2011 Buick Lacrosse

OUR FAMILY'S 2011 BUICK LACROSSE ONLY HAS 57K MILES ON IT, AND THE ENGINE ALREADY HAS PERMANENT IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE FROM A MANUFACTURER OVERSIGHT IN WHICH THE TIMING CHAIN "SKIPS TIME." WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, THE CAR UNPREDICTABLY LOST ALL POWER, INCLUDING POWER BRAKES AND POWER STEERING. I QUICKLY MUSCLED THE CAR TO THE SHOULDER AND CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP, BUT THIS CREATED A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR OUR FAMILY AS WE WERE FORCED TO CROSS TRAFFIC, AT SPEED, TO REACH THE ROAD SHOULDER. A DAY PRIOR TO THIS INCIDENT THE VEHICLE WENT INTO "REDUCED POWER" MODE WHILE TRAVELING UPHILL, CUTTING SPEED FROM 55MPH TO 35MPH, BACKING UP TRAFFIC. CARS WERE PASSING AND HONKING IN A DOUBLE YELLOW-LINED STRETCH OF ROAD. WE SUBSEQUENTLY SHOULDERED THE CAR, SHUT OFF ITS POWER AND IT SEEMED TO BE OPERATING PROPERLY UNTIL OUR DESTINATION, BUT WE ONLY HAD 3 MILES LEFT TO TRAVEL. THE TIMING GEAR IS PRESSED-ON INSTEAD OF KEYED-ON. THIS CAN CAUSE THE TIMING CHAIN TO "SKIP TIME," DAMAGING THE ENGINE AND CAUSING ERRATIC ENGINE BEHAVIOR. OUR MECHANIC HAS SEEN OUR EXACT ENGINE ISSUE WITH THE 3.6L 6-CYL ENGINES IN VARIOUS OTHER GM VEHICLES. THE PROBLEM IS WIDESPREAD ENOUGH TO CAUSE ENGINE REBUILD COMPANIES TO KEY-ON THE TIMING GEAR, INSTEAD OF GM'S TYPICAL PRESS-ON PROCESS. OUR MECHANIC ADVISES THAT KEYING-ON THE TIMING GEAR IS KNOWN TO FIX THE ORIGINAL ISSUE OF THE TIMING CHAIN DANGEROUSLY "SKIPPING TIME." ONE SUCH COMPANY, RECOMMENDED BY OUR MECHANIC, IS JASPERENGINES.COM. I HOPE THAT THE NHTSA CAN INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE AND HOLD GM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS DANGEROUS OVERSIGHT FOR WHICH GM FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE OR ADDRESS. MY COMPLAINT IS ON RECORD AT GM'S CORP SERVICE CENTER WITH PHONE NUMBER 866-790-5600 - TICKET #[XXX]. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

THE CAR WAS JUST PURCHASED ON 112619 AND THE DAY I BOUGHT I GOT WARNING LIGHT ON DASH NEXT DAY CAR IS IN REDUCED POWER MODE, TOOK BACK TO CARMAX TO HAVE THIS ISSUE RESOLVED THEY CLEANED TPS ADV IT WAS DIRTY POOR CONTACT. TWO DAYS LATER THE LIGHT IS BACK ON THIS TIME THE CAR IS SENT TO BUICK DEALERSHIP IN GILBERT THEY REPLACED THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR AND I WAS TOLD ISSUE IS FIXED 24 HOURS LATER CAR IS BACK IN REDUCED POWER MODE

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 BUICK LACROSSE. WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO DEFROST THE WINDOWS. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT HAD TO PLACE THE DEFROSTER ON THE HOT SETTING IN ORDER FOR THE WINDOWS TO CLEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE AIR COMPRESSOR PUMP FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE CONTACT REFERENCED NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 11V149000 (VISIBILITY), BUT THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND ADVISED THE CONTACT TO CALL NHTSA TO FILE A COMPLAINT. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 117,350.

BRAKE PEDAL DOES NOT RAISE AFTER APPLY, REMAINS APPLIED AND BRAKE LIGHTS REMAIN ON UNWANTED WHEN CAR IS IN MOTION AND STATIONARY ON STREETS, HIGHWAYS AND WHILE TURNING. GM ISSUED AN INTERNAL BULLETIN ON 05/11/2018 (SEE PIC5692D) RECOGNIZING THAT THIS PROBLEM EXISTS AMONG 5 OF ITS MODELS (BUICK LACROSSE, BUICK REGAL, CADILLAC SRX, CADILLAC XTS AND CHEVROLET MALIBU) WITH THE LACROSSE PROBLEM BEGINNING 2010 THROUGH 2015. BRUSTOLON, A GM DEALER IN MYSTIC, CT CHARGED ME $70.63 TO REPLACE THE PEDAL AND RETAINER CLIPS. GIVEN HOW WIDESPREAD THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN AMONG SEVERAL GM MODELS FOR UP TO 6 YEARS, THIS REPAIR SHOULD BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF GM AS A RECALL AT NO COST TO THE VEHICLE OWNER.THIS SITUATION IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE THE BRAKE PEDAL WHEN DEPRESSED REMAINS APPLIED WEARING THE BRAKES OUT PREMATURELY. *JS

JULY 23, 2019 -I WAS ON THE HWY FOR APPROX. FOUR HOURS WITH MY NIECE WHEN SUDDENLY MY CAR CREATED A LOUD SOUND AND I LOST POWER AND CONTROL OF MY CAR INCLUDING MY BRAKES. I WAS TRAVELING AT 70 MILE PER HOUR. LUCKILY, TWO CARS HAD JUST PASSED ME WHEN THIS OCCURRED OTHERWISE I COULD HAVE HAD A VERY SERIOUS ACCIDENT. I WAS ON THE LEFT LANE AND WAS ABLE TO COAST TO THE SHOULDER. THE HWY. WAS FLAT AND I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO A STOP. THE ENGINE WOULDN'T START, BUT AFTER APPROX. FIVE MINUTES IT STARTED BUT I WASN'T ABLE TO MOVE. THE CAR IDLED EXTREMELY ROUGH. THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) LIGHT AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS WERE ON. I WAITED FOR A TOW TRUCK IN 96 DEGREE WEATHER FOR TWO HOURS BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO GET A TOW TO A GARAGE 40 MILES AWAY. THIS HAPPEND ON TUESDAY. I LEFT MY CAR AT THE BUICK DEALER AND LEFT THE KEY IN THE DROP BOX. I WAS TOLD WEDNESDAY MORNING THAT THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO LOOK AT IT UNTIL TODAY (THURSDAY), SO I HAVE NO IDEA AS YET WHAT DAMAGE HAS OCCURRED TO THE ENGINE. I HAVE ONLY 53,000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE AND IT IS A 2011 MODEL. HOW COULD SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN?

WHENEVER WE FUEL OUR 2011 BUICK LACROSSE CXS IT WOULD NOT FULLY START AND AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS, IT WOULD RUN THE BATTERY DOWN. AFTER THE SECOND INCIDENT, IT WAS OBSERVED THAT IF WE RAPIDLY PUMP THE ACCELERATOR WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS TRYING TO START IT WOULD PICK UP AND FULLY START. THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING AND IS STILL DOING, REGARDLESS OF THE FUEL STATION (EXXON-MOBILE, SHELL, MURPHY/WALMART, CITGO, CHEVON, VALERO, FUEL DEPOT, ECT.). HERE IS A LIST OF THINGS WE HAVE ATTEMPTED: 1) WITH THE GAS TANK AT ABOUT HALF, OPEN THE GAS TANK PUT THE GAS PUMP INTO THE TANK, DON'T PUMP ANY GAS, CLOSE THE TANK, START THE VEHICLE (MAYBE OPENING THE TANK WAS THE CULPRIT): ALL IS FINE. 2) WITH THE TANK AT ABOUT HALF, FULL THE TANK (DIFFERENT STATION), START THE VEHICLE: ALL IS BAD. 3) WITH THE TANK AT ABOUT EMPTY, FULL THE TANK (DIFFERENT STATION), START THE VEHICLE: ALL IS BAD. 4) WITH THE TANK AT ABOUT QUARTER, FULL TO HALF TANK (DIFFERENT STATION), START THE VEHICLE: ALL IS BAD. MY CONCLUSION IS THAT THE VEHICLE IS CREATING THE PROBLEM AND NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED. BEFORE REACHING THIS POINT, I HAD TO CALL FOR ROAD SERVICE TWICE. IN THE FIRST CASE THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A DEALERSHIP AND THEY FOUND NOTHING AND THE SECOND WE JUMPED THE VEHICLE.