I was driving down a 45 mph road, when suddenly a message to "service the StabiliTrak System" error message appeared. Shortly after my car read "power engine reduced" and I could no longer go above 20 mph. Very unsafe considering I had cars behind me and it was snowing! I pulled over, turned my car off, waited for a couple minutes, started it up again and it seemed okay, at that point. Traveled maybe 2 more miles down the road and it did the exact same thing, only this time my engine light also came on. Its now at the shop and a "repair" is costing me $500.00. NOT HAPPY! It seems this is something that is happening to others with this same vehicle around the 80,000 mile mark. Unacceptable. Could cause accidents, when car automatically powers down to 20mph and won't go above that. At one point, I was turning, and a car was coming at me while it did this. Good thing I had enough time to make it through. THIS NEEDS TO BE A RECALL on this vehicle ASAP!
I was driving down the side street going about 15mph and I felt a kind of pop in the steering wheel. Then suddenly I felt the steering severely pull to the right ( the pull did it with authority, almost ripped the steering wheel from my hands). I continued to go straight and the wheel just wanted to go right. I can say my arms had a workout trying to hold the wheel straight and worrying that it would go left all of a sudden. I had no clue what the hell was going to happen!!!???
As I was attempting to make a left going out of a side street, the steering wheel would only turn left from 12 to 9 ( clock formation), then the wheel would stop and then I had to "force" the wheel past the "9" position. I struggled with it due to my disability. It was extremely hard for me to do and I came close to crashing into a snow bank that was straight in front of me! Cars were coming at me at about 45mph. I prayed!!!! I made it scraping the snow bank. NOT FUN!!! I had to stop along the way because I was so worried that the steering would go the opposite direction and force the car into oncoming traffic. I was going slow (20mph) all the way home.
I stopped along side a side street and literally forced the steering wheel to the left and it "so called fixed" itself. I can make left turns again. But I stopped at a auto mechanic that was right on my way home. I thought maybe the power steering fluid was low. I tried to look for a reservoir for the power steering but to no avail! I felt stupid not seeing it so I went in and I asked the guys in the station where the power steering reservoir is. I know where they are on older cars but this, I felt stupid because.... THERE IS NO RESERVOIR !!! It's electrical.
The mechanic tried to diagnosis the problem and he stated it could be something wrong with the electrical power steering. Something may have snapped with some kind of disc??? He thought maybe a fuse, but nope. He tried to clear the code but it wouldn't even clear so something is really wrong!!!
I am absolutely afraid to drive it. What happens if it happens again..... Anyone hear of any recalls . This could be tragic!!! MAYBE GM CAN DO SOMETHING BEFORE SOMEONE GETS REALLY HURT OR TRAGICALLY DIES FROM SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE RECALLED. I see a lot of people have written about this and no recalls as of yet???? How many people does it take to get GM to see that their design is wrong. Does it take someone to get seriously hurt from their mistake? Come on GM and recall this serious problem!!!! They recall power seats but they don't recall something as serious as a steering problem that will launch you into a guard rail or maybe oncoming cars!!!!!!!!
PLEASE GM, LETS TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!!!!!
- Lisa G.,
Ludlow, MA, US
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I was driving down a 45 mph road, when suddenly a message to "service the StabiliTrak System" error message appeared. Shortly after my car read "power engine reduced" and I could no longer go above 20 mph. Very unsafe considering I had cars behind me and it was snowing! I pulled over, turned my car off, waited for a couple minutes, started it up again and it seemed okay, at that point. Traveled maybe 2 more miles down the road and it did the exact same thing, only this time my engine light also came on. Its now at the shop and a "repair" is costing me $500.00. NOT HAPPY! It seems this is something that is happening to others with this same vehicle around the 80,000 mile mark. Unacceptable. Could cause accidents, when car automatically powers down to 20mph and won't go above that. At one point, I was turning, and a car was coming at me while it did this. Good thing I had enough time to make it through. THIS NEEDS TO BE A RECALL on this vehicle ASAP!
- Renee D., Milwaukee, WI, US