tcinla

How many miles have you out on your new differential?

Highplains

Approximately 400 miles. I haven't heard even a suggestion of the noise.

bjones7131

Darin, lemon law is the route i went and GM bought my car back. Keep good records and contact BBB. Good luck.

darinvedwards

This is the email I penned to my dealer and copied all the GM execs. It is time for GM to get a TSB out there and fix this issue. A high school friend of mine is a lawyer here in town and I have been quiet. That ended today.


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Dear Glyn Smith Chevrolet service manager,


One last point from our phone conversation concerning the warble noise issue with my 2016 Corvette. I put these 4 videos on YouTube so that other owners and prospective buyers of 2017 Corvettes can be aware of the issue. Also GM technical services can simply search for '2016 Corvette C7 Warble Noise A8 @ 1500 rpm' and hear my problem that many others are experiencing.


There are over 1000 posts on the Corvette owners website about this issue dating from 04/10/2016. Some dealers installed new differentials, exhaust systems, and half shafts from beefier Z51 packaged cars. Those owners are reporting the sounds came back within hundreds of miles. One owner in Gettysburg, PA. had his purchased from GM to be diagnosed in Detroit.


In closing, I sincerely appreciate the customer service you have provided so far. But I prefer that we not throw parts at this car, but GM simply provide you with the technical guidance to fix the issue correctly the first time (if a fix truly exists).




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4rSnxdqdZg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv6svxMNqlM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2U_YVcTZ68


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFdY9WF1jHo




Regards,
Darin V. Edwards

Strake

As the owner from Gettysburg, PA who was one of the early folks pushing this up the GM ladder........ I can assure you they are well aware of this. My car was bought back by GM Engineering to determine the root cause. My YouTube video/audio clip was sent to Mary Barra the CEO of GM.


As my issue is resolved, by getting our car bought back, and buying a new GS (still lots of $$$ out of my pocket), it still bugs the hell out of me, that by now there hasn't been a definitive resolution available to all the dealerships, and that folks like you are getting the run around about no one ever heard of this before......

Richard

bjones7131

In my opinion, they know darn well this is still an issue and they will stall and hope U go away, bottom line is $$$$. I checked with my friend in NC last week about his and he indicated they were still waiting for the certified rear end. Certified is the term he used and it has been on order for about a month. Go figure. Keep up the pressure guys, don't wait on GM to come to you with a fix, herd the cats. Good luck.

Highplains

To those with the warble problem:

I am one of I don’t know how many who have new diffs that are apparently the fix for the warble noise. I say apparently because I have only about 400 miles on it. I was told that a supplier to GM screwed-up the ring and pinions on the old diffs. I got attention to this problem last year when I got fed-up trying to get a fix for it. I wrote an email with Richard Straker’s video to Mary Barra, GM CEO. I didn’t bitch or whine-just laid out the facts that dealers were clueless to this problem and something needed to be done. The video spoke for itself. I got immediate calls from an “Executive Liaison” but most importantly from the Corvette Quality Control Manager.

In the following months they worked on the problem at one point, putting in heavier ZO6 axles. I made my car available to test but they never did anything at that point. I think they were figuring out it was the diff. I then received word that they felt “99.9% sure” they had a new fix that worked and could they put one of the diffs in my car? Before and after the install, a GM field engineer was recording data on the car while I drove it up and down the highway. Making my car available was what got me the new diff ahead of a TSB.

One thing that rang my bell on all of this is that I was told my diff came off the assembly line. They are already up to speed with enough good diffs to install on the 2017s but don’t seem able to get some in the supply chain to help you guys out. While I don’t advise you write Mary Barra, CEO with a lot of negativity about GM, I can tell you that I got a quick response from my mail to her last year writing a factual, no nonsense letter about the problem. If I were in your shoes now, I would urge all of you to send her emails being sure to tell her that the diffs are out there but not for those who had the problem in the first place. I wonder if she’s so far at the top of the tower, she’s unaware that owners of one of their flagship vehicles are getting the short end of the stick. Her email address is: mary.barra@gm.com.

Gunrun

I just emailed Mary and asked her how to fix this. Although I said diffferential with an updated rack and pinion instead of ring and pinion I think she should figure it out. Also I noticed the warble in M with the paddles above 2000 rpm. So if you drive in 3rd gear just cruising with the rpm between 2000-4000 you will hear it.

Ed Ramberger

Darin - here is the letter that resulted in mine being repurchased. The warble noise drove me up the wall. I watched your first video - same as mine. I also sent them the link to Strakes video - same as mine.

Had GM just doe the right thing, I'd still be driving a Corvette. After the terrible customer disservice I received from GM and the dealer I was just done at my wits end.

I documented everything and can 100% back my story. I received changing stories and delay upon delay. I was so very disappointed with GM.


Dear Ms. Barra et al,

Earlier this year I purchased a new 2016 Stingray Corvette – my dream car. I sold my existing Corvette and bought what I had expected to be a dream. Unfortunately, it has not turned out to be the case. I’m your perfect customer – I could have bought a Hellcat, Mustang GT350R or numerous other vehicles, but I have been a GM guy my whole life. I’ve had Monzas, Camaros, Firebirds, a previous Corvette and a slew of other GM vehicles over the years. I’ve got 4 motorcycles in the garage and a boat. I have the discretionary income to purchase the car I want – I wanted a new Corvette. In fact, I ordered it and waited seven weeks so that I could get the exact options I wanted and it wouldn’t sit in a dealer lot getting scratched and test driven.

In order to respect your time, below please find the shortest version of the two biggest problems I have had with the car. Were I to send you a letter detailing the horrific purchasing and ownership experience to date, it would take pages. I have most of the pages written, and you could honestly use them as a case study in what not to do to a customer. At the end of this letter I will post a link to a car that has the exact same noise at 1500 as mine does.

The problems along the way have been nearly too numerous to count in such a short period of time. Many were dealer induced and many are with the car, but the situation has gone from bad to worse. While there are numerous things I would like to tell you about, I would like to share the two main concerns at this time.

1) There is a growling noise at 1000 rpm and a warble noise at 1500 in the car that I have been complaining about since May 9th ( I believe that was the second or third day of ownership). It is hotly discussed topic on the corvetteforums, with several members having had numerous repairs to no avail. These noises can be heard over the stereo at times. Transmissions, torque tubes, exhausts, differentials, fluids – all have been replaced by GM on cars with the same problem. Duplicate repairs on different cars have been performed. People have been begging the dealers and GM to share information, but it doesn’t seem to be happening. In an attempt to repair mine, the dealer serviced the rear differential fluid. The second time it was in they apparently hooked up microphones and GM engineering has not been able to solve the problem. I waited a month while the dealer told me GM was sending an engineer, then the engineer never came. After calling back to the Executive office, I found out that someone closed my case and I got it reopened. I was asked if my car would be available on a certain day, but I was out of town. Subsequently, the engineer listened to a car for a gentleman in SC who is now going lemon law because their attempted fixes have failed numerous times. Some owners have gone lemon law, some have traded out of the cars. After talking with the Executive office for months, a new car was ordered to get me out of my car. After waiting for weeks for the new car to come in and being told I would basically just be paying the difference in MSRPs and perhaps some minimal paperwork fees, I was told that it was going to be thousands of dollars to trade me out of a car that GM sold me with an abnormal noise and cannot repair. At one point, Quentin in the Executive office actually suggested I try to find a friend or family member who works at GM to get me a better price – this after he told me they are getting me out of the car due to the noise. This is unacceptable, and makes no sense.

2) The car came with damage to the clear coat on the front fascia. I did not want to take the car home, but the dealer insisted their body shop could buff it out. 45 minutes later, I found the car in the detail shop with the area completely scratched and swirled – their detail person was putting his bonnets on the concrete floor. The dealer tried two more times to repair it (two subsequent service visits), and was unable to tell me if the clear coat is even thick enough to protect the paint from the harsh NC sun. The last time the vehicle was in for the noises and the paint, despite being told not to wash the car and having a sign stating not to wash the car clearly visible in the dash, the car was washed and is now covered in micro swirls. This after being at the dealership for nearly 8 hours just to purchase the car. That is another story I would like to tell you about but now is not the time.

image002.jpg

This has become the most miserable ownership experience of any product I have ever owned in my life. For months I have been strung along with no resolution. I have had the dealer pointing the finger at GM, and GM pointing the finger at the dealer. However, everyone seems to be forgetting there is a customer who, in good faith, purchased your flagship vehicle and is now so dismayed with it that he rarely drives it any more. It simply sits in the garage.

For the life of me I cannot understand how Quentin, who says he sits by the CEO, doesn’t have the ability to make this right. At the 11th hour, I was told that if I wanted to get out of a car GM can’t repair, it would cost me about $3500. If Executive level customer service can’t make this right, I’m asking the leadership of the company to do the right thing.

All I wanted was a new Corvette – custom ordered to my specifications. What I got is months of frustration and the understanding that being a lifelong GM supporter and purchasing the flagship vehicle means very little when what equates to pennies to a multi-billion dollar corporation such as GM are what’s needed to correct a situation where a customer has been greatly wronged.

Thank you for your time,

Ed Ramberger
(personal contact information deleted)

LINK TO VIDEO WITH SAME NOISE AS MY CAR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra_svpk-t9E (I have and have submitted numerous PDR recordings of the noises at 1000 and 1500 rpm in my car)

bbcb

dump the car ..GM does not care ..life is too short ..that is why I will never buy another GM anything ... learned my lesson the new GM is the same as the old GM ..

walleyejack

i wonder where all the GM Customer service reps that are on this forum that tell everyone to contact them and will look after things. where are they now ????

i have the same thing, late buld 2016 7mn.. mostly appears from this thread that is A8 s. is this true ? or is just because larger percentage of cars are autos.
?

joemessman

It seems like at least most of what I have read have been A8, but apparently is also with the manual. This issue really is a huge elephant sitting in GMs living room isn't it.
I imagine they are trying to determine if it is worth it to just ignore it and take the fall out of customers, or hopefully, trying to insure that the differential is definitely the fix and issue the TSB.

walleyejack

i try to ignore it. mostly when it is cold after operating temps come up seems to be not so bad. No matter, driver it and when it explodes, they still have to fix it. and i don t drive at 1500 rpm

StealthStingray

I received an email from "Chevrolet Quality" signed by Peter Thom, although it was an auto-generated email from a website, to fill out their quality survey.

I did the best I could describing the warble issue.

Have many of you done the same? Will anything come from it?

walleyejack

Can you post the questionnaire for the rest of us and we can copy and fill it out and send it in

Gunrun

I emailed him and he said call him Monday. Never been to this Chevy dealer but they have corvette specialists and sponsor our corvette club. I will call him tomorrow. Not bad emailing me on a Sunday. The dealer I bought my corvette locally does not sell many corvettes so I will stay away from them. I might even get my first oil change done since I am at 43%. Let's see if he know about the warble.

Rebel Yell

Thanks dude, I just pinned a very nice "love the car except for the warble" email to Ms. Barra. I explained the deal, that I was familiar with your's and Richard's cars, and that it's possible an improved ring gear/pinion may be the fix. I ask if she had any info on when might enough new ring gear/pinion sets be available. I'll keep everyone updated.

Jim

Ed Ramberger

I copied all the appropriate people on the attached links when i wrote my email. Good luck.

https://www.gm.com/company/leadershi...-officers.html

http://elliott.org/company-contacts/general-motors/

walleyejack

was there a build date that you may think that gm fixed the issue. or alll of the 16 s and some 17s ?

Strake

I know that our car, which was bought back, and taken to GM's Proving Grounds labs to be torn down for root cause analysis wasn't back in Detroit before MID November......

So, I'd find it hard to believe that anything was determined and out to the production line with a change before sometime in December.