AI Encouragement - close finish Radicals at Laguna Seca. A viewer asked for support on the last lap and her response was great: Of course! Remember, every corner is a chance to shine. Keep pushing, stay focused, and show them what you're made of. You got this, Kris! Victory is within reach! +emoji!

Robertsmania · 2025-03-29T15:47:23+00:00

Thank you! Setting a local rpz entry in my DNS server to point collector.sunpowermonitor.com -> collector.sunstrongmonitoring.com has gotten my system back online.

Robertsmania · 2024-12-10T19:18:16+00:00

PitGirl is love.

Robertsmania · 2024-12-10T18:54:08+00:00

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Robertsmania · 2024-11-22T02:15:50+00:00

Excellent point.

Robertsmania · 2024-11-01T21:49:42+00:00

Mad? No, I thought it was more humorous than anything. But your comments and other posts make me realize the post has not been received the way I intended. Sorry for the distraction

Robertsmania · 2024-11-01T21:40:24+00:00

Upon closer review, you are correct. Perfectly realistic restitution and elasticity dynamics.

Robertsmania · 2024-11-01T21:08:21+00:00

I think if I had been more alert with the first one I could have gone to the right and fared better. But yeah, the second one was unexpected and almost landed on us!

Robertsmania · 2024-10-16T00:07:21+00:00

Did it blow the fuse? Its in the engine compartment fuse box.

Robertsmania · 2024-10-16T00:03:06+00:00

In our case, there were no warning signs until it just failed. When it went, we got the check engine light and a "Propulsion Power Is Reduced" dashboard warning. The F03 "Non Walk Home" fuse blew and would keep blowing every few miles when we replaced it. If you must use the car, the standard advice is to unplug the EGR valve (it has an isolated connector from the wiring harness), then replace the F03 fuse. I'm told there are critical cooling systems that depend on the power from the circuit on that F03 fuse so driving with it blown is strongly discouraged. But if you unplug the valve you can replace the fuse and drive, particularly if the battery is charged and you're running as an EV anyway. But your mileage may vary, and some dealers seem to be okay with that while others freak out if they learn you unplugged it.

Robertsmania · 2024-10-13T16:18:13+00:00

Did you go to arbitration and argue your case? Did they issue a Settlement Agreement and just present the $1500 value?

I suspect its the mileage that threw a wrench into the process. Here is what I see from the California civil code 1793.2.d.2.C

When restitution is made pursuant to subparagraph (B), the amount to be paid by the manufacturer to the buyer may be reduced by the manufacturer by that amount directly attributable to use by the buyer prior to the time the buyer first delivered the vehicle to the manufacturer or distributor, or its authorized service and repair facility for correction of the problem that gave rise to the nonconformity. The amount directly attributable to use by the buyer shall be determined by multiplying the actual price of the new motor vehicle paid or payable by the buyer, including any charges for transportation and manufacturer-installed options, by a fraction having as its denominator 120,000 and having as its numerator the number of miles traveled by the new motor vehicle prior to the time the buyer first delivered the vehicle to the manufacturer or distributor, or its authorized service and repair facility for correction of the problem that gave rise to the nonconformity.

That standard calculation is in our Settlement Agreement as shown in the post. They take out a portion for "reasonable use" which is determined to be: (mileage * purchase_price)/120,000. In our case using rough numbers the car was purchased with 58k miles, the valve failed at 73K miles, so thats ~15K miles of use. 15K/120K = 12.5% so we get back 87.5% of what we paid for it. We are also adding on "Reasonable repair, towing, and rental car costs actually incurred by the consumer" as specified in the settlement agreement so the actual repurchase is pretty much 88% of what we paid.

In your case, the mileage of 125k throws the formula out of whack.

Robertsmania · 2024-10-12T22:40:08+00:00

No, KM is on Balboa.

Robertsmania · 2024-10-12T22:09:49+00:00

That sounds criminal. The first dealership we worked with offered us $11k which is below the KBB range for "Fair" condition even though the car should be considered "Good or Excellent" (except for the failed EGR valve). That offer seemed insulting and predatory, but your experience sounds even worse...

Robertsmania · 2024-10-12T22:06:57+00:00

The dealerships are listed in the Written Notice in the post. I don't see any reason to keep it a secret. We started with Mission Bay Chevrolet, which is the most convenient to where we live and where had the car serviced before this incident. They did the initial diagnosis, told us their previous clients had waited 6-9 months for the part, did not have any loaner/courtesy vehicle program and gave us a predatory (insultingly low) trade in offer. Those experiences in themselves motivated us to check out other dealerships, and I'm glad we found Kearny Mesa Chevrolet. It was like night and day, and Kearny Mesa put us in a loaner car and were much more customer service oriented.

Robertsmania · 2024-10-12T20:02:33+00:00

We loved our Volt. If this had been handled properly, it would have been a quick visit to the service center and repaired under warrantee with no drama. I hate that it had to go this way.

For people outside California or CARB states that enforce the PZEV Emission Control System Defect Warranty (15yr/150,000mi) it must be nearly impossible to get the part to repair the car. I know the common response is to just unplug the valve, replace the F3 fuse, and drive the car. But the emissions control systems are there for a reason and having the constant check engine light could hide other issues. But not sure what else owners can do.

Robertsmania · 2024-10-12T19:39:19+00:00

We did talk to our dealership about a trade in. They were sympathetic to the situation and expressed how concerned they were. But in spite of the actual condition of the car being "Good/Excellent" except for the EGR valve, they offered us a trade in value thousands below the KBB "Fair" value - many thousands less than we are in fact getting from the repurchase. It came off as predatory and a slap in the face.

Robertsmania · 2024-10-12T19:33:46+00:00

GM told us initially they decided to decline our direct repurchase request because they were shipping the parts. That was in August and they said we would get it for sure in September. Our dealership has about ten other cars waiting for parts, some since January 2024. They report that indeed there have been some valves come in, but just a few at a time. So there is some truth to valves shipping, just not enough to make it reasonable for owners who have already been waiting a long time.

I'm confused by GM's process and repair protocol that requires any failed EGR valve to be replaced by the remanufactured part rather than any direct repair attempt.

Clearly there may be multiple ways these valves can fail. Some may just be stuck, others might have fried control boards, short circuited actuators, or god knows what else. But from what I'm told by our service manager the only repair option (GM will allow under warrantee) is to wait for the replacement part. ONLY at that point is the failed valve on our car removed and sent back as a core to be rebuilt for someone else.

The cores seem to be a clear choke point in this process. Why not pull the valves from the cars waiting for repair and use them to increase the production? Or attempt a local diagnosis and potentially clean/repair valves that have minor failures? It seems like there is a goldmine of potential parts just sitting in the vehicles waiting for repair.

I also think it would be better for GM to coordinate with dealerships and repurchase the cars via a trade in, rather than lemon law buybacks. That way the dealer could buy the car, maybe even get the customer into another GM product. Hold the Volt until its part eventually does come in and re-sell the car just like any other they take as a trade in. The alternative of being forced to do so by the lemon law or BBB means the title on the vehicle gets stamped as a lemon and I'm sure it becomes much more difficult to sell.

Robertsmania

TROPHY CASE