The Cradle Bolt Recall

[Prospeeder]

Do they still honor that if you have lower miles? Like i have 73500 miles, and it lived in michigan for 14 years, do you think they might honor it? THey told my dad if his truck had 80k or less they could have honord the Windsheild wiper curciut board recall, think its the same for this?

[Invasion1]

Call your Dealer

doubt it though  :?

[GangstGP]

where is the cradle bolt they are talking about? I want to see if mines ok.

Is it supposed to rust out? I have solved most of the recall problems on my own and wouldnt mind catching this one early.

[Prospeeder]

yea, in certain states including michigan and like wisconson in the salt belt have the cradle bolts rust out and cause them to seperate pinching the rack and pinon and losing all control of the vehicle

[dbtk2]

One of my dads cradle bolts broke off in his TGP.  I'm assuming this would be covered under the recall.  His car has over 140k on it and has been in OH & MI its entire life.  I don't know what the recall consists of but I would assume this would be covered?

Shawn

[R Dubya]

there are washers that the bolts go through, they rust out, become weak, and the weight of the cradle breaks through them.  Sometimes they break the bolts too.  It can be a real bitch to get those bolts to come out, so the dealer will most likely give you a hard time having them replaced.  They only honor recalls for a certain period of time, but it you create enough of a stink they will probably have no choice but to do it.  You can always call and find out.

[GutlessSupreme]

It's SUPPOSED to be covered, but a lot of guys on w-body have had real trouble getting it done, or just didn't get it done at all. Some dealers just wouldn't honor the recall, which as far as I know is breaking the law, but nothing ever became of it. Then again, there was one guy where the dealer went so far as to install an entirely brand new cradle, no charge.

[Prospeeder]

So if i was going to go and make a big stink, what would i say? Like, as an argument?

[TGPilot]

Tell them the NTSB is the one who put out the recall because it is a fetal injury type recall. It makes no difference if the car is 1 year old or 100 years old if it is under the NTSB for recall it must be done. Now the problem will be in the wording of the recall. If I remember right it states vehicles in certain salt climates to be the big issue. If you have rust in the area of the bolts or the seating points then they should do it. They should at least inspect the bolts for serious corrosion or fatigue without charge under the recall notice.

If they say they can not find the recall then call the NTSB they will give you the notice number. At the same time tell them the dealer name and location. They will most likely fax it to them and also call the service manager. 8)

[R Dubya]

On my higher mileage TGP, when it was running  I took it to a dealer to have this recall performed.  They would not honor it, because they did not have the information saying whether or not the recall had been performed, and the dick service manager would not even look into it.  I called 1-800-GM CARES or something, the customer service line, and they looked into it.  I was supposed to hear back from the regional director or something, he was supposed to find my info, but I never heard from him.  Oh well, the tranny quit and I will replace them myself when I install the 5 spd.  There is supposedly a time frame in which they honor the recalls, they do expire, but if you never received notice, you could also play that card.  Call them and find out, that's the only way to get to the bottom of it.

[GutlessSupreme]

That was another thing I remember.. dealer wouldn't perform it on a TGP because our 1G5xxxxxxx VIN wasn't included, or something to that effect.

How do recalls work anyway? Doesn't the dealer get compensated by GM anyway? wtf do they bitch about then?

[Prospeeder]

SO basicly tell them its a safty risk for me, and that NTSB says its a saftey recall that could endanger my life, they need to perform it, or somthing along those lines?

[LukeZ34]

I spoke with our manager at work (GM Dealership) this afternoon about the recalls.
I asked her if any GM recalls have an expiration date on them, and she said that if they are safety related recalls, they have NO expiration. The vehicle could have 200K+ miles on it and be 16+ years old, and GM MUST honor that recall. Now, if the recall is something performance related (ie. fuel filter, etc) then those are allowed to expire after time. I trust what she says, as she's been working there for years.

So from the sounds of it, GM must honor the cradle bolt recall if it has NOT been done on the car yet. They can determine that by searching the history of the VIN. I plan to take them our TGP's VIN to see if it has any open recalls on it. Hopefully it doesn't, but who knows.

[TGPilot]

It makes no difference if the car is 1 year old or 100 years old if it is under the NTSB for recall it must be done.

I have been around these types of recalls before. The DSM world has one on it's transfer cases. DSM service dealers must replace the transfer case if the car has 10 miles or 10,000,000 miles and the transfer case is leaking from the yoke. Mine was done free of charge and they did not even do a history on the Talon.

When the NTSB flags for safety it MUST be honored no matter what. If they can not find the history then they MUST assume it was never done! Start telling the dealer you are going to file an investigative complaint with the NTSB about your car...most likely they will stop you before you hit the door! :wink:  8)

[Prospeeder]

I went there, give them my VIN, and they said theres absolutly no recalls for my car...ever, WTF they said to bring in a campaign number from NTSB for them to be able to possibly do anything....

So just give them this number, or should i pring off the whole page, it says for a buick regal of 1988, think they will care? It doesnt specificly say Grand Prix 1990, but knowing dealers, they will try to squeeze out of anything...

give em this number and a print out next time i go of the NTSB website

00V189000 - Front Cradle bolts
97V058000 - Rear cradle bolts