Hi Click and Klack I bought a brand new 2014 Impala right before Christmas the 2.4 L motor. Last week at 4234 miles the engine quit running while I was driving and I coasted to a stop. The car was towed into the Chevy Dealer I bought it from and they tell me the engine is shot and must be replaced with a new GM Motor. They claim they found metal shavings in the oil pan. They tested the motor and or car computer for codes the motor was abused all negative. They think the motor got hot but the temp gauge was not in the hot side. They do not know what happened.
I have two questions: How could this happen at such low miles on the motor?
Second I think the value of the car will be reduced as when I sell it or trade the problem will come up and most people will not want such a car. GM agreed to a new motor off the Chevy assembly line not a rebuilt motor. There will be no cost all warranty work.
A new motor would not hurt the value like a reman would. It would be better if it is a complete motor and not a long block. A longblock would require transferring things like the manifolds and injectors etc. An assembly line engine should come exactly as it would be when ready to attach to the transmission.
If a long block is installed, I would take the car to another mechanic and pay to have the engine inspected to look for a reman plate that would be installed on any factory reman engine and check serial numbers on the new engine to the invoice provided by GM to make sure the dealer didn’t pull a switch on you.
Click and Clack are retired, the show has been reruns for some time. Tommy sadly passed away a few months ago
Anyways . . .
It’s possible you just have bad luck, and it would have happened, no matter who bought the car
You did the right thing, insisting that GM will install a brand new motor. I would have insisted on the same thing, considering the car is only a few months old
Yes, it’s very likely that somebody checking your car’s history in a few years, when he’s thinking of buying it, will find out about the replacement motor. But it should have little to no impact on the value
your car’s not getting a branded title. It’s not even a lemon or forced buyback, so I wouldn’t lose any sleep at this point
That said, I would pay attention for any leaks, noises, or other odd things after the new motor has been installed. Make sure the alignment isn’t affected. In other words, make sure the car isn’t eating tires. Might want to insist that they perform an alignment as part of the repair.
If they’re offering a brand new, not reman, engine fresh from Chevrolet you should take it without question.
If the assumption is made that the engine coolant level is full, the oil level full or close to it, and there are no signs of engine sludge or a stuck thermostat then about the only thing that could cause the failure would be that your engine was just one of those that suffered a manufacturing defect.
Along Keith’s lines, it might not be a bad idea to pay a visit to the shop while the engine is out just to make sure things are on the up and up. Just say you’re curious and would like to see your baby in pieces…
Quite often the manufacturer and dealer situation is an us vs them relationship. If the dealer got screwed over on a warranty claim by GM in the past they may adopt a fine, we’ll just make up for it later. You screwed us out of 2 hours then we will nail you for 2 plus interest…
If that engine catastrophically failed GM is not going to simply say here’s another, Merry Xmas. Someone there is gong to want to know WHY that engine failed.
If a dealer warranty ratio is too high even, someone at the factory is going to start digging.
I’m not saying this dealer is dishonest or that it’s common; only that it has happened and it’s best to cover the bases; especially on such an unusual problem.
The manufacturer casts/machines the blocks, heads, crank and cam shafts and then parts from a vendor such as rings/bearings are installed.
Anything can go wrong in the process.
Sometimes when things are mass produced you can abuse it and seems to have no effect. And other times if you look at it wrong, it falls apart before your eyes.
Just be glad you’re getting a new engine on their dime.
Agree with tester. Wouldn’t be the first engine to be replaced. That’s what warranties are for. Think of all the parts involved and anything can go wrong. Just had a snow blower engine replaced due to poor heat treating of one part. Go in peace and be happy. If the second one goes you,d better have good receipts.
You did the right thing. The same happened to a friend of mine a few years back. His car was a V8 Buick Roadmaster after a couple of thousand miles… The dealer and Buick ponied up a replacement engine. No questions asked.
@VDCDriver. I often get corrected by my wife, who has a degree in English. I think she would call this a “cat and dog” phrase. I’m learning to properly separate phrases and clauses. Believe me when I tell you English is not my native language and I often incorrectly borrow grammar from the other 4 languages I speak.
I @docnick do not have a problem with your posts and responses. Certainly there are communication errors that happen from time to time, including posts I have made. Live on bro.
I think it speaks well of GM, that they are owning up to their responsibility to you to replace the engine with a new one and make you whole. Any gadget , a car or an mp3 player, can fail right out of the box. The car owner’s discovering early failure modes is not that uncommon.
I don’t think the engine replacement will devalue your car. Just make sure you are supplied appropriate paperwork explaining why the engine serial number doesn’t match what was originally installed. Maybe check with your DMV on what kind of paperwork is best for to have when you decide to sell the car.
Thanks Car Talk Community for all your comments on the 2014 Impala engine failure. Dealer supposed to have it done today then test whole car really well.
The English language can sometimes throw you a curve. We are all told not to end a sentence with a preposition. Well, the campaign manager who told that to Winston Churchill got the following reply: “That is nonsense up with which I shall not put”!!!
I think it actually is more orderly or logical, just like the the military or European practice of day, month, and year. Really makes more sense than month, then day, then year, but like metrics, I’m not about to change and I still use dashes in dates and phone numbers instead decimals. That I think is high confusion. I don’t know how anyone could keep four or more languages straight unless one of them was British.
Is “Roadmaster” the correct spelling of the big Buick? I thought the correct spelling was “Roadmonster”.
Back to the OP, I had a 1990 Ford Aerostar which had the engine replaced on the warranty. One cylinder head had a hairline crack and coolant seeped into a cylinder and scored the cylinder wall. I thought that the warranty would only replace the cylinder head and the cylinder wall would be honed out. When the service manager said that the damage called for a new engine, I certainly didn’t object. I don’t think it hurt the trade-in value, although the vehicle had about 150,000 miles and 10 years of use when I traded it in.
My grandmother was 15 when she came here from Switzerland and spoke 5 languages, but English was not one of them. She often said that the US was the only country in the world where most people only spoke one language, and were not even ashamed of that.