Instrument Panel problems of the 2003 Chevrolet C1500

The fuel gauge and the oil temperature gauge a few weeks ago started not working properly. The needles would stick and therefore could not read gauges. At first they would just not work from time to time, but now they do not work at all. I have a letter from Chevrolet informing me that a problem like this could happen and if it did to contact my dealer for an appointment to inspect the problem. If the dealer found that the problem was valid then Chevrolet would replace the instrument panel. The letter also stated that they would only fix the problem if the pickup fell between the guidelines of no more than 70,000 miles or 7 years from date of purchase, whichever occurred first. Therefore when I spoke to Chevrolet and my pickup had 97,000 miles, even though it has not been 7 years since purchase, they told me that there was nothing they could do to help me because I had gone over the mileage restriction. The part can only be bought by the dealer and installed by a certified chevy mechanic, because it has to be programmed. It cost around $350. 00 to fix this problem that only occurred because of a defective part. I have been a driver for a major delivery company for 20 years and this problem falls in the category of a safety issue. The gas gage does not work, resulting in never knowing when and where the vehicle could run out of gas. The oil pressure gauge is not working, therefore not allowing the driver of the pickup to know if there is enough oil in it at all times to prevent overheating which could result in burning a motor up.

Realized my speedometer was not accurate during a trip on the interstate, became worse and eventually stopped working.

The speedometer on my 2003 chevy 1500 sticks and does not move back toward zero as I slow down at times. It seems to be more common when I have the heat on which is necessary in wisconsin for most of the year. It started to happen at the end of last winter but there was no recall for it at the time and by the time there was a recall for vehicles w/ less than 70,000 miles, mine had too many miles on it. Now it is happening a lot more frequently.

The speedometer work sometime,oil cluster needle not working. It was a recall but you had to be under like 70 thousand mile to get the service free and I was over the mileage. This is a defect and I should not have to pay because my truck was over 70 thousand miles.