2001 CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO User Comment / Complaint

After complaining for 5 years to a dealer and car manufacturer about a clanking noise in the steering column, i brought the car to a private mechanic, who determined the car was dangerous, and the manufacturers knew there was a steering column defect in a lot of their cars, so they were quietly fixing the problem, but only when customers complained. i called the manufacturer and brought the car to a dealer again, and they said there was little or no defect. however, when i told them what my mechanic said they agreed there was a problem and the car was dangerous, steering could fail at any moment. then, they agreed to fix the problem at a large cost to myself. according to my private mechanic and various on-line resources this was a wide scale problem , and the manufacturers were trying to avoid negative publicity. in the process, they were putting the public at risk. there was a technical service bulletin that informed the mechanics how to fix this problem. however, i have chatted with various car owners online, who had this fix, and they said the problem still existed. .