1998 Chevy Blazer - total lemon - fuel pump was replaced 4 times

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on July 2, 2002:

From: Tony C [tonedef777 AT hotmail.com]

RE: 1998 Chevy Blazer - total lemon - fuel pump was replaced 4 times

Let me tell you about this lemon I bought that almost literally killed me. I bought a used Blazer from Sun Auto in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania about 2 years ago. It had about 20,000 miles on it. I got the extended warranty to cover it for the first year. In the first year it died on the road and my wife called me from the cell phone, but I figured it was just one of those things.

She was towed and the vehicle continued on. There were minor things like the battery and some stuttering, but the real problem happened a week after the warranty expired. I was driving with the wife, our infant daughter and our pre-teen, when the car died right on the highway! It was like someone threw a switch. The steering wheel locked and I managed to pull it inches enough to coast to some grass.

The car was towed back to our mechanic and we got a lift home. Turns out it was the fuel pump and something too technical for me to understand. From that time to about the beginning of the year 2002, the fuel pump was replaced 4 times. Last month, May 2002, the car died again and the mechanic told us to dump it quickly: the transmission was going. When I called the owner of Sun Auto right after the car died on the highway and I told him we were almost killed, it didn't phase him one bit. He said he would do nothing. I called GMC and spoke all the way to some executive officer, and here's what they offered me: $1,000 discount toward the purchase of a new vehicle. Wow! Like the average person couldn't haggle down on the price of a car. And it still did nothing about the lemon I had. I dumped the Blazer and happily own a Toyota. I originally bought the Blazer because I wanted to buy American. Patriotism gave me a swift kick. I will never buy another American car again, and GM was without a doubt the worst customer relations I've encountered. As for the Toyota Sienna, it's weird.

It's a minivan and it's longer and weighs more than the Blazer, yet, it outperforms the Blazer in all aspects, especially handling turns. And what a comfortable ride. I can see the day when cars will be like VCRs and TVs--you won't be able to find one made by Americans. And I hope GM will be the first one to go out of business. &#160

Comment On This

I know a man that put three or more fuel pumps in his full size late 1990s truck. The next time the fuel pump quite a new and more alert mechanic found a damaged wire close to the fuel tank,the wire repaired and same fuel pump the was still running two years later. There isn't much to kill a fuel pump,maybe working harder to overcome a cloged filter.or running out of gas and a lot of engine cranking with no fuel in the tank,the fuel keeps the pump cool and lubricated. If the dealer replaced the pump the first time seems like they might be responsibe if it went out very quickly.My 1993 S10 had 88,000 mi.when I got it,now with over 300,000 it running tired but has had only one fuel pump,one central port fuel injector, two or more alts. batts, one starter,new exhaust,pickup coil, one water pump,one set oil cooler lines.