2012 Yukon with an electrical gremlin! WTF?!

[blowedupmotor87]

So, yesterday we bought my wife her first new car, a 2012 Yukon! But, now it is already in the shop with an electrical gremlin that reared its head yesterday. (with 39 miles on the odometer!) The rear HVAC/radio controls kept flickering on and off all night last night and this morning driving it the gauges were cycling on and off, all the warning lights would light and then shut off, and the blinkers wouldn't work. (amongst other things, such as the gearshift indicator and speedo being sluggish, etc) So, it has been in the shop since about 10am this morning. (having bought it at 6pm last night)

They said they believe it is a bad ground for the BCM and that one of the grounds is through the rear HVAC/radio controls (the one that was flickering), and that there are 3 more as well. They said they threw in a new rear HVAC/radio control off of another Yukon and they believe it is fixed but the want to keep it over night to make sure all the systems "go to sleep" and stay "asleep". Does this sound plausible?

We test drove it when it had on 9 miles on it, the test drive went fine, the only odd thing was the rear HVAC/radio controls didn't want to turn on but, I figured that was just me not knowing how to work them (never had them before), and I figured I'd look them up in the manual later. Well, turns out more was wrong!

Needless to say the wife is LIVID!!! (really doesn't help that all our friends are coming over for dinner tonight and will be wondering why there's a dealership comped truck in our driveway, LOL! (though it is a nice one, brand new loaded Sierra with not but 11 miles on it)) I understand things happen but still, this is some crappy luck! The wife says she just wants them to keep the $%^& Yukon and give her her old car back or give her another Yukon instead! (I would think the first would be an option but, kinda doubt the second one being an option) Anybody had to deal with this kind of issue? What was your outcome? Thanks!!!

 

[496truck]

baaahh, tell the wife to chill. Rule of mass production, if you make 100,000 heater control panels you are bound to have a couple failures. Why they didn't notice it during the pre delivery inspection is another story. I've worked at nothing but dealerships for the last 15 years or so. Issues like yours are rare on brand new cars but they do happen. I don't care what brand, I've seen them all do something like this. Everything from a burned out bulb to complete and utter failure. I remember when I worked at Audi, customer picked up his brand new S4 (V8 awd), didn't make it 2 exits down the highway and the engine sucked a valve (may have been multiple valves IIRC) and lunched the engine. This particular car, and a couple others across the country with a similar outcome, started a recall on valve keeper replacement. That brand new car needed a brand new engine. Took a few weeks to get cause there were none in stock in the US, they took one right from the new car assembly line and sent it over.

Todays cars are riddled with computers and modules and they ALL communicate with each other. They all draw power and when the vehicle is shut down they stay alive for an amount of time before they go to sleep. If they don't go to sleep they continue to draw power and will eventually kill the battery.

 

[blowedupmotor87]

Thanks 496truck!
That would SUCK to be the guy with the S4! I believe I'd tell the dealer to keep that one! I guess I have been lucky, this is the 5th vehicle I have bought new (3rd GM) and none of the others had any real issues. (knock on wood, since I still have one of them! (and it's the most trouble prone, a JK, LOL!)) Just rather disconcerting to buy something brand new and have it in the shop for 24 of the first 48 hours of ownership!

I've heard of people having their cars "wake up" in the middle of the night and drain the battery but, I have never had one do it before. I think I'd prefer not to!

Well, the dealer's truck has been hidden in the garage! (to make the wife happy that way she doesn't have to explain that she bought a new vehicle and it's in the shop to our friends tonight, LOL!) Tight fit putting it in (extended cab shorted), just 2.5" worth of extra room between the wall, the truck, and the garage door!

 

[K5_Fla]

+1 it could happen with any new car. You need to remember, these new cars today have more electronics in them than the Apollo 13 had.

 

[Avery4jc]

I'll hop on this bandwagon. My mom bought a brand new Santa Fe in 2007 and it was in the shop twice in the first day or two, once for an alternator issue and again for some other electrical issue. They fixed it and she's put 45,000 absolute trouble free miles on it since then.

 

[diesel4me]

When my dad bought a 1993 Caravan, it wasn't more than a week old before it refused to start one day,no cranking!...he had to get it towed to the dealer,and they said some of the Bosch starters were giving trouble right off the assembly line...they replaced it free under warranty,so far,88K miles later,its been one of the most dependable vehicles we've had...only things we replaced on it so far is a battery,alt belt,and air filter,it's had regular oil& filter changes,thats about it,other than a rusted brake line that failed about 5 years ago...........................................................................................................................................................................................................I'd hate to be the guy to buy something brand new,and still end up stranded in it--I'd be no better off (or worse off) than if I were one of my antiques--at least I know how to fix those!..I do not understand why they feel its nessasary to have more computers than apollo spacecraft in a stupid CAR either..its gone way too overboard...I feel the weather ,temparature and humidity conditions found in automotive applications makes them too hostile an environment for solid state curcuitry and chips to withstand for long,and they make diagnosis difficult and expensive...simple is best when it comes to machinery in my opinion...

 

[blowedupmotor87]

Thanks for the input y'all!!! I am feeling a lot better about it now! I just wish there weren't so dang many computers in everything new nowadays, it's insane!!!

Got it back this afternoon, it seems to be doing totally fine now!!! They said there have been only like a handful of Yukons in the whole US that this has happened on, just my luck I guess, LOL! They have definitely treated us right on this, having given me a brand new truck to drive whilst it was in the shop, fixing the problem, keeping it and checking to make sure it was fixed, topping off our gas tank, fully detailing the Yukon, and giving us two free oil changes to use in future as well!

So, on to happier news (what I was originally gonna post before the gremlin):

We are full-size GM owners again! My wife is the proud owner of a 2012 Yukon, 4X4 (with auto mode, that's a nice feature!), SLT, 5.3L, light mocha steel metallic (or something like that) exterior, tan leather interior. Has remote start and heated seats, both nice features for the cold weather we've been having thus far this year! She LOVES it, it's the first new car she has ever had! Her previous cars have been a 95? Malibu, a 98 Cherokee, and an 02 I-35, so this is a considerable upgrade!

She doesn't like my nickname for the Yukon though! I call it "Ton-ton" or "Ton-ton the Yukon". Reason for the nickname is the Yukon is brownish tan and bigger than my Jeep. (my Jeep's nickname is Vader since it's black and I bought it on Star Wars day! (May the fourth (think may the fourth (force) be with you)) Makes more sense than Ewok for the Yukon!

I bought a Lego Darth Vader that hangs from the rearview mirror of the Jeep, and the Jeep's plate reads VADERJKU (it's a JK Unlimited). I told my wife I am going to get a custom plate for the Yukon that says TON-TON but she doesn't seem to be going for the idea. At the very least, I am gonna try to find a Lego Ton-ton for the rearview mirror!

Looks like the Lego Ton-ton is gonna be hard to find though!

^Believe it or not but, I'm actually not a huge Star Wars guy!

 

[jt512]

Congrats on the new ride dude

It definitely sucks about the gremlin, but like others have said , it happens

Having worked at a dealer , I have seen it myself, heck, back in the early 6.0 power stroke days, I personally had 6 of them lock up the VGT turbos when I test drove them after servicing them and we even had a limited Explorer lock up coming off the truck because the factory never put oil in it

Oh, and as for the tag on the wifes ride, one tip for you, a word that is also a unit of weight measurement (especially a big one) is not a good idea for a vanity plate on a womans car

 

[Fordum]

Check with some of the experts here, but from what little I have read, the auto 4X4 mode is not a good idea.
I think the problem is that when it sees lots of wheel slip it forces a shift with lots of speed difference between the front and rear axle.
Which puts a lot so strain on the syncros.

Normally when your rear wheels start slipping, you stop or at least slow down to shift.
But, they might have made changes in the newer models.

 

[blowedupmotor87]

Congrats on the new ride dude

It definitely sucks about the gremlin, but like others have said , it happens

Having worked at a dealer , I have seen it myself, heck, back in the early 6.0 power stroke days, I personally had 6 of them lock up the VGT turbos when I test drove them after servicing them and we even had a limited Explorer lock up coming off the truck because the factory never put oil in it

Oh, and as for the tag on the wifes ride, one tip for you, a word that is also a unit of weight measurement (especially a big one) is not a good idea for a vanity plate on a womans car

It'll be okay, turns out it's spelled Tauntaun! I know this now after spending an hour unsuccessfully searching for a Lego Ton-ton!

So, I wonder, if I get a tag that reads TAUNTAUN, how long will it take her to notice?

That's crazy with those turbos! That would suck! That Explorer is crazy, I bet some people got chewed out over that one! On the whole, I'm glad my wife didn't want a Sonic, apparently there are recalls for the front brake pads being forgotten during manufacturing!

 

[jt512]

It'll be okay, turns out it's spelled Tauntaun! I know this now after spending an hour unsuccessfully searching for a Lego Ton-ton!

So, I wonder, if I get a tag that reads TAUNTAUN, how long will it take her to notice?

That's crazy with those turbos! That would suck! That Explorer is crazy, I bet some people got chewed out over that one! On the whole, I'm glad my wife didn't want a Sonic, apparently there are recalls for the front brake pads being forgotten during manufacturing!

LEGO must not make one, if they did , Jacob would most likely have one ( there are more legos in my house then at the Lego store I think)

It must be "buy my first NEW car season" , I sold the old "dented Dodge" and broke down and bought an 11 Cummins 2 months ago

 

[blowedupmotor87]

LEGO must not make one, if they did , Jacob would most likely have one ( there are more legos in my house then at the Lego store I think)

It must be "buy my first NEW car season" , I sold the old "dented Dodge" and broke down and bought an 11 Cummins 2 months ago

Turns out Lego does, I am very happy! Now that I figured out how to spell I have found several! Gotta love Legos! I really miss playing with them when I was a kid, I had a ton of them! Actually, there's a Lego (aside from the Tauntaun) that I really want now- look up Lego Technic Unimog when you get a chance, it is insanely awesome!!!

Congrats on the new Cummins bro! VERY nice!!!

 

[jt512]

Turns out Lego does, I am very happy! Now that I figured out how to spell I have found several! Gotta love Legos! I really miss playing with them when I was a kid, I had a ton of them! Actually, there's a Lego (aside from the Tauntaun) that I really want now- look up Lego Technic Unimog when you get a chance, it is insanely awesome!!!

Congrats on the new Cummins bro! VERY nice!!!

I've seen the Unimog , we took Jacob to the Lego store at a mall near us, I want the Technic excavator , Seeing as how I already have remote controlled excavators for work , I figured I could use the Lego one to "demo" Jacobs Lego castle and various other structures......he didn't find it funny

 

[blowedupmotor87]

I've seen the Unimog , we took Jacob to the Lego store at a mall near us, I want the Technic excavator , Seeing as how I already have remote controlled excavators for work , I figured I could use the Lego one to "demo" Jacobs Lego castle and various other structures......he didn't find it funny

That'd be AWESOME!!!

 

[nsxxtreme]

I recommend you have them clearly document the issues you were having and exactly what work was done and exactly what was replaced. I say exactly because the better documentation you have the better luck you will have resolving this if things go bad in the future.

There is a Lemon law on new cars just make sure you get things documented well. They know they only have 3 times to fix the issue before they have to refund you your money back. That is why they kept it over night.

I've heard of people having their cars "wake up" in the middle of the night and drain the battery but, I have never had one do it before. I think I'd prefer not to!

This is common on newer cars Range Rovers are suseptable to this also. The newer cars have so many computers that they try to wake them up before you reach the car by sensing the RF signal to the remote. The problem is when the car is near a noisy RF area like a radio or cell tower. The car will never go to sleep because it thinks its still listening for you to press the remote. Usually there is a little light somewhere that stays light 10-15 minuetes after you exit the car. It goes out when all the computers go into sleep mode. On my Range Rover its right next to the shifter, its a very small light. I'd look in the manual or ask the dealer if your car has something similiar.