As I was on the way home from work driving on a city street and I came to a stop I downed my windows. I realized a burning smell. A little later, as I pulled up to my house the smell seemed to had gotten worse and I got out of the car and upped my hood. There had seem to be oil leakage but I'm not sure it was late. I'm not a mechanic but I kind of know a bit. From my inspection I may have oil leaking on a hot exhaust manifold. The burning smell is not the strongest but its sensible. I am very scared to drive my vehicle and I hope for it not to catch fire. I service my vehicle for regular oil changes and things and I don't understand the issue. May it be my valve cover gasket? I'm scared for my life to drive my nieces to school now. Unfortunately, they have been catching the carta bus. It hurts my heart I have this problem with such a reliable GM car. Please help. I'm terrified it may even catch fire in the driveway!

- Charleston, SC, USA

Paint is progressively peeling off the luggage rack. Bodyshop commented "it doesn't look like it was coated/sealed properly, this shouldn't be happening." transmission: Driving on hwy car started smoking out exhaust, exited hwy and car shifted "hard" from stop thru acceleration. Got to aamco shop, they scanned and got an "1870 code". upon inspection discovered the pump assy was "chewed up and burnt steel." fluid was being forced out the filler tube and the fluid was black. I was told there was a high danger that the fluid could have ignited. I had absolutely no warning signs that something was wrong with the transmission until the car started smoking. I am a street driver, never have towed or gone off roading in this vehicle so no undue stress or wear has been put on the trans. The response I get from the finance company and the dealer is "it's bad luck, a fluke, etc. And the car isn't under warranty." I am going to perservere in my efforts to get GM involved and hopefully they will do the right thing.

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA

Transmission shutter, failure of dash controls, replaced ignition switch 46800 miles brakes out twice in 4 months paint on luggage rack chipping 54562 at 70 mph on cruise shifted by self tolow gear back to high gear then back to low replaced tranny

- Claremont, IL, USA

On 2-12-1999 my wife was struck from behind by another vehicle and driven into a semi during a whiteout on I94 near marshall, Michigan. Auto-owners insurance decided to repair the vehicle over our objections since this involved completely rebuilding the vehicle and installing a new frame. The car was in the body shop 11 weeks and we took possession only when the insurance company said they would only guarantee to repair any future items. Our first noticable objection was that door gaps were 125% greater than others. This led us to inspect the rest of the car very carefully. The following items were of concern. I will only go into what I would consider safety items not cosmetics. Loud vibration which turned out to be hood latchs never secured (this bothered me since it was indicative of other possible flaws from being completely rebuilt by hand. "grabbing" during tight turns - was repaired twice under bulletin 86-74-02 for "launch shudder" - our steering problem is not during takeoff but only the tight turns. The instruments occassionally go wacko and give false readings particularly the overhead. The airbags did not deploy in a crash that destroyed the frame. From all I have read tjhis could reoccur in a future collision and perhaps the inverse could occur and premature deployment result. Both the insurance company and the body shop(olds dealership) have given me letter assuring me they will fix any future defects but not guaranteeing they not occur. Rob the agent at les

- Rives Junction, MI, USA