Action against GM - 94-96 Caprice

[JoeinLA]

This is to all 94-96 Caprice owners;
As you might have noticed, we have an awful lot of problems with our cars, and major ones like overheating, transmission, all kind of electrical, etc.
I myself spent already several thousand dollars on repairs. Chances are you too.
After some invastigation, I found out that the Arlington, TX factory (where all these cars were made) was closed down by GM because of major problems in quality-control. In short, we got lemons from day one, and GM knew it.
We should be uniting and push GM, possibly in legal action, to cover major repairs or buy the cars back. These cars should have never been sold to the public, and dealers will tell you (as I found it out) that many cars had obvious quality issues in the showroom at the time. Let me know what you think.

[silicon212]

#1. It's 2008, so the NEWEST cars are now 12 years old. I don't think GM should have to buy any of them back.

#2. Arlington was not closed due to quality issues - it was converted to Tahoe production.

#3. At least in my experience, the troubles you lay above are not in any larger number, per capita, than any other car. I've not seen anyone express transmission trouble (outside of the RSS in the 4L60/700R4 series), overheating, electrical or anything else out of the ordinary.

#4. If you're spending thousands on an 11-13 year old car to get it to 'run right', perhaps the car is old and worn out, and you should just get another car.

I am sorry, but your arguments might be relevant if this were 1998 and there were large amounts of complaints - but niether one of these applies.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by JoeinLA

In short, we got lemons from day one, and GM knew it.
We should be uniting and push GM, possibly in legal action, to cover major repairs or buy the cars back.

Oh great, that's what we need, another "class action" lawsuit against GM. Better stand in line. You know most of these suits net the plaintiffs very little after lawyer's fees are deducted from any settlement if you are lucky enough to get a settlement.
I agree with silicon, the time has passed to worry about these cars. I've talked to many owners over the years and seen other forums devoted to these cars to know that they aren't as bad as other models which have more issues.

[463]

if you love your auto fix it. if you don't sell it. it's just that simple.

[beat88ls]

silicon, ventureowner and 463 said it all... we love our cars, if you are putting that kind of money into yours and are this unhappy why keep it? my ford ranger soaked me for over $5000 in repairs in the 6 years i owned it so i got rid of it, i suggest you do the same

[463]

before we beat this one to death. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERY ONE.

[Blue Bowtie]

Aside from the scheduled preventive maintenance, I've installed one Opti cap and rotor, one water pump (preventive maintenance with the Opti - It hadn't failed), one oil cooler line, 8 spark plugs and wires, a few sets of tires, brakes, wiper blades, fixed the air injection pump, and replaced an accessory belt.

My '94 only has 128K on it, however, so I really don't know how "bad" it will be when it is finally broken in. I "hated" it so much I also bought a '96.

When I was working on customers' cars to pay the bills, I saw one Helluva lot more wrong-wheel-drive GMs, Fords of all flavors (especially Romeo engines), every Chrysler ever made, and a pretty fair share of "good" cars like Hondas and Toyotas for problems than I ever saw GM B-Bodies.

What, exactly, happened to your car to make you feel it is a lemon? How did the transmission fail (which parts failed)?

Overheating? How did the cooling system fail? Was the coolant checked for concentration, pH, and dissolved solids every year, like it is supposed to? And changed when necessary?

What electrical problems did you experience? Other than the TSB for the UEC power stud, there was no real problem area on these cars.

Oh, and Happy New Year.

[silicon212]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[j cAT]

I have owned several vehicles over many years and the 96 impala is as built a very easy vehicle to repair. the costs since 1995 have been very small, one water pump , 2 check valves and one air pump,one tie rod, 4shocks, had to repaint plastic bumpers and spoiler,one set of brake pads front /rear,one belt,thermostat. and the idler arm . I only have one complaint and that is the opti distributor is not easily accessible . GM did make a mistake when they stopped the manufcturing of this body type a little more work on other impovements would have increased popularity. cops and cabbies miss this vehicle and mechanics find it easy to work on.............

[96capricemgr]

I have two b-bodies, one has 180K miles on it, I bought it at 50K, HEAVILY modified and still very reliable at nearly twice stock power levels.
My wagon I bought at 172K miles and it has 222K on it now, I have put oil cooler lines on it, a coolant flush, shocks, a waterpump, front pads and a tuneup and just a few months ago took it on a 2500miles in just over a week trip. IMO not bad for the miles and age.

Basically between my two cars I have put 180K miles on them, owned one almost 8 year and the other just over 2, a lot of miles considering it is rural driving not that much highway. I would call them very reliable and solidly built cars, not perfect, but I will take them over the Ford's and Toyotas co-workers have had more serious problems with.

Want to get an idea what a quality vehicle is go the a pick your part junkyard, the cars you see with no body damage but in the junkyard are the ones to be wary of. Co-worker found out the hard way that the Grand Marquis sucks every time he needs parts the junkyards have cars but the exact same parts are already broken and that is why good bodied cars are in the yard.

Maybe the difference is the rest of us do our own work and therefore have a better understanding of mechanicals and repairs we do make cost a fraction as much.

If you expect to write a check for every repair, drive something a LOT newer and stick to GM because the parts are cheaper.
Almost all repairs the labor will cost more than the parts would at the parts store, remember shops markup parts too as well as charge labor so looking at a bill you will get a false sense of parts expense. They have a lot of facilities and insurances and all to pay for which is why mechanical work is expensive, I am not saying they are crooks.

[beat88ls]

Originally Posted by 96capricemgr

Want to get an idea what a quality vehicle is go the a pick your part junkyard, the cars you see with no body damage but in the junkyard are the ones to be wary of. Co-worker found out the hard way that the Grand Marquis sucks every time he needs parts the junkyards have cars but the exact same parts are already broken and that is why good bodied cars are in the yard.

you are so right... in the 8 years i have owned my caprices i have NEVER seen a caprice in any of the 5 local junk yards around my area. my mechanic has had 2 caprices since i have started going to him, an 89 which he bought new and a 94 ex state trooper car. he swears by them... he is the reason i bought my both of mine. in the 4 years i have owned my 83 the most major thing i have done is replace the break lines from the master to the drums. it needs a fuel tank and new springs/shocks but that is common age related stuff

[mike561]

I think the most kind of cars that GM made that had a tendancies to wear out quick and have big problems were 90s model pontiacs, they are nice LOOKING cars, but ive seen many 90s pontiacs with lots of trouble and talked to alot of owners too. i myself used to drive a 98 grand prix gtp supercharged, gorgeous car and loved the supercharger power, but i must have put in $3000 in repairs to it and its still not running great, it was just one after another.

[PeteA216]

See, I have to disagree, my '93 (well not "officially" mine) Grand Prix with the 3.1L V6 has and the only MAJOR problem it's ever had was needing a new ECM for $120. All other minor things consist of brakes, 1 steel coolant line, distributor plug seal, exhaust, altenator and normal maintanace. Oh and just a week ago the ignition module went, the second most major thing to go. I don't think thats all that bad for a 15 year old car with over 160,000 miles on it. The car's still running strong, starting up on 2-3 cranks everytime no matter what the temperature is out, shifting smoothly and firm, and still has a good amount power for being such a small engine.