Lex-Their lack of professionalism is disgusting-I'm surprised you don't have PTSD!

 

I own a 2016 Z51 automatic and have had multiple issues with the transmission and engine. Car has been in for service a total of 2 months. First, at 5000 miles, I heard a rattling noise from the engine compartment. Dealer replaced transmission flex plate, driveline support tube, bolts and fluid. No issues later with this problem.

Next major issue at 7000 miles the car stopped running with no noises or warning, engine just stopped. Towed to dealer who said my battery was bad, installing a new one and fuse. Then car running rough, not shifting from 6 to 7 to 8 smoothly. At busy intersection car dies again. Towed to dealer who tried fixing with 10 electrical and engine parts(don't have a listing of them). Test drive failed resulting in another tow back to dealer. They said after starting it multiple times it needed a new starter because it burned up?? After install of new starter another test drive resulted in another tow back to dealer. Service tech could not figure the issue out. GM notified. They approved a new engine. New engine installed and 3 test drives later they say it is fine. I filed a BBB Lemon Law complaint not feeling safe in this car, towed 4 times with only 7100 miles and new engine not matching VIN number and not installed by factory. GM resisting to build me a new car. Awaiting BBB notification for next steps with GM.

Does a new non-factory installed engine reduce the cars value? Should I accept car with new engine or arbitrate with BBB & GM?? Paul

 

Good luck Paul! I feel having a non-number matching engine in your new 2016 Corvette will affect the value of the car. If it were a Santa Fe or a Accord that's a different story. But it's a Corvette! A car fax report will show an engine replacement. Some buyers may not care and some will. Either way it cuts your potential customer base in half if you try to sell it. Given a choice between two similar Corvettes, one number matching and the second non-matching, I would take the former.

 

Good question and 95+% of forum members would say a replacement engine will not reduce your car's value. I am in that camp.

GM is producing 40,000 C7's this year, and unless you have a C7.R or other special, limited edition car, a new motor will not reduce your car's value. I would have zero issues if my motor went south and GM installed a new one --regardless of mileage on my car.

In all fairness, there are a few forum members who strongly disagree with my perspective on this issue.

 

John, Thanks for quick reply. I haven't heard from anyone else at this forum. Kind of odd. I'M still awaiting reply from BBB as to what GM is going to offer. So far just an extended warranty but I'd like a new car. P

 

75% of Corvette buyers have no involvement with any car forum, and most second hand C7 purchasers also have nothing to do with Corvette clubs, nor similar. Doubt that more than a small percentage of Corvette buyers care about the motor being replaced, and were it me, I would be glad that my Corvette's motor had 7,000 less than the car I was about to buy.

Respectfully disagree that it cuts your buyers in half, maybe closer to 5-10%, for when folks are looking for a used car, even a Corvette, what they care about is coupe or convertible, transmission, exterior color, interior color, and then options and other specs. Buying a Corvette is an emotional experience, and when we see it, it either speaks to us (grabbing at our heart), or we move on.

In the days of 35,000 C7 units being produced yearly, number matching is not an issue but for just a small minority.

Now if we were talking about a 1967 big block, would say that 50% care about numbers matching.

 

Guys, I just could not accept a $70,000 sports car with a heart transplant in my garage. After two months of haggling with GM and BBB/dealer support I was able to secure a new car. GM would not build me a new one but agreed that if I could locate one with a similar build as mine they would work with me if I would pay for any additional options. We found one at an Indiana dealer that has red calipers and carbon flash mirrors & spoiler. I close on it today. I'm very thankful to get this car but it has really been a struggle with GM. P

 

Paul, I'm glad your persistence finally paid off. If I was looking to buy a used Stingray, I would walk away if I knew it had a replacement engine. I would be suspicious that the previous owner had mistreated the car and would worry other things might be wrong with it.

Here's hoping your new Stingray will be trouble free. :victorious:

 

After finding and reading this thread I thought I would ask how you got GM to replace your engine?
Last weekend my friend's C7 broke again while in a caravan with 48 Corvettes about 2 hours away from his home.
Unfortunately, he is not a SRF member so I thought I could find some info for him here.

He was one of the early C7 buyers, October of 2013. After about 500 miles he like many here, hear a noise coming from the engine. After pleading with his dealer for a new engine, he was forced to go to 2 other dealers to find one that would be able to rebuild his engine not replace it.
They rebuilt it and found a bad crankshaft bearing with a 40 mil tolerance when it was supposed to be 4 mils.
He was not too happy and they provided two more years of warranty.

All seemed okay until this last weekend, 10/15/16, on our "spirited" cruise when a hose broke or let go and smoke and antifreeze sprayed all over everything including the other corvettes. He almost lost it along with a couple of others!
We think it was a result of the rebuild and is in the process of demanding a new engine or possibly a replacement C7. Car now has 8,000 miles.
So what is the best way to get through to GM?
Thank you.

 

The best way for your friend to proceed IMO would be to strictly follow sections 13.1-13.3 of his/her Owners Manual, documenting everything in writing each step. At each step, politeness is recommended, but that of course does not mean backing off if he/she disagrees with what the GM rep has told them each step of the way.

Best of luck.

 

MGV - did his engine lock up? I've had radiator hoses blow before and not damage my engine. Likely nothing wrong with it to warrant a new engine...

 

His engine did not lock up and was able to finally pull off. A good point though and maybe another item to improve the discussion for a replacement. This had to stress the engine a bit.

And Elegant, I did look up the section on Customer Information and the procedures for reporting to GM followed up by reporting to the BBB Auto Line.
I believe he has done the GM procedures but not the BBB reporting. I was thinking more of contacting some department in GM other than the normal procedures because he was not getting the desired results.
But these are good ideas that we will pursue.
Thank you!

 

Just found another thread that is very similar.
Check it out!
http://www.stingrayforums.com/forum...ems-issues/15029-first-month-my-2016-z51-10-days-dealer-about-out-7-more-9.html

 

bought my Z51 12/2013 for a daily driver. Fast forward to 7/2017 and 98000 miles later. Had a torque tube go out at 91000 drove it for 7000 and had a bearing in the harmonic balancer pulley go bad, while at the dealer the starter failed. After they replaced the starter, they said it "bound up" and found that a crankshaft bearing came apart and when they dropped the pan, found the bearing in pieces and pieces of metal everywhere. They are in the process of determining whether they are going to rebuild or replace the engine. Has anyone had a similar issue?

 

Wow...now that's cutting it close on the 100k mile drivetrain warranty.

 

for sure...I had a vibration at 1200-1500 rpm when the torque tube gave out a couple months prior. After I put 7000 on it, it developed the same noise at the same rpm. When I took it in the series of issues I outlined occurred. We are thinking that the bearing might have been going bad all that time. With all the metal in the oil, I'm hoping they decide to put a new engine in it. I was hoping I might find someone that has had a similar issue. The dealer is confident the engine will ultimately be replaced but its been nearly a week since they got all the info they required to make a decision but still no determination. Summer is nearly gone and I've been without my girl for a couple months. Never have I missed a car this much

 

Kim, with 98000 excellent miles of fun and the heartbeat stopped, that's a bummer! I hope that the dealership your working with has your C7 Masterpiece squared away ASAP so you can get back to wheeling around. If they install a new motor what's the warranty on it, 5yr./ 100000 or will it be what's left of your 98000?

SF
Rick

 

Lexluther, you stated you were in Texas. Where and what dealership worked on your car?

 

This will be an interesting issue to follow, i.e., 98,000 miles and engine needs at least a rebuild, but will GM do that or replace it? I am guessing a rebuild.

 

I can't say because of the confidentiality agreement when they bought the car back. I live in north Dallas..

 

Not that it matter, but I am female and am a HUGE Corvette lover and against my husband’s wishes, bought my third consecutive Corvette. For history, I started with a red 2008 Coupe that was amazing and had absolutely no issues. I traded it in for a black 2014 Stingray, drove it for 3.5 years and 29,000 miles. I traded it in because the roof creaked all the time and right after the warranty expired, the A/C became intermittent in the Texas heat, and two check engine notifications started to regularly appear (the overheating one at idle and another one). Again, rebelling against my husband and being a loyal Corvette driver, I was determined to buy the white Stingray I always wanted!!! Here is where the story begins…

On 9/21/17, I purchased my 2017 Corvette Z51 Stingray. I bought the car with 11 miles on it, to date I have made 2 payments, and have only driven 2,600 miles so far. On 12/03/17, I started hearing a horrible engine noise while idle and while in motion (YouTube video link provided:

). Prior to that, when my husband drove the car for the first and only time, he heard a popping sound each time we turned a corner.

On 12/04/17, I took my car in for these repairs. I told the Service Manager about both noises mentioned above. I described the engine sounding like a I was “dragging a tree” under my car. The first thing he did was drop to the ground to look for a literal tree…I guess because I am female??

Not being a mechanical person, I requested a list of items that have been replaced on my car so far. After 2 emails and a phone call, my Service Advisor provided me this list of repairs on 12/13/17.

1: Replaced front deflector-skirt
2: Replaced tensioner-fixed the ticking noise
3: Replace bolt-goes on clamp for driveshaft to engine per TAS. That reduced the rattle, knocking noise but didn't fix it. TAS recommended replacing driveshaft assembly (aka torque tube)

As of today, 12/19/17, my brand new car is still not repaired. Below are 3 voice mails and 3 emails from my Service Advisor with status updates.

• 12/08: Voicemail stating the mechanic is still working on it and hopefully going to finish working on it “tonight” (12/08/19)
• 12/11: Voicemail stating they are ordering torque tube and driveshaft
• 12/13: Email listing parts being replaced (stated above)
• 12/14: Email stating “Your vehicle should be put back together tonight to be ready for testing tomorrow”
• 12/15: Voicemail stating he is still putting back together, torque isn’t lining up, not going to be done…etc
• 12/18: Email stating “Sorry for the delay. The technician is still working on your tourque. I will give you an update later in the day.”
• 12/19: Spoke personally with my SA at 11:46am and told me that she had misspoke and that they had NOT started the torque repairs. Additionally, she said none of their mechanics had ever repaired one on a NEW Corvette before!!!! (WTF???)


​

Being that I had to step out of a meeting to take this call, I didn’t have time to question the wishy washiness of starting or not starting work on the torque thingy, even though I have verbal and written acknowledgement of the work supposedly being done.


​

Being that this dealership doesn’t have mechanics that can confidently FIX my car, I did ask her what the likelihood of my car never being the same again after all of this was. She deferred the answer to that question!
• 12/19: Email at 7:40pm stating “Good evening! As of right now, this is all that we have done. He has made some progress on the torque and is still working on it as we speak. It is back up and he is putting everything back together. I will update you tomorrow when I know something further ma'am. Have a good evening. Let me know if there is anything I else I can do for you while you are waiting.”

I'm currently writting a letter to the CEO of GM with many of these details. Anything i should add? Know? Thoughts on my current state (the car that is...not me! LOL)


Thanks all! Merry Christmas!

JB

 

ag4life96 (JB), welcome aboard to SRF and it is terrible to read about your "unsat" experiences with the dealership attempting to square away your C7 Masterpiece. Was that the only Chevrolet dealership near you, if not maybe the other dealership has a trained tech who has repaired Corvette's. Contact Chevrolet Customer Care on our forum to render assistance in this matter. Like I stated, it's sad that you have to deal with this mess after purchasing your new C7 Masterpiece, a trained Chevrolet Corvette tech would've had it squared away in no time. Hope that you get your situation squared away and get back to wheeling around TX, the C7 Masterpiece is an awesome vehicle hang in there. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year despite your dilemma.

SF
Rick

 

ag4life96, that's terrible.... I feel for you. I bought my 2015 Z51 brand new and haven't had a lick of problems (except on day one when the convertible top wouldn't close). The C7 is really a very nice machine and I am sorry to hear about your issues. I think US Marine is asking a valid question: can you change dealerships? I understand that may be difficult to do after they start working on your Vette, but it does sound like you're getting the run around from your current dealership. And that shouldn't happen with an expensive car like this. But...don't let it ruin your Christmas. Merry Christmas.

Theo

 

ag4life96, that is a nightmare that none of us want to go through. I really hope they make it right for you. I despise dealers and this kind of thing is why!!!
Just curious, what city are you in?
Sounds like a dealer to avoid if possible.
Maybe if I say hook’em it will put a temporary smile on your face. I’m assuming you are an Aggie. [emoji6]

 

Torch Red, it looks like she is in Carrollton. I bought mine in Austin like I assume you did. Great experience all around.

 

Actually I buy my new ones from the forum dealers. Who did you buy from? Happy with their service? I live out 183 by AutoNation.

 

Sad to join the engine trouble bunch. 2016 2LT Z51, driven 13,500 miles....started with ticking sound from the engine at start up, the revs increased the ticking sound. Took it to the dealer, they replaced the camshaft, lifters, and valve springs, and they also found one cylinder with a faulty spark plug.
I’ve had the car back for a week, now I see that I’m getting a blinking check engine light when under heavy acceleration. Heading back to the dealer tomorrow. (Ended up being due to the transmission torque converter, they replaced the filter and did the flush as indicated in the TSB)
Really frustrating, can’t say I’d trust the car to go on a trip anytime soon...

 

LGARCIA, it's sad to read about your engine problems and you thought that it had been squared away after the first repairs. Hopefully it's an easy fix this time and they get you back to wheeling around FL sooner than later.

SF
Rick