New to forum, have a couple of questions.

I just purchased a '09 Pontiac G3, and have a couple of questions about things I've noticed.

A) Its a manual, and if I don't match the RPM's for the next gear close enough I get a bit of "chug" (all manual's do it). The difference is, when the engine "chugs" the gear shifter moves a pretty decent amount (say an inch or so). Does this when I get on and off the gas in lower gears also. Is this normal? Are the engine mounts bad? All the other FWD manuals I've driven have had cables between the gear shifter and trans, I believe this has a solid bar so maybe thats the difference...

B) The front suspension "clunks" and creaks going over 2 inch or larger bumps in the road (speed bumps, etc.) I've read that this happens when the front shock bushings are bad. This vehicle was supposedly "GM certified" and comes with a year bumper-to-bumper warrantee. Will they replace them, or is this "just normal noise"?

Hi Twisted-X,

If your vehicle was purchased CPO we definitely suggest heading back in to have your dealership work towards addressing your concerns. If you'd like to provide the last 8 digits of your VIN we'll gladly provide the parameters of your vehicle warranty. Hopefully a few other forum members chime in to provide their feedback, or you may want to try Pontiac Forums or forum.grrrr8.net. Let us know if we can help!

Amber N.
Chevrolet Customer Care

Well, I took it to a local GM dealership (as the one I bought it from is 35 miles away). The found a bad passenger strut, both control arms are bad, passenger tie rod is bad, passenger sway bar link is bad, passenger shock is leaking, and the wheel is bent on the inside edge. I'm starting to think the only thing certified here is my sanity. The original dealership scheduled an appointment to look at it on the 9th. We're only talking about $300 in parts here but come on, who the hell sells a "GM Certified" car with a "127 point inspection" with all this crap going on?

First off, if all of the parts listed above were actually "bad", your vehicle would be wobbling down the road, during those times when it wasn't shaking from side to side and bouncing up and down. But it will be entertaining to find out what the sales dealer says about the repair list My money is on them going along with the scam, saying it was fine when it left the lot (because after all they did do a "127 point inspection"), and it was you who did all that damage by driving off the road. And the fine print in the "bumper-to-bumper" warranty will of course say that damage caused by careless driving is not covered. Going on a rant probably won't work either, unless you happen to be very good at making that work.
Assuming you don't DIY, I recommend that you take it to a good indy shop that specializes in front-end repair and see what they have to say. I would expect that a good, honest shop will find far fewer problems than that horror movie you presented above. Skip the hose job that these stealerships will try to inflict on you.

> My money is on them going along with the scam

> Skip the hose job that these stealerships will try to inflict on you.

A man of wisdom! Listen well.

Skittle, my aveo, had a quarter sized hole in the exhaust and a fried O2 sensor. This resulted in failing sensors all around, and finally this....
Attachment 8546

The only thing they did to reimburse us was give us $250 and say sorry. I'd expect that when I pay $4,670 for a used compact car, that they'd at least take care of small things like a hole and a sensor. It ended up costing around $1,200 for the exhaust because someone welded one of the joint between the pipe and the muffler. Now because of the blown engine, it added another $2,000 to that bill.

I will never buy another car from them, EVER.