10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 31,782 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
I own a 2006 Pontiac Torrent. Overnight the heater stopped working in my vehicle. The blower fan and all the switches are fine. Airflow does change from vent to floor to defrosters. When I turn the temperature knob to hot air, only cold air comes out no mater what the setting is on the mode door. I brought it to my mechanic and they ran a diagnostic. My temperature gauge was fine as was my coolant level. They advised that the temperature shaft is broken inside the heater box and would need to be fixed by removing the entire dash labor cost alone is above 1000K. I called GM to ask what they will do to assist with the cost but since there is no recall or class action they will not help to repair the damaged heater door. Online there were over 325 complaints of the exact same issue when I just put in 2006 Pontiac heater as a search. Note that this vehicle is only 5 years old and garaged at all times this should not have happened and is a safety issue especially since I no longer have heat in the car and Transport children daily.
- Sykesville, MD, USA
2006 Pontiac Torrent, 33,350 miles. Heat stopped working. Took the car to an auto repair shop. Problem was diagnosed as a broken air blend door. Part cost around $65. Cost to repair, approximately $1000. Mechanic explained that the entire dash board needs to be removed to repair this "cheap part". the majority of the cost is labor. Could not see out of my windows this morning because the defrost is not working properly due to this problem. GM should have a safety recall for this part. In doing research, this is a very common problem and needs to be addressed by General Motors. The dealer will not reduce the cost of this repair because of the labor involved. This is a definite safety issue. People need heat in their car and they also need a proper defrost system. Many people, myself included can not afford a $1000. Repair bill on a "cheap part" with no guarantee that it will not break again.
- Claymont, DE, USA
I have a 2006 Pontiac Torrent, that is/was driven by my son who was on his way home from work. The highway he was driving on has a speed limit of 65 mph, with a leniency of going 70 mph. Well there is construction of repaving the highway, well not all of the repaving was done especially getting onto the off ramp which has a high 2-3 inch drop off of asphalt. Approx. 1/4 mile of the highway getting onto the off ramp which was not paved completely still having the 2-3 inch drop off of asphalt. While my son was crossing over to get onto the off ramp, the paved drop off grabbed one or both of the left driver tires, which caused a steering and control problem to cause him to over correct onto a grassy dirt area on his right. He hit a tire mark that was left there from other accidents in the same area while the dirt was wet. As he hit this previous tire mark, he rolled the car three times. He was wearing his seat belt thank god, and having his seat slightly leaned back the seat belt locked and prevented him from hitting the steering wheel. However, the 2006 Pontiac Torrent has a rollover sensor that the car has as part of the security package, as well as onstar. As the car rolled the sensor did not sense the car rolling which resulted in not one of the air bags this car has was ever deployed at the time of car rolling to protect my son, which would be driver and passenger air bags and side curtain air bags. I took pictures of the head liner hanging and the air bags still rolled up on the inside. And onstar never detected the accident to get emergency help for my son. A bystander called for help. Thanks to god my son was able to walk a way from his car with mild injuries from him wearing his seat belt in spite of the air bags and onstar not working. The paramedics were surprised from looking at the damage of his car that my son was able to get himself out and walk away thanks to the seat belt. As for the car it's totaled beyond repair.
- Lakewood, CO, USA
- Warsaw, VA, USA