My new Denali is back at the dealer for vibration issues

[DennisT]

As I had previously posted, I have a new Denali that has vibration issues. They start at about 43 mph and continue on up to 85. I took it back to the dealer a couple of days after I picked it and they balanced the tires but said they really weren't out of balance. I took it back and left for a two week trip in it. The ride was horrible the whole trip. Feels like a tire balance issue. So I took it back to the dealer today, my first day back. They've had the truck all day. They called and said they rechecked the balance with no improvement. They acknowledged the problem and the technician took another new one out for a comparison. They said it had vibrations worse than mine. So the coordinator called back and said there was nothing more that they could do. I said that was unacceptable and I didn't want it back until it was right. She told me to contact GM service. I politely explained to her that she and her service manager could coordinate that effort. I also told here I was fine with getting my money and my trade-in back. Any advice on how to proceed with them at this point?

Dennis

 

[ISU-152]

I find it hard to believe Gm trained techs can't fix their own vehicles. There's so many things you could check like drive shaft balance, bolt torque, bushings, even just rotating the tires to see if the vibration moves. If I was you I'd test drive some of their "Gm inspected" vehicles, find one you like and just crush them on the price for the sake of customer satisfaction. Dropping $40-$70k on a Denali is no joke and GM should be ashamed here. Even a newer one was worse as you stated

 

[JennaBear]

Word on the street, is that dealerships are swapping the Bridgestones out for Michelins and the issue goes away. If the vehicle sat on the dealer lot, the Bridgestones are known for getting flat spots.

 

[DennisT]

Word on the street, is that dealerships are swapping the Bridgestones out for Michelins and the issue goes away. If the vehicle sat on the dealer lot, the Bridgestones are known for getting flat spots.

I heard that also. I suggested that to the service coordinator. I do suspect that the tires are contributing. Mine was a June built car so I don't know how long it sat in one place. I did put 3000 miles on it over two weeks so I would of hoped the flat spots would have improved.

 

[JennaBear]

If it is tires with flat spots, you can do some brake stands with it to try to even them out. Otherwise, you could try another dealer.

 

[ISU-152]

Makes a lot of sense

 

[2manycars4me]

Bought mine in July with a build date in April. No vibration or other issues so far. Just over 1400 miles on it.
Never a fan of the Bridgestones, had them on the Chevy SS and hated them. Not sure about the theory on Michelins, don't the Cadillac Escalade's come with Michelins and have vibration issues?

 

[Radguy]

I test drove a 2016 Denali XL with 20 inch wheels and Continental tires and it had the vibration at highway speed--very noticeable--you could see the steering wheel visibly shake.

After I decided against the vehicle (mainly for that reason and nothing else), the sales manager admitted that the dealership had to replace entire rear ends on several vehicles to correct the issue.

 

[Tee202]

I bought my denali 8/8/16. Upon the test drive there was a terrible shake at around 70mph. The vehicle only had 6 miles on it.

My truck was built on 3/31/16. And delivered to Laura on 4/12/16. Luckily I had the salesman inside the truck during the vibrations and he mentioned it was flat spots from sitting. They changes all 4 wheels and tires 22" with the same Bridgestone and no more vibrations for now and hopefully forever.

I pushed the truck this morning up to 92mph and smooth as can be. Currently have 326 miles on it and counting.

See if they can change the wheels it may or my not help.

 

[DennisT]

Here's an update. The dealer called yesterday and said that they had rebalanced the tires and it didn't help and there was nothing more they could do. I refused to pick it up (I had their loaner). I told them to call GM and get it fixed. They called and said they had talked to GM and were told to road force balance the tires. I thought they had already done that. I went back today to pick it up and it was no better. The service manager and I took a ride in another new Denali and it was worse. He agreed to start the process with GM to replace the tires. He said they would want to put the same tires (Bridgestones) back on again. Based on what I had read here and other forums I strongly encouraged him to put Michelins on in order to not have me back there again. My truck was a June build unit that I picked up in late July.

 

[Tee202]

What dealership is this you're working with?

 

[Wwes]

Well, you could always try buying a set of Michelin's at Costco and seeing if that makes a difference. I'm going to do that next month, although I'm not having problems with the bridgestones yet.

Then resell your new Bridgestone's for $500, and you're only out $400 for the aggravation.

 

[ISU-152]

Well, you could always try buying a set of Michelin's at Costco and seeing if that makes a difference. I'm going to do that next month, although I'm not having problems with the bridgestones yet.

Then resell your new Bridgestone's for $500, and you're only out $400 for the aggravation.

You're suggesting selling someone bad tires?

 

[DennisT]

What dealership is this you're working with?

I would rather not name them at this time. I want to give them the opportunity to make it right before I name them.

 

[1badtahoe24]

You should name them. They have done nothing to help you. Its not hard to swap tires out to see if it makes a difference. The dealer would eat a few hundred dollars instead of having to buy back your 70k suv. This kind of BS is what gives GM a bad rep and after hearing all these horror stories, I might have to switch to another company to get a decent SUV.

 

[thirdcoast]

I would put the Goodyear Eagle tires on over the Michelins..

I run the Goodyear Eagle® Sport All-Season Speed Rating V (149 MPH) on the 09 LTZ with the 6.2 since it has some mods and will exceed the standard speed rating and the same tire but the standard speed rating on the 2014 Tahoe which I use as a business vehicle.

The 2014 had Brickstones on it!!! but since it saw a lot of oilfield roads, i just used them until I wore them out at 30K miles then switched to the Goodyears.

Silky smooth ride on both plus a lot less expensive than the Michelins.. which I had problems with on another vehicle.

Good luck,

TC

 

[Wwes]

Yep. I don't believe the tires are bad, I just don't believe they are the best option for this vehicle. Might work just fine on another vehicle, or a track vehicle, etc.

 

[DennisT]

Here is a follow up to my vibration saga. The dealer kept my truck for a week while I drove their new Cadillac CT6. During that time they did the Pico analysis. I spent about 90 minutes riding around with the mechanic while he worked his laptop with the accelerometer hooked up. His analysis indicated a slight tire issue but the ride was still unacceptable to me after another road force balance. So I stayed in the Caddy. He had to send the data to the GM tech center. They came back that all measurements were within acceptable limits and was performing as it should. I cried foul on that and the service manager went to bat for me with the GM rep and they agreed to replace the tires with Michelin Premier LTX tires. I picked it up this afternoon and it is much improved. The ride isn't as good as my 2009 Tahoe trade-in but I attribute much of that to the 22" wheels. I'm satisfied for now.

 

[thirdcoast]

Huge difference in the ride of 22" vs 20". I bet if you change to 20's your ride will get much better as there is more sidewall to help absorb bumps, etc.

I had 22's on my 09 and immediately took them off and installed a new set of 20" wheels.. big change..

Anyway, glad it got better.

Thirdcoast

 

[ajs800]

Here is a follow up to my vibration saga. The dealer kept my truck for a week while I drove their new Cadillac CT6. During that time they did the Pico analysis. I spent about 90 minutes riding around with the mechanic while he worked his laptop with the accelerometer hooked up. His analysis indicated a slight tire issue but the ride was still unacceptable to me after another road force balance. So I stayed in the Caddy. He had to send the data to the GM tech center. They came back that all measurements were within acceptable limits and was performing as it should. I cried foul on that and the service manager went to bat for me with the GM rep and they agreed to replace the tires with Michelin Premier LTX tires. I picked it up this afternoon and it is much improved. The ride isn't as good as my 2009 Tahoe trade-in but I attribute much of that to the 22" wheels. I'm satisfied for now.

Same thing we did with our 15 XL except we dropped to the 20" with Michelin Premier LTX tires. Glad to hear it got corrected.