Consumer Complaint Detail

PONTIAC / GRAND AM / 1996

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 005027986 Incident Date: Feb, 07 2005
Consumer's City: BRONX Consumer's State: NY
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: General Motors, LLC
Model Name: GRAND AM Model Year: 1996
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Air bags
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1G2NE52T4TC Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jul, 07 2005 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Jun, 19 2000
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: A tech issue memo issued from pontiac/gm dated april, 1998 stated that owners may claim water leaking into the front passenger compartment of the car due to an inferior adhesive used during the manufacturing process on the top vent grille... was given to me by my mechanic, after i disvoered water leakage on my passenger area floor for 2 years (which i attributed to my negligence only) until this water leakage finally caused a short in my air bag module (located under the front passenger seat) which caused all of the other car electrical systems to short out. seal to the top vent grille was replaced, short repaired, airbag module was disconnected and the battery was replaced. the airbag module will be replaced at a later date when i can afford it. this totals $956.99 (including ny sales tax) which i requested pontiac reimburse me for. they steadfastedly refuse to reimburse me due to basically 4 things: (1) the warranty time expired on the car, (2) the age of the car, (3) the fact that i didn't bring it directly to pontiac to fix it (4) the fact that it wasn't a recall... my arguement is: (1) the warranty expiring shouldn't absolve gm/pontiac of responsibility of the defect, (2) the normal wear and tear on this car (in spite of it's age) wouldn't have produced this water damage if the top vent grille was properly sealed in the manufacturing process by pontiac in the first place (3) i didn't know that pontiac caused this problem until after the damage was done and my mechanic told me about the tech issue memo (i have a copy) and (4) why wasn't this a recall? i sent a letter to pontiac's customer assistance center in detroit, mi on or about june 27, 2005 with all relevant documentation backing up my claim (yours for the asking), who called me back today, refusing to reimburse me on this claim. i know that negligence by pontiac caused some major damage to my car of which i believe i should be reimbursed for.