What's the deal with a loaner car or GM supplying a replacement vehicle during recall service? I as far as I understood, we/I was entitled to a vehicle. The nearest GM dealer for me is 25 minutes from me and 3 hrs for the repair is a lot of time to sit at the dealer and wait for a repair, that is their fault.

 

You'll have to ask the dealer you use.

For me, I had the ignition switch repair done. In and out was under 1 hour. No need for a loaner.

 

I thought that you could get a loaner from the time you walked into the dealership and requested the recall until the recall was done. For some that has been months.

The actual hands on work only takes about 35 minutes.

You would have to read the previous 50 pages.

 

I haven't had the recall done and don't intend to. It hasn't been an issue on our vehicle and I don't like other people working on my cars. I am aware of what the issue is and don't feel that not having it done is risky in our situation. So I have just been filing the recall notices in the HHR file and ignoring them. I have had recalls done on other vehicles in the past and am not opposed to all recalls. I just feel like this is fixing something that isn't broken. My two cents. (153,000+ miles now on 2008 LS)

 

I'm the same as you, if I'm not working on my car I really don't want anyone else touching them. I was a mechanic and didn't always like the way others worked on customer's cars.

GM and Toyota have had class action law suits filed against them, because of the deaths of certain makes and models. They have put a recall in place to correct the faulty parts, so I would be inclined to believe, if this part on your vehicle failed and you were aware it might, you maybe subject to negligence. Your odds are probably as low as winning the lottery of it happening, but it's not just your life being endangered. I don't think anyone involved in previous accidents knew when their vehicle was going to malfunction.

 

I am a mechanic too and usually feel as you do. HOWEVER i had the key roll back on me when i hit a sharp pothole that i couldnt avoid in time. Luckily the road was straight, I realized what happened, threw it into neutral and restarted it. This happened a couple years ago before the recall. I would hate to have seen what would of happened if i was on a bend possibly though hopefully i would of not run out of talent.

I would really recommend sucking it up and let them replace it. Its not a matter of failure but a design flaw. It can happen to anyone if you hit a hard bump.

 

Based on your perceived experience, you probably would have steered the car to a straight portion of the road and then restarted. My statement is qualified by the speed at which you were traveling at the time of disengagement. AND OF COURSE, the amount of immediate traffic.

My limited testing at 75, 70, 65, 60, 55, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30 and 25 MPH indicated a reasonably experienced driver would still have steering with a minimal amount of effort.....even with one hand. JMO

 

Got side curtain pads and ignition switch recalls taken care of today.

Out of 5 Chevy dealers in a 50 mile radius, only ONE has Saturday hours. These guys were hoppin'.

Dropped it off last night via Early Bird drop for appt. this morning. Went back to pick it up midmorning, and it was ready and waiting. Decent service writer and receptionist/cashier.

No complaints with dealership. Matthews Chevrolet in Vestal, NY. Saturday appt. availability is a plus. I make it a habit to give credit where credit is due.

 

I bought this 2008 HHR and I asked the seller was there a recall. He said yes, but that he had been too busy to take it in. When you put the ignition key in the switch, it had to be left with a small space from the cylinder to turn the key for the car to start. I took it in and had them put in a new ignition switch and a new key and cylinder. It now works like it's supposed to. I don't understand why some people put off things like this.

 

Sometimes people really are "too busy". Everybody has a different story and different circumstances. I have not had the time to run 30 miles over to the only dealer in this area with Saturday hours, and I don't get off work early enough to take it after work. I don't have time to sit and wait for it on Saturday mornings, so we waited until we had other things to do in the area and just left it and came back for it.

Don referenced a less than 40% compliance rate so far. The service writer I talked to when I set up my appt. said he's done some, but not very many, and he actually had one on the shelf for my VIN, so "let's do it". I asked him if he has seen any actual switch problems and he told me he hasn't seen many. That doesn't mean it's not a real issue, and they took care of mine promptly and did a good job.


Sometimes it's "out of sight, out of mind." I never experienced any indication whatsoever that my switch was suspect at all. Our roads are Pothole Central in the Spring and I've encountered my share of rough roads.