So it was the high mount stop light that was leaking onto my roof paneling It was accessory relay that controls the accessory ports The weather seal on the trunk and relocating a wire The radio in this thing went was really humid would flicker real bad and lock up and then it wouldn't work at all I intermittently had problems with the window switches There's one other thing that I'm missing but I don't remember what it was
Before I left Chevy, we had 3 2016 cruze come off the truck in a week with the trunk full of water. All high mount stop lamp. Chevy started having a lot of radio issues around 2014. Glad you didn't get the 1.5.
I have sympathy for this situation. I sold domestics for 34 years. When I retired, I bought a Toyota. Since then, I have had zero problems like this. My service department experience is lube, oil and rotate the tires.
I bought a 2013 mkz 2.0 turbo with 36k 5 years ago I now have a 168 k on it just basic maintenance and 3 sets of tires other then that I’ve never had a problem I might buy a new Lincoln next time
@@Spahi77 it's more about where they a built, than anything else. You start putting your plants in countries with cheap labor you start having more problems with your vehicles. I've noticed the vehicles built in mexico seem to have the most manufacturer defects than the ones built in the u.s. or canada.
I respectfully disagree with some of the comments here with regard to domestic versus imported or Mexican assembly. My most expensive vehicle to maintain and insure was my Honda Accord. My most reliable was my Mexican assembled Lincoln MKZ (gussied up Fusion) which reliability was phenomenal. Only problem it had was corrosion and paint issues. I replaced that vehicle with a new 2021 Hyundai Palisade last fall. So far that vehicle has been good but it’s too early to tell. My Chev Silverado has also been stellar. Toyota’s reliability is only slightly better than the other brands. And the model choice is very important. Toyota has an amazing marketing strategy that makes people believe they are getting a vastly more reliable product where cost cutting is very evident in the models I have looked at.
I got out of the Automotive industry and went into the IT industry, but cars remain a hobby. This type of thing most certainly isn't exclusive to the Automotive industry in any way. Quite frankly - it's all the same kinds of problems with different jargon. I can tell you that from my experience, one thing has become crystal clear: There's a huge difference between something designed by an engineer and something designed by a project manager.
Same here. Worked in the auto field, and back in ‘11 went to the IT field. I like doing it on MY TIME but for a living? Not so much anymore. I’m getting older and slower.
I've thought about this a lot, too. I skipped most of College, taking an Associate's then filling in the gap with a series of Certifications. I realized that many of the students around me didn't know how to think for themselves or outside of the box without prompt. Education may tell you how to do something, but rarely does it tell you why. Learning and understanding are two different things.
15:13 Sounds like the 1.5 turbo suffered from LSPI and was eating pistons for breakfast. It's disappointing that these engine technologies that are designed to save fuel (GDI, downsizing, cylinder deactivation) are actually just killing engines sooner, which completely goes against the whole saving-the-environment movement. And the customer has to pay for it.
A lot of problems started happening with these manufacturers when they moved many of their plants down to mexico. They wanted cheaper labor so in return they got more problems with their vehicles.
GM’s quality control and the quality of parts from their parts suppliers is really “questionable”. I’d like to use more colorful language but I’ll keep it clean.
Freaking GM. I worked with a lady who bought a cherry red 2.0 turbo LTZ and it was the first model year like yours and nothing GM could do could get the engine to stop misfiring. Even after a year of the car being in the shop continually they refuse to replace the engine. And the worst part about it her husband worked at the GM factory right down the road. And they still didn’t make it right for an employee.
i'm a car fan and like Rich a Lincoln Towncar guy. I must say even if you don't much care about cars, Rich's stories are always worth the price of admission. Best channel on TH-cam, car guy or not. Good Job!
Wow thats another deep story ! I hate when we get the "we cant duplicate the issue " statement but im glad it happened while you were there!!! I started out with used and had nothing but problems so i went the other route. But i feel you. If i was a full time tech i would go used all the way!!! Thx AB
Beautiful cars. I rented a 19 when I drove down to Phoenix from Denver and back. Great MPG and the 1.5 with the CVT was actually good. Would I buy one? Nope. Probably take a Camry SE instead.
I'm American born and raised but this story perfectly exemplifies why I buy imported cars. I'd rather keep the money in my own country, but when it's my money I have to worry about best reliability and value; not country of origin. Sad that I feel that way but there's good reason for it.
I remember I worked at Chevrolet whenever these came out. A few 1.5’s misfiring from something later recalled. A different persons A/C leaked in the interior causing electricity issues requiring a new bcm.
Yup and the same does with Ford, Chrysler etc!!!! The next time any of these companies go bankrupt again, I believe the Government should not bail them out again! That's what they get!!! Our tax payers help to bail them out and then again we the consumer gets screwed because of how crappy they are building cars these days. It seems that American Mfg still have not learned from there mistakes! All comes down to Greed-Money!!!!
Sorry I stand corrected , they were on the verge of going Bankruptcy and that's why they had to take out a they That 6Billion dollar loan back on 2009 . Which now ever 12 years they still own on and they are really hurting now after taking a $2 Billion Dollar Hit! Yes totally agree what you said about GM AND Chrysler too!!!
Left the automotive field, industry about 8 years now. Gm 4 years, Toyota 8 years. ASE master tech. Today I’m at peace. The only time I look back, is to see how far I’ve come.
@@joevk6274 I was about the only guy that didn’t mind being a goldfish in a jar. As a matter of fact, I got good at working and talking, BSing with the customer at the same time (your case was a friend). Especially on come backs, I always welcome the customer to watch what my next step was. But on a side note, I can also see why techs hate customer breathing down their necks.
Thank you for sharing your story. And understanding everything. It gets incredibly frustrating even for owners of older vehicles who are established dealership customers. And can’t get anyone to understand how a replacement exhaust can go bad after 3 years. Yet the original lasted for eleven years. My next car will be a panther platform. I have no desire to purchase any vehicles with gasoline direct engines.
Great video! Look forward hearing about the Focus. A friend of mine bought a first year Chevy Colorado brand new. That thing was in the shop more than on the road, ditched it a year later. I'd rather drive a 15 year old Toyota.
I thank I will stick with my 2004 Buick Park Avenue Ultra with the super reliable Buick 231 CID 3800 Series II Supercharged V-6. The Buick 3800 was one of the best engines GM ever made and cheap to work on. We are a 3800 Series family now.
My dad has a 2019 Chevy Equinox lt with the 1.5l engine and about 2 weeks ago, my mother and sister were driving to the grocery story and suddenly they got a message on the car saying (stabilitrak failure and traction control failure and all wheel drive failure. The next day we took the car to our local Chevy dealership. We got a call saying the all wheel drive system, traction control, stabilitrak and the spark plugs all broke. Luckily GM covered the repairs and we got the car back a week later. The car runs fine now, but my dad is considering trading it in for a Bronco Sport. This is seriously ridiculous that a new car at 32k miles would have that many problems.
I have a 2016 Malibu 2.0 Premier & it does have the power for sure. I've not experienced any of the issues you've had with 54k on it now. I did check the trunk wiring harness and it just slightly brushes the seal and it left no mark. However, I did note the harness retainer is made slightly off center from the attachment pin, so with a pocket knife I released the retainer from cable shield, rotated the clip 180 degrees and reattached the cable and it now has an 1/8" clearance so no need to relocate the clip. It took just a minute to fix. I appreciate your sharing your experiences and will know what to look for. As for the 1.5 piston issue, the 2.0 is a completely different engine in that it was designed ground up as a turbo and is a really tough block, forged crank with a rotocast head (the same method they cast for corvette engines). I have had issues with the 1.5 turbo's going bad as they have a weak oil cooler heat exchanger that tend to leak. The pistons for both are cast eutectic aluminum which are known for quality but as you indicated they are pushing the HP envelope. The problem I've seen is the ring lands crack between the 2nd compression ring & oil control ring (too much boost on poor gas?). Anyway, there are forged pistons available that solve the problem. So if you're gong to run hard it's cheaper to fix before it happens but that's just the way it is. I'd assume rentals tend to get the crap beat out of them and the software change you mentioned probably detunes them to prevent "over zealous" operation. Thanks again buddy.
Applause applause! Knowing the Pain that a customer has can really be a useful tool! Especially if the vehicle has been to 22 different shops, and has gotten 17 different diagnosis! Of course; some customers You cannot help-as P.T Barnum said " You will go broke trying to please ALL the people all the time!" O the humanity LOL!
Im so thankful for my 1993 Camry 4cyl. My grandfather was the original owner, garaged all it's life, and he started out as a Ford tech post-WW2, then went to Toyota. He laughed at any of the service intervals, even back then. For him it was oil every 5k with the best synthetic and best filter you can find. AT fluid every two years regardless of mileage. Coolant and brake fluids every 2 years. Its up to 465k now. It still starts, runs, shifts, and drives flawlessly, to the point where the Toyota dealership's owner wanted to buy it off me. Nope! The only thing that ever failed was the alternator, and the OE Denso unit was $110 brand new. I wish I could find some other vintage Toyota's and Honda's, but its so hard. They're on their 40th owner, and none of them ever attempted to maintain the car, so they're beat to death.
I have a few old cars. 1986 mazda 323, still drives like new. 1988 Honda Legend coupe, a gazillion miles, drives like a dream. If a car is looked after, it can last a lifetime.
@@Calebflying2025 dude you challenged my comment as if it weren’t true lmao. I’m talking about 4 cylinders with turbos in them from the factory, not v6’s they seem to do well enough, I don’t drive anything under a 4.0 and don’t need turbo’s for anything I drive. The conversation your trying to bring me into dosent apply to me. I’m just saying small 4 cylinder engines aren’t meant to have turbos on them and any dealerships gm or not is banking off the work that’s having to be done along with lazy techs and that run there shops so you are right about that. But you still agreed about the turbo powered new small engine cars and SUV’s as well as trucks aren’t meant to be made, I drive a 2004 Toyota 4Runner and a 2003 Silverado 4.8 and will not buy anything newer because of how many issues these new vehicles are having.
As a independent shop I find anything GM to be one the worst companies out there they seem to use the cheapest Materials I know all manufacturers have issue but GM has gone down hill since the bailout in my professional opinion
I bought a brand new chevy colorado with the 8speed 6cyl , first new vehicle ever , transmissions issues out the butt, and other little issues. Traded it in for the 4cyl with 6 speed and 10,000 miles in till today with 68,000. It has a shudder when I put in drive and reverse, gm refused to fix it. So I gave up and just deal with it. When it breaks it breaks. I think it's the torque converter. Idk. Thank for the video , I apriaite your honesty
Find the full plug and put a bottle of LubeGaurd transmission shudder guard. 15$ at autozone or any automotive part store. It will fix it. Likely you will have to find the full plug on the transmission.
@@kurtistraux8435 I might give that a shot. At 60,000 I changed the transmission fluid and filter and put a bottle of Lukas in it , that fixed the flair shifts and fixed the hesitant of the tranny. But not shudder.
There's a TSB from GM on that shudder. It's a torque converter lockup issue. There's a two pronged approach to the TSB. First they flush & change the transmission fluid with a newer formula Mobil 1 that's supposed to reduce condensation in the trans. Which is said to be the cause of these issues. And if that doesn't correct the issue.... They're replacing the torque converter and doing another trans flush to remove debris from the old torque converter.
My parents once bought a new vehicle that the transmission quit working at 1000 miles. Fixed under warranty, but they were surprised the transmission even worked at all since there were parts that never got out in it at the factory.
My father bought a 1983 Pontiac 6000 (brand New) Head Gadget problems, oil problems, seal problems, transmission problems. GM started going down hill back in the 80s and has never recovered. I bought his old 1979 Impala off him in 1983 and when I scrapped it in 2002, it had 180,000 miles on it, original engine (305 cu in) After that i started buying Toyota and Honda cars. My father bought an 84 Accord and had been with Honda after that till the day he passed away in 2005. GM has gone down the tubes and they just don't learn from past mistakes.
That was a bad time to buy any FWD from GM, I almost made that mistake...a midsize Gbody (Cutlass, Monte, Regal, etc) would have been a good choice, I still have my 1980 LeMans...
That sounds like a real horror story I have a 2016 chevy malibu premier 2.0 t I had the trunk issue and right when you said about the clip thing i changed it and sprayed alot of water and never leaked again thanks man
My dad bought a 94 after it had rolled over in a creek, fixed it drove it for 15 years, sold then bought virtually the same exact truck from my grandpa
Worked in dealerships over 40 years........rule to go by!! Never buy the first model year of anything and if you want a great car.....buy the last year production run of a model before the change up. The cars or trucks are usually flawless!! And will give decades of service!!
Not a great experience, but not half as bad as what I went through with my Focus. That car was horrific. And every time I brought it into the dealer they would break something.
Shifter LED malfunction will trigger a "service shifter" message; I witnessed this on a 2014 jeep grand cherokee. The funny part is that the LED along with the small board that displays the gear will work just fine when bench testing, it is the signals coming from the shifter module that is actually defective so the whole shifter assembly needs to be replaced lol.
One of my big pet peeves about techs is how so many of them won't take the time to explain to the customer exactly what they're doing, at least that's how it is in the smaller shops, in the bigger shops it's the service writer. I understand that there are many customers out there who couldn't make mud in the bottom of a river but too many times I hear from customers about how they've been told something but couldn't understand what the shop was wanting to do or why.
The US DOT began to mandate these high mounted brake lights to reduce rear end collisions. After 20 years of this mandate, rear end collisions were reduced by less than 1%. Nevertheless, I installed a flasher by Kahtec on my high mounted brakes light to grab the attention of drivers.
We had a 99 Malibo and the trunk light switch which was attached to hinge arm would slide causing light to kill bat or no light. The "clamp" was a fancy zip tie. At some point you would think gm would learn from their own mistakes! But considering their v-6 d.o.h.c. motors having valve and cams that went to garbage at 125000, which stretched across all brands with these gems, guess they don't. And I can say that having owned a Chev malibo 3.0 an Olds silhouette 3.8 and another motor in the malibo, all had cams crack in two. At least my fords died of rust but ran to the boneyard.
My '12 1.4L turbo Cruze reminds me of this. Previous owner bought it brand new, replaced the cam cover 4 times before I bought it (I replaced it too). His oxy sensors went out before 50k. I've had 20k good miles so far and am at 141k, using it as a delivery vehicle has earned its value back but I'm waiting for the next issue. 6 speed manual trans is the only good thing on it that I can tell.
I’ve had a couple of Impala’s 2004 and and 2009 (separate body styles on the w body) and they had the exact same problems between them with wiring. I wonder how it’s possible to care so little about an obvious problem that one owner can notice and here they have millions of cars with the same problem, and they couldn’t care less.
I had a 2016 Malibu 1.5 and I also had the leak at the third brake light. I was really nervous when I found out they have to remove the front windshield to replace the headliner. It also was leaking in the trunk but it stopped after they fixed the brake light, which, BTW ended up cracking because it was tightened too tight. I also had a condition where the brake booster would loose vacuum overnight and I didn't notice it for a long time because I would always remote start to warm it up. The dealer replaced the brake booster on that one. I sold it at 49,000 and except for the issues above it was a good car. We made 3 trips from California to Georgia and the gas mileage was unbelievable!
My manual V-6 Ford Contour I got free off craigslist had a cool third brake light mounted inside with the mini bulbs. The only things the car needed was a power steering line, a fuel pump and there was one rusty spot on the rear right brake line. The brakes, tires and clutch had recently been replaced before they gave it away. I should have kept it.
Videos like these gives me more ammo to say "...never will buy new!". That's why I'm a proud owner of a 24 year old s10 that has accumulated over 200k on the clock. Sure the body is gaudy and some areas are rusting away but that lil buddy has never left me stranded me on the side of the road and I wouldnt have it any other way. Only onboard modules is the ecm for fuel management and abs. Don't need nothing else. I'm also thankful that my girlfreind (now wife) actually listened to me when she was looking for a new vehicle at the time. I told her to look into toyota. 12 years later and 160k on the clock that '09 corolla with the 1.8L. Continues to motor on and I'm amazed that it's still averaging around 32mpg! They sure made these things built like tanks! Other then the typical service intervals I perform on it, it has very low reliability issues! I'm sure this thing is going to outlive anything that is being built by today's standards!
No issues with externally mounted high level brake lights. Saab had them from the 80s. Water ingress is a real pain though. GM used to be really bad with headlights as they were among the first with sloping glass headlamps. We used to joke that goldfish should have been on the options list. I worked at a GM dealership in the mid 70s but have been involved with the automotive industry for the last 40 years. I still marginally prefer GM over Ford in terms of quality. Of course, GM Europe is now French, part of PSA.
My parents purchased a new 2017 Malibu and have had to have the shifter/linkage replaced twice now. I don't much care for GM or Ford vehicles, I think their quality control is subpar. I prefer Toyota and Mazda, which is what we currently own.
GM should have stuck with 3.8's and 3.4/3.5/3.9's. All of there 4 cylinder Turbos are junk. I have made a lot of good money doing Chevy Cruze turbo chargers over the years, because they decide to route the oil feed tube 1/2 inch from a hot exhaust manifold and it get plugged up, ever time. Any more every time I work on a Cruze I pull that oil feed tube off real quick and clean it out real good. They are always half plugged up with carbon.
Lemon law, yes. Also consider leasing, you can give it back if you don't like it once the lease is up. Also don't buy the first year of a remodel, wait a year or two. The 2016 Malibu looks like it was the first year of the ninth generation of Malibu. I leased a 2016 Civic EX, first year of the tenth generation of Civic, I didn't experience the problems you did but it definitely had it's rough edges. Turned it in 2019 and bought a used vehicle from relatives at a nice discount from Blue Book, 2015 GMC Terrain. Sixth year of the first generation. Too small of an engine combined with a definitely too small of a transmission (same trans used in the Cruze) but it's flex fuel so E85 solves the power issues, plus I stay on top of trans maintenance. It's actually a fun drive on E85, it's a dog on gas though. It's like the vehicle was designed for E85 and not gas. I have spent a lot of time debating new/used. I've settled on being ok with used IF it's less than 4yr/40k miles because it is new enough that the only screwed up maintenance would be too-long oil changes (which can still be bad, especially with direct injected engines). But still no first-year of any model generation new or used unless it has a proven reliability record/reputation. There is always the part of me that says "I deserve something nice and new" of course. My next vehicle purchase will be EV though because the governments are pushing everyone that way. Eventually driving around an ICE vehicle will be looked down on.
I bought my gen1 2012 cruze 1.4T new, drove 100k without any issues. I always ran premium gas as the engine was very prone to knock. Traded that for a 2015 sonic with same engine, this time a certified pre-owned. Saved $10k off original window sticker, car only had 9k miles on it. Drove that one 100k, again without issues. Got my second certified pre-owned, a 2018 cruze with the gen2 1.4T. Supposedly GM redesigned the pistons in 2018 so they have less issues. Gen2 1.4T is a much better engine than the previous one, but I have much higher knock and more often than the previous gen engine. It is 10:1 vs 9:1 compression, so I suspect that is contributing. Have 70k on the gen2 1.4T now, average 37mpg. Run 93 octane and see 6-8 knock daily. Only time it doesn't occur is if I blend in a gallon of E85.
What do you think about the 1.0L 3 cylinder ford EcoBoost engine in the 2018 ford focus? I've heard bad things about the focus transmissions too but my ford dealer insists that they fixed the focus transmissions for 2018...
Good video. I had a 2017 Cadillac CTS-V. Talk about the biggest pile of shit. First the rear end went out at about 5,000 miles and then around 7,500 miles the supercharger went out and then around 10,000 miles they had to replace the engine. After that I traded it in for a 2019 Hellcat Charger. Good luck
Wow, I'm glad my new 2014 Chevrolet was quality built in Korea. Only needed a battery after 2 years and a VVT solenoid after 5 years. GM made big money on my extended warranty, but you never know. A friend didn't get ext warr on his Caddy, cost him $8K for one repair. And then he totalled it!
I bought a 1993 Ford Escort GT brand new. It had just gotten off the truck and was in auxiliary yard. It has the 1.8L Mazda BP-ZE engine. Never had problems and I'm still driving the car. However, when the cat was about 9 or 10 years old the distributor was shorting, so a mechanic put a ground strap on it, problem solved. I think because of government regulations car manufacturers are solving the problem of compliance by trying to pull too much power out of a small engine, and in doing so, sacrifice quality and longevity.
I don't know what happened to GM cars since the mid-teens. Seems like quality went out the window. I've had GM vehicles going back to the '80s, my parents have too. They were always great. But I've had nothing but issues with my 2017 Chevy. Stuff that should never be failing on a car with 25k miles--radio HMI module, ac evaporator, shifter switch, strut mount, steering linkage. Not sure what I'm going to do with this car, and it's not likely I'll be buying another Chevy.
I had a 1992 Ford F-150 kind of like that. Bought it brand new Complete front end rebuild and new front tires at less than 5000 miles because nothing got greased before delivery and a check engine light that they never did figure out. The dealer told us that the factory builds them and leaves it to the dealer to straighten out. They never got that truck straightened out. Didn’t keep it very long.
It was 2018. I bought my brand new, old stock 2016 audi a6 3.0tdi diesel. It's had the dieswlgate emissions updates done. At 14,000km I started experiencing a quick power surge under acceleration. Now, I've worked on these engines since gen1 and Ive seen this power surge before. Most times it's a worn/clogged/etc injector. But this is a brand new car. I check my rail pressures, i look at live outlet pressure from the hpfp, i look at turbo pressures and control. I look at injector meadured flow rate - all falls within spec. So I begin suspecting aftertreatment issue. I take it at this point to the dealer coz it's just had a big emissions software update and I figured they might have tsb's or at least some info on potential problems. They noticed it, acknowledged it, but downplay it and tell me to come back when it's more severe or triggers fault codes. I decided to pull out my pre cat oxydwn sensor. It was just smoooked and plugged shut with soot. I had never seen such a thing beforw and I've seen lots of tdi exhaust sensors. This is after the dpf as well, so I knew this update has caused it. I cleaned the sensor and sure enough the car was fine...for 2000kms. Shortly after, audi releases a rwcall. In it they say the updated software requires a relocation of the oxygen sensor even further back on the back of the dpf. Therefore they'll change the whole dpf and doc as they're one unit and install a new oxygen sensor. ... since then I've not had this issue.
My 2016 Malibu has been quite good to me. Haven’t had any issues with the 1.5 turbo and I’ve got 78k miles on it. Of course, I don’t beat the piss out of my cars and I’d bet that’s where some of the problems with people’s vehicles comes in sometimes. But yes the manufacturers absolutely screw up as well.
Lots of negatives in the comment, but I have a 2.0 LTG ATS. It's modified and tuned on ethanol. I love it and change the oil with mobil 1 ESP for DI engines every 3k. I have not had any major issues with the car after 50k miles and love it. I had some smaller issues with the center unit, but that was replaced by the dealer and was not a hassle since apparently it is common. Unfortunately, I think this was just another issue with quality control and not the car platform itself. Sounds like the dealer was not very good either.
My boss bought a brand new 2021 1500 Silverado. With 10,000 miles on it it just got dropped off at the chevy dealership for a new passenger side head and all new lifters on that side. It started running like crap with a cylinder 2 misfire. He found out from the dealer that there is a recall on it for that problem. I don't think I will ever be buying a new vehicle. It seems to be all about quantity and not quality anymore. The newest vehicle I have purchased to date is a 2013. I don't think I will ever go any newer.
I bought a new 2014 F150 5.0 in 2015 and my wife bought a brand new 2015 Ford Edge ecoboost 2.0 in 2015. I didn’t know much about them other than that both of their powertrains had been around for a few years and figured that the bugs should’ve been worked out by then. It was a hell of a win for us. 90,000 miles on the truck with minimal issues (A $3 radiator T O-ring at 60,000 and a $100 water pump at 75,000 miles because I was cheapskate and put generic Autozone coolant in after replacing the O-ring, assuming that’s probably why it failed) and 40,000 miles on the Edge with zero issues.
I viewed a video where a Toyota tech was rebuilding the current version of the 2.5 liter engine. I was truly amazed at how complex the engine is - I suspect that the push for all electric vehicles will succeed because the electric motor is a much more simple design.
I never buy new, and I never pay more than $5,000 for a car. Ive owned/own 3 GM products over the past 20 years. All were great cars, and all had the 3.1 engine. If I didn't live in the rust belt I would probably still have those vehicles. Even the ones I had to scrap, still ran and drove fine. Maybe the quality has gone down since then, but the 3.1, 3.4, and especially the 3.8 were great engines!
I have a 2018 Malibu with the 2.0, just under 60k miles. The only problem I have had was the windsheild washer pump went out at around 8k miles I think it was. I've had cars of just about every major manufacturer and you can get a lemon or pick the model with crappy design/engineering from just about any one of them. The biggest POS I ever owned was an '87 Mustang LX 5.0. I was constantly replacing parts on that thing.
Seems like any time a new model comes out, there's a whole bunch of quirks and bugs that need to be worked out. It's usually the first owner that gets the honor of dealing with most of the design problems and usually gets them corrected under warranty. I learned not to buy the first few model years of any vehicle and try to find what I want near the end of it's run. The issues that you spoke of with dealing with the Chevy tech is mostly a reflection of his personality and maybe even the dealership service dept. itself. I too have had bad experiences like this but found that other dealerships didn't treat me like this so I couldn't hold it against Chevy. All in all GM has treated me okay but it's just hard to find a dealer and/or service dept. that does the same. And ALL manufactures eventually seem to have some problems, not just GM or Ford or whatever, etc. And I do know people that had Toyotas or Hondas, etc. that constantly told me they never have trouble and a bit later get rid of them because the gremlins found them too. You may have even seen one of their cars on the side of the road or on a tow truck !
When we bought my wife’s Explorer, we had the option of the 3.5L and the 2.0L turbo. Went with the 3.5L as I have always been leery of small turbo engines. 92,000 miles on the 3.5 so far with zero problems of any kind (knock on wood). The 2.0L only got like 2 mpg better. No thanks.
Sounds like a good strategy for new vehicle is to lease it, and if it gives you bad taste - return it at the end of the lease, and if its good - buy it out. The only times it may not work is if you drive so much that you'd over-run the miles in contract significantly.
I’ve got a question, what are your opinions on the GM Tahoe, Yukon, suburban and Escalade? Best year, common issues you’ve seen, etc. much appreciated.
Honestly I couldn't give you a hundred percent opinion on this but I like all of those Vehicles up until about 2010-2012 actually we have a 2006 Chevy Tahoe right now and it's got a hundred and forty thousand miles on it and it leaks all over the place but the thing runs like it's freaking brand new and I love it somebody just traded it in
@@FordBossMe that’s awesome because I was doing some research and the 2006 models were rated that most reliable... it’s cool to find some trustworthy testimonial to back that data up.
Cafe standard's epa standards, I know they were talking about a Mustang crossover four-door deal with a EcoBoost 5.0 liter but they never did anything with it
I am surprised that piston rings are burning up so fast on these new cars at low miles. I do wonder if this is something that can be fixed with better materials, better oils, and better filters? I have wondered if bypass oil filters on cars/trucks with these high compression engines would be a worthwhile addition. These bypass filters take a small amount of oil and filter out all particulates down to sub micron size. It does not replace the full flow filter. The engine oil is basically continuously purified of particles as the engine runs. I don't know if it would help here but these bypass filters work very well when used on large steam turbines lube oil systems. These turbines operate for 2 years continuously at full load. Diesel engines and these high compression direct injection engines have a lot of similarities. I am also wondering if maybe the car manufacturers will have to build these engines out of the materials used in the diesel engines.
We have a 2017 Malibu Premier with the 2.0 and the new 9 speed. Had a solenoid problem with transmission but apart from that, the car has been good. I run synthetic oil and change it when the OLM gets to 30%. You have the issue of getting a first year model where they hadn’t learned to put them together. Management issue with the manufacturing plant.
In my experience all my new GMs have had issues. I bought an '07 Mustang back in 2007 and it had few issues until after 80k...one was that stupid "smart junction box" that water would leak onto. Then I bought a 15 Mustang...not a terrible car but the quality was nowhere near 2007 level. The paint on the front edge of the hood still bubbled after 2 years just like the 07 did. 8 model years gone by, hundreds of customer complaints, and Ford still hasn't learned how to prep an aluminum hood seam for paint? After a tree fell on it in a storm & insurance totaled it I was done with Ford. Bought a Korean-built Hyundai...much better quality.
Blame our government and the "greenies" for forcing automakers to make smaller and smaller engines and turbocharging them to meet EPA standards. Of course now, they will be forcing us to drive electric cars in the near future. The real "fun" in that, is when the already overworked electric grid will fail to power all of those vehicles. If you live in California and know the joy of rolling blackouts in the summer time, just wait, it's going to get worse.
My familly has a Durango and we love it and have had no problems exept the airbag module weant out at 20k miles,than 26,than 32,000 than 34,000. I thaought it was odd no one else had this issue, turns out the dealer kept sticking the wires from the module through the wrong hole under the seat, every time you would move the seat to a certain position it would yank the wires out.it has never happened again at 110,000 miles. All covered under warranty
i bought an '18 ecoboost mustang new. thankfully it hasn't given me any problems yet. i was thinking about the gt but the coyote engine tick scared me away. i could just imagine having put a bunch of money down on a 40k vehicle and having the ticking issue. always listening and dreading what i may find. then if i have an issue, having to deal with the dealership, all the while making my monthly payments.
GM really do seem to be good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I was actually looking at a used Cruze hatch, like a '19 or' 18. Tan leather, fully loaded. Dealer never answered my email. So I went with the second choice, a Fiesta SFE. 30000 miles, six grand (12 less than the Cruze) . So far the little 3 cylinder has been a hoot. I don't fully trust it yet, but it hasn't let me down so far and has delivered stinking good fuel economy. Any comments or early warning symptoms or maintenance suggestions for that little weirdo?
Moving the manufacturing down to Mexico only means more profit for the company. It’s not like they lower the price of the vehicle now that labor costs are less. Another thing manufacturers are doing is putting pressure on part suppliers the bring the cost down. So suppliers are building these parts with cheap materials, cheap labor and no QC. I won’t buy a GM now. Too many recent horror stories. I won’t buy a Ford built in Mexico, and I am a Ford shareholder.
I used to own a 2012 malibu 2.4 ecotech. Bought it for 10k used with 58k miles First off, the wiring in chevy vehicles is absolute GARBAGE. Both front speakers burnt out. It would hesitate from a stop, taking almost 2 seconds to accelerate after hitting the gas. The rear defogger stopped working, checked the rear fuse box and the fuse as well as the box was melted. Final straw was when I realized I was burning through a quart of oil every thousand miles. This was "common for this engine" I was told. I currently have an 07 wrx with 174k miles on it and even it doesn't burn oil that fast! Never again.
My dad used to work for GM for 37 years as an engineer. I used to stick up for GM no matter what even though I knew lots of problems. Then in 2009 after they went bankrupt and dropkicked my dad very poorly I have an awkward feeling for them. I was so used to being a fanboy, but now I hate their guts. Despite this hate, I still feel an awkward loyalty when other people bash them. Help!!!!
So it was the high mount stop light that was leaking onto my roof paneling
It was accessory relay that controls the accessory ports
The weather seal on the trunk and relocating a wire
The radio in this thing went was really humid would flicker real bad and lock up and then it wouldn't work at all
I intermittently had problems with the window switches
There's one other thing that I'm missing but I don't remember what it was
You thought you were driving a 2016 Malibu, but realized what you actually had was a 1976 Volare (read up on them...lol).
I love theses stories man!
Before I left Chevy, we had 3 2016 cruze come off the truck in a week with the trunk full of water. All high mount stop lamp. Chevy started having a lot of radio issues around 2014. Glad you didn't get the 1.5.
My steering wheel had rust on it had some undercar leaks as well.
I have sympathy for this situation. I sold domestics for 34 years. When I retired, I bought a Toyota. Since then, I have had zero problems like this. My service department experience is lube, oil and rotate the tires.
I bought a 2013 mkz 2.0 turbo with 36k 5 years ago I now have a 168 k on it just basic maintenance and 3 sets of tires other then that I’ve never had a problem I might buy a new Lincoln next time
I hear you, 2003 Camry, 235k. Oil changes, tires, brakes, and 2 batteries. Just did struts and front end, ready for another 200k.
Older cars yes, newer cars all affected by the same issues....Toyota now no exception.
@@Spahi77 it's more about where they a built, than anything else. You start putting your plants in countries with cheap labor you start having more problems with your vehicles. I've noticed the vehicles built in mexico seem to have the most manufacturer defects than the ones built in the u.s. or canada.
I respectfully disagree with some of the comments here with regard to domestic versus imported or Mexican assembly. My most expensive vehicle to maintain and insure was my Honda Accord. My most reliable was my Mexican assembled Lincoln MKZ (gussied up Fusion) which reliability was phenomenal. Only problem it had was corrosion and paint issues. I replaced that vehicle with a new 2021 Hyundai Palisade last fall. So far that vehicle has been good but it’s too early to tell. My Chev Silverado has also been stellar.
Toyota’s reliability is only slightly better than the other brands. And the model choice is very important. Toyota has an amazing marketing strategy that makes people believe they are getting a vastly more reliable product where cost cutting is very evident in the models I have looked at.
I got out of the Automotive industry and went into the IT industry, but cars remain a hobby. This type of thing most certainly isn't exclusive to the Automotive industry in any way. Quite frankly - it's all the same kinds of problems with different jargon. I can tell you that from my experience, one thing has become crystal clear: There's a huge difference between something designed by an engineer and something designed by a project manager.
Same here. Worked in the auto field, and back in ‘11 went to the IT field. I like doing it on MY TIME but for a living? Not so much anymore. I’m getting older and slower.
...or maybe universities are putting out lame engineers who become project managers.
I've thought about this a lot, too. I skipped most of College, taking an Associate's then filling in the gap with a series of Certifications. I realized that many of the students around me didn't know how to think for themselves or outside of the box without prompt. Education may tell you how to do something, but rarely does it tell you why. Learning and understanding are two different things.
15:13 Sounds like the 1.5 turbo suffered from LSPI and was eating pistons for breakfast.
It's disappointing that these engine technologies that are designed to save fuel (GDI, downsizing, cylinder deactivation) are actually just killing engines sooner, which completely goes against the whole saving-the-environment movement. And the customer has to pay for it.
I can confirm this comment as I am on my 2nd engine with this exact issue. New engine by GM at 59K miles.
Look into engineered obsolescence
A lot of problems started happening with these manufacturers when they moved many of their plants down to mexico. They wanted cheaper labor so in return they got more problems with their vehicles.
lol, it is management that makes the decision, not the workers. In a controlled environment, you inspect problems and fix them as you go.
GM’s quality control and the quality of parts from their parts suppliers is really “questionable”. I’d like to use more colorful language but I’ll keep it clean.
That is an understatement, to say the least...
You can say that about all car manufacturers these days.
@@7s29 Ya not really, some actually QA and QC their stuff and their suppliers.
My hometown had a GM wiring plant. The quality of their product (or lack thereof) made me never want to buy a GM vehicle.
@@5roundsrapid263 , I believe you.
Freaking GM. I worked with a lady who bought a cherry red 2.0 turbo LTZ and it was the first model year like yours and nothing GM could do could get the engine to stop misfiring. Even after a year of the car being in the shop continually they refuse to replace the engine. And the worst part about it her husband worked at the GM factory right down the road. And they still didn’t make it right for an employee.
i'm a car fan and like Rich a Lincoln Towncar guy. I must say even if you don't much care about cars, Rich's stories are always worth the price of admission. Best channel on TH-cam, car guy or not. Good Job!
Thank you very much brother
I stay away from any small engines with turbos. My lastest car is a 2018 civic with a port injected 2.0, no turbo
Only way I would have a turbo is if I leased it. And then dump it after the lease is up.
Wow thats another deep story ! I hate when we get the "we cant duplicate the issue " statement but im glad it happened while you were there!!! I started out with used and had nothing but problems so i went the other route. But i feel you. If i was a full time tech i would go used all the way!!! Thx AB
Beautiful cars. I rented a 19 when I drove down to Phoenix from Denver and back. Great MPG and the 1.5 with the CVT was actually good. Would I buy one? Nope. Probably take a Camry SE instead.
I'm American born and raised but this story perfectly exemplifies why I buy imported cars. I'd rather keep the money in my own country, but when it's my money I have to worry about best reliability and value; not country of origin. Sad that I feel that way but there's good reason for it.
I remember I worked at Chevrolet whenever these came out. A few 1.5’s misfiring from something later recalled. A different persons A/C leaked in the interior causing electricity issues requiring a new bcm.
GM still hasn't learned their lesson. Even after bankruptcy, still producing crap vehicles and don't care about anything but profit margin.
Yup and the same does with Ford, Chrysler etc!!!!
The next time any of these companies go bankrupt again, I believe the Government should not bail them out again! That's what they get!!! Our tax payers help to bail them out and then again we the consumer gets screwed because of how crappy they are building cars these days. It seems that American Mfg still have not learned from there
mistakes! All comes down to Greed-Money!!!!
@@deel152 Ford is the only one that didn't go bankrupt. They should have let Dodge and GM go tits up.
Sorry I stand corrected , they were on the verge of going Bankruptcy and that's why they had to take out a they That 6Billion dollar loan back on 2009 . Which now ever 12 years they still own on and they are really hurting now after taking a $2 Billion Dollar Hit! Yes totally agree what you said about GM AND Chrysler too!!!
@@northerntraveller3815 they didnt go bankrupt because they took out so many loans before hard times hit it helped them survive.
You're a great tech bro! Thanks for the story!
That face when that truck passes by 🤣
Left the automotive field, industry about 8 years now. Gm 4 years, Toyota 8 years. ASE master tech. Today I’m at peace. The only time I look back, is to see how far I’ve come.
@@joevk6274 I was about the only guy that didn’t mind being a goldfish in a jar. As a matter of fact, I got good at working and talking, BSing with the customer at the same time (your case was a friend). Especially on come backs, I always welcome the customer to watch what my next step was. But on a side note, I can also see why techs hate customer breathing down their necks.
Thank you for sharing your story. And understanding everything. It gets incredibly frustrating even for owners of older vehicles who are established dealership customers. And can’t get anyone to understand how a replacement exhaust can go bad after 3 years. Yet the original lasted for eleven years. My next car will be a panther platform. I have no desire to purchase any vehicles with gasoline direct engines.
Great video! Look forward hearing about the Focus. A friend of mine bought a first year Chevy Colorado brand new. That thing was in the shop more than on the road, ditched it a year later. I'd rather drive a 15 year old Toyota.
I thank I will stick with my 2004 Buick Park Avenue Ultra with the super reliable Buick 231 CID 3800 Series II Supercharged V-6. The Buick 3800 was one of the best engines GM ever made and cheap to work on. We are a 3800 Series family now.
The most sleeper of all the super charged 3.8s looks like a pure grandma car
My dad has a 2019 Chevy Equinox lt with the 1.5l engine and about 2 weeks ago, my mother and sister were driving to the grocery story and suddenly they got a message on the car saying (stabilitrak failure and traction control failure and all wheel drive failure. The next day we took the car to our local Chevy dealership. We got a call saying the all wheel drive system, traction control, stabilitrak and the spark plugs all broke. Luckily GM covered the repairs and we got the car back a week later. The car runs fine now, but my dad is considering trading it in for a Bronco Sport. This is seriously ridiculous that a new car at 32k miles would have that many problems.
Some of the new Broncos come with a 3-cylinder engine. Good luck with that.
I have a 2016 Malibu 2.0 Premier & it does have the power for sure. I've not experienced any of the issues you've had with 54k on it now. I did check the trunk wiring harness and it just slightly brushes the seal and it left no mark. However, I did note the harness retainer is made slightly off center from the attachment pin, so with a pocket knife I released the retainer from cable shield, rotated the clip 180 degrees and reattached the cable and it now has an 1/8" clearance so no need to relocate the clip. It took just a minute to fix. I appreciate your sharing your experiences and will know what to look for. As for the 1.5 piston issue, the 2.0 is a completely different engine in that it was designed ground up as a turbo and is a really tough block, forged crank with a rotocast head (the same method they cast for corvette engines).
I have had issues with the 1.5 turbo's going bad as they have a weak oil cooler heat exchanger that tend to leak.
The pistons for both are cast eutectic aluminum which are known for quality but as you indicated they are pushing the HP envelope. The problem I've seen is the ring lands crack between the 2nd compression ring & oil control ring (too much boost on poor gas?). Anyway, there are forged pistons available that solve the problem. So if you're gong to run hard it's cheaper to fix before it happens but that's just the way it is.
I'd assume rentals tend to get the crap beat out of them and the software change you mentioned probably detunes them to prevent "over zealous" operation. Thanks again buddy.
Applause applause! Knowing the Pain that a customer has can really be a useful tool! Especially if the vehicle has been to 22 different shops, and has gotten 17 different diagnosis! Of course; some customers You cannot help-as P.T Barnum said " You will go broke trying to please ALL the people all the time!" O the humanity LOL!
Im so thankful for my 1993 Camry 4cyl. My grandfather was the original owner, garaged all it's life, and he started out as a Ford tech post-WW2, then went to Toyota. He laughed at any of the service intervals, even back then. For him it was oil every 5k with the best synthetic and best filter you can find. AT fluid every two years regardless of mileage. Coolant and brake fluids every 2 years. Its up to 465k now. It still starts, runs, shifts, and drives flawlessly, to the point where the Toyota dealership's owner wanted to buy it off me. Nope! The only thing that ever failed was the alternator, and the OE Denso unit was $110 brand new. I wish I could find some other vintage Toyota's and Honda's, but its so hard. They're on their 40th owner, and none of them ever attempted to maintain the car, so they're beat to death.
I have a few old cars. 1986 mazda 323, still drives like new. 1988 Honda Legend coupe, a gazillion miles, drives like a dream. If a car is looked after, it can last a lifetime.
I love FBM Story Time. Sometimes I watch your vids more than I watch TV….LOL! Stay Blessed!
I appreciate that
Yep small engine plus turbo equals lots of heat specially with a light oil weight
@@Calebflying2025 lol look at you trying to make me look stupid that’s cute dude. Now go play.
@@Calebflying2025 dude you challenged my comment as if it weren’t true lmao. I’m talking about 4 cylinders with turbos in them from the factory, not v6’s they seem to do well enough, I don’t drive anything under a 4.0 and don’t need turbo’s for anything I drive. The conversation your trying to bring me into dosent apply to me. I’m just saying small 4 cylinder engines aren’t meant to have turbos on them and any dealerships gm or not is banking off the work that’s having to be done along with lazy techs and that run there shops so you are right about that. But you still agreed about the turbo powered new small engine cars and SUV’s as well as trucks aren’t meant to be made, I drive a 2004 Toyota 4Runner and a 2003 Silverado 4.8 and will not buy anything newer because of how many issues these new vehicles are having.
Sounds like every car and every dealer experience I've ever had.
As a independent shop I find anything GM to be one the worst companies out there they seem to use the cheapest Materials I know all manufacturers have issue but GM has gone down hill since the bailout in my professional opinion
I bought a brand new chevy colorado with the 8speed 6cyl , first new vehicle ever , transmissions issues out the butt, and other little issues. Traded it in for the 4cyl with 6 speed and 10,000 miles in till today with 68,000. It has a shudder when I put in drive and reverse, gm refused to fix it. So I gave up and just deal with it. When it breaks it breaks. I think it's the torque converter. Idk. Thank for the video , I apriaite your honesty
Find the full plug and put a bottle of LubeGaurd transmission shudder guard. 15$ at autozone or any automotive part store. It will fix it. Likely you will have to find the full plug on the transmission.
@@kurtistraux8435 I might give that a shot. At 60,000 I changed the transmission fluid and filter and put a bottle of Lukas in it , that fixed the flair shifts and fixed the hesitant of the tranny. But not shudder.
There's a TSB from GM on that shudder. It's a torque converter lockup issue. There's a two pronged approach to the TSB. First they flush & change the transmission fluid with a newer formula Mobil 1 that's supposed to reduce condensation in the trans. Which is said to be the cause of these issues. And if that doesn't correct the issue.... They're replacing the torque converter and doing another trans flush to remove debris from the old torque converter.
My parents once bought a new vehicle that the transmission quit working at 1000 miles. Fixed under warranty, but they were surprised the transmission even worked at all since there were parts that never got out in it at the factory.
Say the name...
Yep I remember that recall on the 1.5 such a shame GM cared more about quantity then quality
My father bought a 1983 Pontiac 6000 (brand New) Head Gadget problems, oil problems, seal problems, transmission problems. GM started going down hill back in the 80s and has never recovered. I bought his old 1979 Impala off him in 1983 and when I scrapped it in 2002, it had 180,000 miles on it, original engine (305 cu in) After that i started buying Toyota and Honda cars. My father bought an 84 Accord and had been with Honda after that till the day he passed away in 2005. GM has gone down the tubes and they just don't learn from past mistakes.
That was a bad time to buy any FWD from GM, I almost made that mistake...a midsize Gbody (Cutlass, Monte, Regal, etc) would have been a good choice, I still have my 1980 LeMans...
That sounds like a real horror story I have a 2016 chevy malibu premier 2.0 t I had the trunk issue and right when you said about the clip thing i changed it and sprayed alot of water and never leaked again thanks man
My dad bought a 94 after it had rolled over in a creek, fixed it drove it for 15 years, sold then bought virtually the same exact truck from my grandpa
Worked in dealerships over 40 years........rule to go by!! Never buy the first model year of anything and if you want a great car.....buy the last year production run of a model before the change up. The cars or trucks are usually flawless!! And will give decades of service!!
Thanks for sharing this, and glad it made you into the tech you are today. Keep it up!
Not a great experience, but not half as bad as what I went through with my Focus. That car was horrific. And every time I brought it into the dealer they would break something.
Shifter LED malfunction will trigger a "service shifter" message; I witnessed this on a 2014 jeep grand cherokee. The funny part is that the LED along with the small board that displays the gear will work just fine when bench testing, it is the signals coming from the shifter module that is actually defective so the whole shifter assembly needs to be replaced lol.
i love my malibu premier 2.0T....super fast super reliable.
One of my big pet peeves about techs is how so many of them won't take the time to explain to the customer exactly what they're doing, at least that's how it is in the smaller shops, in the bigger shops it's the service writer. I understand that there are many customers out there who couldn't make mud in the bottom of a river but too many times I hear from customers about how they've been told something but couldn't understand what the shop was wanting to do or why.
I remember when the 3rd brake lights were nothing more than an afterthought sitting on a pedestal attached to the package shelf. lol
The US DOT began to mandate these high mounted brake lights to reduce rear end collisions. After 20 years of this mandate, rear end collisions were reduced by less than 1%. Nevertheless, I installed a flasher by Kahtec on my high mounted brakes light to grab the attention of drivers.
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We had a 99 Malibo and the trunk light switch which was attached to hinge arm would slide causing light to kill bat or no light. The "clamp" was a fancy zip tie. At some point you would think gm would learn from their own mistakes! But considering their v-6 d.o.h.c. motors having valve and cams that went to garbage at 125000, which stretched across all brands with these gems, guess they don't. And I can say that having owned a Chev malibo 3.0 an Olds silhouette 3.8 and another motor in the malibo, all had cams crack in two. At least my fords died of rust but ran to the boneyard.
My '12 1.4L turbo Cruze reminds me of this. Previous owner bought it brand new, replaced the cam cover 4 times before I bought it (I replaced it too). His oxy sensors went out before 50k. I've had 20k good miles so far and am at 141k, using it as a delivery vehicle has earned its value back but I'm waiting for the next issue. 6 speed manual trans is the only good thing on it that I can tell.
since no one can make a decent car, someone needs to bring back the Tucker.
James - A Tucker !!! When ? Where ?
@@stevejette2329 watch the movie, true story.
@@stevejette2329 movie is called Tucker
@@jamesself2409 YES ! Jeff Bridges.
@@jamesself2409 Loved the movie. A real eye-opener about corporate america
I’ve had a couple of Impala’s 2004 and and 2009 (separate body styles on the w body) and they had the exact same problems between them with wiring. I wonder how it’s possible to care so little about an obvious problem that one owner can notice and here they have millions of cars with the same problem, and they couldn’t care less.
I had a 2016 Malibu 1.5 and I also had the leak at the third brake light. I was really nervous when I found out they have to remove the front windshield to replace the headliner. It also was leaking in the trunk but it stopped after they fixed the brake light, which, BTW ended up cracking because it was tightened too tight. I also had a condition where the brake booster would loose vacuum overnight and I didn't notice it for a long time because I would always remote start to warm it up. The dealer replaced the brake booster on that one. I sold it at 49,000 and except for the issues above it was a good car. We made 3 trips from California to Georgia and the gas mileage was unbelievable!
This is why i drive and love my 89 silverado. No new car bullshit for me.
My manual V-6 Ford Contour I got free off craigslist had a cool third brake light mounted inside with the mini bulbs. The only things the car needed was a power steering line, a fuel pump and there was one rusty spot on the rear right brake line. The brakes, tires and clutch had recently been replaced before they gave it away. I should have kept it.
Videos like these gives me more ammo to say "...never will buy new!". That's why I'm a proud owner of a 24 year old s10 that has accumulated over 200k on the clock. Sure the body is gaudy and some areas are rusting away but that lil buddy has never left me stranded me on the side of the road and I wouldnt have it any other way. Only onboard modules is the ecm for fuel management and abs. Don't need nothing else. I'm also thankful that my girlfreind (now wife) actually listened to me when she was looking for a new vehicle at the time. I told her to look into toyota. 12 years later and 160k on the clock that '09 corolla with the 1.8L. Continues to motor on and I'm amazed that it's still averaging around 32mpg! They sure made these things built like tanks! Other then the typical service intervals I perform on it, it has very low reliability issues! I'm sure this thing is going to outlive anything that is being built by today's standards!
No issues with externally mounted high level brake lights. Saab had them from the 80s. Water ingress is a real pain though. GM used to be really bad with headlights as they were among the first with sloping glass headlamps. We used to joke that goldfish should have been on the options list. I worked at a GM dealership in the mid 70s but have been involved with the automotive industry for the last 40 years. I still marginally prefer GM over Ford in terms of quality. Of course, GM Europe is now French, part of PSA.
A wiring schematic and a VOM always worked for me; be it automotive electronics, radios, TVs, power amps, etc.
My parents purchased a new 2017 Malibu and have had to have the shifter/linkage replaced twice now. I don't much care for GM or Ford vehicles, I think their quality control is subpar. I prefer Toyota and Mazda, which is what we currently own.
GM should have stuck with 3.8's and 3.4/3.5/3.9's. All of there 4 cylinder Turbos are junk. I have made a lot of good money doing Chevy Cruze turbo chargers over the years, because they decide to route the oil feed tube 1/2 inch from a hot exhaust manifold and it get plugged up, ever time. Any more every time I work on a Cruze I pull that oil feed tube off real quick and clean it out real good. They are always half plugged up with carbon.
I can’t believe they replaced the 3.8 for the oil drunk timing chain snappers known as the 3.6 LLT
Lemon law, yes. Also consider leasing, you can give it back if you don't like it once the lease is up. Also don't buy the first year of a remodel, wait a year or two. The 2016 Malibu looks like it was the first year of the ninth generation of Malibu. I leased a 2016 Civic EX, first year of the tenth generation of Civic, I didn't experience the problems you did but it definitely had it's rough edges. Turned it in 2019 and bought a used vehicle from relatives at a nice discount from Blue Book, 2015 GMC Terrain. Sixth year of the first generation. Too small of an engine combined with a definitely too small of a transmission (same trans used in the Cruze) but it's flex fuel so E85 solves the power issues, plus I stay on top of trans maintenance. It's actually a fun drive on E85, it's a dog on gas though. It's like the vehicle was designed for E85 and not gas.
I have spent a lot of time debating new/used. I've settled on being ok with used IF it's less than 4yr/40k miles because it is new enough that the only screwed up maintenance would be too-long oil changes (which can still be bad, especially with direct injected engines). But still no first-year of any model generation new or used unless it has a proven reliability record/reputation. There is always the part of me that says "I deserve something nice and new" of course.
My next vehicle purchase will be EV though because the governments are pushing everyone that way. Eventually driving around an ICE vehicle will be looked down on.
I bought my gen1 2012 cruze 1.4T new, drove 100k without any issues. I always ran premium gas as the engine was very prone to knock.
Traded that for a 2015 sonic with same engine, this time a certified pre-owned. Saved $10k off original window sticker, car only had 9k miles on it. Drove that one 100k, again without issues.
Got my second certified pre-owned, a 2018 cruze with the gen2 1.4T. Supposedly GM redesigned the pistons in 2018 so they have less issues.
Gen2 1.4T is a much better engine than the previous one, but I have much higher knock and more often than the previous gen engine. It is 10:1 vs 9:1 compression, so I suspect that is contributing.
Have 70k on the gen2 1.4T now, average 37mpg. Run 93 octane and see 6-8 knock daily. Only time it doesn't occur is if I blend in a gallon of E85.
What do you think about the 1.0L 3 cylinder ford EcoBoost engine in the 2018 ford focus? I've heard bad things about the focus transmissions too but my ford dealer insists that they fixed the focus transmissions for 2018...
We don't ever have problems with those
Even if they did fix the transmissions for 2018,they will still sell the older crappy ones without saying a word about it to the customers I bet.
Good video. I had a 2017 Cadillac CTS-V. Talk about the biggest pile of shit. First the rear end went out at about 5,000 miles and then around 7,500 miles the supercharger went out and then around 10,000 miles they had to replace the engine. After that I traded it in for a 2019 Hellcat Charger. Good luck
Wow, I'm glad my new 2014 Chevrolet was quality built in Korea. Only needed a battery after 2 years and a VVT solenoid after 5 years. GM made big money on my extended warranty, but you never know. A friend didn't get ext warr on his Caddy, cost him $8K for one repair. And then he totalled it!
I bought a 1993 Ford Escort GT brand new. It had just gotten off the truck and was in auxiliary yard. It has the 1.8L Mazda BP-ZE engine. Never had problems and I'm still driving the car. However, when the cat was about 9 or 10 years old the distributor was shorting, so a mechanic put a ground strap on it, problem solved. I think because of government regulations car manufacturers are solving the problem of compliance by trying to pull too much power out of a small engine, and in doing so, sacrifice quality and longevity.
I don't know what happened to GM cars since the mid-teens. Seems like quality went out the window. I've had GM vehicles going back to the '80s, my parents have too. They were always great. But I've had nothing but issues with my 2017 Chevy. Stuff that should never be failing on a car with 25k miles--radio HMI module, ac evaporator, shifter switch, strut mount, steering linkage. Not sure what I'm going to do with this car, and it's not likely I'll be buying another Chevy.
I had a 1992 Ford F-150 kind of like that. Bought it brand new Complete front end rebuild and new front tires at less than 5000 miles because nothing got greased before delivery and a check engine light that they never did figure out. The dealer told us that the factory builds them and leaves it to the dealer to straighten out. They never got that truck straightened out. Didn’t keep it very long.
You are like the Caucasian Mike Tyson of the the automotive repair biz.
Scoring consistent knock outs.
Tyvm
Had a 2012 Malibu. 😆 Completely reliable. Great car.
It was 2018. I bought my brand new, old stock 2016 audi a6 3.0tdi diesel. It's had the dieswlgate emissions updates done. At 14,000km I started experiencing a quick power surge under acceleration. Now, I've worked on these engines since gen1 and Ive seen this power surge before. Most times it's a worn/clogged/etc injector. But this is a brand new car. I check my rail pressures, i look at live outlet pressure from the hpfp, i look at turbo pressures and control. I look at injector meadured flow rate - all falls within spec. So I begin suspecting aftertreatment issue. I take it at this point to the dealer coz it's just had a big emissions software update and I figured they might have tsb's or at least some info on potential problems. They noticed it, acknowledged it, but downplay it and tell me to come back when it's more severe or triggers fault codes. I decided to pull out my pre cat oxydwn sensor. It was just smoooked and plugged shut with soot. I had never seen such a thing beforw and I've seen lots of tdi exhaust sensors. This is after the dpf as well, so I knew this update has caused it. I cleaned the sensor and sure enough the car was fine...for 2000kms. Shortly after, audi releases a rwcall. In it they say the updated software requires a relocation of the oxygen sensor even further back on the back of the dpf. Therefore they'll change the whole dpf and doc as they're one unit and install a new oxygen sensor. ... since then I've not had this issue.
Intermittent problems can be so tough.
My 2016 Malibu has been quite good to me. Haven’t had any issues with the 1.5 turbo and I’ve got 78k miles on it. Of course, I don’t beat the piss out of my cars and I’d bet that’s where some of the problems with people’s vehicles comes in sometimes. But yes the manufacturers absolutely screw up as well.
Never owned a turbo or supercharged motor ,now I know better. Have a great day!
Lots of negatives in the comment, but I have a 2.0 LTG ATS. It's modified and tuned on ethanol. I love it and change the oil with mobil 1 ESP for DI engines every 3k. I have not had any major issues with the car after 50k miles and love it. I had some smaller issues with the center unit, but that was replaced by the dealer and was not a hassle since apparently it is common. Unfortunately, I think this was just another issue with quality control and not the car platform itself. Sounds like the dealer was not very good either.
My boss bought a brand new 2021 1500 Silverado. With 10,000 miles on it it just got dropped off at the chevy dealership for a new passenger side head and all new lifters on that side. It started running like crap with a cylinder 2 misfire. He found out from the dealer that there is a recall on it for that problem.
I don't think I will ever be buying a new vehicle. It seems to be all about quantity and not quality anymore. The newest vehicle I have purchased to date is a 2013. I don't think I will ever go any newer.
I bought a new 2014 F150 5.0 in 2015 and my wife bought a brand new 2015 Ford Edge ecoboost 2.0 in 2015. I didn’t know much about them other than that both of their powertrains had been around for a few years and figured that the bugs should’ve been worked out by then. It was a hell of a win for us. 90,000 miles on the truck with minimal issues (A $3 radiator T O-ring at 60,000 and a $100 water pump at 75,000 miles because I was cheapskate and put generic Autozone coolant in after replacing the O-ring, assuming that’s probably why it failed) and 40,000 miles on the Edge with zero issues.
I viewed a video where a Toyota tech was rebuilding the current version of the 2.5 liter engine. I was truly amazed at how complex the engine is - I suspect that the push for all electric vehicles will succeed because the electric motor is a much more simple design.
I saw that too, scared the heck out of me ,as i have one of those engines in my rav4, wished i had my older rav4 back lol.
I never buy new, and I never pay more than $5,000 for a car. Ive owned/own 3 GM products over the past 20 years. All were great cars, and all had the 3.1 engine. If I didn't live in the rust belt I would probably still have those vehicles. Even the ones I had to scrap, still ran and drove fine. Maybe the quality has gone down since then, but the 3.1, 3.4, and especially the 3.8 were great engines!
I've had all the engines you mentioned, the late 90s 3800s were the toughest had some supercharged ones also
I’ve heard those 3.4s have head gasket issues
@@FlowmasterStang so does the 3.1 but it's an easy fix.
I have a 2018 Malibu with the 2.0, just under 60k miles. The only problem I have had was the windsheild washer pump went out at around 8k miles I think it was. I've had cars of just about every major manufacturer and you can get a lemon or pick the model with crappy design/engineering from just about any one of them. The biggest POS I ever owned was an '87 Mustang LX 5.0. I was constantly replacing parts on that thing.
Seems like any time a new model comes out, there's a whole bunch of quirks and bugs that need to be worked out. It's usually the first owner that gets the honor of dealing with most of the design problems and usually gets them corrected under warranty. I learned not to buy the first few model years of any vehicle and try to find what I want near the end of it's run. The issues that you spoke of with dealing with the Chevy tech is mostly a reflection of his personality and maybe even the dealership service dept. itself. I too have had bad experiences like this but found that other dealerships didn't treat me like this so I couldn't hold it against Chevy. All in all GM has treated me okay but it's just hard to find a dealer and/or service dept. that does the same.
And ALL manufactures eventually seem to have some problems, not just GM or Ford or whatever, etc. And I do know people that had Toyotas or Hondas, etc. that constantly told me they never have trouble and a bit later get rid of them because the gremlins found them too.
You may have even seen one of their cars on the side of the road or on a tow truck !
When we bought my wife’s Explorer, we had the option of the 3.5L and the 2.0L turbo. Went with the 3.5L as I have always been leery of small turbo engines. 92,000 miles on the 3.5 so far with zero problems of any kind (knock on wood). The 2.0L only got like 2 mpg better. No thanks.
Sounds like a good strategy for new vehicle is to lease it, and if it gives you bad taste - return it at the end of the lease, and if its good - buy it out.
The only times it may not work is if you drive so much that you'd over-run the miles in contract significantly.
I’ve got a question, what are your opinions on the GM Tahoe, Yukon, suburban and Escalade? Best year, common issues you’ve seen, etc. much appreciated.
Honestly I couldn't give you a hundred percent opinion on this but I like all of those Vehicles up until about 2010-2012 actually we have a 2006 Chevy Tahoe right now and it's got a hundred and forty thousand miles on it and it leaks all over the place but the thing runs like it's freaking brand new and I love it somebody just traded it in
@@FordBossMe that’s awesome because I was doing some research and the 2006 models were rated that most reliable... it’s cool to find some trustworthy testimonial to back that data up.
Your thoughts on a Ford ecoboost 5.0 coyote? Why hasn't this been done yet?
Cafe standard's epa standards, I know they were talking about a Mustang crossover four-door deal with a EcoBoost 5.0 liter but they never did anything with it
I am surprised that piston rings are burning up so fast on these new cars at low miles. I do wonder if this is something that can be fixed with better materials, better oils, and better filters?
I have wondered if bypass oil filters on cars/trucks with these high compression engines would be a worthwhile addition. These bypass filters take a small amount of oil and filter out all particulates down to sub micron size. It does not replace the full flow filter. The engine oil is basically continuously purified of particles as the engine runs. I don't know if it would help here but these bypass filters work very well when used on large steam turbines lube oil systems. These turbines operate for 2 years continuously at full load.
Diesel engines and these high compression direct injection engines have a lot of similarities. I am also wondering if maybe the car manufacturers will have to build these engines out of the materials used in the diesel engines.
I always buy vehicles with 100k on them. All the factory problems are fixed.
The only reason to buy a Malibu is because Toyota ran out of Camry’s.
Just curious what you drive now?
2006 Lincoln Town Car 4.6 L 2 valve and I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 5.2 liter Magnum engine
We have a 2017 Malibu Premier with the 2.0 and the new 9 speed. Had a solenoid problem with transmission but apart from that, the car has been good. I run synthetic oil and change it when the OLM gets to 30%. You have the issue of getting a first year model where they hadn’t learned to put them together. Management issue with the manufacturing plant.
Chevy with a mind of its own 😂
In my experience all my new GMs have had issues. I bought an '07 Mustang back in 2007 and it had few issues until after 80k...one was that stupid "smart junction box" that water would leak onto. Then I bought a 15 Mustang...not a terrible car but the quality was nowhere near 2007 level. The paint on the front edge of the hood still bubbled after 2 years just like the 07 did. 8 model years gone by, hundreds of customer complaints, and Ford still hasn't learned how to prep an aluminum hood seam for paint? After a tree fell on it in a storm & insurance totaled it I was done with Ford. Bought a Korean-built Hyundai...much better quality.
I love the newer cars engine is smaller harder to work on and about as reliable as a hooker in a relationship. Good video.👍😀👍
Blame our government and the "greenies" for forcing automakers to make smaller and smaller engines and turbocharging them to meet EPA standards. Of course now, they will be forcing us to drive electric cars in the near future. The real "fun" in that, is when the already overworked electric grid will fail to power all of those vehicles. If you live in California and know the joy of rolling blackouts in the summer time, just wait, it's going to get worse.
@@jeffjackson9679 . Pretty soon we are all gonna need an emission test on bicycles.
Owned one also, glad I had an extended warranty, biggest pos I ever owned.
My familly has a Durango and we love it and have had no problems exept the airbag module weant out at 20k miles,than 26,than 32,000 than 34,000. I thaought it was odd no one else had this issue, turns out the dealer kept sticking the wires from the module through the wrong hole under the seat, every time you would move the seat to a certain position it would yank the wires out.it has never happened again at 110,000 miles. All covered under warranty
My farther had a 78 Ford fiesta put over 300'000 miles on it what a car
Chevy and the word dealership goes together like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
i bought an '18 ecoboost mustang new. thankfully it hasn't given me any problems yet. i was thinking about the gt but the coyote engine tick scared me away. i could just imagine having put a bunch of money down on a 40k vehicle and having the ticking issue. always listening and dreading what i may find. then if i have an issue, having to deal with the dealership, all the while making my monthly payments.
Sounds like the quality control of the new interceptor utilities
GM really do seem to be good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I was actually looking at a used Cruze hatch, like a '19 or' 18. Tan leather, fully loaded. Dealer never answered my email. So I went with the second choice, a Fiesta SFE. 30000 miles, six grand (12 less than the Cruze) . So far the little 3 cylinder has been a hoot. I don't fully trust it yet, but it hasn't let me down so far and has delivered stinking good fuel economy. Any comments or early warning symptoms or maintenance suggestions for that little weirdo?
Moving the manufacturing down to Mexico only means more profit for the company. It’s not like they lower the price of the vehicle now that labor costs are less. Another thing manufacturers are doing is putting pressure on part suppliers the bring the cost down. So suppliers are building these parts with cheap materials, cheap labor and no QC. I won’t buy a GM now. Too many recent horror stories. I won’t buy a Ford built in Mexico, and I am a Ford shareholder.
Did you have a problem at Hertz with the Kia Optima?
I didn't really work on the passenger cars so much so I don't remember that being a problem
Those Kias and Hyundais are junk. They have major engine problems and they love to catch on fire. Do not buy one.
I used to own a 2012 malibu 2.4 ecotech. Bought it for 10k used with 58k miles First off, the wiring in chevy vehicles is absolute GARBAGE. Both front speakers burnt out. It would hesitate from a stop, taking almost 2 seconds to accelerate after hitting the gas. The rear defogger stopped working, checked the rear fuse box and the fuse as well as the box was melted. Final straw was when I realized I was burning through a quart of oil every thousand miles. This was "common for this engine" I was told. I currently have an 07 wrx with 174k miles on it and even it doesn't burn oil that fast! Never again.
My dad used to work for GM for 37 years as an engineer. I used to stick up for GM no matter what even though I knew lots of problems. Then in 2009 after they went bankrupt and dropkicked my dad very poorly I have an awkward feeling for them. I was so used to being a fanboy, but now I hate their guts. Despite this hate, I still feel an awkward loyalty when other people bash them. Help!!!!
Just run a search on New Gm pickup problems, then you should feel much better.
Have a 2016 Malibu had water intrusion not only through the high mount stop light but also through the shark fin antenna
Lol.. I remember all these problems from when I worked for GM, those cars had and easy 15 recalls, plus a crap ton of bulletins..