So, I have a 2018 Escalade ESV that is under warranty with just under 60k miles. After having multiple issues with the car battery going dead, I started it one late September day and it began to misfire. The vehicle was taken to a trusted mechanic who found the problem to be with bank 1 and believed strongly it was a lifter issue and instructed me to take it immediately to the dealer. The next day at the dealer, diagnosis began and within a few days, it was diagnosed as a collapsed lifter and recommended that all bank 1 lifters be replaced under warranty. The work was performed and the dealership found the bank 1 lifters were "sticking" after the replacement and upon review with "GM" the entire engine would be replaced under warranty. That was in early October 2023, during the GM strike and I was warned that parts may not be available until the strike concluded.
The dealership has not been regularly communicative on status but do check in here and there only to tell me they are still waiting for the engine and have no ETA on its arrival. In late December, my service advisor suggested I call GM customer service and get them involved. I did and found out that the motor was backordered to the tune of approximately 1500 motors and my number was in the 400's. Originally, I was asked to contact GM about the issue for some type of credit for each month I had been waiting. The GM rep got back to me and said that due to the significant backorder issue I qualified for a special program that would amount to credit toward the purchase of a new GM vehicle. This offer turned out to be about 10%. My service advisor notified sales at the dealership and a salesperson reached out to me about the situation. I informed sales that I would need a number for what they dealer would offer me in trade for my vehicle to further consider taking the GM offer. That was over two weeks ago and I have heard nothing from sales. However, my service advisor did reach out to find out what was going on with sales and I informed them that I was still waiting on an offer number for my current escalade. That was last week since, no call back about the offer and nothing further from my service advisor but my GM customer service rep is great about regularly following up to see where things are and if I would be taking their offer toward the purchase of a new vehicle.
So, what can I do?
I like the new Escalade styling but it has the same engine with the same lifter/AFM issues. All other large GM SUVs have the same motor and the same potential problems. I have 4 kids and need the larger class of SUVs. For 4 months I am paying for a car that I cannot use with a problem I had warranty coverage for that cannot be fixed quickly. I had been given an XT6 for a few weeks as a loaner car but had to return it as it was "being sold" and have an XT4 that doesn't fit my family. I was unable to travel for the holidays given the loaner size and requirements to not leave a 100-mile radius of the dealership. I am not excited about buying another $120k vehicle at the moment regardless of 10% offer. Not to mention, the new escalade has potentially the same problems I am currently having but I may consider it if I was not hosed on the trade-in offer. I haven't received that and somewhat suspect they don't want the headache of waiting on an engine either or possibly they dont wish to add insult to injury by lowballing me given the situation.
Looking for wisdom of the group here - what can I do?
The dealership has not been regularly communicative on status but do check in here and there only to tell me they are still waiting for the engine and have no ETA on its arrival. In late December, my service advisor suggested I call GM customer service and get them involved. I did and found out that the motor was backordered to the tune of approximately 1500 motors and my number was in the 400's. Originally, I was asked to contact GM about the issue for some type of credit for each month I had been waiting. The GM rep got back to me and said that due to the significant backorder issue I qualified for a special program that would amount to credit toward the purchase of a new GM vehicle. This offer turned out to be about 10%. My service advisor notified sales at the dealership and a salesperson reached out to me about the situation. I informed sales that I would need a number for what they dealer would offer me in trade for my vehicle to further consider taking the GM offer. That was over two weeks ago and I have heard nothing from sales. However, my service advisor did reach out to find out what was going on with sales and I informed them that I was still waiting on an offer number for my current escalade. That was last week since, no call back about the offer and nothing further from my service advisor but my GM customer service rep is great about regularly following up to see where things are and if I would be taking their offer toward the purchase of a new vehicle.
So, what can I do?
I like the new Escalade styling but it has the same engine with the same lifter/AFM issues. All other large GM SUVs have the same motor and the same potential problems. I have 4 kids and need the larger class of SUVs. For 4 months I am paying for a car that I cannot use with a problem I had warranty coverage for that cannot be fixed quickly. I had been given an XT6 for a few weeks as a loaner car but had to return it as it was "being sold" and have an XT4 that doesn't fit my family. I was unable to travel for the holidays given the loaner size and requirements to not leave a 100-mile radius of the dealership. I am not excited about buying another $120k vehicle at the moment regardless of 10% offer. Not to mention, the new escalade has potentially the same problems I am currently having but I may consider it if I was not hosed on the trade-in offer. I haven't received that and somewhat suspect they don't want the headache of waiting on an engine either or possibly they dont wish to add insult to injury by lowballing me given the situation.
Looking for wisdom of the group here - what can I do?
