Hi. I called the Pontiac recall number and they told me that there were only two open recalls for my 03 Vibe (just bought it a few months ago). I mentioned the issue with the window (the glass bolts/regulator issue) and the person I spoke to said she found nothing about this recall.
Anyone know if I can still get this repaired via recall?
I checked with my former Pontiac dealer on the 03 GT I just bought too, and they had a record of it being in for the window recall, but the only recall that was still outstanding on mine is the airbag one. I'm going to have to look at the passenger window as it makes some noise when I lower it. Don't want it to break on me!
It still shows on the NHTSA website as a recall back in April 2008. A GM dealer should be able to tell if it was ever in for the recall, and I would hope if it has not, they would cover it. I doubt the customer service line would have access to actual service records.
A recall is pretty much forever the car, they don't time out, they transfer if the car is sold. I'd think a dealer would be able to look up the VIN and determine if it had already been done on the car or not.
The procedure the recall covers is pretty simple, if you've got basic skills. It involves taking off the interior door panel, applying some loc-tite to the window attachment bolts.
Unfortunately, the recall doesn't cover another potential problem some have had, with similar symptoms. On some Vibes, for some reason, the door check mechanism can interfere with the motion of the window. The recall covers the window jamming because it gets misaligned from loose bolts, but snagging it on the door check can cause the same result. That fix is a little more involved, take off the interior door panel, take off the door check and grind/cut off one corner of it.
Like I said, not all vibes with power windows have that second problem. Mine seems to have it on the passenger side, so although I never seem to open that window, I'll get around to tweaking it at some point.