Bookmarking Auto on Info pagesSupporting Auto on InfoHome or Site Layout or Site Map or Site Index or Quick Jumps or Search Engine Directory or The MartAuto News, Analysis and Editorial A Proposed Settlement on GM's Engine Coolant Debacle: Another Measure of Degrees of Junk?

	AutoOnInfo.net  March 2008 A Proposed Settlement on GM's Engine Coolant Debacle: Another Measure of Degrees of Junk? By James B. Bleeker General Motors Corporation reached a proposed settlement with attorneys for owners of GM vehicles who have complained of problems ranging from coolant leaks to engine failure. The proposed settlement covers more than 35 million vehicles manufactured between 1994 and 2004 and equipped with factory-installed Dex Cool engine coolant. The affected vehicles are: 1.  1995-2003 3.1-liter and 3.4-liter, 6-cylinder engine a.  Buick Century sedans and Rendezvous sport-utility vehicles, b.  Chevrolet Lumina, Impala, Malibu and Monte Carlo cars and Venture vans, c.  Oldsmobile Alero and Cutlass cars and Silhouette minivans, d.  Pontiac Grand Am and Grand Prix cars, Montana and Trans Sport minivans, and Aztek sport-utility vehicles, 2.  1995-2004 3.8-liter, 6-cylinder engine a.  Buick LeSabre, Park Avenue, Regal and Riviera cars, b.  Chevrolet Camaro, Impala, Lumina and Monte Carlo cars, c.  Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight, Intrigue, LSS and Ninety-Eight cars, d.  Pontiac Bonneville, Firebird and Grand Prix cars, 3.  1995-2000 4.3-liter, 6-cylinder engine a.  Chevrolet Blazer sport-utility vehicles and S-10 pickup trucks, b.  GMC Envoy and Jimmy sport-utility vehicles and S-15 pickup trucks, c.  Oldsmobile Bravada sport-utility vehicles. General Motors has, in the past decade, dumped nearly all of the vehicle names on this list. Names dumped include Buick Regal, Buick LeSabre, Buick Park Avenue, Buick Riviera, Buick Rendezvous, Oldsmobile Alero, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight, Oldsmobile Intrigue, Oldsmobile LSS, Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight, Oldsmobile Bravada, Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Blazer, Chevrolet S-10, Chevrolet Venture, GMC Jimmy, GMC S-15, Pontiac Grand Am, Pontiac Montana, Pontiac Trans Sport, Pontiac Bonneville and Pontiac Firebird. With regard to the Oldsmobile vehicles, GM has not only dumped all the names, but the entire line itself. The proposed settlement is less than generous. The owner may recover up to $800 for out-of-the-pocket repairs of $1,500 or more if the repairs were made within the first 5 years of delivery, $100 if the repairs were made in the 6th year, and $50 if the repairs were made in the 7th year. Apparently, GM thinks its vehicles are junk at the end of the 5th year, worse junk at the end of the 6th year, and truly abominable junk at the end of the 7th year. By contrast, site manager replaced his made-in-Japan 1984 Toyota Corolla radiator in the 14th year and after 290,000 miles. The engine is original, at 518,000+ miles. Perspectives on the settlement may vary considerably. (a)  From the perspective of General Motors Corporation, the old adage, "If you treat a person like a dog, he'll appreciate a bone," may seem safe and, given what remains of its customer base, may seem particularly apt. (b)  From the perspective of a Democrat, the proposed settlement may seem grossly inadequate and unfair. (c)  From the perspective of a Republican, GM's history of manufacturing low-quality vehicles may seem so long and so well publicized that any compensation for injuries suffered by a GM owner is completely idiotic and reprehensibly asinine and that any reimbursement of out-of-the-pocket expenses is rewarding imprudence or stupidity. Perspectives on this and similar matters will likely never merge, barring reconstitution of the human genome, or parts thereof. Owners may opt out of the proposed settlement, but must do so on or before August 13, 2008 (as presently proposed). To view more details and restrictions regarding the proposed settlement, go to http://www.dexcoolsettlement.com.   Sources for proposed settlement: "GM to Pay in Coolant Repair Cases: Customers to Receive up to $800 Each," Justin Hyde, March 27, 2008, The Detroit Free Press, available at freep.com, and GCG: Dex Cool Litigation Website: www.DexCoolSettlement.com at http://www.dexcoolsettlement.com     Mini-Menu of Related Onsite Web Pages Roster of 300,000-Mile Vehicles with Statistical Summary Table and Chart Summary of the 2008 Reliability and Durability Updates Table and Chart Summary of the 2007 Reliability and Durability Updates Graphical Mini-Menu of Related Articles Article on CR's Worst-of-the-Worst List March 2008: Into the Depths: General Motors Obtains Record Share of Consumer Reports' 'Worst of the Worst' Articles on CR's Used-Cars-to-Avoid List March 2008: GM Expands Lead on CR's Used-Cars-to-Avoid List, Sets Record Share for Recent Years March 2008: Chevrolet Upholds and Expands a Tradition in Infamy: GM's Chevrolet Line Worst by CR's 2008 Used Cars to Avoid Article on CR's Long-Run Good-Bets List September 2007: Toyota and Honda Account for All of Consumer Reports' 2007 Long-Run Good Bets Article on Auto on Info's High-Mileage List January 2008: Toyota's Dominance on Durability Measure Holds Article on CR's Good-Bets List January 2008: Toyota Increases Dominance of Consumer Reports' Good Bets List a Tad, Honda Drops a Bit, Toyota's Best Widen Quality Gap Again   Mini Menu of Related Articles March 2008: GM Expands Lead on CR's Used-Cars-to-Avoid List, Sets Record Share for Recent Years March 2008: Into the Depths: General Motors Obtains Record Share of Consumer Reports' 'Worst of the Worst' January 2008: Toyota Increases Dominance of Consumer Reports' Good Bets List a Tad, Honda Drops a Bit, Toyota's Best Widen Quality Gap Again January 2008: By CR's 10-Year Reliability-Verdict History, Hyundai Clobbers GM Once Again: Is General Motors in Overdrive to Become the World's Worst Automobile Manufacturer? January 2008: Toyota's Dominance on Durability Measure Holds December 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: Plunging Toward the Depths of Junk? Has Toyota Intentionally Degraded the Durability of Its Pickups to Only 4 Times That of GM Pickups? December 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: Honda Age-Equivalent Estimates: Estimates of When a Typical 1999 Model of Honda Motor Company Will Be as Troublesome as Typical 1999 Models of General Motors Corporation and Its Several Marques Were Circa 3 Years, 4 Years, ..., and 7 Years of Age November 2007: The Best and Worst 2008 Automobiles by CR's Reliability-Verdict History: Toyota Models Dominate Best and Account for All Perfect Reliability-Verdict Histories of 6 or More Years; GM Models Dominate Worst November 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: Toyota Age-Equivalent Estimates: Estimates of When a Typical 1999 Model of Toyota Motor Corporation Will Be as Troublesome as Typical 1999 Models of General Motors Corporation and Its Several Marques Were Circa 3 Years, 4 Years, ..., and 7 Years of Age October 2007: By CR's Predicted Short-Term Reliability Scores for Model Year 2008, Toyota and Honda Marques Gather 5 of 6 Best, GM Marques Gather 3 of 7 Worst, 5 of 9 Worst and 7 of 13 Worst: Is GM on a Quest to Be Junk's Absolute Monarch? September 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: Toyota and Honda Account for 4 of the 5 Most Durable Vehicle Lines; General Motors - 5 of 10 Worst: Will a Typical 1999 Toyota or Honda Model Be More Trouble Free at about 20 Years of Age Than a Typical 1999 GM Model at 3? September 2007: Toyota and Honda Account for All of Consumer Reports' 2007 Long-Run Good Bets August 2007: Gleaning Value from J.D. Power Studies: An Index of Total Cluelessness? August 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 2-to-3 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 14 of 16 Best, GM - 18 of 57 Worst August 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 2-to-4 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 14 of 19 Best, GM - 22 of 62 Worst August 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 3-to-5 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 18 of 19 Best, GM - 24 of 61 Worst July 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 4-to-6 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 17 of 17 Best, GM - 24 of 56 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 13 Years of Age Be as Troublesome as a Typical GM at 3 Years of Age? July 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 5-to-7 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 12 of 13 Best, GM - 19 of 48 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 21 Years of Age Be as Troublesome as a Typical GM at 3 Years of Age? July 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 6-to-8 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 13 of 13 Best, GM - 18 of 43 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 19 Years of Age Be as Troublesome as a Typical GM at 3 Years of Age? July 2007: The 2007 Reliability-Durability Updates: For Vehicles 7-to-9 Years Old, Toyota and Honda Account for 11 of 12 Best, GM - 22 of 41 Worst: Will a Typical Toyota at 30 Years of Age Be as Troublesome as a Typical GM at 3 Years of Age? May 2007: Does GM Mean Junk and Ford Too? Toyota and Honda Shine Again. March 2007: GM Maintains Leadership in Much-Worse-Than-Average: A Guide to Making Sales Challenging March 2007: Toyota and Honda Increase Dominance of Consumer Reports' Good Bets List: Toyota's Best Widen Quality Gap February 2007: Does GM Mean Junk of the 7th Level of Abomination? November 2006: True Value Estimates of GM's 2007 Vehicles   To Share Your Experiences and Opinions and to View Those of Other Visitors, Visit AutoOnInfo.net's Mini-Surveys Hyundai vs. General Motors: Which the Better and by How Much? A Toyota Owner Survey with Enquiries into Reliability Importance A Honda Owner Survey with Enquiries into Reliability Importance A Toyota Owner Satisfaction Poll with Enquiries into Toyota Durability A Lexus Owner Satisfaction Poll with Enquiries into Lexus Durability An Infiniti Owner Satisfaction Poll with Enquiries into Infiniti Durability The True Value of a Big Three Big Three Bin Readiness General Motors Travails and Prospects Is the Ownership of a General Motors Vehicle a Useful Index of 21st-Century Cognitive Uselessness?   The following poll permits the reader to express his assessment on General Motors Corporation.     Poll on GM How big an embarrassment do you think General Motors Corporation is? U.S.'s biggest Top 5, but not number 1 Top 10, but not within top 5 Top 25, but not within top 10 Not within top 25   To view responses to the above poll, click here.	Links to Amazon.com Visitor support makes this site possible. Please shop often via Auto on Info. Thank you. Men's Fine Tie Clips and Ties Forzieri tie clips Men's Ties by Villa Bolgheri Men's Ties by Roberto Cavalli Men's Ties by Versace Men's Ties by Valentino Men's Ties by Fornasetti To view more men's ties, icons, and search phrases, click here. Musical Instruments Karl Willhelm violins Schiller cellos To view more string instruments, icons, and search phrases, click here. Wallets for Men and Women Robe di Firenze wallets Jos. A. Bank wallets R.G. House of Florence wallets Rolf’s wallets Columbia Sportswear wallets To view more wallets, icons, and search phrases, click here. Fine Women's Perfumes L'air du Temps by Nina Ricci for women Must II de Cartier by Cartier for women Allure by Chanel for women To view more fine women's perfumes, icons, and search phrases, click here. Handbags Gucci handbags Prada handbags Cappopera handbags Tocca handbags Caterina Lucchi handbags Fossil handbags Ellington handbags To view more fine handbags, icons, and search phrases, click here. Toiletry Bags Hartmann toiletry bags Bric's toiletry bags Ralph Lauren toiletry bags Bosca toiletry bags Eagle Creek toiletry bags To view more toiletry bags, icons, and search phrases, click here. 22-Inch Bags Hartmann 22-inch Luxe mobile travelers Victorinox expandable wheeled 22-inch bags High Sierra wheeled 22-inch uprights To view more 22-inch bags, icons, and search phrases, click here. Samsonite Bags Samsonite New Silhouette hardside beauty case Samsonite Oyster FLites To view more bags and series by Samsonite, icons, and search phrases, click here. Business Totes, Business Briefs, and Briefcases for Men and Women L.A.P.A. briefcases Hartmann briefcases Pratesi briefcases To view more business totes, business briefs, and briefcases, icons, and search phrases, click here. Espresso Machines and Coffee Makers Solis Espresso Machines and Bean Grinders Flavia Coffee Makers Melitta Coffee Makers To view more espresso machines and coffee makers, icons, and search phrases, click here. Literature The Origins of the British: A Genetic Detective Story (2006) by Stephen Oppenheimer Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project (2006) by Spencer Wells The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 (2001) by Brian M. Fagan To view more fine literature, click here. Tell your friends, colleagues, and coworkers, "I bought it at Amazon.com via Auto on Info."
	AutoOnInfo.net: Internet's Auto-Quality News-and-Information Hub since 2001

Automotive News Menu Pages

Auto Manufacturers: Toyota - Honda - Subaru - Nissan - Ford - Chrysler - General Motors - Volkswagen

Topics: Reviews - Recalls - Safety Investigations - Safety Test Results - Automotive Excellence - Green and Clean - Automotive Dishonor, Discredit, or Demerit - Lawsuits - Automotive Finances - Car and Truck Sales and Market Shares - Auto on Info - Minnesota Public Radio - Google

Graphical Menus: The 2008 Reliability and Durability Updates - The 2007 Reliability and Durability Updates

Reliability-Percentrank and Reliability-Grade Tables and Charts
To view tables of Reliability Percentranks and Reliability Grades by vehicle type, click the applicable type.
Small Cars	Sports Cars, Sporty Cars and Coupes	Family Cars and Large Cars	Upscale and Luxury Cars	SUVs	Minivans	Pickups	Manufacturer Averages	All Autos
To view tables of Reliability Percentranks and Reliability Grades by vehicle line, click the applicable line.
Acura	Audi	BMW	Buick	Cadillac	Chevrolet	Chrysler	Dodge	Eagle
Ford	GMC	Honda	Hyundai	Infiniti	Isuzu	Jaguar	Jeep	Kia
Land Rover	Lexus	Lincoln	Mazda	Mercedes-Benz	Mercury	Mini Cooper	Mitsubishi	Nissan
Oldsmobile	Plymouth	Pontiac	Porsche	Saab	Saturn	Scion	Subaru	Suzuki
Toyota	Volkswagen	Volvo
Beginning with the 2007 updates, the Reliability Grades and Reliability Percentranks of motor vehicle lines and types will appear on the same page. This should quicken comparisons.
To view charts of Reliability Percentrank averages and Percentranks and extrapolations, click the applicable line.
Acura	Audi	BMW	Buick	Cadillac	Chevrolet	Chrysler	Dodge	Eagle
Ford	GMC	Honda	Hyundai	Infiniti	Isuzu	Jaguar	Jeep	Kia1
Land Rover	Lexus	Lincoln	Mazda	Mercedes-Benz	Mercury	Mini Cooper1	Mitsubishi1	Nissan
Oldsmobile	Plymouth	Pontiac	Porsche1	Saab	Saturn	Scion1	Subaru	Suzuki1
Toyota	Volkswagen	Volvo
1Current data are insufficient to warrant charts.
To view tables of the Best and Worst motor vehicle models, click the applicable year.
Best and Worst of 1988	Best and Worst of 1989	Best and Worst of 1990	Best and Worst of 1991	Best and Worst of 1992	Best and Worst of 1993	Best and Worst of 1994	Best and Worst of 1995	Best and Worst of 1996
Best and Worst of 1997	Best and Worst of 1998	Best and Worst of 1999	Best and Worst of 2000	Best and Worst of 2001	Best and Worst of 2002	Best and Worst of 2003	Best and Worst of 2004	Summary
Chart Summary of 2006 Updates	Chart and Table Summary of 2007 Updates	Chart and Table Summary of 2008 Updates
Charts of Gaps
Charts of the Great Gaps	Extrapolations of the Great Gaps
Durability Tables and Charts
Page 1 - Original Durability Page	Page 2 - Results of 2001 Survey	Page 3 - CCC's 15 Most Frequently Stolen	Page 4 - 2001 Summary of Rosters	Page 5 - Top 20 High Mileage	Page 6 - The 2006 Study of Model Year 1998	Page 7 - The 2006 Toyota Age Equivalents for Model Year 1998	Page 8 - The 2006 Honda Age Equivalents for Model Year 1998	Page 9 - The 2007 Dilapidation Rates for Model Years 1998 - 2002
Page 10 - The 2007 Study of Model Year 1999	Page 11 - The 2007 Toyota Age Equivalents for Model Year 1999	Page 12 - The 2007 Honda Age Equivalents for Model Year 1999	Page 13 - 2007 Pickup Durability Updates for Model Years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001	Roster of 300,000-Mile Vehicles with Statistical Summary	Mini-Survey No. 52: A Toyota Owner Satisfaction Poll with Enquiries into Toyota Durability

Search Engine Directory
This table is provided primarily to give the visitor quick access to those search engines that site manager has found to be more consistently useful for information acquisition. For descriptions, strengths, weaknesses, comments, and other names and formats by which the following search engines are known, go to Search Engine Directory Page.
Major Search and Metasearch Engines
Yahoo!	Ask.com	Info.com	DMOZ	Federated Query Server	Google
The Ixquick Metasearch Engine
Auto on Info Metasearch at ixquick Keywords:

Choice Gifts for Engagement, Anniversary, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Birthday, Graduation, an Evening Out, or a Trip Abroad

Links to Amazon.com

Jewelry by Type: Earrings - Necklaces - Pendants - Brooches - Cufflinks - Money Clips

Jewelry by Designer: Leo DeVroomen - James Barker - Catherine Iskiw - Paula Crevoshay - Sir Zoltan David - Bikakis - Maija Neimanis - Stephen Webster - Rebecca Myers - Susan Sadler - Sasa - Tom Kruskal - William Shraft - Shadow Designs - Vanessa Michaels

Jewelry by Merchant: Kane Marie Fine Arts Gallery - American Pearl - OraJewels - OrkydPearls - Solomon Brothers - Jewels for Me - Fortunoff - Ross-Simons - Shane - alle - Jewelry Days - JewelryWeb - Novica - Gold and Diamond Source - Ice.com - Mondera - SecureHoop - Luxuria - Littman - BillBarnes

Watches: Men's Watches - Men's Watches by Gucci - Men's Watches by Movado - Men's Watches by Tissot - Men's Watches by Cartier - Women's Watches - Women's Watches by Gucci - Women's Watches by Movado

Thank you for visiting and patronizing Auto on Info.

Links to Amazon.com
Selections from The Mart by Auto on Info,  A James B. Bleeker Website
Ideas for Holiday, Anniversary, and Special Occasion Gifts
Perfumes / Parfums
L'air du Temps by Nina Ricci for women	Must II de Cartier by Cartier for women	Allure by Chanel for women	Zen Classic by Shiseido for women	Amazone