drobbins

Hi Folks,

I know the answer to this question is "ask the dealer" but I thought I'd troll here for people's own experience.
Bought a 2017 coupe just over a month ago from local dealer.
Today I get invitation to free track day at VIR
The dealer called a week ago and told me to expect the invite
Surely a day at the track isn't going to affect the warranty, right, right?
Anybody had a similar experience?

speedlink

Jay_Davis

Just follow the procedures in the owners manual for track use.

drobbins

thanks, just searched the manual and I see what you're talking about
need to go find and read the "warranty manual"

Kent1999

Discussed many times. Track use can and has resulted in a warranty block for any affected systems (re: drivetrain).

The thing is... the DEALER doesn't get to decide if a major repair is covered under warranty -- GM does.

Tell you what... go to the dealer, and have him sign a paper on his Chevy dealership letterhead stating that "<dealership name> guarantees that track use will not affect the car's GM warranty, and will cover all breakdowns if GM refuses coverage due to track use".

I'll put money down that the dealership will absolutely refuse to sign any such guarantee. Any takers?

Kent1999

Just because it talks about "track prep" in the OM doesn't mean that its a warranty-safe activity.

From the 2017 Warranty: "What is not covered: Misuse of the vehicle such as driving over curbs, overloading, racing, or other competition."

You can fight it out with GM's team of lawyers about whether a 'track day' is competition or not. Who knows -- after months or years of court and/or legal fighting, you may just win.

drobbins

that's what I'm wondering about
seems like a weaselly way to get out of A8 TC warranty claims

Bill Dearborn

If you follow the procedures for track prep as described in the OM GM will not give you a hassle if something happens. They are much better at providing warranty coverage for breakage that occurs at the track than any other manufacturer. However, some dealers don't understand that. They are still stuck in 1960 when taking a car to the track was verbotten. It sounds like your dealer is on top of things.

I blew the engine in my C6Z while running down the front straight at the Glen 6 years ago. An exhaust valve dropped and pretty much took out cylinder number 1. GM provided a brand new LS7 under the warranty. The dealer knew I tracked the car and when I took it to the dealer it was covered with track turds.

Bill

drobbins

I'll talk to the dealer first but the info/opinions I'm getting here are priceless

falconhulk

Really? The guy that had to pay for his own diff replacement until GM engineers decided it was not his fault might see it different. Some other threads like that around as well.

Poor-sha

I'm really surprised to hear anyone saying that they've had warranty problems after taking their car to HPDEs without modifications. GM has generally be very good at warranty support in these circumstances. Modifying the car or doing, wheel to wheel, or time trials are different. I have well over 50 track days on my C7Z and they've replaced the trans, 2 cats, and a lower control arm under warranty.

WilliamCall

Taking your car to the track can be a lot of fun, and educational. I'd read the manual carefully. I believe GM still recommends the first oil change at 500 miles. They also recommend 1500 miles before tracking the car. Recommended oil for the track is 15W50. I would also recommend flushing the OEM brake fluid for a higher performance brake fluid. Do it and enjoy!

djnice

GM has to give themselves an out if the car is abused. If you spend some time around club racing you see there is a difference between racing and track days. Anyone racing has a dedicated car and they know there is no warranty.

NSC5

Follow the track prep procedures in the manual, do the complete track prep (if you are concerned have the dealer do it and document it), make sure you have the proper miles on it before tracking it, and if something breaks your warranty will be good.

Most importantly make that sure you have insurance that will cover you for the track event since your regular auto insurance doesn't. You might want to have a heart to heart with an insurance provider about liability resulting from the on-track event because although the odds are very low a wrongful injury/death lawsuit from the family of a fellow driver will make a blown engine look very cheap by comparison. In the U.S. this is a very expensive matter even if you don't lose the case.

obxchartercaptain

When I took delivery at the Museum for my 2016 Z51 in August 2015, I was asked if I wanted to do a couple of laps on their race course....I jumped at it. Bear in mind I have owned 5 previous generations of Corvettes and thought I could handle anything that track had to offer....like a jerk I took off without knowing the layout and on one turn I "almost" lost it. I had 6 miles on the odometer. Talk about feeling DUMB. I was reading the headlines on this Forum in my mind about how some guy wrecked his new Vette .... I slowed down and limped back to the end of the course and meekly thanked everyone and LEFT.....Having said all of this, I was told there, that if in fact, something mechanical happened while taking those laps...it would be covered by warranty.

I recorded it on my PDR but because of the "expletives" after that turn...it wouldn't be prudent to post it.

cam30era

drobbins,

If you haven't read this thread, it's worth your time. You'll learn a lot about the trials and tribulations of warranty coverage following a track day differential failure.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-on-a-z51.html

mschuyler

That would only follow if you had transmission problems after a track day. The majority of owners do not track their cars. The majority of A8 owners have not had problems. (Not belittling the problems.) You'd have to have the minority in both those polls overlap to make that claim.

drobbins

yea, I'd seen that one before
at this point I'm kinda leaning against it
as much fun as it would be I really bought the car as a pleasure/cruising vehicle with the ability to get up and go when ya wanna
the warranty issue and as others have mentioned the insurance issues kinda make me want to stick to finding desolate back country roads to play on
sure sounds like fun though, you can do stuff on a track you can't do on a back road
I'm talking about what folks here refer to as "spirited driving"

vbdenny

I live pretty close fo VIR. Just out of curiosity, what dealer gave you a free track day there?

drobbins

I bought the car from Vanness Chevy in Creedmoor, a 2 stoplight town 20 miles north of Raleigh. The invite actually came from the central carolinas chevy dealers association so it wasn't really from the dealer