19th Sep 2010, 19:05

I have a Chevy Epica as well and I agree after te warranty is up, everything goes bad.

The main thing what frustrates me is the dealerships. You take the car in there for them to fix it, they charge you for the parts and labor and then a few days later the same problem occurs. What can you do?

My Chevy Epica 2006 engine light started coming on and all of a sudden the car loses speed and power and slows right down. It definitely is not safe. I almost got hit many times and the thing is, the part is so expensive and I can't seem to find the part anywhere but in the dealership.

I thought Chevy were supposed to be good. I should have just got a Honda.

13th Oct 2010, 22:33

It's based on the Daewoo Tosca Platform, and it's built in South Korea. It's the same with the Chevrolet Aveo, which is another inferior Daewoo product badged as a Chevrolet.

14th Oct 2010, 09:22

"The car is very luxury and for its price it's amazing."

This line made me laugh... How is the car amazing at any price with the problems you've had?!?

Plus, hasn't the price steadily gone up since you've purchased it? Yeah, didn't think about that did you?

I will never own anything GM again, as my experiences with their vehicles has been the same. I, however, didn't have to deal with a lousy dealer like you did. That only compounds things!

19th Dec 2010, 18:24

All of us poor suckers. "Hey this is a cool looking car, and wow, that's a pretty good price..."

We were all duped - severely.

This car is an unfathomable piece of garbage. I cannot believe a company like GM can produce what they fully well know is a substandard hunk of crap and still remain in business. I still have 10K to pay on a vehicle that had 93,000km on it, and now 2 years later, has only 106,000km and is inoperable. I have 3 years left to pay on a car that I can't drive, which never should have been sold to anyone, and should have been sent straight to the crusher from the dealership (which shall remain nameless, but also will never get another dollar of my business) in the first place.

GM knows all of the parts of this car are garbage; everyone has repeated O2 sensors go bad, ignition cylinders, steering columns, etc, etc. Can't be coincidence if it happens on all of them.

Anyway long rant short - I have a long life of car buying ahead of me, and all I can say is GM will NEVER get another dollar from me or any member of my family. Fool me once...

28th Mar 2011, 21:51

Hello there, I have had the same exact problem, your dealer will probably show you that the cable on your Epica has probably let go, because the soldering sucks and finally gave way. Get them to check that out, and if everything is OK, then maybe there is something else wrong with your heat. I have not had a problem with my heat ever since they replaced the cable. No problem with the help, Lance of Edmonton, AB.

9th May 2011, 18:58

I am the original poster for "Think about it twice if you want to buy an Epica!!".

To be up to date with my Epicarp, in Aug 2010 I had time to go to the dealer, and find out why the car lost power and the check engine light was on. They told me there was a problem with 1 O2 sensor, so they replaced the sensor, and then I had the car for a week working just fine, then bam, the check engine is on again.

I went back to the dealer, and here they are telling me there is a throttle position sensor performance problem, and to replace the sensor would cost $448 plus tax and labour. I was like, you know what? I am done with this.

So time passed, and the car in its condition until April - May - NOW. I went into the dealer the first time in April; they scanned the codes; they found the one for the throttle and 2 more, p0171 and p0174, which mean fuel trim lean on bank 1 and 2. They lied to me and told me they cleaned the throttle body, because it could be causing the lean conditions.

After taking my car from the dealer, in 30 minutes the light came on again, so what made me find out that they lied is that I checked to see if there is a problem, and looked at the throttle body, and it was untouched, and they charged me for the scanning, which is $94 plus tax, which was a total waste of time and money.

So I went back to them after a few days, and they cleared the code again, and they replaced the fuel filter, because it was clogged, which I have a strong feeling that they did not change it, and they charged me for nothing at all. I thought the problem was solved.

After taking the car in, after 1 hour the check engine was on again, so after a week, which was last week in May, I went back again and they checked, but this time only the lean codes were on, so they told me there were 2 O2 sensors that were faulty, and that cost me a total of $427, WHICH I REGRET paying, because after taking the car in, after 5 minutes the light is ON AGAIN, which I also feel like they did not replace anything, because I know all the parts for this piece of junk have to be ordered in.

I am at a total loss with this car. I am very frustrated, and I feel like I need to talk to someone about this car, and now all my headlights and my fog lights are full of humidity and water, because it's been raining for 2 straight weeks.

Please, if anyone has an Epicarp and lives in Halifax, NS, and wants to work together to find solutions for our problems, or just talk, please feel free to e mail me, it's xtra2004_80@hotmail.com, please help.

My problem is chasing me even in my sleep, and I want a peace of mind, I am now considering going to Suzuki in Dartmouth to get the car checked again, hoping they have a solution to this, since they also have the same car, but called Verona.

5th Jun 2011, 14:21

I agree that this car is a true piece of garbage. I've had mine for a couple of years, and have already put a couple grand into it. The reason parts are so expensive is because the car is so rare, it was only made for two years, so be prepared to bend over for parts. It's pretty sad when only certain garages can do an alignment on it.

Since owning this car, I've had two wheel bearings go (waiting for the other two to go) and the check engine light stays on all the time! The engine knocks quite a bit too... can't wait for it blow up!

I had transmission leaks, which turned out to be lines that run through the radiator to cool. They replaced the lines, but the connections to the radiator didn't hold up (very poor design!). So after that $300 bill that didn't work, my mechanic installed a transmission cooler and bypassed the lines (another $300).

The car doesn't really feel stable, and the suspension is ridiculous; the back has an independent suspension, with so many stabilization bars it makes me dizzy. Had to replace the knuckle, which costs a cool $330 for the part; a buddy and me put it on. I can just feel that I'm constantly going to have suspension problems with this car, can't wait to get rid of it!

The heat is probably the cable that opens the draft doors; a buddy of mine fixed the cable with a zip tie, but it was temporary and broke.