I am glad I found this thread. Wow has this been an issue for me. Where to start.
I have a 2009 Malibu LT1 w/6 speed transmission.
1 year ago this month, I began to get Service Traction/ESC errors on my dash. Those errors would show up after the car started losing power. It would feel like it was chugging a long, and sometimes it would feel like it was about to quit. I called my local dealer and of course they asked me to bring it in. That was with 35,500 miles on the car.
It took them two weeks to get the part in. Oddly enough, my call around to other local GM dealers found that they hard the part in stock. Frustrating that I had to wait so long.
During that two week wait for the part, my car was a safety issue. The car would continue to lose power, and by the end of the first week of waiting, the car would stall at lights. I contacted them again and said this is now becoming dangerous, and I am losing power when attempting to pull onto on-ramps. The Chevrolet dealership (Stark Automotive Sun Prairie WI) was not the least bit concerned about the safety issues I was experiencing, and would not offer to excel the part location or offer a loaner.
The part finally came in (I will get you the part information later today), but it was an issue with a wiring harness and a control module that was replaced.
They replaced the part, and my car was running fine. UNTIL this month again. One year later, I am getting the same error messages, same loss of power, an exact replication of what I had fixed a year ago. Well, last year when they replaced the parts under warranty, they said there is a 1 year warranty for the replaced parts. Whew. So I called and told them I have the same issue as last year.
Well, they take the car in, and do all their tests. They said it is NOT related to the issues that I had last year, but is in fact in need of a Electric Power Steering Control Module, which affects the ECM and Stability Control. Cost to me to replace, $1000.00. I nearly $#$%, my pants. Well, no matter what, I NEED a car, and I agreed to get it fixed again at the dealer.
Dealer called me, told me the car is fixed and did test drives, and it is ready to go. I picked up the car, drove 5 miles, and there comes all the same problems again. I called them RIGHT AWAY...said I JUST LEFT your dealership and I am having the same problems.
I set up ANOTHER appointment. They run tests again. Oh guess what, the problem now is the problem I had LAST YEAR, as I had mentioned the first time. They said "we will do you a favor and replace that warranty part you had done last year at no charge". Excuse me? It was under a one year warranty, and my warranty wasn't even up. Favor? Get real. So now I am out $1000.00 on a BRAND NEW $26k Malibu that I bought so that I didn't have to worry about expensive repairs vs. buying a used car. I am guessing that the Electric Power Steering Control Module wasn't an issue at all. And if it was, it was probably and issue a year ago when I first had these problems.
Here is the next problem. While my car was in getting that $1000.00 repair job, I said "I need an oil change while it's here. How much is your oil change and rotation?". They replied "$49.99". I said "ah, that is way expensive. I can get both the tire rotation and oil change for $17.99 at Goodyear with our business discount. So, I will pass on the oil change". Well, when I picked up the car, they charged me for the $49.99 service. Boy was I steaming. I said "I told you I DID NOT WANT it because you charge TOO MUCH". The service adviser said "no, you said you wanted it". I looked over at the service adviser next to him, who was there when I said I did NOT want it, and that service adviser said to the other adviser "Yes, he did tell you that he didn't want it".
That right there should have been, oh, sorry about that, no charge and our fault. NOPE. The next line out of his mouth was "well, our initial estimate was for $975 for the repair, but it actually came to $950, so we actually charged you less than what you were expecting, so it's really like you got a free oil change. SERIOUS? To top it off, they REFUSED to remove it, BUT they honored the pricing that I would have received at Goodyear.
Horrible horrible business practice here. And I was considering a 2013 Malibu to replace this one, but now I hesitate, if this is how all the Chevrolet dealers operate.