So my Tahoe has been repurchased. Kind of a sad day since my wife and kids loved the vehicle. We've never owned a vehicle where 4 kids can sprawl out with Bluetooth headphones while charging their tablets while watching their the Roku on a 12 hour road trip. But we had to accept that this truck is trash or built at least was built like trash. I'm not bashing the all of them. But clearly even the dealership agreed this vehicle is lemon. It didn't help that I worked with a dealership that refused to even WANT to try fixing the truck. My history is as follows:
Buy the vehicle: (ISSUE 1 & 2) seat frame moves when stopping and going, passenger side running board doesn't work (this will become the root issue later in the story). Got these fixed but I had to fight with the dealership for weeks to get them to agree that the seat frame ISN'T supposed move.
2 weeks later: ( ISSUE 3) third row AC actuator stops working. Click sounds from third row AC verifies. Part on order 3 weeks out.
1 month later: (ISSUE 4) drivers side seat AC seat blower making a squealing noise. Gets replaced within a few days along with the third row HVAC actuator.
2 weeks later: (ISSUE 5) wind noise rattle from roof dash area. Turns out it's the bracket that holds the AC line through the firewall. There's a bulletin for this that states the factory "forgot" to install correctly.
3 weeks later (ISSUE 6): the infamous 6.2L squealing starts. There's bulletin for this as we all know. The the 6.2L can produce zero squeals or up 5 squeals. Lucky me, I got all 5 squeals. Squeal when stopping. Squeal at auto stop/start. Squeal when accelerating. Squeal at start up. Squeal when shifting. Yay! Nothing can be done.
1 month later (ISSUE 7): transmission rumble at 30-39 mph. Known issue. Dealer says transmission valve bodies are bad on 10 speeds, as long it's brought up by customers the dealer will replace the valve body. Don't complain, you get to see how long tranny will go without an issue when you're out of warranty. Glad they're looking out for customers. 6 week back order on valve bodies
While waiting 6 weeks for the valve body (ISSUE 8): There's been a rattle from the passenger side a-pillar that only occurs at 80mph or above. Dealer refuses to trouble shoot since the issue is only present above the speed limit. Service manager drives with me and verifies the issue. Still refuses address. GM engineer comes out. Hears the rattle on video but will not drive the vehicle over 70mph. I'm told that any issue in the vehicle (or any vehicle) that is present above the speed limit are not considered actual issues and the vehicles are performing normally. Lemon Law suit filed.
3 moths later: Dealer get 4th and final repair attempt. Again refused to attempt to fix the rattle.
Repurchase gets approved by GM.
2 weeks later: [While waiting for my scheduled vehicle surrender date (ISSUE 9 & 10)] Third row AC upper ceiling vents no longer working. Only way to get air to the 3rd row is by the lower vents. I'm sure this has something to do third row actuator again, but I don't really care anymore at this point. Additionally, the front drivers side suspension has started clunking and popping loudly when reversing out of a parking spot with the steering wheel at full lock. Nothing more I can do, but I'm sure this would have been another "that's perfectly normal" situation with the dealership.
On a side note, once the repurchase was approved, I did trouble shooting on the Tahoe. My wife drove and laid the passenger seat flat and stuck my head under the glove box. The rattle was coming from the lower end of the A-pillar. Used a rubber mallet to replicate tapping on the a pillar and discover a loose screws at the end of the running board. Removed the fender liner on the passenger front wheel and noticed that the bracket that holds the front side of the running board was complete unbolted from the factory.
So basically, when you hit 80 mph or above, and the grill louvers shit to increase aerodynamics, the air gets rerouted to the fender vents. The air going through the fender vents makes the fender liner vibrate. The fender liner vibration makes the loose screws rattle causing the rattle sound to travel up the A-pillar. Sucks dealer didn't try. I tightened the bolts and the rattle went completely away. The dealer could have easily done this, but they don't get paid to diagnose issues. And I'm sure they get paid nothing in wrench time to tighten a few bolts. Sucked. I'd of kept the truck if they'd fixed it.
I wonder if the UAW 4 day work week and 40% pay increase will make them actually build the vehicles correctly. Probably not.
Hard to believe how poorly built these things are. I know many of you have had no problems at all, but man...how unlucky am I that I found the one truck that had EVERY issue. Like I said my family loved the truck, so I'm wondering if it's worth taking the shot on a 2025 model. Maybe it'll be built better.
