yeah… it’s BS
atleast it’s still under warrenty I suppose
The NHTSA document, requesting all documents about strut rub complaints from GM:
http://199.79.180.163/prepos/files/Artemis/Public/Pursuits/2007/PE/INIM-PE07010-25269p.pdf
I’m expecting to see a recall on this eventually.
Make sure to file your complaint with the NHTSA here:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
That way GM can’t claim this is a “rare” issue. When 3 of the 4 GTO’s I know of locally are having the issue, it sure as hell isn’t rare.
because since buying the car, i’ve realized that i should get serious about school and that a car is gonna be transportation for a few more years until i can afford a toy when i have a real job. Also, i’m getting sick of the car being in for service more than its not (so far ive had it in 4 times for the shifter problem, once for the strut rub, 3 times for the e-brake, twice for the steering wheel radio controls, and twice for a mysterious squeak and clunk in the front end) and my warranty is up at the end of the year, so what happens if this repair trend continues?
i know thats a sad excuse, but my main reason is i’ve shifted my priorities around a bit (finish school, get a real job, move out of home > fast car) and i dont need an expensive car payment right now. so, i got something a little more friendly on my insurance, and my monthly budget, and the GM 5 Year/100,000 Mile Certified Used Car/Truck warranty is quite appealing to me. it all worked out because the dealer gave me more for the car than i paid for it, so im not really out too much money for driving the car for 3 months.
No problems with mine. 16K miles.
no shame in that… sorry to hear about all the problems
Well, just got a call from John over at Culligan.
“We couldn’t reproduce the alternator whine problem, so it doesn’t exist”
“The tires are rubbing because you have snows, so we didn’t do anything there”
“We did fix the the lock though”.
So I try to remain calm and not flip out, go home, load up my original GM issued BFGoodrich tires that have no tread on the inside because they were rubbing on the strut, and drive them over.
I meet with the service manager, show him the NHTSA document, as well as the pictures of the bushings from this thread, and he moves on to, “it must be alignment”. So he throws it on the insto-alignment machine and what do you know, it’s within spec.
So he finally agrees to call TAC and see what they have to say about the problem. And GM wonders why no one wants to buy their products. I understand all cars have issues, and I’m really not upset with GM over this bushing problem, at least from an engineering standpoint. But the difference between a GM and a Toyota is how they handle mistakes on the customer service side.
So I’ll ask again, PLEASE, make sure you file your NHTSA compaint if you have strut rub. It takes less than 5 minutes and it’s the only way GM is ever going to do anything.
damn jay… thats screwed up… hopefully they get you some new tires. I wont know for sure that mine are rubbing until I get them off of the car (so I can check the strut), but I’m pretty sure that is the culprit. I will deffinitly file a complaint when I do that.
Honestly, I don’t even want new tires. I know they only thing they’d replace them with is another set of stock POS BFGs, and I don’t want them. I don’t mind buying new tires (in fact, I ordered them Monday), but I want the problem fixed.
I just got a reply from the NHTSA. Looks like I’ve got some homework to do.
Dear Mr. Sears,
My name is Derek Rinehardt and I am a federal investigator with the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. We are conducting a formal investigation of 2004 through 2006 model year Pontiac GTO vehicles for a potential front tire to front strut interference condition.
Thank you for filing a complaint with us. It is helpful to our investigation. As we gather more details it is sometimes necessary to contact the complainants for additional information.
Your complaint suggests that your vehicle may have experienced the condition we are investigating. If you wouldn’t mind, please answer the questions below to supplement the information you have already provided us. The questions may seem trivial and some may be redundant to your complaint but are very important to us.
Please indicate all tires affected by the tire / strut exhibited the interference condition (i.e. driver’s front, passenger’s front, driver’s rear, passenger’s rear)?
Were the tires the original equipment tires on the vehicle when you became aware of the condition?
a) What were the size and brand of the tires?Was there any visible damage to the tire(s)? If so please describe the general area where the damage was located?
If there was damage to the tire(s), did the damage result in any air loss?
- If there was air loss, please answer the following questions:
a) How would you describe the air loss?
- Rapid/Immediate,
- Within a couple seconds,
- More than a few seconds,
- Unknown
b) What warning signs if any alerted you to the problem?
c) How many miles were on your vehicle?
d) If you were driving when you experienced air loss, what type of road were you
traveling on? Approximately how fast were you driving?e) Was the vehicle left inoperable (needed towing or couldn’t be driven)?
f) Did you loose control of the vehicle or were you involved in an accident related to
the tire to strut interference? If so please describe further.g) How would you describe the traffic conditions light, moderate or heavy traffic? Were you able to safely maneuver out of traffic?
If you have the ability to take and send pictures via email, please forward any pictures that may show the interference condition between the strut and tire or a picture of a failed/damage tire if it has been removed from the vehicle. Additionally, if one side of the vehicle is not showing an interference condition, a picture of that side of the vehicle showing clearance between the strut and the tire would be beneficial also).
Has the issue been corrected on your vehicle? If so how was it corrected?
Also, please feel free to add any additional relevant information (including other pictures). Thank you again for filing your complaint and contributing to our investigation.
Best Regards,
Derek L. Rinehardt
Safety Defects Engineer / Federal Investigator
U.S Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Office of Defects Investigation, Vehicle Controls Division
400 7th Street SW Rm 5326B, NVS-213
Washington, DC 20590
Office: (202) 366-3642, (800) 986-9678 x63642
Fax: (202) 366-1767
Fucking dealerships :bloated:
You know the drill Jay: Dealership=Satan.
About how long does the process (info gathering) take before a recall is issued?
This almost sounds similar to the problems with tire wear on the 350Z, although I’m not quite sure if they were suspension related.
Oh trust me, I’m well aware that dealerships suck. But, the car is under warranty and I’d rather fight with them for a while trying to get it fixed than spend my own money doing it myself.
No idea how long it would take on the recall. I can say this, with one serious injury reported from a tire blowout at speed that was most likely caused by strut rub reported to the NHTSA, and the mess with the Explorer/Firestone thing, they seem to be taking it VERY serious. Which again, is why I hope every GTO owner is filing a report with the NHTSA if they are experiencing this issue.
I can get all the parts I need to fix it from Pedders for < $200 and I’m confident I could do the install in an afternoon, so I’m not going to fight too long. Hell, I might just end up doing something stupid like ordering the StreetII package and replacing lots of parts 
I’ll be putting new tires on my car shortly… I’ll be sure to have a camera ready if it is the problem.
it sucks though because my warrenty is up jun 9th 
I think this may be a replacement from an Austrailian company SuperPro (kinda like Energy Suspension).
http://www.globalperformanceparts.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=SPF2498K&x=14&y=8
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Upper replacement of OE # 92002882
It will be listed here as the Monaro
http://www.fulcrumsuspensions.com.au/fulcrumCat/
I ordered from Global and they had quick shipping.
^ Thanks.
If I end up going the fix it myself route I’ll probaby go with Pedders just because they are THE Gto suspension guys. They know more about the strut rub issue than the GM engineers.
http://peddersusa.com/images/PDFS/GTO_Strut%20Mount_585.pdf
My only problem is making myself only get the two mounts and the two bearings, and not something like their entire serious street II package.
Must think of daycare charges… must think of daycare charges…
UPDATE:
The local dealer didn’t budge.
Called GM customer service, they’ve opened a case, they sound very unhappy with Culligan right now. Actually on the phone with them now.
Will update later.
good luck… let us know
Bryan Dougin, a service specialist at GM, is going to call me back between 5 and 7 tomorrow. Will update here when i know more.
Sweet. Sometimes you wonder why corporate doesn’t take a harder stance with some of these shady dealers on their customer service.
Oh really? ANd where do these spacers go to remidy this problem?
^ Up your dealers ass. Wedge the spacer up there good and far and suddenly fixing your strut rub problem won’t seem like such a pain in the ass… since he’ll know what a pain in the ass really is.
I took the car back from the dealer today… figured I’d rather have it at my house while GM customer service fights with them. I talked to Chris (service guy there today) and he seemed real cool. Said yes, it’s a problem, no, doing an alignment isn’t fixing the problem, but that I’d have to wait until Monday.
So when I got home I took the strut cap off, and the bushing is pretty much level with the top of the frame. It should be about 1/2 to 3/4th of an inch below there, so clearly the struts are colapsed. I took some pictures and put it back together. Have to get my CS reps email and send them to him Monday morning.