NHTSA Complaint #753054 — 1997 GMC JIMMY

UPPER BALL JOINT SEPARATED AND THE WHEEL WAS CUT THROUGH CAUSING THE TIRE TO GO FLAT. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN WELL MAINTAINED AND THE FRONT END HAD BEEN CHECKED A FEW MONTHS EARLIER BY A COMPETENT MECHANIC WHEN NEW SHOCKS WERE INSTALLED. TWO WEEKS LATER A FRIEND ALERTED ME TO "GM PRODUCT SAFETY CAMPAIGN" # 01048. THIS WAS AN ALERT TO UPPER BALL JOINTS SEPARATING WITHOUT WARNING ON SOME '96-'97 JIMMYS, BRAVADAS AND BLAZERS. I INQUIRED AT MY DEALER TO SEE IF MY VEHICLE QUALIFIED AND WAS TOLD "NO, THERE ARE NO OPEN RECALLS ON YOUR VIN.". I CALLED THE GMC CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-GMC-8782 AND SPOKE WITH "LISA" WHO ASSIGNED ME REFERENCE NUMBER 056 42 894. GM CONFIRMED THEY "CAN DO NOTHING FOR ME, AS THERE ARE NO OPEN RECALLS ON YOUR TRUCK." "IT WAS BUILT AT A DIFFERENT PLANT AND A DIFFERENT SUPPLIER PROVIDED THE BALL JOINTS THAN THE ONES IN THE RECALL." SOUNDS LIKE A LOAD OF CRAP TO ME. IF I SOUND OVERLY ANGERED BY A BALL JOINT FAILURE IT MIGHT BE BECAUSE I HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT GRIEF WITH THIS VEHICLE AND AM TIRED OF BEING A VICTIM. THE TRANSMISSION WAS PULLED UNDER WARRANTY AT 28000 MILES, YET I HAD TO HAVE IT PULLED AGAIN AT MY EXPENSE ($1474) AT 52500MILES. TWO OF THE FOUR O2 SENSORS HAVE FAILED, THE RADIATOR WAS FULL OF THE INFAMOUS "MISSISIPPI MUD" DEX-COOL SLUDGE, THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH, THE SERPENTINE TENSIONER FELL APART AT 37K MILES AND HAD TO BE REPLACED AGAIN AT 58K, THE WIPERS FREQUENTLY WON'T TURN ON UNLESS YOU HIT THE MIST LEVER AS YOU HIT A BUMP (COMMON ACCORDING TO THE EDMUNDS.COM SITE), AND LAST WEEK MY ABS WENT OUT FROM WHAT THE TROUBLE CODE DIAGNOSED AS A BAD LEFT FRONT SPEED SENSOR. I'LL HAVE TO DRIVE IT WITH THE SENSOR UNPLUGGED FOR NOW BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY PUT OVER $2000 IN REPAIRS INTO THIS THING DURING CALENDAR YEAR 2001 ALONE, AND I'M TAPPED OUT. SAME WITH THE WIPER CONDITION.