Faulty Nav system and drama to follow.

[ALi3N]

ok, for the second time now, gm is jacking me around about warrantee work. This time it is my DVD Navigation head unit that is on the fritz.I'll just let me latest e-mail to them explain it.Replies are in chronological order.ALi3N:I have been having very irritating (and unfortunatly sporatic) difficulties with the DVD navigation radio in my Vibe. I have been having problems with the in-dash cd player not properly resuming and stopping when i switch from cd to radio and back. The deck seems to continue running the cd while i am listening to the radio. When i come back to the cd it is often times in a considerably different position on the disc than when i switched to the radio. It seems to happen after long periods of use (after the radio has heated up i would assume) and it happens on purchased and written cds. My problem is that i can't seem to duplicate the problem for my service rep at the dealership and whomever he talked to said that they aren't going to do anything about it until they can see it malfunctioning. This is unacceptable to me. The nearest Pontiac/GMC dealership to my house is 20 miles and i refuse to go out of my way several miles whenever the player has a problem hoping that the head unit will still be malfunctioning when i get there. Now i do have an aftermarket amplifier in my Vibe but it is completely separated from the car's audio system. This has been my second trip to the dealership for this. I need this probelm rectified soon.Pontiac CC:Dear Mr. Meyer,Thank you for contacting the Pontiac Customer Assistance Center.I do apologize that I was not able to talk to you by phone today, but had a meeting to go to and you I am not allowed to contact customers after 9:00pm.I did speak with Tim, the service advisor, he advised me that he needs to pull codes from radio when the error occurs. He did advise me that he spent between 30-50 min with you and your vehicle to try to duplicate the error and has not been able to find anything at fault. He contacted technical assistance for advise but without having any error codes he is not able to offer any assistance. I realize that it is an inconvenience to keep taking your back to the dealer, however, without the service manager being able to duplicate the error there can be no fix.The dealer will not replace navigational system or cd changer without problem being duplicated. After your vehicle has been properly diagnosed and repaired there may be something I can do for you for all your inconvenience.My advice to you is that the next time this error occurs, you take your vehicle back to the dealer. I am sorry but this is the only course of action to consider.If you should need to contact us in the future, simply reply to this message or call our Pontiac Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-762-2737. Customer Relationship Managers are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time.Again, thank you for contacting Pontiac.Sincerely,Diane E. CardCustomer Relationship ManagerPontiac Customer Assistance CenterALi3N: This is in reply to the following message. This last weekend i was making some flower deliveries in my Vibe and after a few hours i began to have serious problems with the head unit once again, only now the problems have expanded to include loss of cd changer control and total loss of FM radio reception. I do not have the time to stop what i am doing in the car and drive 20 miles to the dealership every time the stereo malfunctions and i refuse to accept that i have to deal with a malfunctioning stereo until it decides to completely fail, which is where it is headed. That could take months that i am not willing to wait. I want GM to (if need be) eat the cost of the navigation head unit and fix my car. I could not care less about dealer reimbursement and whether or not the radio manufacturer will decide to reimburse GM for the cost of the head unit. I can guarantee you that if the stereo is allowed to heat up to the Texas summer heat temperatures it gets subjected to and the extended use it sees, if tested as such, it will fail every time; but that is not my concern. My concern is that this is the second time i have had customer service problems with GM and at this point i may never buy another GM vehicle. I need a e-mail address or telephone number of a GM executive that is willing to authorize the repair of my vibe without the malfunction codes in advance. This resolution is totally unacceptable to me. I have also contacted the Better Business Bureau.Complaint #: 1487762Complaint Type: Car MakerDate Received: 5/9/2004This is after 2 trips to the dealer and 3 e-mails.

[Mavrik]

Now how are they suppose to get an error code? Only codes that show up are like say E-20 for laser error or something. Now I don't know anything about the NAV system but if its losing time, playing the cd while you have the radio on, that problem would not set a code that I know of... Its an electical error that would be intermit.Now you guys seem to do things differently in the US but here in Ontario Canada we have an outside company do our radio work. We call them and tell them exactly say what you said yours was doing. No questions asked they come out and replace the whole unit under warranty.

[ALi3N]

[ngilbert]

Sorry Dude, but I'm with the dealer on this one. I just don't see where they are jacking you around, they have to see the problem for themselves before they start pulling stuff out on what "might" be the problem. I'm sure you know what you are talking about, but from the dealer's point of view, that can't be using the customers as a reliable diagnosis tool, right? It's not like they're saying screw off, they seem to be genuinely concerned about this, and want to make it right, but if it's not acting up in front of them....Think of all the $$ that would be wasted if anybody just walked in off the street and said "My engine is blown, install a new one" and they just did. I know, extreme example, but you get the idea....I know it's fustrating, been there, done that. Just hope you're near by when it acts up again, or hope that it quits altogther. Good luck!

[Jahntassa]

There IS a background system in the Nav system with basic information on it. With the key turned to acc., and the NAV system on, hold down the TA button and turn the parking lights on and off three times. That'll put you in the system menu of the Nav. It might tell you some codes on the first screen, I can't remember. I only ever use it to look at the GPS info..I can see the dealer stance on it...i'd say the same thing if it was a system I installed at Circuit City... You have to remember, the dealership has heard it ALL. Nothing against you, they're trying to cover their (removed). Not everyone is honest, and they need to make sure of things. It's not their fault..it's just that the rest of the world is retarded.

[ALi3N]

Epilogue:I have been in consistant contact with the BBB and with the BBB contact at GM with regard to my Nav HU. The GM rep communicated to me that he would be visiting houston on June 15 (my birthday) and he would like to personnaly look at my car and see the problem himself. I said ok and we agreed to meet around 1pm at Beck & Masten Pontiac GMC where i bought my car. So i show up to talk to him and he sits down in the car with me, i explain in deatil exactly how the aftermarket accessories are connected, how they work and where they are in the car. I show him the amp, the amp power wiring, speakers, placement of the audion cables and the actual line converter behind the stereo. I have the theiving-style line converter that is spliced into the speaker wire and steals a small amout of the signal to make low level outputs for an amp. (on a side note, anyone who wants to hook up an amp this way DO NOT BUY THE SCOSCHE OR WALMART BRAND CONVERTER it cannot safely handle the wattage from the stock HU and may fail) After i showed him how it all worked he got the lead tech and service manager and the 4 of us went for a drive while i demonstrated my problems and explained what had been done so far. After we got back the 3 of them agreed that Gay Pontiac GMC was full of crap and that there was no way the amp or aftermarket wiring caused the malfunction and agreed to take whatever steps were neccessary to repair the stereo. In the end i recieved a new HU, antenna, antenna wire, fm signal booster, and a free oil change for my trouble. Oh, and since the needed my car for 3 days the GM rep authorized a rental car for me.The moral of the story is you can do anything if you b*t*h enough.Happy Birthday to me, eh?

[joatmon]

sounds like you were finally able to recreate the problem for them. Glad they got you all fixed up

[futseal04]

Squeaky wheel gets the grease.......Glad you got it fixed.