2002 Buick Rendezvous Visibility & Wipers Problems

BOUGHT MY BUICK 2002 RENDEZVOUS A YEAR AGO WITH ONLY 45,000 MILES ON IT GIVE OR TAKE. IT WAS GREAT UNTIL ABOUT 6 MONTHS INTO OWNING IT WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE LIGHTS WOULD FLASH OFF DRIVING AT NIGHT (VERY UNSAFE) THEN WHEN I WOULD GO TO TURN OFF THE VEHICLE THE LIGHTS WON'T SHUT OFF AT ALL... THEY WOULD FLASH AND CARRY ON THE WHOLE TIME I WAS DRIVING. THEN THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND THEN THE SECURITY LIGHT. ONE DAY THE LOCKS STARTED CLICKING ON AND OFF....THE RADIO LOCKED UP.. THE AIR CONDITIONING WON'T WORK... THE HORN STAYS ON SO LOUD IT IS DEAFENING AND FRIGHTENING TO ALL CARS AROUND YOU... IT IS SO LOUD YOU CAN'T HARDLY STAND IT... IT WON'T SHUT OFF.. WENT TO BUICK DEALER THEY SAID IT WOULD COST PROBABLY CLOSE TO 1000 TO FIX... TIL THEY DIAGNOSED IT... ANOTHER GARAGE COULDN'T EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW I WAS GOING TO SHUT OFF THE LIGHTS... I TOLD THEM TO PLEASE DISCONNECT THE BATTERY CABLE TO AT LEAST RESET IT...MY SON IS A MECHANIC AND ASKED AROUND AND FOUND OUT IT IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS BUICK MODEL AND YEAR AND IS THE BODY CONTROL MODULE AND HAPPENS A LOT IN GM VEHICLES. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS THING.. LIGHTS GOING OFF WHILE DRIVING.. LIGHTS STAYING ON TO CAUSE BATTERY TO DIE... HORN BLOWING SO LOUDLY..IT IS UNBELIEVABLE. AND THERE IS NO RECALL.. THIS IS SO WRONG. WHEN YOU RESEARCH ONLINE YOU SEE MANY OWNERS WITH THESE SAME ISSUES... TO ME THIS IS A SAFETY CONCERN AND NOT RIGHT THAT PEOPLE WHO MAY NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO FIX THIS ARE STUCK WITH IT AND ARE UNSAFE. GM KNOWS THAT THIS PART IS GOING OUT A LOT IN THEIR VEHICLES AND THEY DO NOT RECALL IT. I FEEL THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY CONCERN... ALL OF THE THINGS THAT FLASH IN THE VEHICLE ON AND OFF ARE VERY DISTRACTING WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING.. ESPECIALLY HAVING NO LIGHTS. *TR

THE WINDOW REGULATOR BROKE AND CAUSED THE WINDOW TO DROP INTO THE DOOR PANEL. THE REGULATOR, WINDOW CLIPS AND WINDOW REGULATOR MOTOR HAD TO BE REPLACED. BUICK REFUSED TO HONOR THE WARRANTY ON THESE PARTS. AS A RESULT, I PAID $200 FOR THE REPAIR. *TR

BOUGHT USED IN 2004 WITH 45K MILES. IN 2006 I HAD TO HAVE THE WINDOW CONTROL REPLACED. IN 2009 AT 70K MILES I HAD TO HAVE MAIN GASKET ON ENGINE REPLACED (WAS TOLD BUICK KNEW OF PROBLEM BUT REFUSED RECALL) AND 2 HEADS REPLACED AS KEPT LOSING COOLANT & OVERHEATING. THE VERY NEXT YEAR THE BODY CONTROL MODULE WENT OUT & HAD TO BE REPLACED. THE ABS LIGHT HAS BEEN ON FOR YEARS & NO BODY, NOT EVEN THE DEALER WHO REPLACED THE CONTROL MODULE, CAN GET IT TO GO OUT. LAST YEAR THE FUEL GAUGE QUIT WORKING. THIS YEAR THE LEFT FRONT HUB HAS GONE BAD AT 170K SO I CAN'T SAY IT WASN'T DUE, BUT THE OVERHEATING GAUGE KEEPS GOING INTO THE RED & THE OVERHEAT LIGHT COMES. HAD IT CHECK AND THE THERMOSTAT IS WORKING FINE, I AM NOT LOSING COOLANT AND THE COOLANT IS GOOD, & THERE IS NO WATER IN MY OIL. I CAN'T DRIVE MORE THAN 2 MILES WITHOUT THE OVERHEATING LIGHT COMING ON & THE GAUGE GOING INTO THE RED. *TR

WAS INFORMED BY A FRIEND OF AN NTMVSA-RELATED RECALL (NUMBER 07273) ON THEIR 2003 PONTIAC VIBE FOR A PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING ON BOTH OF OUR 2002 AND 2003 BUICK RENDEZVOUS. WINDOW HARDWARE DETERIORATES, RESULTING IN THE SNAPPING OF WINDOW SUPPORT HARDWARE. IN MOST CASES WINDOW GLASS DROPS TOTALLY INSIDE THE DOOR AND IS IRRETRIEVABLE UNLESS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, WHO CHARGES FOR A REPAIR. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE ABOUT A WEEK APART IN OUR 2002 RENDEZVOUS. ALSO, THE CHARACTERISTIC "POPPING OR CLICKING SOUND" LISTED IN THE RECALL IS HAPPENING ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW IN BOTH OUR 2002 AND 2003 MODEL RENDEZVOUS, SIGNALING THAT THE WINDOW HARDWARE IS FAILING AGAIN. THIS RESULTS IN A HAZARD SITUATION IN EITHER EXTREMELY HOT OR EXTREMELY COLD WEATHER, REGARDLESS OF GLASS BREAKAGE (WHICH DIDN'T HAPPEN IN OUR CASE). SINCE I DO NOT HAVE A GM FACTORY CUSTOM WARRANTY ON MY 2002 RENDEZVOUS, REPAIRS HAVE COST ME APPROXIMATELY $250 DOLLARS OUT-OF-POCKET. I WAS ABLE TO SECURE A COVERAGE LETTER FROM GM IF THIS HAPPENS AGAIN, BUT I AM READING MANY ACCOUNTS OF A SIMILAR FAILURE FROM MANY RENDEZVOUS OWNERS ON THE INTERNET. *TR

DT: THE CONTACT STATED THE DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW WOULD NOT ROLL UP. SHE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A DEALER, AND THEY REPAIRED THE WINDOW. THE SAME PROBLEM HAPPENED ON THE REAR PASSENGER WINDOW. THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPAIRS DONE ON THE REAR WINDOW DUE TO THE EXPENSE. *AK UPDATED 12/07/05. *JB

THE INTERIOR REAR VIEW MIRROR BROKE OFF AND FELL WHILE DRIVING. WHEN THIS OCCURRED IT CAUSED A DISTRACTION, CAUSING CONSUMER TO REMOVE HIS FOCUS OFF OF THE ROAD, ALMOST RESULTING IN A COLLISION. THIS OCCURRED DUE TO A BONDING FAILURE AT THE FACTORY. *AK

WINDSHIELD WIPERS STOPPED WORKING. CONSUMER INTENDED ON TAKING THE VEHICLE TO DEALE R FOR SERVICE WHEN THE RAIN ENDED. *AK

THE OUTSIDE REARVEIW MIRRORS ARE TOO BIG CAUSING A BLIND SPOT IN SEVERAL AREAS. SHORTER PEOPLE AS MYSELF A 5'4" CAN'T SEE OVER THEM ALSO THEY ARE TO WIDE CAUSING A 2' BLIND SPOT FOR VISION. THEY ALSO HAVE TOO LARGE OF MIRROR MAKING THE IMAGES IN THE REAR APPEAR LIKE THEY ARE IN FRONT OF YOU. SEVERAL MISSED ACCIDENTS WITH BICYCLES AND OTHER CARS DUE TO BLIND SPOT. CONTACTED BUICK AND THEY SAID NOTHING COULD BE DONE. NEED TO REPLACE WITH SMALLER MIRROR. *AK

MY 2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS CXL HAS A RECURRING PROBLEM WITH THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS. WHEN I AM DRIVING IN THE RAIN AND TURN ON THE WIPERS, THEY DO COME ON, BUT UNLESS I TURN MY VEHICLE OFF AND REMOVE THE KEY, THE WIPERS WILL NOT TURN OFF; NOR WILL THEY CHANGE SPEEDS. I WILL BE TAKING THE VEHICLE INTO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR THIS WEEK. *NLM

THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS LOCKED TOGETHER AND STOPPED ROTATING. THE CONSUMER HAD TO PHYSICALLY UNLOCK THE WIPER ARMS. *JB

2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS VERY LOW PASSENGER HEAT, TROUBLE DEFROSTING WINDSHEILD. CAR TAKEN IN TO DOBLES BUICK IN MANCHESTER, NH THREE TIMES THEN TULLEY BUICK OF NASHUA, NH. INFORMED, WILL NOT PUT OUT MORE HEAT. DRIVING IN COLD WEATHER A BLANKET IS USED. SOME TIMES TURNING LEFT OR RIGHT A BLAST OF HOT AIR COMES OUT OF VENTS. MORE HOT AIR COMES OUT OF TOP VENTS THAN FLOOR VENTS. BOTH DEALERS TESTED CAR AND INFORMED IT WAS WORKING TO FACTORY SPECS. WE HAVE ASKED TO HAVE THE BUICK AREA REPRESENTIVE CONTACT US ON THIS MATTER. THIS CAR PURCHASED NEW 12-20-2002 , CURRENTLY HAS ABOUT 1600 MILES. DEALER SAID WAIT UNTIL THE WEATHER GOT WARMER AND IT WOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE. HAVE CONTACTED BUICK @ 1-800-521-7300 ASSIGNED CASE 1-66914926 AND DORETHA HOLDER, THIS WAS 1-24-2003 @ 1-866-952-4368 X58900 SHE HAS FAILED TO RESPOND TO OUR PHONE CALLS. CALLED MAIN NUMBER AGAIN NOW TALKING TO ELISA ORTIZ @ 1-866-942-4368 X48335 SHE SAID SHE WOULD TAKE OVER THE CASE. THE CAR IS NOT ENJOYABLE TO DRIVE IS A HAZARD AS THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT DOES NOT GET ADEQUATE HEAT FOR DEFROSTING WINDOWS AND HEAT THE PASSENGERS. I TOLD DOBLES THAT WE WOULD CLAIM IT UNDER A LEMON LAW THEY INFORMED US THAT BEING THEY DO NOT FIND A PROBLEM THAT OUR CASE WOULD BE WEAK AND WOULD PERHAPS BE THROWN OUT. EVERY PERSON THAT HAS BEEN IN THIS CAR IN THE COLD WEATHER COMPLAINS IT IS TOO COLD. CAN NOT FEEL SAFE IN CAR IN COLD FREEZING WEATHER AS THE WINDOWS ICE UP. OUR FAMILY OWNS CHEV 2001 SILVERADO, A 1997 CHEV CONVERSION VAN, 1997 CADY- CATERA . ALL OF THE OTHER CARS WILL PROVIDE ENOUGH HEAT FOR DEFROST AND PASSENGERS. THIS WILL NOT. IS THE BURDEN OF PROOF ON US BECAUSE THE FACTORY SAYS IT IS NORMAL? WE INITIALLY LIKED THE CAR AND ALL WE ASKED IS FOR A RESOLUTION TO OUR PROBLEM. I HAVE TAKEN CAR TO AN INDEPENDENT SERVICE STATION AND THEY SAID BUICK SHOULD LOOK AT CONNECTIONS IN THE "AIR CONNECTION BOX".

WINDSHIELD HAS TWO SMALL CHIPS THAT DEVELOPED INTO A LARGE CRACK ON LEFT SIDE. DEALER IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM.PLEASE FILL IN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. *AK

TL*- THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING THE 2002 BUICK RENDEZVOUS WITH 200 FAILURE MILEAGE AT 55 MPH THE VEHICLE HAD NO HEAT. THE DEALER ACCESSED THE VEHICLE AND DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS A FACTORY DEFECT IN THE VEHICLE THAT CAUSED NO HEAT WHEN THE CLIMATE REACHED A CERTAIN TEMPERATURE. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 40,409. *AK THE CONSUMER HAS INCLUDED A LETTER TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU REGARDING THE DEFECT AND WOULD LIKE TO BE REIMBURSED FOR THE REPAIR. UPDATE 05/04/07*TR

THE SIZE OF THE SIDE VIEW MIRRORS CAUSE A BLIND SPOT. THIS CAUSES POOR VISIBILITY WHEN SWITCHING LANE. *AK

WHILE DRIVING, CONSUMER HEARD A LOUD NOISE. CONSUMER LOOK THROW THE REAR VIEW MIRROR, AND NOTICE THAT THE REAR WINDSHIELD HAD SEVERAL CRACKS IN IT, WITHOUT ANYTHING OBJECT IMPACTING THE GLASS. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE DETAILS. TS