[vwtodd]

My wife was driving our 2009 Outlook tonight (less than 150 miles after leaving the dealer for service) and all of a sudden the reduced power message came on and the car lurched to a halt after bucking and sputtering. Good thing she was not in traffic or it could have gotten ugly.

I met her where it happened and got a P0087 with my OBD scan tool. Getting it towed to the dealer tomorrow. Reading online, it appears that this code is related to low fuel rail pressure, however, it also seems to appear with camshaft issues as well.

Car has 112k miles, so of course it is out of powertrain warranty. So far, I have had to replace:

Steering Rack (I paid)
Steering column (I paid)
Water pump (warranty)
Transmission wave plate (warranty)
PCM 2x (warranty - had to be towed)
A bunch of little things

Between the out of pocket cost for things that should not break and the time out of service, this vehicle is becoming quite a burden.

We'll see what tomorrow brings at the dealer.

 

[vwtodd]

Turned out to be a bad fuel injector. Repair is in the $820+ range. Of course, this happens right out of powertrain warranty. I have had to repair more "non-normal, non-maintenance" things on this vehicle than all of the other vehicles that I have owned - combined!

FYI - Repair pal, which estimates the cost of repairs for a given vehicle and area based on real-world prices paid, says the following. The high end is dealer, low end, private shop. This says dealer is $366 on high end, so I don't know how this was over $800.


RepairPrice EstimateTM
$227 to $366
Customized for your location
How much should I pay?
Estimate includes:
Labor
$148-$188
Parts (excludes tax & fees)
$79-$178

 

[ls973800]

Of course, this happens right out of powertrain warranty.

Don't feel too bad, the fuel injectors aren't covered under the power train warranty. Perhaps under an extended warranty (GMPP) but not the factory power train warranty.

I agree, the price appears to be excessive. It's not that difficult of a job even if they had to replace one of the rear ones. How many did they actually replace? If just one, there is no way I would ever go back to that dealer.

 

[electbc]

Exactly what did they do? Even the most expensive Fuel injector runs $75. on rockauto. Even if they replaced all of them, how much can it be, $450? That was a lot of Labor, what is their rate?

 

[mswerb]

Most dealerships charge close to $100 an hour.

 

[vwtodd]

First time the vehicle bucked then stopped, it was towed to the dealer. Bad fuel injector and had to replace a bunch of small fuel rail parts due to low fuel pressure. $860+ for that repair.
Literally 7 days later, car starts stuttering and white smoke pouring out of hood. Towed back to dealer. Coil pack had shorted and melted to the plug/intake. After dealer spend 2 days on-off phone with GM, GM said bad ECU and recommended fix is to replace all injectors/plugs/ECU/grounding wires/intake gasket/misc part. That was going to be over $2k, but after some lengthy time on the phone with GM, they covered about half.

So, about 3k in repairs within 10 days on parts that are not wear items. I have had more problems with this vehicle than all the others I have owned in the past 25 years - combined.

Keeping it going for 2 years then it is Tesla all the way for me. No more ridiculous gas/diesel maintenance costs, repairs, oil changes, mufflers, seals, emissions components failing, no more 60 mile R/T trips to a dealer to get a code diagnosed. Time to move into the future - fast.

 

[saturnxr]

First time the vehicle bucked then stopped, it was towed to the dealer. Bad fuel injector and had to replace a bunch of small fuel rail parts due to low fuel pressure. $860+ for that repair.
Literally 7 days later, car starts stuttering and white smoke pouring out of hood. Towed back to dealer. Coil pack had shorted and melted to the plug/intake. After dealer spend 2 days on-off phone with GM, GM said bad ECU and recommended fix is to replace all injectors/plugs/ECU/grounding wires/intake gasket/misc part. That was going to be over $2k, but after some lengthy time on the phone with GM, they covered about half.

So, about 3k in repairs within 10 days on parts that are not wear items. I have had more problems with this vehicle than all the others I have owned in the past 25 years - combined.

Keeping it going for 2 years then it is Tesla all the way for me. No more ridiculous gas/diesel maintenance costs, repairs, oil changes, mufflers, seals, emissions components failing, no more 60 mile R/T trips to a dealer to get a code diagnosed. Time to move into the future - fast.

Ditto on the Tesla, If only Saturn made a really big EV1 (Like the Model X) 8)