need help from my Tundra Brethren Dealership Issues with Non Toyota

Hello All,

Fortunately for the community here this is not on a tundra. My trusty 2018 has been the reliable workhorse we expect from Toyota. However, being the best auto blog community with experienced auto folks I need some advice/help. I’m having quite a big issue with my wife’s new 2022 Cadillac Escalade. I was warned by another user here who’s a GM mechanic about the problems with lifters and 6.2 engine and GM as a whole platform.

Of course when I’m out of town last Thursday my wife after dropping kids off and going to Target drives away and on the highway doing 70 suffers from a complete loss of power, every check engine/disable forward collision/rear differential warning lights come on, it’s smoking from the back she smells burnt plastic and it decelerates on its own on a timer, shuts down once she stopped, shakes violently and won’t turn back on. She calls me and I heard a lady say mam nice vehicle but it’s smoking from the back. She thinks it’s something with the rear axle cause a message popped up that said rear axle failing 3 times then decelerating. Also before this we’ve both noticed when driving it something with the limited slip differential sounding like the tires are chirping or bald when turning but they’re not and had just been rotated and balanced.

we call the local Cadillac dealer they send a tow truck. Tow truck driver was able to get it to start and roll onto his truck but it was shaking and acting funny.

the techs at the shop notice this when pulling off.

Then they supposedly contact GM for a tech and mind you this place is packed with new GMs Escalades Yukons, etc waiting to be serviced. They have no loaner cars but fortunately she was able to Uber to the airport and use my reliable tundra while I was gone to get our kids from school and what not.

anyhow they wait for a special technician and they look at codes. Now saying they can’t replicate what happened and have zero solution. Today they’re having a tech drive it home to see if it acts up. Service advisor said he initially thought it was a. Bad fuel injector stuck open dumping fuel into exhaust system which is reason for the smoke.

now I’ve always serviced this Escalade at the dealership. They just did 30k mile service (complete BS) consisted of throttle body cleaning, oil change, balance and rotate tires, and check fluids/top off.

but we have also had 4 times relentless issues of low oil add engine oil since about 10k miles. Every time the oil life percentage (that’s how GM recommends it) not mileage but computer calculates cleanliness of oil. Bottom line when it gets to 20 percent this is about 8k miles. Each time saying engine oil low add oil. First time the tech topped off with 1.5 qts clearly there is a leak and engine is burning oil.

I then notice a spot of oil on my garage floor. Monitor it bring it back. Again they try to say it’s a sensor and send me on my way. I argue show em the picture they do the diagnostics and find out it’s the oil pan gasket. They do the repair. It seems okay. Oil gets low again and get the same message. This time they confirm it’s a sensor issue and not to worry. They clear it and do the 30k service. Then this whole fiasco
happens.

bottom line the wife doesn’t feel safe. I have 4 documented issues with same problem. Then this worse problem and they have no fix or solution. We can’t trust this vehicle and I am ready to do what it takes to ensure GM compensates and remedies the issue. This dealership is reputable but I don’t trust them. I’m at the point of filing a lemon law. Bought it brand new and have 34k miles. It’s got a bumper to bumper warranty until 4 yr/50k miles. I get the feeling they’re trying to kick the issues down the road. Have any of you filed lemon law? How difficult? And yes it’s still in lemon law range but that range for texas ends in December I’m in month 26 of ownership (have 30 mon

 

Way too long to read all that

 

Read first 2 paragraphs bullet points

has anyone filed a lemon law against a manufacturer- GM in my case

4 times been to dealer for same issue add engine oil. Middle time they found leak in oil pan gasket

now after 30k service escalade dies on highway, complete loss of power, shaking and vibrating, every warning light imaginable including rear axle failure 3 times, vehicle is smoking from rear.

dealership tows to them and has no solution. Is now saying it’s acting fine for them.

 

Clickbait trash

 

Changed thread title thanks for pointing that out.

 

Contact a local lemon law attorney.

Mods, feel free to close the thread now

 

Lemon laws vary from state to state.

 

This. You are going to need to contact a lawyer in your state to understand. Lehto's law (youtube) talks about this in MI often, but he says to everyone, get a lawyer in your state the laws aren't the same.

 

I've have a vehicle purchased back from me by Ford using the lemon law and you need to get a lawyer involved. I'm in Arizona and I do know the laws vary from state to state. Long story short, if you don't have a lawyer GM will easily drag it out for who knows how long, even with a lawyer they will try to stretch it as far as they can but the sooner you get one involved the better.

In Arizona the manufacturer is responsible for Attorney fees up to a point so I wouldn't be surprised if TX is the same, there was no out of pocket for me.

I had a 2020 Shelby GT500 and I paid $10,000 over MSRP but Ford paid me back the full purchase price, minus a mileage deduction of course. How they calculated that mileage deduction is not dictated by law but if you try the back and forth negotiation they will take weeks to respond between each correspondence so I just took what they initially offered.

My advice, reach out to a lemon law lawyer ASAP.

 

thanks kilo ops

 

I just lemon lawed an F150. The laws are different but have some things in common. Some general comments-

- You'll only be remediated by the manufacturer if you bought the vehicle new. It gets dicey even if you bought it through a broker as a new vehicle.
- The basic parameters are 3 or 4 attempts to fix the same warranty issue without success or >30-45 days in the shop for warranty repairs during the warranty period.
- Keep all receipts including rental cars. taxes, registration, finance charges and so no. Make payments on the lease or finance. GMAC is completely separate from the buyback process. All you'll do is screw your credit up with he 3rd party agency if you skip payments.
- If you have a drivetrain issue mods on the drivetrain are bad. One of the first questions they ask.
- Remediation is negotiated but in general the payout is a % of the mileage accrued against a service life of 120,000 miles. My F150 took about 7 weeks from first call to me getting a check and that was considered extremely fast. I did not use an attorney but had it reviewed by an attorney. The legal guidance was that my case was so airtight it would slow the process down to get an attorney as it puts the people on the other side in a deeper state of legal review as opposed to a well established process. Your milage may vary. Tune the emotion out, stick to the facts, and only take advice from people that have successfully gone through the experience.
Sorry to hear about the problems and good luck.

 

Boulder thanks for your advice. Question is obvious this whole highway shut down shaking vibration smoke from rear is something that never happened before. However my concern is that it’s something related to the low engine oil light that has happened 4 times with us dropping off at service dept.

First time they added oil and said they didn’t find a leak so it’s the sensor. Then same thing again- blame sensor. 3rd time I physically see the oil on my garage floor show them pics and was in the shop for 2-1/2 weeks until they found a leak and blamed it on oil pan gasket. So in total that’s about 3 weeks in shop. Then this past 4Th time it happened again. They blame it on sensor and do 30k mile service (in shop for 5 days). 2 weeks after we get all these errors, and the vehicle loses power on the highway. It’s been in the shop for 6 days. Total that up it’s over a month, but does the month have to be consecutive?

I bought the vehicle brand new from a Cadillac dealer (no 3rd party). Do I file a lemon law against the dealer who’s done the service and can’t remedy the problem or back to the original dealer I purchased from?

 

First, I'm sorry you're having a problem. $100K for an Escalade and not a great experience is terrible. I think anyone would understand your frustration.

The start of the buyback or lemon law process will be started by you or your lemon law attorney with Cadillac. Call their 800 service number and tell them you want them to buy back your vehicle for failed repeated attempts to remediate a problem within the warranty period. Start a call log of who you talked to and the date. If a case # is issued reference that on every call. The dealer only does three things at this point- 1. continue to fix the problem. 2. Provide records to Cadillac for the claim. 3. Process the return and giving you a check if the buyback is approved. I would advise against beating the dealer. They have no power in authorizing the return and they probably wish the problem didn't exist more than you do.

Your fact base- It needs to be concise, consistent and oriented toward buyback laws- i.e., "I've had 4 failed attempts under warranty to repair a critical engine system problem that appears to be related to lubrication. Most recently, this caused a safety issue when the CEL alerts illuminated and the vehicle stalled while making a left turn in oncoming traffic. It is my belief this vehicle is no longer safe to drive." Your facts need the rhyme and cross check with what you reported to the dealer when you opened the tickets. The first thing Cadillac will do is to call the dealer. If the stories vary too much it's a problem so get it right from the
jump.

When you make the call to Cadillac be prepared with the VIN, are you the original owner, where did you buy it, who was the servicing dealer and is it modded. Having contact information for the dealer and Service manager helps a bit. Also, it is 3-4 attempts to fix a single issue not warranty trips. So if the radio went out, a headlight didn't work and you had an oil sensor failure that is only 1 trip per problem not 3 trips. That's why there is the 30-40 day parameter for days in for warranty repair as that would cover the instance of many trips for multiple problems. The days are not consecutive by the way but they do not include day in for routine service. i.e., your 30K service days would not count toward the 30 days.

Hope this helps.