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2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

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Old Dec 18, 2006 | 9:02 PM
  #31  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

WOW this thread is hilarious...

Pretty sure you were offerred extended Warranty as that is where the Bus office people make their money, that would be like me letting you go without trying to sell you a car.

I can understand your frustration but I work at a chevy dealership and just asked and they have NEVER done one of these or seen this problem. not saying it dont happen just dont think it is that popular of a problem

your suburban is off Warranty, if you wnat see if you can purchase extended warranty now sometimes you can with only 60k on it you may be able to. save you from future repairs as well.

and Yes going in screamming does not help all that ever did here is give us something to laugh about when eventually you HAVE to fork over the $900 bucks to fix it, which would be less if you would be nicer Im sure.

If all else fails trde it for a new 07 nicer looking anyhow, and it will have warranty.
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Old Dec 21, 2006 | 3:12 AM
  #32  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

Hello all,
Just wanted to check in as another victim of the defective hinge problem faced by us Suburban/Tahoe owners. I have a 2003 Tahoe that has 70,000 miles on it and is still under GM's "GMPP" super-top-dog extended warranty (as described by me service writer at the dealership) and GMPP is refusing to pay for the glass because they don't cover glass. Well, that explaination would be fine and dandy if the GLASS WAS BROKE. But this is a structural failure, pointing to an engineering short-coming in the design/attachment of the rear glass assembly. And the more I dig the more I find that it's a wide-spread problem that GM should address. My Camaros hatchback glass is bolted to the hinges, not glued. Granted it is much larger and heavier than the 'Hoes rear glass, but a superior engineering job none the less.
I'd be satisfied if they use the pooky they glued it with originally and reattach the hinge. Then make the pooky available for me to buy in another 70,000 miles so I can fix it. I'm not willing to shell out the $950 when it's clearly a design defect. Nobody should....not even the flamer in this thread.
~Ron
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Old Dec 30, 2006 | 4:03 PM
  #33  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

Add me as another victim of the GM poor design group with a seperated rear glass hinge. Before the "Flaming Idiots" start on about this being a user induced problem, the rear glass hatch on our Sub is not used by either my wife or myself. In fact it has been opened at grand total of 2 times. The release button is so hard to push in that we just don't use it. As I see it the problem is the hinges are under constant strain from the lift cylinders and from added forces from the wind at highway speeds.The hinge bond surface area is just too small.

I have three friends with Tahoe/Suburbans of which two have failed to date. That is 3 out of 4 failed glass hinges among myself and friends. I'd sayGM has a problem.

CG
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Old Jan 3, 2007 | 7:43 PM
  #34  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

I have an 03 Tahoe with 55000 miles and I have had the same problem with the back glass hinge, don't want to pay the $950 to have it replaced!!!
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Old Jan 12, 2007 | 12:57 PM
  #35  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

2001 Suburban - Hinge Broke Also! Tried one repair with Gorilla Glue - Didn't work. I am sure it was my fault - didn't let it sit long enough - going to try the jb weld route now. Have they fixed this design flaw in the '07 models? I have over 200,000 on my Suburban and love it. I've had my issues with trans, intake leak, evap code, and also the rear gas shocks holding the rear hatch have lost their gas (anyone know where to get these aftermarket?). But overall I have been very pleased with the vehicle. My wife drives a '97 and it has had even less issues than mine and also well over 200,000 miles. I bet they figure out the design prob and fix it - I don't mind having to fix these issues myself or having someone fix it for me and paying to do it - this vehicle has been well worth the money!
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Old Jan 21, 2007 | 9:16 AM
  #36  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

I've got the same problem with the broken hinge. We are original owner of vehicle and done nothing to cause this hinge to break, in fact rarely used the window opening. I have tried JB Weld, didn't work for us.

This seems similar to the cables on the tailgate of my Avalanche, that rusted in half/broke, within two years of buying it new. That WAS replaced by Chevy on a recall.
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Old Jan 21, 2007 | 6:39 PM
  #37  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

I have a 2003 Yukon with just under 29k miles.... same problem. Of course it happened just a couple of months after my warrenty expired. I purchased the extended warranty, and of course, it isn't covered. Looking around on this site, I see there are plenty of people with this problem. I was also told by the mechanic at the GMC dealerthat he has seen plenty of these, that the current model has changed the design of its hatch window because they kept breaking. I have a hard time believing this isn't a manufacturer's defect if enough people are having this problem that it resulted in them having to change their design. Has anyone inquired with consumer reports??? And to the previous comment 'don't be cheap just suck it up" -- why should we shell out $1k for an obvious manufacturer's defect?
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Old Jan 29, 2007 | 9:58 PM
  #38  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

ORIGINAL: jdearing

I have a 2003 Yukon with just under 29k miles.... same problem. Of course it happened just a couple of months after my warrenty expired. I purchased the extended warranty, and of course, it isn't covered. Looking around on this site, I see there are plenty of people with this problem. I was also told by the mechanic at the GMC dealerthat he has seen plenty of these, that the current model has changed the design of its hatch window because they kept breaking. I have a hard time believing this isn't a manufacturer's defect if enough people are having this problem that it resulted in them having to change their design. Has anyone inquired with consumer reports??? And to the previous comment 'don't be cheap just suck it up" -- why should we shell out $1k for an obvious manufacturer's defect?
Agreed!!
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Old Jun 27, 2007 | 7:49 PM
  #39  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

[:-]Yep! 2000 Yukon with 76K miles and plastic hinge just broke on right side. Looked at the left side and it is cracked. Dealer wants $1100 - $1200 to replace window. Says he sees a lot of them. Guess I will try the JB weld trick also. I am curious (being engineer) what you cleaned the area with prior to applying the JB weld. Evaluating the design it is very poor, inferior quality plastic with strutsplace a torsional load on the hinge.

Capt RonB
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Old Jun 29, 2007 | 5:36 AM
  #40  
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Default RE: 2003 Suburban DEFECT - rear hatch glass hinge breaking

I wiped both the hinge and window with acetone before I JB welded it.
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