Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site dartvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!decvax!dartvax!markv From: markv@dartvax.UUCP (Mark F. Vita) Newsgroups: net.auto Subject: Re: How bad are the GM X-cars ? Message-ID: <3345@dartvax.UUCP> Date: Sat, 13-Jul-85 15:52:24 EDT Article-I.D.: dartvax.3345 Posted: Sat Jul 13 15:52:24 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 04:14:04 EDT References: <8871@ucbvax.ARPA> <55200192@trsvax> Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Lines: 51 > > > > I'll post my response here. I had a 1980 Phoenix X-body car that over-all > I was pleased with. But I still think GM should buy every one of those > deathtraps back from their owners!!!! The car was smooth, comfortable, > fairly responsive, and handled reasonably well, but NEVER EVER EVER try > to drive one in the rain until you are SURE you can handle the brakes. > Mine would spin around 180 degrees at 55 if I jabbed the brakes. I must > have talked to the dealer about it until I knew exactly what he would say. > "Yours isn't covered by the GM recall, sorry" I called the GM district > office and they would take my name and number and never return my call. > I suspect that if you said X-body your call was flagged and they wouldn't talk > to you. The problem was intermittent. I replaced the brake linings on the > rear and it helped some. New FAT radials all around helped some too, > but when you least expect it, even on the dry, it could get away from you > and leave you facing traffic after a spin on the freeway! I ended up taking > just over $1000 for it on trade for a new Chrysler Omni GLH Turbo. How > do you like a car depreciating from $10,000 to just over 10% of its value. > > I heard that Car and Diver knew about the problem when they reviewed the > Citation when it came out and they agreed to downplay the braking problem > after promisses from GM that it would be fixed in production. GM still > claims that they fixed the problem in cars that exhibited the symptoms, but > if your VIN number doesn't match their tables, you gotta pay a couple hundred > bucks for a part that still doesn't guarantee a fix. To be fair, a friend > has an 81 Phoenix V6 with the manual tranny and the GM recall fixed his > problem right away. Mine had automatic with the V6 so the dealer said it > wasn't covered. Hmm. How many of the X-cars have this problem, and how can I tell whether mine has had the problem solved? I've owned a 1980 Pontiac Phoenix for about 2 months, and a couple weeks ago, I made a 150-mile trip home through *extremely* torrential rain, partially on I-93 in NH/Mass, and encountered no problems whatsoever with the brakes. True, I did have the rear brake shoes replaced about a month ago, but for a totally different reason (the previous owner had driven with the parking brake engaged.) Could this be why I didn't encounter the problem? Or did the previous owner perhaps have it fixed? > mikey at trsvax -- Mark Vita Dartmouth College USENET: {decvax,cornell,linus,astrovax}!dartvax!markv ARPA: markv%dartmouth@csnet-relay CSNET: markv@dartmouth