Problems with 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

2007 tahoe went up in flames while parked, still do not know the cause. *tr

Vehicle caught fire while parked in owner's garage, damaged vehicle and garage. fire burned within left side of engine compartment. *tr

Repeated power failure. battery died and had to be jump started on at least 4 occasions from 11-07 through 12-07 several other times tried to start and truck struggled. had to turn off radio and lights then would start. took to dealer (vista chevrolet) on 12-17-07 and asked to have system tested.. instead they just replaced battery. asked for system to be tested again july and august 08 (bob stall chevrolet) and it was not done currently having battery problem again but now is out of warranty and gm will not pay for diagnosis even though issue was discovered under warranty. some mornings truck will not start, other times it has been we sat parked for 10 minutes and then truck would not start. i feel there is a defect in our power system but gm and the dealers refuse to investigate unless i pay them for diagnosis.. i will be getting diagnosis from a part store before i pay for it. even after diagnosis they claim no guarantee they will pay for any needed repairs even though issue was discovered under warranty. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet tahoe. the contact stated that the electrical system failed, which caused the vehicle to stall. the contact also stated that while parked, the vehicle rolled away and crashed into another vehicle. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was confirmed that the battery cables failed and needed to be replaced. the contact requisitioned a third party to repair the vehicle but the failure recurred. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign i.d. number 10v240000 (electrical system). the failure mileage was 60,000.

I have a 2007 chevy tahoe. since i bought the car these are some of the issues i have had with the car- all within the first year - some issues are ongoing. three of the four door handles are frayed and cause cuts. the center console was literally coming apart at the seams. i can hear the sound of wind very loudly with the windows up. shortly after i bought the car - i returned to the service dept. at the dealer (moreno valley chevrolet) advising them that the door locks are not properly operating with the key fob and that the sound of wind was/is very loud and the tires are making noise. well , they replaced, reset, and whatever else to the door locks - and the electronic fob still did not (and does not) work. even after three (or four) attempts to resolve this - i have to use the key, the fob does not work. the dvd player plays at will. at one of those visits - where i advised of excessive noise, the dealer replaced three of my tires and my dvd player - without my request. the service tech says - "oh, they hooked you up." i asked and asked "why" they replaced these things and no one, including the service manager, had an answer. and still - the tires wear unevenly, are loud, and the ride is not smooth and the dvd player plays when it wants to. i took my car to jiffy lube for an oil change and the guy there said, "one day, your tires are going to fall off, this (what the name was-i can't recall) is broken...it's just a matter of time before it falls apart." i took it to the dealer (moreno valley chevy) and they said "cannot duplicate." never, ever another chevy. *tr

Battery began to go dead. i would call road service to get it restarted. this has happened several times and *onstar was notified on most occasions of this happening.*onstar was notified due to the contract i have with them for roadside help. this has happened atleast seven times.(using *onstar for assistance on atleast three of these seven times) i have taken it back to the dealership for help with the problem. they replaced the battery. but the real problem is the car just up and shuts down while driving. this has happened twice(i told the dealer about it)and the thing ,other than the safety factor, i'm afraid to drive the car. i travel and i really need a car. i can't afford a secondary vehicle. my family stated nor can you afford to die either!the chance of taken the life of another person,to me,far exceeds the fear i have of loosing my on life. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet tahoe. the contact stated that the instrument panel lights would not illuminate when the daytime running lights were activated. the only time he was able to see the instrument panel lights was when the sun shined on them directly. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer, but they could not offer any assistance. the manufacturer also stated that they could not assist because the vehicle was designed in that manner; however, the design was changed on the 2008 vehicles. the current mileage was 9,090 and failure mileage was approximately 5.update 09/10/08 *cw updated 09/17/08. *jb

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet tahoe. while traveling at a speed of 35 mph the contact press on the brake and the vehicle accelerated up to 40 mph. the contact pressed the break again and the vehicle immediately stopped. contact experienced failure with several components such as the battery, all the power door locks lock it automatically sets the alarm off. when the contact places his left foot close to the break pedal and emergency brake the interior lights and chimes would come on. on another occasion while parked the vehicles air bag deployed with smoke coming from the dashboard. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the control module was replaced after the second battery replacement and the air bag system has not been repaired. dealer refuses to perform service until further notice from the manufacturer. the current mileage is 36,500 and failure mileages were 15,000. updated 5/20/2010 *cn updated 09/-7/10*jb

2007 chevrolet tahoe instrument panel defect. customer states that she could not see the instrument panel in the daylight. *kb the consumer was unable to read any of the smaller gauges let alone the speedometer. it was suggested to the consumer, to turn the light switch to permanently on and not use the auto function. the consumer stated there wasn't too much of a difference. the consumer stated the material colors beside and around the instruments were just too dark for day light conditions. *jb

Battery dies out often, had it recharged more than 5 times since 2007...dashboard cracked on driver side about six months ago also. now the "engine power reduced light comes on" and all of a sudden the car will go really slow and increase speed very slowly. had this happen several times. do not know the cause. *tr

Car battery dies if not driven on daily basis. dealership has attempted to find source of drain 5 times. recall has been done on keyless entry, battery has been replaced and dvd player has been replaced. problem still exists. *tr

Tire service warning light on, crackling sounds through the audio speakers, rear door ajar warning light on, windshield wipers and water go on while driving, stereo comes on while driving when it's not even on. this happens intermittently. 3-way chevrolet has attempted to identify the problem, most recently claiming it had to do with the alarm system which was replaced in 2010, but just yesterday 4/8/2010 while driving it made the crackling sounds through the stereo. it is an electrical issue which cannot be identified. *tr

Tl*- the contact stated that while driving the 2007 chevrolet tahoe at 65 mph the vehicle began to overheat and slowed down to 25 mph. the vehicle had to be driven slowly for 20 miles off the road to safety, before being towed. there was a large hole in the generator, and the radiator had to be replaced. *ak

I have a vehicle with a takata airbag. i contacted lithia chevrolet (redding calif) who refused to replace the recalled airbag, stating it was an incomplete recall at this time.

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet tahoe. the contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. the contact mentioned that the battery was replaced on six occasions, but the failure recurred. in addition, the door locks independently locked and the lights on the instrument panel flashed intermittently. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the negative cable hot 1.5 ample and two volt drop positive cables were replaced, but the failure recurred. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 9,000. the vin was unavailable.

My chevrolet tahoe, despite regular maintenance per schedule, loses on quart of oil every 2500 miles. there are no leaks, smoking exhaust etc. the dealership told me this is a well known problem of unknown origin. the electrical systems on the vehicle have been a nightmare. the ignition will at times fail to turn off despite removing the key. the cruise control will pop out of cruise mode for no reason and will often fail to reengage immediately. lithia chevrolet in redding refuses to discuss repair or replacement, stating it is not their problem. i also have a recalled takata airbag that lithia refuses to replace.

We took our vehicle to the dealer for a 3rd time now (look for my other complaint on this website on electrical problems/windshield problems) for the same problem plus a number of multiple other problems. the problem that the dealer can't seem to remedy is the windshield wipers and wiper spray keep coming on all by themselves and cannot be turned off unless you turn the vehicle off and then restart it. they've replaced the windshield wiper module but they still come on randomly. the heated seats sometimes don't work and in order to get them to work you must restart the car. the front passenger window will randomly not roll up or down from the drivers side master switch and will only start working after restarting the vehicle. when i took my car to get serviced (oil change) the mechanic noticed several leaks under the vehicle, one coming from the engine bell housing another from the rack and pinion area and the third from the power steering pump housing area. when we took it to the dealer they cleaned the engine pan (i have before pictures) and added an engine dye and they stated they found no leaks, we'll check it again after a few hundred miles. they also cleaned up the other leaks from the other areas and claimed no leaks. our mechanic also noticed while rotating the tires that the front right rotors were deeply grooved which answers my question as to why my brakes have been squeaking. he says that with only 10,000 miles it is not normal for them to be grooved, and is definitely a defect with the calipers probably sticking. showed the dealer and the service writer stated it was normal, that cannot be normal. so now they resurfaced the rotor and the brakes are still squeaking. after bringing my vehicle home from the dealer for repairs the car locked "itself" i did not lock it, the car keys were not even in my hands anymore they were hanging on the key rack. there are definitely some major electrical problems and mechanical problems with this vehicle. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving various speeds or while parked, the instrument cluster panel was poorly visible during the daytime. the dealer and manufacturer were alerted, and determined this was the way the vehicle was designed.

Our first incident occurred 2 weeks after we purchased our 2007 tahoe ltz on march 17,2006 the heated seats didn't work unless we restarted the vehicle this happened twice and never again so we thought it was a fluke. second malfunction/incident was. i started the vehicle and the windshield wipers came on by themselves and i could not shut them off until i restarted the vehicle. the third incident was the same as the second...this time i was driving on the fwy and the wipers and wiper fluid came on again, i could not shut them off until i exited the fwy and restarted the vehicle. we took it to the dealer aug 23, 2006 and explained all the malfunctions that had occurred thus far they could not find nor duplicate the heated seat problem but they did find that the windshield wiper module needed to be replaced, so they ordered it. forward to today sept 8, 2006 i was again driving on the fwy when my xm radio went out completely i thought it was just a problem with the satellite so as soon as i exited the fwy i restarted the vehicle but this time all of the instrument panel, radio and onstar services were completely dead! no service at all! i called the dealer and they want me to take it in so that they can check it out yet again, and install the wiper module we were waiting on. this is just ridiculous, being that we did not pay chump change for this tahoe for that kind of money it should be a very reliable vehicle! i am not going to be having to take a $50,000 vehicle to the shop every other month for malfunctions...what a complete inconvenience this is!! and from what i see this is definitely not the first incident of this kind. i see people are having similar computer malfunctions as well! *jb

Vehicle will not hold programs, i.e., automatic seat positions, read out on the message center, etc. also, if using the radio without the engine running, battery goes completely dead in about 30 min. dealer could find nothing wrong after three hours of inspections, even though the battery drained. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving at various speeds, the stability track control and abs light illuminated during each incident. the radio went off suddenly and the back up camera blacked out suddenly without warning. the vehicle was taken to the dealership three times but could not duplicate the problems. each occasion after the vehicle was restarted, the dashboard lights were no longer illuminated and all electrical units operated normally.

The gauge cluster panel is shrouded which makes it hard to see the gauges during the late day hours or dim light days because the gauges are not illuminated. they only illuminate when the headlights turn on automatically (or if you turn them on). i think the headlight sensor is mis-programmed, because it seems to routinely activate too late, but on one occasion it activated when it was just getting dim, weird. the running lights only illuminate the front running lights, not rear tail lights, making it dangerous under dim lit conditions. also the speedometer is not centered in the shrouded panel because they made it symmetrical with a matching tachometer (rpm) gauge. who really cares about a tachometer on an automatic vehicle? i want to see the speed that i am traveling. also, if you tilt the steering wheel up at one set point you cant even see the gauges depending on how tall you are. *nm

The monitor or sensor of the car was not detecting if the vehicle is functioning accurately. it is not detecting the pressure of the tire. so we went back to the dealership particularly to salesperson who sold us the car. he said, it does it sometimes. when we are fillin in its gas tank, it shuts off the gas nozzle after a gallon or two, which is actually strange, so we told the dealership again about it, they said it's probably the gas station. we talk to the gas station attendants, they always say they are not shutting the gas nozzle off. we occasionally hear its creaking sound when we drive it, and when we told the dealership again about it, they said it is just because it doesn't use a brake pad that's why. the steering wheel also sometimes make noise when turning, but their comment is unable to verify the cause at this time. i contacted their customer service about the issues we have with the car even the service manager didn't like it, and until now they still can't do anything to help us out. they said our warranty has already expired, but why they didn't fixed them when we first came to them a few days after we bought it. the car is just 23,000 miles though it's a 2007 model, because we can't use it all the time. we are not that confident to bring it all the time and put our children in it. right now the engine light is on, i have renewed its registration already, but we can't drive it on the road hoping that the manufacturer will do some corrections with the car, but they said they can't because the warranty already expired. we know it's not going to pass the emission test because its engine light is on. we've been telling them about the issues but they are not paying attention, even it's still under warranty and just waiting for the warranty to expire so they will have no further obligation to us. *tr

After only one month of purchase auto start feature does not work unless you were 3 feet away. the vehicle once sat over night would make a really loud clattering sound when you would turn on the engine. i took the car into the dealer and told them about the problems the dealer indicated that they had to reprogram the software in the tahoe to reprogram auto start. the next morning i was called and informed that they were unable to reproduce the clattering sound and that nothing wrong was detected with the vehicle so that it was ready for pick up. everything was o.k. for about a couple of months. auto start wasn't working again. at my third service visit to the dealer i noticed the tires were starting to get wasted towards the inside. the vehicle only had about 5,000 miles on it at the time. when the dealer was informed he indicated that the tires needed to be rotated. after about three tire rotations i noticed the tires getting warn out pretty badly on the inside. he indicated that the problem could be that it needs a front end allingnment only after the vehicle having less than 12,000 miles. the front end alignment was done on the vehicle.to this day that the tires are wasted more on the insides than the outsides.this last month we have had a problem again with the loud clattering sound in the engine when we start the vehicle.it has gotten alot worse i took it into the dealer and they said that they were aware of the problem and that it appears to be oil build up in the air compressor that when it sits for more thatn 3 hours it apparently makes this loud sound when you start the engine. he indicated that chevy is looking into the problem and to this day has not done anything about the problem.i was furious when they refused to do anything about a problem that chevy well knows is a manufacturer defect. *tr

Tl*- the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet tahoe ,and from the time he purchase the vehicle the contact had a difficulty reading the instrument panel during the day. the background made it difficult to read. whether the vehicle is on or off one still could not read the speed odometer. he took the vehicle to the dealer, and spoke with gm, and they stated it could not be repaired. *ak updated 03/30/07. *jb

The heater fan does not run when i automatically start the vehicle with my remote starter/keyfob. what good is it to start your vehicle to warm it up if the fan doesn't start up to defrost your windshield? the gm remote starter was installed and programmed by the dealer after purchase. when it was checked, the fan ran and then didn't . i got it to run only if i am 3 feet away and start the vehicle (or sitting in it) too funny, i guess at that point i may as well use the key!@ *jb

When vehicle's exterior lamp control is in the "auto" position during daylight hours, most of the instrument panel gauges (speedometer, rpm, gas, battery, temperature, oil) are not illuminated and cannot be read without taking one's eyes off the road and focusing on the gauge in question, creating a safety hazard. various features of the vehicle are specifically designed so that one does not have to remove the eyes from the road (e.g., radio controls on steering wheel); this goes completely against this objective. one can bypass this problem by switching the exterior lamp control from "auto" to the parking lamp position: this illuminates the gauges but cuts out the daytime running lamps. an improperly designed light sensor seems to be the cause of this problem. when this problem was brought to the attention of the dealer, his service people determined after checking that this was normal operation and there was no defect. *nm