AND AFTER ANOTHER $500 AND A TEST DRIVE WITH THE HEAD MECHANIC WHERE THE POWER FAILED ONCE AGAIN, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE A/C WAS MISPROGRAMMED AND CAUSING POWER FAILURE. EVIDENCE OF THIS LIES IN THE FACT THAT WHEN THE A/C IS KEPT OFF, THE CAR RUNS FINE. THE COMPRESSOR IS RUINED. I AM CONCERNED THAT ALL THE OTHER 1996 CAVALIER COMPLAINTS (NHTSA) ON POWER/BRAKE FAILURE MAY BE ATTRIBUTABLE TO A/C MISPROGRAMMING. THOSE CUSTOMERS COULD NOT FIGURE OUT THE REASON EITHER. A RECALL MAY BE NECESSARY. PLEASE INVESTIGATE--GM STAFF IS IGNORING ME.*AK