"Reduced Engine Power" and "Service Traction"

[anisettex]

I am also having problems with my 2013 Malibu 2LT. which also randomly read "service traction" and "reduced engine power". I have had the car since 12/22/12 (3 weeks) and had to have it towed to a chevy service center. They claim that a rat chewed 2 wires o_O so thats the issue. the car is drivable so how are the wired chewed! and i had a toyota for 8 years that i parked in that same location and never had a "rat" chew on that car and my husband has a benz r350 that is parked in same location and and never a "rat" chewed on the benz. i feel because im a girl they trying to get out of the warrenty covering it. they are charging $210 to fix it and im livid because its only been 3 weeks and as i look on these forums alot of you have the same issue with low engine power and traction control and it had nothing to do with said rats. its the most rediculous thing i heard and these isnt even garbage on on the streets where i park and its not declared a rat infested area. these service ppl will lie through their teeth so a customer has to pay out of pocket. with all the trash in nyc and where lanloards keep trash y would a rat wana chew a wire when theres food in the basmenst of the buildings near by! and i asked the serivce guy how do u know it was a rat was the rat there when u checked the car and he laughed and said no so i then asked him is he a machanic or a rat expert. smfh

[anisettex]

i would also like to add that i purchased this car at the chevy dealer that belongs to major worls in queens ny. they already have a terrible reputation on selling crappy cars to ppl and their service department always tries to get over on customers. i thought i would have no issue because its a new car not a used car. shame on major chevy

[anisettex]

see attached photo

[SeaRay245se]

Wow if i were u anisettex i would want to see the so called rat chewed wires and ask them to tell you how they would know how a rat chew them just by looking at them without seeing the rat.To me it doesn't sound right but rats and mice have been known to do such things.......Just my 1/2 cent.

[greenman]

Originally Posted by anisettex

I am also having problems with my 2013 Malibu 2LT. which also randomly read "service traction" and "reduced engine power". I have had the car since 12/22/12 (3 weeks) and had to have it towed to a chevy service center. They claim that a rat chewed 2 wires o_O so thats the issue. the car is drivable so how are the wired chewed! and i had a toyota for 8 years that i parked in that same location and never had a "rat" chew on that car and my husband has a benz r350 that is parked in same location and and never a "rat" chewed on the benz. i feel because im a girl they trying to get out of the warrenty covering it. they are charging $210 to fix it and im livid because its only been 3 weeks and as i look on these forums alot of you have the same issue with low engine power and traction control and it had nothing to do with said rats. its the most rediculous thing i heard and these isnt even garbage on on the streets where i park and its not declared a rat infested area. these service ppl will lie through their teeth so a customer has to pay out of pocket. with all the trash in nyc and where lanloards keep trash y would a rat wana chew a wire when theres food in the basmenst of the buildings near by! and i asked the serivce guy how do u know it was a rat was the rat there when u checked the car and he laughed and said no so i then asked him is he a machanic or a rat expert. smfh

Did you ask to see the damaged wire harness? It is usually pretty obvious that a rodent was the culprit. It is a perfectly reasonable explanation that a rat chewed through a wire harness (especially the harness that would likely produce those symptoms which is on top of the engine) but that mechanic should have shown you the damage given it is not covered under the warranty.

Rats constantly need to chew whatever is handy because, just like human fingernails, their teeth never stop growing. They are not chewing to eat.

One more thing: In the case of a new car under bumper-to-bumper warranty, a dealer really has no incentive to lie about the cause of an issue because they would be compensated by GM for parts & labor if it had been a covered issue. But they can't send a chewed wire harness to GM & expect to be reimbursed.

[DrivenDaily]

1. Posts about this moved from an existing thread in Gen7 area to new thread in Gen8 area ... please don't just jump on a thread if it's not in the right area.

2. If that dealership has a bad rep, why'd you buy it from them? Or did you find out after the fact like so many do?

3. Before they could charge you for the work you had to authorize it. Did you, or did they just do it and then called you with the final cost? If so, why'd you pay it? That would have been the ideal time to argue over the fact that it cost money, etc, like you did above.

[anisettex]

Originally Posted by DrivenDaily

1. Posts about this moved from an existing thread in Gen7 area to new thread in Gen8 area ... please don't just jump on a thread if it's not in the right area.

2. If that dealership has a bad rep, why'd you buy it from them? Or did you find out after the fact like so many do?

3. Before they could charge you for the work you had to authorize it. Did you, or did they just do it and then called you with the final cost? If so, why'd you pay it? That would have been the ideal time to argue over the fact that it cost money, etc, like you did above.

Forums are made for discussion. So although its not same generation as the topic it's save issue so any information from others can be HELPFUL. Ur comment was catty none the less. And obviously I didn't no they had a bad reputation until after the fact. And they ended up covering it under my warranty anyway they just wanted to make money off customers. And a friend of mine actually works there and told me they sometimes try to get customers to pay for things that should be under warranty.

[anisettex]

Originally Posted by greenman

Did you ask to see the damaged wire harness? It is usually pretty obvious that a rodent was the culprit. It is a perfectly reasonable explanation that a rat chewed through a wire harness (especially the harness that would likely produce those symptoms which is on top of the engine) but that mechanic should have shown you the damage given it is not covered under the warranty.

Rats constantly need to chew whatever is handy because, just like human fingernails, their teeth never stop growing. They are not chewing to eat.

One more thing: In the case of a new car under bumper-to-bumper warranty, a dealer really has no incentive to lie about the cause of an issue because they would be compensated by GM for parts & labor if it had been a covered issue. But they can't send a chewed wire harness to GM & expect to be reimbursed.

He did not show me the wire. And the general manager told him to just put it under my warranty. On top of that there was a recall on something else and they fixed that to. It was ok when I drove it but I still feel the gas pedal rattles its annoying. Ty for the advice. The problem was fixed so I'm content I didn't have to pay. Now I can exit this forum that I just JUMPED on. LML

[anisettex]

Originally Posted by searay245se

Wow if i were u anisettex i would want to see the so called rat chewed wires and ask them to tell you how they would know how a rat chew them just by looking at them without seeing the rat.To me it doesn't sound right but rats and mice have been known to do such things.......Just my 1/2 cent.

Ur so right... I don't think it's impossible for a rat to chew a wire I just know that's not what happened to my car while in my possession. I think if said rat chewed the wire then it might of been while the car was in their lot b4 I purchased it and in these three weeks of me driving it the wires became more damaged. They never showed me the wire and they ended up covering it I didn't have to pay. And a recall issue for something else was also fixed.

[Mongoose]

Glad your dealer stepped up and took care of you under warranty