[ANSWERED] Center console armrest and door panel foam indentations
12-08-2017, 12:07 PM
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[ANSWERED] Center console armrest and door panel foam indentations
The original question is here.
FYREANT asked:
Many of us have had to have our center console lid/armrest and/or our drivers door panels replaced under warranty due to the foam getting permanent indentation from continued exposure to peoples elbows. These indentations never "heal" after multiple days of not driving the car. I have personally had two center armrest lids and one drivers door panel replaced and mine have become distorted yet again.
The unfortunate thing is that warranty repair replaces these parts with the exact same part number indicating no improvements have been made to the part. As expected these eventually sees the same indentations return after only 5-10,000 miles of driving. Now that a lot of us with 2014's are out of warranty, the continued replacement of these parts gets costly. Has the Corvette team considered improving the underlying padding with stronger density foam that is more resilliant to permanent indentations and shaping? What options do we have rather than continuing to go through groundhog day with the same parts?
Many of us have had to have our center console lid/armrest and/or our drivers door panels replaced under warranty due to the foam getting permanent indentation from continued exposure to peoples elbows. These indentations never "heal" after multiple days of not driving the car. I have personally had two center armrest lids and one drivers door panel replaced and mine have become distorted yet again.
The unfortunate thing is that warranty repair replaces these parts with the exact same part number indicating no improvements have been made to the part. As expected these eventually sees the same indentations return after only 5-10,000 miles of driving. Now that a lot of us with 2014's are out of warranty, the continued replacement of these parts gets costly. Has the Corvette team considered improving the underlying padding with stronger density foam that is more resilliant to permanent indentations and shaping? What options do we have rather than continuing to go through groundhog day with the same parts?
Tadge answered:
All manufacturers face trade off questions on interior materials. Generally speaking, materials with higher levels of perceived quality also tend to wear faster. Soft, supple leather shows wear faster than highly treated leather and some synthetics have excellent wear qualities but feel cheap to the touch. Padded surfaces are similar: The simplest solution is to make foams very dense and resistant to deformation, but that undermines the luxurious feel of the interior and hard surfaces can even be painful to elbows and knee sides on long drives or track work.
That said, we did recognize this issue some time ago and made an improvement in construction that better adheres the “skin” of the console cover to the foam underneath. It was shown to be much more durable for the exact condition you reference. That change was made in March of this year and all service stock after that date should be of the new construction. Normally for these answers I would give you specific part numbers to look for but since we have a unique number based on the cover material, color and accent stitch, they are too numerous to list completely. Bottom line is that the warranty replacements done after March of this year should be much improved from before.
You ask about door trim also, but our experience is that door trim replacements are orders of magnitude less than console covers. The door trim is already more robust by design. The only “fix” we would have would be to eliminate any pad and use a hard substrate under the cover. We know from other vehicle experience that would result in far more customer complaints than this issue.
All manufacturers face trade off questions on interior materials. Generally speaking, materials with higher levels of perceived quality also tend to wear faster. Soft, supple leather shows wear faster than highly treated leather and some synthetics have excellent wear qualities but feel cheap to the touch. Padded surfaces are similar: The simplest solution is to make foams very dense and resistant to deformation, but that undermines the luxurious feel of the interior and hard surfaces can even be painful to elbows and knee sides on long drives or track work.
That said, we did recognize this issue some time ago and made an improvement in construction that better adheres the “skin” of the console cover to the foam underneath. It was shown to be much more durable for the exact condition you reference. That change was made in March of this year and all service stock after that date should be of the new construction. Normally for these answers I would give you specific part numbers to look for but since we have a unique number based on the cover material, color and accent stitch, they are too numerous to list completely. Bottom line is that the warranty replacements done after March of this year should be much improved from before.
You ask about door trim also, but our experience is that door trim replacements are orders of magnitude less than console covers. The door trim is already more robust by design. The only “fix” we would have would be to eliminate any pad and use a hard substrate under the cover. We know from other vehicle experience that would result in far more customer complaints than this issue.
The following 10 users liked this post by jvp:
ArmchairArchitect (02-27-2019),
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FYREANT (12-09-2017),
gesystem (03-06-2020),
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and 5 others liked this post.
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MacRoadie (12-08-2017)
12-08-2017, 05:29 PM
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Melting Slicks
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Yeah it's a small thing but sux for those of us whose cars are now out of "bumper to bumper" warranty.
Last edited by Crossed Flags Fan; 12-08-2017 at 05:35 PM.
12-11-2017, 08:58 AM
#5
Racer
Hopefully got "improved" parts
Late this year, before my B to B expired, I had the entire top dash pad and the trim piece around the center air ducts replaced because of cosmetic issues (bubble around HUD area above speedo and strange discoloration below center A/C vent areas). The top pad was on national back-order at the time.... maybe because they had to backfill with the improved version!!?? I have not, as yet, had the center console issue but "skin" adherence to backing was the cause of the "bubble" many of us have experienced. Hopefully their process was improved across all trim areas.
Anyway, I hope their improvements will address the relatively minor issues that are BIG issues when you spend the kind of dollar$ we do for our vehicles
LK
Anyway, I hope their improvements will address the relatively minor issues that are BIG issues when you spend the kind of dollar$ we do for our vehicles
LK
Last edited by lennykoll; 12-11-2017 at 09:02 AM.
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Skid Row Joe (02-24-2018)
12-12-2017, 08:11 AM
#6
Le Mans Master
Of course I had mine replaced in March 2017 (it's already showing signs of wear), probably just a few weeks too early. 
I'm going to talk with my service advisor at the dealership again to see if I can get the revised part covered even though I'm out of the 3/36 warranty. While I'm there, I also plan to get that new MRC calibration which hopefully we hear back from Tadge on soon as well.
I'm going to talk with my service advisor at the dealership again to see if I can get the revised part covered even though I'm out of the 3/36 warranty. While I'm there, I also plan to get that new MRC calibration which hopefully we hear back from Tadge on soon as well.
Last edited by Kracka; 12-12-2017 at 08:13 AM.
12-13-2017, 05:01 PM
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St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15- '16-'17-‘18-‘19-'20-'21
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If we are blessed, these issues will not reappear on the C8
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Skid Row Joe (02-24-2018)
01-17-2018, 12:36 PM
#8
Does anybody know what the part #s ended up being? I just checked many of my favorite sites to order a new embroidered console lid and they have the same part # they had back in 2015.
02-24-2018, 02:35 PM
#9
Burning Brakes
Of course I had mine replaced in March 2017 (it's already showing signs of wear), probably just a few weeks too early.
I'm going to talk with my service advisor at the dealership again to see if I can get the revised part covered even though I'm out of the 3/36 warranty. While I'm there, I also plan to get that new MRC calibration which hopefully we hear back from Tadge on soon as well.
I'm going to talk with my service advisor at the dealership again to see if I can get the revised part covered even though I'm out of the 3/36 warranty. While I'm there, I also plan to get that new MRC calibration which hopefully we hear back from Tadge on soon as well.
02-26-2018, 02:07 PM
#10
Le Mans Master
I'm going in to get the revised part next week 
02-12-2019, 02:07 PM
#11
Last edited by scottsh; 02-12-2019 at 02:21 PM.
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Olnavy (10-20-2021)
02-21-2019, 10:55 AM
#12
Burning Brakes
Has anyone been denied warranty work on the armrests and center console? I did get denied by my dealer's SM and I'm 1yr into my B2B warranty. I haven't had a passenger in 6 months, yet the dents are still there.
03-26-2019, 03:40 PM
#14
Burning Brakes
So, my dealer refused warranty (wear and tear), the Area Manager denied warranty. I escalated to GM (phone) and they agreed with the dealer it was wear and tear and not warrantable. Who do I escalate this too? The GM "supervisor" said she was it, end of the road.
I can't mention this post or the forums (and the many who had this done) or even Tadge Juechter to these people, they state: "Sorry, the forums aren't an answer." I mention the change after 2017...nada. Don't care.
The Corvette is supposed to be the Marque Badge at Chevrolet?! Bahahaha!
Now I have a bad taste with the dealership and will be moving to another dealer for my services.
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Olnavy (10-20-2021)