[Tesla]

There's a seller on Amazon (BlendDoor.com) that sells a rebuild kit for ~$13. It's simply the replacement gear that commonly breaks made of "hardened/space-age plastic". I've rebuilt 2-3 bda's and haven't had 1 fail again.

Same experience here. The gear in the kit from BlendDoor.com that I used to repair three of my actuators has held up fine. I rebuilt my first one in 2019, and it's still working great after five years of brutal desert summer heat.

Side note: I've never bothered to orient the gears in any of my actuators the prior to installing them. Just pulled the fuse for the Body Control Module before plugging in the electrical connector and then replaced the fuse after screwing the thing down to force the BCM to perform a positional relearn. Never had an issue doing a replacement this way.

"Oh, but the actuator won't slide properly onto the shaft if you don't orient the gears first," you might say. Sure it will! You can slide any of those three actuators far enough onto its mating shaft inside the dash by rotating the entire actuator to line up correctly with the flats on the shaft. Then, just rotate the actuator AND the spring-loaded shaft together into the correct orientation to fully seat the actuator in its location and screw it down. Done.

 

[Tesla]

How long have the replacement gears lasted? Thanks

My oldest one has been installed for over five years. See my post above.

 

[Tesla]

I believe the Gen 9 Impalas carried on with the same actuators, as do many of the current crop of GM trucks and Crossovers/SUV's. All without any update, which is genuinely disappointing. I mean, what would it take? GM wouldn't even need to design and fab a new part, since it's always the same gear inside these actuators that strips teeth, because it's made out of petrified Cheez-Whiz pseudo-plastic.

The only thing required of Generous Motors to turn these actuators into decent, reliable parts would be to spec better plastic for that one stinking gear. How much would the cost of each one increase? Maybe a nickel? Hell, I'd have been happy to pay an extra dollar to ensure I got a more reliable unit. GM would be more than welcome to the additional profit. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen, because GM is in the business of selling new cars, not better replacement parts.

 

[Tesla]

I got a quote today from my local Chev dealer regarding replacement of both actuators on the right & left side of my glove box (2008 Chev Impala). Price quoted: $145 per actuator plus $450 labour, with taxes would be over $1000. That is the reason GM has not improved the quality of the gear in the actuators, the dealers/GM are making huge profits replacing these faulty actuators

I think you may be giving GM too much credit. The corporate mentality rarely extends beyond the next quarterly statement. I believe the original motivation was nothing more than penny-pinching and apathy. High repair costs are certainly a bonus for dealerships, but little of that money (profit on the part) trickles back to the corporate coffers. The high repair prices are mostly a bonus for dealerships.

There are plenty of folks out there unwilling or unable to tackle simple repairs, but they are generally the ones who trade cars as soon as their warranties expire, so they aren't the ones paying for the ridiculous costs of having these actuators replaced. I have a cousin who is among those individuals (completely lost if you put a screwdriver in his hand).

At this point most of these Gen 8's have changed hands at least once since new, so most folks who own them now bought them used, usually without any warranty. That being the case, knowing how to turn a wrench themselves would be advisable. I recommend tackling the actuator replacements yourself. The process may be a pain in the neck, but it isn't complicated, involving just one electrical plug and two screws once you access the failed unit.