2005 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Complaints

DT: THE CONSUMER OWNS A 2005 CORVETTE C6. THE CONSUMER STATED THAT THERE WAS AN ONBOARD COMPUTER THAT WOULD APPLY THE BRAKES TO ANY OF THE FOUR WHEELS IF THE CAR BEGINS TO SPIN. THE ONBOARD COMPUTER ACTIVATED THE RIGHT PASSENGER WHEEL AND MADE THE WHEEL LOCK UP. THE DIC ON THE DASH READ SERVICE ACTIVE HANDLING SYSTEM. THE DEALERSHIP LOOKED AT IT FOR A HALF A DAY AND HOOKED THE COMPUTER ONTO THE CAR AND KNOW ERROR MESSAGE DISPLAYED. THEY TEST DROVE THE CAR AND STATED THERE WAS NO PROBLEM AND TOLD HIM TO COME AND PICK UP THE CAR. THAT AFTERNOON OF THE INCIDENT HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER WHERE HE PURCHASED THE CAR AND THEY HAD IT FOR 13 DAYS AND THEY TRIED TO DETERMINE THE PROBLEM THEY CHANGED THE SENSOR IN THE STEERING COLUMN THAT WAS TIED TO ACTIVE THE BRAKING SYSTEM BUT THEY COULD NOT ASSURE HIM THAT THE PROBLEM WOULD NOT REOCCUR WITH A HUNDRED PERCENT CERTAINTY OR EVEN WITH A HIGH PERCENT CERTAINTY. SINCE THEY REPLACED THE SENSOR THIS HAS NOT OCCURRED BUT HE ALSO MANUALLY SHUT THE SYSTEM DOWN. WHEN THE CONSUMER FIRST STARTED THE CAR THE SYSTEM WAS IN THE ON POSITION AND HE DEACTIVATED IT MANUALLY EVERY TIME HE STARTS THE ENGINE. *JB

DT: THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 CHEVY CORVETTE. ON NOVEMBER 27 2004 THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT LET THEM GET INTO THE CAR AND THE ALARM WOULD NOT GO OFF. ALSO, THE COMPUTER IN THE CAR WOULD TELL THEM THAT THERE WAS NO TIRE PRESSURE AND THE TIRES WERE ON THE VEHICLE AND THE COMPUTER STATED THERE WAS NO PSI. THEY HAD TO CLIMB INTO THE HATCH TO OPEN THE DOOR BECAUSE THE DOOR WOULD NOT OPEN WITH THE KEY. ON APRIL 5, 2005 THE DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE BATTERY AND IT DID CORRECT THE PROBLEM UNTIL APRIL 12,2005 AT THAT TIME THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY STATED BASICALLY IT WAS THE BATTERY AND THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM SAME TYPE OF PROBLEM AGAIN THIS TIME. APRIL 16, 2005 THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE JUMPED STARTED. ON APRIL 20, 2005 THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT GET INTO THE VEHICLE, THE BATTERY VOLTAGE WAS SHOWING ZERO, AND THE PSI ON THREE TIRES WERE SHOWING THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE TIRES ON THE VEHICLE. ON MAY 23, 2005 WITH ONLY 2700 MILES ON THE VEHICLE WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY THE SERPENTINE BELT BROKE, IT OVER HEATED, THE ENGINE HAD BLEW AND THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE TOWED. AROUND JULY 3RD OR 4TH WITH LESS THAN 3000 MILES, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT SHIFT CORRECTLY AND IT WOULD AUTOMATICALLY STOP BECAUSE IT WOULD COME OUT OF CRUISE CONTROL, THE COMPUTER WOULD GIVE THEM STRANGE ERROR MESSAGES. WHEN THEY ARRIVED TO THE DEALERSHIP THAT IS WHEN THE HATCH ON THE BACK HAD CAME OPEN BY IT SELF AND IT HAD HAPPENED TWICE BEFORE THIS BUT THEY THOUGHT THEY HAD MAYBE ACCIDENTALLY OPENED IT. ON JULY 12, 2005 THE VEHICLE WAS PICKED UP FROM THE DEALERSHIP THE PASSENGER DRIVER SIDE WINDOW MOLDING WAS MESSED UP. THE CONTACT TOLD THEM TO KEEP THE VEHICLE UNTIL IT WAS FIXED. THEY HAVE NOTICED NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE WITH THE SAME TYPE OF PROBLEMS. ALSO, ON THE VEHICLE THEY HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO PUT A FULL FUEL TANK OF GASOLINE IN THE VEHICLE SINCE DATE OF PURCHASE. SERVICE INVOICES ARE AVAILABLE IF NEEDED. *NM

DT: THE RIGHT REAR AXLE SNAPPED IN HALF. TOTAL LOSS OF ANY FORWARD MOVEMENT OR ACCELERATION. THE CAR STOPPED ON ITS ON. CAR WAS TAKEN BACK TO DEALER. THE CAR HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED YET. DEALER SAID THERE WERE NO MANUFACTURING DEFECTS OR RECALLS. *AK

ON JUNE 22, 2005 WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED MY '05 COVETTE LOST ITS SERPENTINE BELT CAUSING THE CAR TO LOSE PWER STEERING, ENGINE OIL AND COOLENT. WITH THE LOSS OR STEERING THE CAR BECAME HARD TO STEER AND MANUVER. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN KNOW BY CHEVROLET THAT A SPECIFIC BOLT WAS NOT PLACED CORRECTLY DURING MANUFACTURING AND CAUSES THE LOSS OF THE SERPENTINE BELT. THIS WAS A SCARY EVENT TO LOSE STEERING AT 60MPH WITH A PASSENGER DURING THE ENDING OF RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC ON HWY114 AT 6PM. THE REPAIR IS TAKING PLACE NOW INVOLVING A NEW DIAMOND WASHER AND PROPER TORQUING OF THE BOLT. POSSIBLE ENGINE DAMAGE MAY HAVE OCCURED AND THE RELIABILITY OF THE VEHICLE IS NOW IN QUESTION. IN SOME OCCURANCES THE PROBLEM HAS HAPPENED AGAIN. I DON'T WANT IT TO BE ME AND HAVE AN ACCIDENT.

DT: THERE IS A WARNING SOUND COMING FROM THE BRAKES. OWNER IS UNABLE TO DISTINGUISH IF THE CAR NEEDS BRAKES OR IF THIS WARNING SOUND FEATURE IS JUST FAILING. CAR WAS TAKEN TO DEALER AND PUT ON DIAGNOSTIC MACHINE AND DEALER REPORTED THERE WERE NO VISIBLE PROBLEMS. ONWER CONTACTED GM SERVICE (#13433611303) IS THE SERVICE REQUEST #. GM BASICALLY STATES THEY ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM, THERE IS NO FIX. *JB

A BRAKE LINE RUPTURED ON MY VEHICLE WHILE I WAS DRIVING IT AT 55 MPG. I NEEDED TO EXIT AN INTERSTATE, AND THE CAR CAME TO A HALT VERY SLOWLY, THE REMAINING BRAKE LINE WORKING MUCH LESS EFFECTIVELY, OF COURSE. NO WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER I STOPPED, CLOUDS OF PURE WHITE SMOKE BILLOWED FROM THE HOOD, AND INTO THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. I ASSUME THIS WAS BRAKE FLUID CONTACTING A HOT SURFACE. I USED ONSTAR TO CALL FOR A TOW TO MY DEALER, CRISWELL CHEVROLET IN GAITHERSBURG, MD. CRISWELL DIAGNOSED THE BRAKE LINE RUPTURE. THERE IS SOME DOUBT WHETHER A DEALER CAN RE-INSTALL A BRAKE LINE SAFELY AND EFFECTIVELY: SEE THE DISCUSSION AT HTTP://FORUMS.CORVETTEFORUM.COM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=1113860&FORUM_ID=74 AS THE FORUM DISCUSSION INDICATES, THIS HAS HAPPENED TO OTHER NEW CORVETTE OWNERS. NO ONE KNOWS, AT THIS POINT, HOW TO FIX MY CORVETTE AND WHEN IT WILL BE FIXED. HAD I HAD TO STOP SHORT, I WOULD HAVE HAD A SERIOUS ACCIDENT, AS ONE OF MY BRAKE LINES HAD FAILED WITH NO WARNING, ON A BRAND NEW CAR.

DRIVING NEW 2005 CORVETTE (1486 TOTAL MILES ON CAR) IN SHOPPING DISTRICT AT 35MPH. HEARD "SLAPPING" SOUND FROM UNDER THE HOOD. PULLED OVER AND FOUND THAT ONE OF THE UNDERHOOD ENGINE BELTS WAS SHREDDING. WAS AWARE OF A MANUFACTURERS TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (05-06-01-001A - FEB 8, 2005), THEREFORE THOUGHT IMMEDIATELY THAT THE PROBLEM THIS TSB ADDRESSES WAS THE PROBLEM. THE OCCURRANCE WAS UNEVENTFULL, AS I WAS DRIVING VERY SLOWLY, HOWEVER IF IT HAD BEEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS THIS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN LOSS OF CONTROL AND BROKEN FLUID LINES UNDER THE HOOD. ENGINE WAS DISABLED. CAR WAS FLAT-BEDDED TO LOCAL CHEVROLET DEALER WHERE IT WILL BE REPAIRED.*AK

SEVEN TO EIGHT THOUSAND CHEVROLET CORVETTES BUILT IN LATE 2004 ARE IN A BATCH BEING WATCHED BY GM BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN DOZENS OF INSTANCES OF THE CRANK SHAFT PULLEY BELT BACKING OUT AND ALLOWING THE PULLEY TO LOOSEN OR FALL OFF. WHEN THAT HAPPENS THE CAR LOOSES POWER STEERING AND THE REST OF THE FUNCTIONS RUN OFF THE BELTS. THE BELT AND PULLEY CAN ALSO CAUSE OTHER DAMAGE UNDER THE HOOD. PRODUCTION NUBER CORVETTES FROM OVER THREE THOUSAND TO OVER ELEVEN THOUSAND ARE IN THE GROUP IDENTIFIED AS PROBLEMATIC. CHEVROLET HAS REALEASE A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN, TSB NUMBER (05-06-01-001A), BUT SAYS IT CAN NOT HELP BUYERS UNTIL AFTER A FAILURE. I OWN A CORVETTE IN THAT GROUP, AND I FEAR THAT I CAN'T TRUST THE CAR TO PERFORM SAFELY. I BELONG TO SEVERAL CORVETTE RELATED INTERNET FORUMS, AND I GET REPORTS OF NEW FAILURES EVERY DAY. THERE ARE DOZENS OF FAILURES REPORTED BY MEMBERS OF JUST ONE FORUM. THE FAILURES HAVE BEEN OCCURRING SINCE NOVEMBER, 2004. GM IS OBVIOUSLY NOT GOING TO FIX THIS SAFETY PROBLEM WITHOUT NHTSA INQUIRY, AND I'D LIKE NHTSA TO ASK GM TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT PROTECTING THE LIVES OF THEIR PURCHASERS. SPONTANEOUS LOSS OF STEER ASSIST AND FLUID LOSS IS A SAFETY ISSUE - IN MY OPINION. WILL NHTSA LOOK INTO THIS SITUATION BEFORE SOMEONE DIES, PLEASE? *AK

COMPLAINT RECEIVED VIA E-MAIL. WHILE DRIVING HOME ,THE CRANK BOLT WHICH HOLDS THE ENGINE PULLEY, CAME UNTREATED FROM THE CRANKSHAFT. THIS DISINTEGRATED ALL THREE BELTS, AND I LOST THE POWER STEERING. AT 65 MPH, THIS IS RATHER AN UN-NERVING EXPERIENCE! HAD THIS HAPPENED TO A SMALL WOMAN, SHE MIGHT HAVE LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE IN THE RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 10 INSTANCES OF THE CRANK BOLT COMING OUT FROM THE ENGINE. *AK

EQUIPPED WITH THE Z51 OPTION, THE C6 CORVETTES BRAKING SYSTEM SQUEAKS AND SQUEALS VERY LOUDLY.*AK