Usually, when people buy a new vehicle, they plan on driving it. John Rice from New Hampshire was no different when he purchased a Chevy Silverado ZR2 in 2024. And although he did drive it for a few months, he was involved in a collision that sent his off-road pickup to the body shop in November of that same year. According to him, that’s where it has stayed ever since, as his rig has been waiting on a new wiring harness for 15 months now.
Rice shared his story with local news outlet CBS13, which aired a short segment last week. He explained that the repair was originally expected to take two or three weeks. The timeline was extended indefinitely when J&T Auto Body received four wiring harnesses—one after another—that didn’t fit.
“It’s in pieces in storage because you can’t put it back together until you get that harness,” Rice told CBS13. “They sent two experts out from Detroit, they got on the vehicle, scratched their heads, and said, ‘Wow, we got a problem.'”
Without a new wiring harness, the Duramax diesel Silverado ZR2 is inoperable. Rice says he asked General Motors about sourcing a wiring harness from a similar truck in a salvage yard, though that would void his warranty. He claims he was also told a third party can’t assemble a new one for the same reason. That would probably be a nightmare in and of itself, as Jason Leavitt from J&T Auto Body explains, “It goes to the back seats, across the back wall of the truck, and up into the ceiling for the airbags.”
Rice wrote a letter to GM CEO Mary Barra about his situation. In it, he said that State Farm declined to total the vehicle as they found it “hard to believe GM does not make a wire harness for a truck that is not yet a year old.” GM allegedly refused to buy back the pickup as it’s not a Lemon Law violation.
CBS13 said its attempt to reach General Motors for comment had been ignored as of last Thursday. However, when The Drive reached out for comment, a GM spokesperson said, “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have reached out to the customer and are looking into this matter. We hope to solve this as quickly as possible.”
The Drive‘s questions about why this part is unavailable and what GM is doing to help the owner went unanswered.
For what it’s worth, Rice told CBS13 that the manufacturer is covering half of his monthly payment while the Silverado ZR2 sits. He’s far from pleased with that, though, as he’d rather be able to drive the truck he’s paying for. Rice has filed a complaint with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, but has yet to find a resolution.
“I did everything right,” Rice concluded. “And here I stand in a dirt parking lot because Chevrolet doesn’t give a damn. That’s the truth.”
Repair Roadblock: NH man's Chevy truck sidelined nearly 2 years over missing part
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