
Heather of Edmonton, AB on May 3, 2010
I purchased my very first new car, a 2010 Pontiac Vibe, in late May 2009 from Lake City Motors in Cold Lake. I paid cash. I bought GM to support a struggling North American company and from this dealership as it is owned by relatives of my husband. A noise was noticeable in the engine early on. I took it in to Tercier Motors in Bonnyville October 24 to get this fixed. The car had well under 15,000 km on it at that time. Tercier Motors could not find the problem and ended up having to replace the engine. While they had the car, I was provided with a rental car with bald tires. It got stuck in our driveway 2 times during snowstorms, when my husband's car and my neighbor's vehicles could move around fine. The car was finally fixed in early December. I picked up the car on December 9.
On December 22, on our way home for Christmas, the car started to make noises, warning lights came on, the heat stopped working and we could tell something was seriously wrong. We drove to a GM dealership in Edmonton to ask if they could take a look at it, or if it would get us home. They wouldn't look at it and advised that it would get us home. The car died about 15 minutes from home. It was towed to Don Wheaton Chevrolet to get fixed. Don Wheaton had the vehicle until around January 8. They said the head gasket had blown. The vehicle was recalled due to an issue with the car's accelerator pedal in late February. I took it in to Edmonton Motors in early March to get this fixed (3rd time in the shop).
About 2 weeks after that was fixed, I had to take the vehicle in to Edmonton Motors again (4th time), as the vehicle was hesitating as though it might stall. They claimed it was a spark plug and this took 2 days to fix. I picked up the car, however soon noticed that the same issue was still present and the vehicle was continuing to hesitate as though it would stall. I called Edmonton Motors about this. They re-booked me back in for 1 week later. I took the car in on April 8 (5th time). Edmonton Motors again stated that it was a spark plug issue, but that they had to order the spark plug in and it would take 1 - 2 weeks. They stated that it was drive-able, so I would not be provided with a rental.
It is now 3 + weeks later and the spark plugs are on back order. The car is not dependable to drive at this point, so my husband and I have to carpool to work or I have to get rides home from work. It will hopefully soon be going in to the shop for the 6th time in less than a year. The car only has about 16000 km on it. I attempted to deal with the dealership about this lemon of a vehicle. The initial man I spoke with (Wayne) was very rude and didn't wish to discuss anything at all. The next person I spoke with (Debbie) was quite sympathetic. She advised that the dealership could not do anything, but that GM Canada may be able to do a buy-back or a high value trade in.
I attempted to deal with GM Canada in January 2010. I had to speak with 4 different consumer agents there. The first couple that I spoke with stated that a buy-back was possible. The 4th, Barry, was very rude and he was the final person that I was given to discuss this issue with. He reported that a buy back was definitely not an option, as this was never done. He stated that the dealership could do something if they wished, but that GM Canada would simply keep fixing the vehicle until the warranty ran out. He was asked if a free extended warranty would be provided since the vehicle had performed so poorly - the answer was no. He was asked if they would provide extra On-star and XM radio, since I had been without the vehicle for over 2 months total. He stated that this may be possible, but that he didn't think so. He did offer a voucher for a free check up and oil change. This was never received. This was the same time that there were the recalls on the Toyota Matrix vehicles over the accelerator pedal.
As a Vibe is essentially the same vehicle, I asked about the recall. Barry stated that the Vibe is fine and that I needn't worry. He stated that if the accelerator pedal stuck, that I should then contact a GM dealership to get it fixed. He was asked for clarification, as if the gas pedal stuck, this would be putting me in a dangerous situation. He was asked if he would tell a family member that advise as well. He stated that he wouldn't. I asked to speak with his manager. He initially refused, but eventually relented, advising that his manager would call me.
Barry's manager did call me. She stated that Barry should not have told me to wait until my vehicle was in an accident prior to seeking help for the pedal but did confirm that the Vibe was not yet on the recall list (it was added on and I received the notice about 3 weeks later). Barry's manager did offer me 2 free months Onstar and provided me with an $18 rebate for the XM radio I had missed. As GM Canada had stated that the dealership was the only one that could do anything, the dealership was contacted again. Debbie again stated that she was sorry, the vehicle was a lemon, but that they could not do anything.
I am upset that GM does not want to take any more accountability for a completely undependable vehicle than they have. I bought a brand new vehicle to have something reliable and dependable, and this vehicle is neither. I am 5 months pregnant, and refuse to have this vehicle when my baby is born, as I need a vehicle I can count on to get us around. So I will have to take a huge hit on trade-in (probably losing $10,000) to buy this new vehicle and go in to debt right before I have to go off work for a year. I am upset that GM sells themselves as being a dependable company that cares, when their actions and their vehicles do not correlate with that.
I do not know if anything can be done but I would like for consumers to know how GM Canada treats its customers once they have gotten their money for a vehicle and the lack of accountability they have for selling a car that has so many issues. I am due to give birth in less than 4 months and be off work for a year. With that looming, I will still have to go in to debt to purchase another vehicle, as this one is not dependable. I worked hard to earn the money to pay cash for this car, and now I will lose at least $10000 of that when trading in this vehicle. This has caused emotional stress, annoyance and now financial stress.