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My Experience Owning an Original '08

3K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  mrbuick 
#1 ·
Excited to buy an Enclave, we paid to much for the first one that came to our dealer, completely loaded Diamond tricoat CXL. Then the fun began.

1. Recalled for leaking roof.
2. Recalled for transmission flash if you wanted it. We did.
3. Replaced seat belt plastic hootus where belt was wearing through it. New one's are doing it too.
4. Replaced the power steering pump under warranty.
5. Replaced the battery, $220 installed, that was under warranty but not on the car warranty which is what they use.
6. Recall to have the heated fluid disabled and giving $100 for our inconvenience.
7. Navigation unit has map read error, never works. Iphone and Around Me works better anyway, still sucks and hurts the re-sale.
8. Water pump went out. Took it to a hometown auto shop for replacement where they broke it off in us for $725. Realizing that it
would have been covered under the drive train warranty I began the long and painful process of trying to get reimbursed. Ended up
getting $365 from our dealer for my screw up. That was the rate our dealer would have charged GM. Thats a full refund.
9. One month later the transmission goes out. Instead of replacing with a reman they are overhauling it. They have had it for two
weeks this Tuesday because they had to wait on parts. Should be done Tuesday or Wednesday.

I've been a die hard GM guy for as long as I've driven. Because of this experience and the bailout I will never own another GM vehicle as long as I live and I hate that.

By the way we love our Enclave when it isn't being recalled or repaired. Unfortunately we are stuck with it for awhile and that scares me. I hope all of the bugs have been worked out on the new ones because the 08 has been a pain in the ass to own and I can't wait to trade it off. Sad thing is that year is starting to get a reputation.
 
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#2 ·
Hmmm, I can play this game as well - here's my experience with OUR (2) 2008 models (Enclave and Acadia)......ready....here goes.

2008 AWD Enclave (built Oct 2007) currently has 64K miles:

1) Had a bad liftgate strut replaced under warranty after about a year and a half. No big deal, relaced under warranty.

2) Sunroof recall issued, but never had it performed because I didn't want them tearing into the headliner and "fixing something that isn't broken". To this day have never had a drop of water enter the vehicle.

3) Heated washer fluid recall - had performed due to potential liability, but am convinced I never would have had a problem with it (minor annoyance losing this feature).

4) Had battery replaced with OEM GM Delco battery when car was 3+ years old (cost $200 installed....kinda pricey, but comes with 6 year free replacement warranty). Wife spent numerous hours sitting in car with laptop plugged in, radio going, etc....no surprise battery died. Within 6 months, this battery developed a bad cell and was replaced free of charge. Great GM service and warranty.

5) Dealer notified me of airbag recall to replace connector under passenger seat 3 weeks before I received the recall in the mail. Had performed at dealer and was no big deal - glad GM and my dealer looking out for our safety.

6) Had check engine light come on due to bad evap canister purge solenoid. Had replaced under warranty at no cost to me. Have subsequently read on this and other boards that many brands of cars have this issue as a result of constant "topping off" when re-fueling. I do this ALL the time and guess I will abandon the practice. This issue caused us no "down time" with use of the vehicle, and was no problem at all.


2008 FWD Acadia (built June 2008) - currently at 70K miles:

1) Had heated washer fluid recall performed due to liability - but convinced I would have never had any problems with it.

2) Crickets.......crickets.........crickets. Seriously, can't think of anything else.


So, there you have it.........these are the two best cars as far as quality and reliability that I have ever owned.
 
#3 ·
Here's the repair list for non-wear-and-tear issues for my 2008 AWD Enclave CX:

1) replaced 2 failed or defective power steering pumps
2) front wiper arm recall
3) replaced 2 defective front driver's side seat belt casements
4) heated washer fluid unit recall
5) replaced defective (knocking) steering rack bushings
6) replaced noisy steering rack
7) transmission reflash (elective)

Additionally, I might be starting to see the symptoms of the defective front passenger seat elective recall.

All in all, I still love my first model year Enclave, but it has been annoyingly buggy. Hopefully, now that I've had lots of warranty and recall repairs already taken care of, the car will prove more reliable in the long term. Hopefully.
 
#4 ·
I don't know why your battery wasn't replaced under the 5/50 GM warranty.
My battery died at 35 months, 14000 miles, and was replaced at NO CHARGE TO ME ;D
OnStar jumped me, I drove to the dealer for replacement.

Overall, my experiences are much the same as 2muchcoffee, excellent vehicle overall, and SUPERIOR dealer.
 
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