luckydriver

just a warning to anyone who is sensitive about such things. for a few weeks ive been having little to moderate vibration in the steering at idle. after 2 times at the dealer and even driving another car. they say this is normal. the other car had it a bit but they agree not as bad as mine. but they say since the other car had it that its normal and too bad so sad. i disagree that this is right on a 40K car and they should be ashamed of themselves. i regularly run my impalas up to 300k and never had this. heck ive driven other cheap cars and this never happens. they take no pride in this car. they just want the sale. thats it.

they first lied and said they never told me that it was the mounts (i have this in writing) then today they now say its normal for a car of 20k to have vibrations in the steering and said its not a warranty issue and they wont fix it. and so much for customer satisfaction. they email and call wanting you to give them perfect on their surveys and when you try to rectify a situation, they tell you too bad. plus doesnt the manufacturer pay for warranty repairs anyway? so why not toss in the mounts and make me happy?

luckydriver

after getting a final email from the dealer saying our decision is final and this is closed they told me to call my sales man. he said today the service manager told him the cars are designed for smoothness when they are running. not idling. he likened it to a race car. he said the lobes on the cams are designed for fuel efficiency and that you have to sacrifice rough idle for that. i've been in a 57 chevy so i do know what he's talking about but i still find it hard to believe this is standard across all impalas. my sales guy told me he got in a chevy truck and he sat in it a while and felt vibration worse than my car. if true then this is disconcerting as well. i know i only idle a minute at a time but i expected perfection and dozens of times a day i'm realizing that this is not the perfect car i thought it was.

sledge.impy

What are you idling at?

Did they replace the motor mounts?

I can't say I've felt any vibration idling in drive or park. I couldn't even tell when I threw that code p0010 at 860 miles that the engine was running rough having all the timing off.

Is this something you can make a video of, or is it only to the touch? Can you tape your phone to the steering wheel and point it to the ceiling and we could see it wobble around?

luckydriver

i forget, i think 600 or 700 but ill have to verify. they wont replace the mounts, they said its normal wear and tear and decision is final. its only to the touch but i never thought of the phone trick. regardless, they confirm they feel the issue but she said the cars are designed like this and they wont do anythign about it and it IS normal. so if its normal either everyone else in America has the issue and is ok with it or no one has it. i dont know which.

sledge.impy

Is it a consistent idle? Does the engine look like it is vibrating if you pop the hood?

Is this both neutral/park and drive/reverse?

I'll try to pay more attention to my car next time out..

luckydriver

didnt pop the hood and look. i think it decreases a bit when in N but it's still there for sure so cant be trans. (thankfully). never noticed it in R

the rest of the body, meaning my console. seat, dash, door. dont vibrate. (yet) . just the steering. the idle seems smooth to me but its hard to hear anything. maybe ill open the window sometime

their attitude is what is most disconcerting. like too bad this is how they all are.

edit:

i finally got ahold of my friend who installed my engine in my old car. (ie he knows what he's doing). he said the cam explanation from the dealer was utter BS. that if the motor mounts wore in 20K then GM has a serious problem.

which i think they do

sledge.impy

I turned it on tonight and didn't go any where. I felt some movement but barely noticeable in the steering wheel after initial start up.

I turned off the AC and that smoothed it out more, Put it in reverse and nothing either.

is your AC on or off? Totally shut down the HVAC system to rule that out.

luckydriver

no ac here but never turned it all off. fan is on low though

sledge.impy

Can you give it a little bit of gas there while idling to see if it goes away at say 1,000 rpm? That's okay in P/N, but if you are in gear, I don't think it is advisable for more than a few seconds (at least with older transmissions, but I'm sure the new trans is probably the same warning).

luckydriver

yes it goes away when i get on the gas with brake on.