yeah...I can see where you guys are coming from. Sounds like I've been relatively lucky with mine. I bought it new when my yearly salary was just a little more than the sticker price on the truck and vowed I'd drive it at least 10 years. Now, I make more money but couldn't afford a brand new vehicle. Love the economy... As much as I like my Blazer, the next time I do shell out $$ for a truck, it'll probably be a 'yota or a Honda. Who knows...

 

Like I told my dealer, with regular maintenance and care, I expect to get good value for my money. This one certainly has not been.

And it wouldn't have been so bad if when I was needing to replace the transmission last year if GM would have offered some compassion and compensation. I asked for them to provide a rebuilt transmission (without further warranty) and I would get the labor taken care of.

They "declined" and it solidified my distaste for their business model. Knowing full well that they've shipped who knows how many thousands of these vehicles to unsuspecting customers and then chose to "pull the covers over their heads". Shame!

GM Customer Service offered a $1000 credit on a new vehicle.....they would have had a much better result had they extended a $1000 credit to use at the parts department. Why on earth would they even imagine that I would buy a new GM.

And to top things off, I'm now relegated to driving our '93 Intrepid (mechanically functional, but cosmetically challenged) to get to work and shuttle around searching for parts for the decrepit GM vehicle that was double the cost and is half the age and mileage. What a "poke in the eye" that is...

Yup....we bought a Honda to replace the Intrepid earlier this spring. But luckily didn't get rid of the car yet. I suppose when you own a Jimmy/Blazer, it's a good idea to have a spare vehicle around...

OK, my rant is over. Now I've got to get back to trouble shooting the "no start" - "no fuel pressure" situation and most likely end up having to waste a weekend replacing a fuel pump.....

 

I feel your pain. I bought a '00 Jimmy that was the BIGGEST turd I have ever owned in my life. I didn't have the heart to sell this curse to anyone ... but besides, nobody wanted to give me anything for it anyway.

It now resides in the driveway, going away piece by piece. The engine, once stripped of all the failure prone products ( F.I & electronics) will be going in the '89.

 

Just curious Smitty....how many miles were on it when you decided to "let it go"?

I notice yours is the blue, 4 door just like mine. Maybe the problems were just related to that body style and color combination. My dealer tried to tell me that they haven't had a lot of issues....and that just confirms who you can't trust in this business.

Yes, my personal morals also prevents me from passing the "turd" onto some other unsuspecting individual. I wouldn't sleep if any economically strapped person got their hands on this thing (even indirectly through someone else). I'd feel better knowing I've driven it to the point of no return and then just park it in the bush...

...and of course, I keep a large cardboard sign in the back stating .... "Quality GM Vehicle?" for the event when the vehicle stops dead on the street somewhere. I'll paste the sign on the back, remove the license plate and walk away.

...gotta go drop the fuel tank this afternoon.... yeah!!

 

Well, I don't see how regular maintenance or lack off from the owners have to do with the value, for any car u have spend money and trust me even a toyota or honda breaks and cost as much or more to fix. With that said, I have own 3 chevys, 1- 1994 4dr blazer LT Trailblazer, lasted me 8 months bc it was hit head on 7 days after I bought it and declared totalled by the insurance, still drove it almost 8 months until I sold it for parts. 2-2001 S-10 bought it new with 7 miles sold it to my uncle with 40,000 3 years ago, other than regular maintenance and a set of tires I put a 2 inch drop kit from belltech and a new radio and replaced the factory speakers. 3- 2000 Blazer, got it 3 years ago because I needed more room, bught it on ebay from Ohio and drove it home to NJ, first thimg i did was a set of tires wich are still on and with about 70% left on them, i change the oil and filter every 3 months, just changed the brakes all around(new pads and rotors) and shocks, installed a new radio and speakers and added a sub, installed HID on the low side(plan on doing it on the high's soon) and installed auto ventshades. Now things I have to do soon, repair the front end and keep driving it every day like I have been for the past 3 years. Would not think about getting rid of it unless I find a good deal on a Trailblazer XLT and then again I might just but the Trailblazer and keep my blazer as my daily driver. I always hear people saying that this trucks are bad but i never had a problem with them, I think that there are not bad cars but bad owners.
Jorge

 

I would have to agree there... sounds like Jeff and smitty just got duds, nothing to boo hoo a whole brand over.

My dad has owned two Jimmy's now, and both have gone over 200K with only minimal issues. One of which was used to deliver newspapers and got nearly 200K before the engine went up. 160K of those miles were with 10K mile oil changes and no trans fluid changes... that says reliable to me.

 

@ TheRamdom1, That's one thing I have learn from this trucks, they are reliable and strong, when u get hit head on by a Grand Marquis and u walk away without a scratch and still manage to drive away, I don't want my family on a car or suv with a weak chassis.
I forgot mention that I got it with 130,000 miles and got 156,000 now on it and running strong.

 

Yup, got finished with the fuel pump change and it's back to a starting condition. Woohoo!!

I know there are a few gems out there, but the reality is that there are scads of owners of these vehicles out there that have nothing but problems. Sure, some of yours have gotten to 200k miles(?) (with no mechanical replacements at all...be sure that you're comparing the same model/year)... Compared to my experience, I'd be buying lottery tickets.

The biggest frustration to me is the non-maintenance failures. You can't do maintenance on the front hubs of the 4x4s but they fail like clockwork (dealer replaced them at 45k miles & I replaced their work again at 85k miles)...what's up with that?

You could change engine oil & filter every 1000 miles, but it won't save your transmission, ABS brake module, front drive shaft, rear wiper motor, differential pinion bearings, hinge pins, ball joints, heater motors or dozens of other ridiculous premature failures.

Random1, didn't you indicate in a mesage a month ago that after incrementing from 130k to 133k miles you had to already rebuild tranny, etc.?

So sorry, but I still think the majority is in the "dud" boat with these....

 

Changing the transmission fluid and filter at regularly scheduled intervals will save your transmission, however.

And yes, I have rebuilt my trans... I bought it with a bad one due to the previous owner not taking care of the truck, as well as hauling a trailer with it. Seems pretty obvious why I've had the issues I've had, so I'm not boo hooing Blazers, or Chevy in general which is what you seem to be doing because you got a dud truck.

Sure, lots of people have gotten duds. So have Ford owners, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, etc. Every vehicle manufacturer makes duds, it's a fact. As it just so happens most people on this forum are here either because of an issue or a love of the truck, and do not in any way indicate the overall quality.

 

145 & change - can't remember exactly. Think it was 145,7xx.



I had so many issues with it I forget half of them:

ENTIRE front end - ball joints, pitman, idler, inner/outer tie-rod ends, hub bearings, as you mentioned.

Entire Y-pipe & cat ... because GM won't sell just a cat - that's too easy!

Transfer case vacuum switch failed. 4x4 would not work, & entire vacuum system filled with tranny fluid.

Seal on rear of tranny failed, filling T-case ... and eventually the engine .. to the brim.

"Express down" feature of driver side window mysteriously became "express up" ... aka ... a guillotine!! Watch your fingers!

In addition to the above, the window only worked when it felt like it - real convenient when you pull up to a toll booth with 50 cars behind you at rush hour ...

1-2 shift solenoid failure in tranny.

High beams stopped working ... and the fix would have been $135 for a new multi-function switch. I wired in a floor dimmer out of a 1970 Nova.

Headlights just completely shut off on my wife at 9pm - I had 12V on the ground circuit! That was a fun one. Had to rewire the entire system from scratch because at the time I could NOT locate the BCM ... and she needed to get to work!

Rear washer fluid hose disconnected & filled the entire area above the spare tire with at least 2 gallons of fluid .... because nobody knew where the hell it was going!

Rear brake caliper hung up & made the rotor glow. As soon as I fixed it, the other side did the same thing! Then, 2 weeks later, both sides continued to lock up, then free up at random.

U joints smoked at 100k.

The Dexcool sludge was present when I opened the radiator cap after receiving delivery of the truck. What a mess.

The above clogged t-stat & threw codes.

A/C never worked. Even at 100k miles.

P0300 random misfire code. Ended up replacing entire ignition system ... which of course didn't fix the problem. Was either the spider injector assembly, or the Crank Position Sensor.

We'll never know, because that was the last straw! All this in a 2 YEAR SPAN!!


That's just what I can remember! There were more little interior problems that I forget now ....

Lesson learned. Don't buy off eBay!