JMB

I have owned many very high performance cars over the last 35+ years but for whatever reason never bought a new car for me. I actually placed an ad several months ago on this Corvette Forum about buying a used ’08-’09 Z06 but nothing turned up for a decent price when compared to a new one so I thought that I would treat myself to a spanking new factory ordered Torch Red 2LZ 2011 Z06!

After patiently waiting since January 4th when I ordered the car, my Z06 showed up at a local dealer yesterday as a courtesy delivery (I bought and paid for it new from Ken Fichtner -absolute awesome guy and best buying experience and price ever!) and when I went to pick it up there was some confusion about the pick-up....the car was to be detailed out and when I arrived to pick it up it had multiple locations of bird droppings on both the hood, top and trunk. The car was also very dirty from shipment and there were greasy finger prints all over the car and it was beyond obvious that the car had never been washed or prepped as the inside plastic was still on the doors and the window sticker still on the car.

This was disappointing to see of course since I had visions of how a pristine new, Z06 was going to look when I first set my eyes upon it and how it exciting this was going to be just like when I was first able to lay my eyes on my new bride walking down the aisle at my wedding!

I could get past all of this as I walked up to the car seeing a lot boy opening the door to my car and I say "excuse me, I'll take the keys!" Just then the dealer rep that phoned me to pick up the car walks up and says "I'm very sorry, for whatever reason the car isn't ready to be picked up and we have a problem. He apologized profusely about the condition of the car and he told me that the car was shuddering very bad from the rear end….it seems that the oil hasn’t worked its way into the rear end clutch packs and it’s so bad that the whole car shakes VERY badly. We can’t let you take the car like this, and since our shop staff has gone home for the evening we’ll pull it inside for the night and have our best tech look at it in the morning….he’ll check the fluid level and most likely change it and then drive the car in several figure 8’s to work the new fluid in and then he’ll have to drive it down the highway at a sustained speed for a brief period and just be advised that this whole process will likely add about 15 to 20 miles to your car.”

Once I got past this 2nd disappointment I thanked the dealer for their concern and told them to do what they needed to do, however, to just forget the detailing and I would personally clean the car to ensure that there were no additional delays in picking it the car and to prevent anyone else from driving the car.

I received a call from the dealer late this morning with the 3rd and most disappointing news….after completely changing the rear end fluid (and they assured me that it was full when they first checked it) and running the car through the complete break-in process for the new fluid and racking up close to 20 miles on my new car they were dumbfounded by the fact that absolutely nothing had changed….the whole car still shuddered very badly emanating from the rear end! They advised me that the car would have to spend the whole weekend inside at the dealer until they could contact GM’s Service Engineering to solicit direction on next steps.

So here I sit at my keyboard in complete disgust over what should have been one of the most incredible automotive delivery experiences of a lifetime by picking up my shiny, brand new near zero mile Z06 and instead of having a mile-wide smile on my face driving it off of the lot, here I sit at my computer in limbo knowing that my filthy new car is sitting in the shop with dirt, greasy finger prints and bird $hit all over it, with a rear end that is toast, not knowing how many more miles need to be racked up on the car before I can even drive it or even how it is going to be “test driven” by a potential lead-footed tech for another 15 or 20 miles before I take final delivery…..needless to say I am bummed big time….sorry for venting but I just had to share.

90sundevil

I would check on the lemon laws in your state.

McMung

Wow... DOA basically. That blows.

MTPZ06

So you've already purchased this vehicle (signed all the papers)? If not, I would tell them to keep it and let you know when another one comes in.

triblk6spd

Truth!

Mopar Jimmy

That is VERY DISAPPOINTING sorry you have to deal with this crap, and if there is anyway you can get another exact Z in the near future I would go that route also if at all possible.

Worst case scenerio if you decide to keep this Z, and as others below me have pointed out you can probalby get out of this car if you want to, but if you keep it is unacceptable to have to deal with this on a brand spanking new $80,000 car, and before they get you all fixed up and they will, I would first try to posture and see if you can negotiate with them to give you an extended GM bumper to bumper warranty on the car for the aggravation and frustration you have dealt with.

Best of luck to you, it will work out in the end!

Bill Dearborn

I would go and find out what is going on before doing anything else. Talk to the mechanic and maybe even drive the car yourself around their lot to see for yourself what is happening. If the clutches in the diff are locking it up so the inside tire skips when the car turns it could be described as shuddering. The diff is made by ZF and comes from Germany. By the way did you order the F55 option with the car? There is some shipping item the new car prep guy is supposed to remove from the shocks and that can cause some ride issues. I know this happened to C5s when the F55 came out in 03. There were quite a few dealer techs that didn't know they had to pull the stuff out.

Just looked it up: They are called shipping stuffers and here is a link to the C5 TSB that GM released:
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...e+Ride+Control

Depending on where you live there are still a lot of GM Dealer techs that haven't had a lot of experience with C5s and C6s.

Bill

GIO-305

Return it! Even if you signed papers you can return it.

phxcobra

Exactly. I'd tell them to cancel my check/returns my funds and to keep the car. if they give you grief, let them know you'll be talking to your state attorney general.

zland

I agree, maybe check with an attorney & see if there is a way you can get out from taking this car. Why spend a lot of money to be unhappy? There are plenty of Z06's, no need to take one that is not right.

Bill Dearborn

Following the advice in the the 3 posts above without doing some investigation first will just guarantee some other person will get an excellent car.

Bill

427Z0SX

WTH? This is not how it's supposed to be, according to what I saw in Ultimate Factory. Each Z06 is meticulously assembled, and this was not discovered at Bowling Green? I thought each car gets a test drive, even for a short distance, this problem would have presented itself at the factory.

BSSN

The card are driven. I went to BG and watched the process. It is not possible for the car to have left the plant like described. The drive the car in the plant and on a quarter mile test track to listen for rattles. Lots of tight turns between places it is driven.

Mr. Hyde

I have a buddy that just took delivery of his brand new CTS-V Coupe, and it had the exact same problem. They started with the wheels and balanced them, then they CHANGED out the rear end. Next up they changed out the tranny (auto) and that was the problem. After three weeks of this nonsense, and him driving a loaner. He happen to trade in his 2008 Z06 for the Caddie. He told them to keep their car and give me a new one. After much debate and argueing, he got another car.
Something for you to keep in mind.

AmitZ06

Your car isnt new anymore, its used!!! I would ask for another one. Do not settle for that car.

foremaw

victory2k8z

RUN! order another one

Me2d

Cloaked323

You're not the Long Ranger, after I paid for mine I drove it around and then went to my local 76 gas station to fill or up or I should say top off the tank, once done I tried to start the car and nothing happened it idled really rough then shut off. I ordered a flat bed and it was towed directly to a local dealer. My brand new Z06 was diagnosed with a B/O fuel pump it took nearly a week to get back. I could go on and on with other issues this 80K car had but I won't. Good luck I hope it all works out for you.

capevettes

I would demand a new car and stick to it. Why settle for a repaired car with miles. The last time I bought a new Corvette (2005) it turned out to be a real lemon. GM bought the car back. I just bought a low mileage Z06 (2,500 miles). At least with the low mileage, used car you can do a service history to determine whether the car has been problematic, and you save alot of money. I will never by new again after my experience. You pay too much and it's a crap shoot with the new car gremlins. This should be a happy time for you, not a big headache. The only plus is the dealer didn't detail the car. Most of them create swirls and damage the paint.

Good luck with your situation. Let us know how it turns out.