AM General Hummer Review

Good Points
Both of my hummers, both H1 wagons, 1999 and 2001, were alot of fun to drive. And they are great conversation starters just about everywhere. I had no problem parking mine in day to day driving, (Chicago suburbs) and plowed through some 4 foot snow drifts while visiting my brother in Iowa.

Bad Points
My first Hummer, H1 1999, was bought used and it kept having things wrong, so I bought a new H1, in 2001, to replace it. As I drove it off the lot, the turbo went out. The dealer refused to trade it for a new one, but fixed it the next day. Then a few months later, after an oil change, its CTIS blew air all over the place, though I was able to drive it back to the dealer with the pump on the whole time. The alternater went out a few weeks later leaving me stranded at midnight and once it stalled because of a fuel pump jam. The "required" maintenance (do it or void the warranty" is outrageously expensive and obviously did little to keep the truck running. I finally gave up on my last hummer after about 10 months of frustration. Repeated calls and poor surveys to the Hummer customer service never even got me a sympathetic phone call. I love cars and the hummer was great fun, and I really wish it truly was the invincible machine that it portrays it to be, but in fact, it is not. You know that commercial that has the boy building the H2? My wife and I laugh about it every time saying that to be accurate, they should have the steering wheel come off in the boys hand and the back axle fall off as the other cars pass him by...
Sorry guys, it hurts my feelings too, but Hummer has been my greatest automotive dissapointment.

General Comments
I have typed details of my two H1 hummer experiences in the good points and bad points section. For a quick summary, they were alot of fun to drive, when they worked, which wasn't often, and after only a year's worth of ownership and 6 repair trips to the dealer, I finally gave up on them. I'm sure the military loves them and I'm sure they do a great job, but I seem to be lacking a motor pool department in my garage for daily maintenance. Maybe they should have thought of that before marketing it to the civilian public as "indestructable."