All true, but you know as well as anyone that individual anecdotal experiences may or may not coincide with statistics derived from a large number of cases. CR doesn’t do anything approaching random samples, but at least their data is based on a large number of survey responses that (hopefully) can reveal some patterns. I find CR is good as a general guide but is best used in conjunction with other sources of information.
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@jdmere I subscribe to Consumer Reports. I find it interesting reading. I fill out the surveys on the repair issues of my vehicles, appliances, etc. I do keep in mind, however, that their surveys may be a biased sample and the respondents do not necessarily represent the buying public.
I once owned a 1971 Ford Maverick. In the CR report, the Maverick had a below average repair record. However, the Mercury Comet had an average record. The Maverick and Comet had the same engine and drivetrain and differed only by the grill and taillights. I wrote to CR about the discrepancy. The response was “That’s the way the data came out”. Well, why did the data come out that way? I found a survey of owners of Ford/Mercury twins in a Popular Mechanics magazine. I believe the models were the Ford Granada and Mercury Monarch. The average age of the owners of the Mercury was about seven years above that of the Ford. If the same was true for the Maverick owners vs. the Comet owners, that might explain the differences in repair records. The younger owners might drive their cars harder and not be as meticulous on maintenance.
I bought the Chevrolet Uplander because I needed a minivan and the price was right. I know one sample is not indicative of all Chevrolet Uplanders. We presently have two Toyota products, s Sienna and a 4Runner. They have both been reliable.
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It’s not a conspiracy, like you eloquently stated with Dale. But, I’ve read several instances where lifter failure was first noted by the traction control warning on GM vehicles. I imagine maybe this new truck had an electronic parking brake that’s somehow tied into that system? It’s strange, but note below how the traction control light is commonly caused by misfires (which the OP’s truck would’ve been misfiring like crazy as it lunched itself!).
Common problems trigger the service StabiliTrak light or service traction control warning light on Chevy, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac vehicles.
- ABS wheel speed sensor
- Defective Throttle Body Assembly
- Bad Steering Wheel Position Sensor
- Faulty Electronic Brake Control Module (EBCM)
- Brake Switch
- Bad ABS Pump
- Engines Misfires
- Bad Fuel
- Weak Fuel Pump
- Dirty fuel filterfilter
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The OP is a malcontent who would not be satisfied even if GM had given him a new vehicle.
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Thanks to all for your feedback. Sincerely appreciated.
In closing, I will say that I’m privileged to have a new truck and I realize once in a while that you’re going to get a lemon (and can choose to toss it out or make lemonade). My expectation is that when I spend $70,000 on a new truck and it has a significant issue this early on in its life, then GMC Customer Assistance should follow back up as they promised to do so. I’m not looking for a new truck or anything close to it; I would simply like them to extend the powertrain and bumper to bumper warranties for a couple of years. A drop in the hat to them and gives me a little peace of mind given the circumstances.
Again - thank you all for sharing your feedback. Happy holidays.
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This type of survey results often occur.
At the time when Olds, Buick, Chevy and Pontiac were cookie cutter equals except for grills and trim, Buick and Olds always came out on top of the reliability category while Pontiac and Chevy scored much lower.
Looking at the type of buyers, Pontiac owners were hard drivers, Buick drivers were conservative and Chevy owners put on the most miles since their cars were usually the family workhorse.
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“The Superbowl was taped in the same Nevada hanger they faked the moon landing.” … lol …
Did I ever relate my Area-51 story here? Area-51 is a real place, you can see it very clearly if you like using Google maps, aerial view. Not too far from eastern edge of Death Valley NP, which is where I went camping one time in the late 1980’s. After setting up camp I took a stroll around the nearby vicinity, walked up to a little ridge, and there I found 5 or 6 men with telescopic cameras pointed to the eastern desert area. I asked them what they were looking at, no reply. Since they didn’t want to tell me, decided to not worry about what they were looking at. The camera men left about 6 pm, and I was looking forward to a quiet night of sound sleep, being in the middle of nowhere. Everything was as expected, when at about 3 am, I wake up hearing “Whooooo” , “Roaaaaaarrr”, really really loud. This went on for 2-3 hours. Like I was camping along side the airport and a bunch of 747’s were taking off. Decided whatever those cameramen were looking at, it must have included a jet engine which for some reason somebody decided to test at 3 am. Decided camping at that area of Death Valley not such a good idea … lol …
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Any product that comes down an assembly line may have a defective part. I purchased a new Toyota 4Runner back in 2003. It had a defective serpentine belt tensioner. After the problem was finally diagnosed and repaired, I have had no more problems. I bought a new refrigerator in 1978. The first week, something would go wrong and everything in the freezing compartment would melt. The locally owned appliance store sent out an experienced technician. He couldn’t find the problem, but just as he was ready to leave, the refrigerator acted up. The compressor was running, but the refrigerator wasn’t cooling. He said “I am going to solve this problem”. He called the store and told them to send out a new refrigerator. The replacement worked perfectly.
I was assigned to teach a large lecture class of over 200 students. I had to grade the students’ tests and assignments in an "assembly line’ fashion. I had a graduate assistant that was assigned to work with me. I really didn’t have the opportunity to know the students as well as I would have liked. I did tell the students that if there was a question about the final grade to please come see me. At the start of the next semester, a student came in and thought she had earned a grade higher than a ‘C’. I looked at her grades and everything had been an ‘A’ except for the final for which we had recorded a 39% which was an ‘F’. When I pointed this out to the student, she said she understood why she received a ‘C’, but was surprised she hadn’t done well on the final exam. I got her exam out of the files to go through it with her. I immediately saw the problem. She had a 93% on the final. The digits had been reversed when we recorded the grade. I told the student to give me a minute to go to the main office to get a change of grade form. She then said the most amazing thing. “Don’t change the grade if it gets you in trouble. I just wanted to know that I really did better than ‘C’ work”. I said that of course I would change the grade and I sent through the form to change the grade to the ‘A’ she earned.
I never liked teaching large lecture classes. Things can go wrong, particularly at the end of a semester when we are under pressure to get the grades turned in. I can understand a product that comes down an assembly line with a defective part, just as I could incorrectly record a score.
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I probably mentioned it before but after many months of frustration, we found out our Bell Telephone Rep was dyslexic. So when she would write up an order to move phone # 5456 she would write it down as 5465. We had over 1000 phones and lots of staff moves. Plus with them it took 4-6 weeks to write the order and get it to the install guys. Then the install guys would show up and move the wrong phone. Once we found out we would check the order before she sent it to the central office. I understand the condition but this is critical in some fields such as accounting, and IRS agent.
Yeah, that part of the country is a great place to be if you’re aviation nerd and want to see some cool stuff. Not just the test stuff flying out of A51, but there’s also a major fighter training area not far away, where pilots from all over the world come to learn how to dogfight.
But it attracts a lot of kooks, too. Conspiracy theorists who think we’re storing alien spacecraft there flock to the Area51 vicinity as well as the Roswell area in New Mexico.
There’s an old story in Roswell about a rancher. Ranches out there are huge, and the “driveway” to the house can be miles long. Because of that, you’ll often see a mailbox just sitting in the middle of nowhere. Well, this rancher had his ordinary black mailbox out in the middle of nowhere, and somehow the alien conspiracy crowd decided his mailbox was the mailbox where the government was leaving messages to/about the aliens. So naturally, the idiots kept stealing it, until the rancher finally got tired of it and painted it white. It then became known as the black mailbox painted white, and last I heard people were still stealing it, so the poor guy finally relocated it, at which point someone put up a fake black mail box painted white in the same location, and that’s still a tourist attraction.
I don’t believe they’re storing aliens out there, but they sure are storing a lot of lunatics. 
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Is that the breeding ground from where the lunatics spread to the rest of the country?
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Just an advanced training facility where lunatics go to become more effective lunatics. 
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Same story, Medlin ranch near Rachel, Nevada by George Knapp. The mailbox was believed to be the location Bob Lazar recorded the space ships (stealth aircraft testing);
I saw a reference to a “mysterious” mailbox while I was looking at the Google street views of the road that goes by Area 51. On Google Maps that road is called the Space Alien Highway, something like that … lol… Anyway, I actually spotted what I believe is the the mailbox in street view mode. looks like an ordinary mailbox to me. The only unusual thing about it, it’s in the middle of nowhere. But that’s b/c that’s where it is.
I was sort of surprised by the roads that seem to provide access Area 51. Dirt w/a little gravel it seemed, for the most part. Seems inadequate for such an important faciility where hundreds of people must go to and from each week. Then it occurred to me that Area 51 is an airport capable of handling most any airplane, so folks going to and fro there would fly in, not drive.
they have a show called the secrets of skin walker ranch on the history channel thats next to area 51.
The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch Full Episodes, Video & More | HISTORY Channel
Or use their space ship or flying saucer. 
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Are you sure that’s the two are co-located? Area 51 is in Nevada. Isn’t skin walker ranch in eastern Utah?
On a map of the United States, Skinwalker Ranch forms a triangle with two other well-known UFO hotspots: Roswell, New Mexico, and Area 51, which is located in southern Nevada near Groom Lake, outside Crystal Springs. Skinwalker Ranch is about 770 miles northwest of Roswell and about 500 miles northeast of Groom Lake. The three locations form a triangle around the Navajo Nation land that straddles New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.
Ah, sort of like the western USA desert version of the Bermuda triangle. I can see that.
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