Good bye C5
Pro
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 688
Likes: 0
From: Bowie Maryland
You guys need to lighten up a little, he's venting his fustrations! Once in our life time we will experience a problem with a vehicle which is not common. It's usually an expensive car that we expect perfection. I think the more expensive it is the more we need to maintain it. The vette in my opinion needs to be driven every day. It does not like to sit as a garage collecting dust. I've had a bad experience with my Yukon Denali that was in a shop more times than it was driven and that was a daily driver. I'm sure if plan on getting a new vette in the future and drive often you won't have the same problems your experiencing. Good luck!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,183
Likes: 6
From: Arlington TN
Originally Posted by beckel
Tomorrow is the end date of the lease agreement on my 2003 MSG manual coupe. Unfortunately, I am actually pleased to see it go.
Before you all start lighting fires under me and pinning voodoo dolls, read on.
I was in love with the vette since I was 9 years old upon seeing a 1968 L-89 for sale at Reedmans Chevrolet in 1970. I promised myself I would have one by the time I turned 40. Well, I got the vette when I was 42, so I missed by two years. When I finally realized my boyhood dream, I would sometimes go down to the garage just to stare at it. Now, I look at the empty garage bay as a space for my wife's DD.
Here are the reasons why I don't feel bad turning her in and why I may never buy or lease another. The car has 12,905 miles.
1. The first battery died at 4500 miles. OK, so I replaced the battery with an optima red top. The car proceeded to eat through that battery 3 times. Each time, the dealer (Paramus Chevrolet) treated me right and hooked me up with the tow, charge and diagnostic at no charge. Still, a 12,905 car should not have to be towed out of my driveway four times. No excuse. I believe to this day that the car had a power draw. The longest I let the car sit was two weeks. Before any of you say " you should have had a trickle charger", let me inform you this is not the first car I have owned. No vehicle discharges completely in two weeks. Period.
2. Power steering pump failed at 7,000 miles. Another tow to the dealer. The pump was repaired under warranty.
3. Dashboard panels loosening up already. The critics are right. The interior quality is crap. GM should just stop building crap and build the car with a quality level to match its performance image. So what if the car ends up costing 60K. Do it justice.
4. The front fender has become misaligned near the A-pillar.
5. Horrific wind noise above 70mph. That stupid little clip the have doesn't do dick.
6. The suspension sucks. When is GM going to finally ditch the transverse leaf spring ? The car hops sideways in mid turn bumps at any speed. Please don't tell me its wheel alignment. My $16K Sentra doesn't do this neither does my 2004 Impala SS.
7. The tires suck. They should have taken some space from the trunk, provided a minispare, and added some horsepower to offset the weight. The car was leased, so it didn't make sense to change the tires.
8. The light motors are grinding already. Plastic gears! Great move GM!
9. The seats are designed for a three hundred pound man's ***. Anyone smaller needs to brace one leg against the door and one against the tunnel to stabilize during a turn.
10. Reverse lockout has been hit or miss since day one.
11. Finally to add insult to injury, check this out. I had an appointment for the turn in appraisal for 10AM Saturday. I went down to the garage to start her up and guess what ? That's right, the BITCH didn't start and she made a clicking sound when I turned the key (starter?). Whatever, who gives a ****. So, I cancelled the appointment and called for another tow. The car is now sitting at the dealer waiting for diagnosis.
Finally, GM needs to get its act together. This is supposed to be the GM flagship. Instead it's built like a chinese junk floating in Hong Kong harbor.
Good luck to you all.
Before you all start lighting fires under me and pinning voodoo dolls, read on.
I was in love with the vette since I was 9 years old upon seeing a 1968 L-89 for sale at Reedmans Chevrolet in 1970. I promised myself I would have one by the time I turned 40. Well, I got the vette when I was 42, so I missed by two years. When I finally realized my boyhood dream, I would sometimes go down to the garage just to stare at it. Now, I look at the empty garage bay as a space for my wife's DD.
Here are the reasons why I don't feel bad turning her in and why I may never buy or lease another. The car has 12,905 miles.
1. The first battery died at 4500 miles. OK, so I replaced the battery with an optima red top. The car proceeded to eat through that battery 3 times. Each time, the dealer (Paramus Chevrolet) treated me right and hooked me up with the tow, charge and diagnostic at no charge. Still, a 12,905 car should not have to be towed out of my driveway four times. No excuse. I believe to this day that the car had a power draw. The longest I let the car sit was two weeks. Before any of you say " you should have had a trickle charger", let me inform you this is not the first car I have owned. No vehicle discharges completely in two weeks. Period.
2. Power steering pump failed at 7,000 miles. Another tow to the dealer. The pump was repaired under warranty.
3. Dashboard panels loosening up already. The critics are right. The interior quality is crap. GM should just stop building crap and build the car with a quality level to match its performance image. So what if the car ends up costing 60K. Do it justice.
4. The front fender has become misaligned near the A-pillar.
5. Horrific wind noise above 70mph. That stupid little clip the have doesn't do dick.
6. The suspension sucks. When is GM going to finally ditch the transverse leaf spring ? The car hops sideways in mid turn bumps at any speed. Please don't tell me its wheel alignment. My $16K Sentra doesn't do this neither does my 2004 Impala SS.
7. The tires suck. They should have taken some space from the trunk, provided a minispare, and added some horsepower to offset the weight. The car was leased, so it didn't make sense to change the tires.
8. The light motors are grinding already. Plastic gears! Great move GM!
9. The seats are designed for a three hundred pound man's ***. Anyone smaller needs to brace one leg against the door and one against the tunnel to stabilize during a turn.
10. Reverse lockout has been hit or miss since day one.
11. Finally to add insult to injury, check this out. I had an appointment for the turn in appraisal for 10AM Saturday. I went down to the garage to start her up and guess what ? That's right, the BITCH didn't start and she made a clicking sound when I turned the key (starter?). Whatever, who gives a ****. So, I cancelled the appointment and called for another tow. The car is now sitting at the dealer waiting for diagnosis.
Finally, GM needs to get its act together. This is supposed to be the GM flagship. Instead it's built like a chinese junk floating in Hong Kong harbor.
Good luck to you all.
Last edited by Corvette1996LT1; Jun 20, 2006 at 03:56 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,183
Likes: 5
Originally Posted by sailohio
Oh my gosh. Dude, you should never buy or lease another performance car. Comparing the suspension with a Sentra? What are you thinking?
I realized it was the tires. However, you have to spend over $1k to get good tires to alleviate the problem. And I would understand why you wouldn't put that type of investment in on a leased vehicle.
Not knowing what the cause was, made me EXTREMELY unhappy with my car. Afterall, you bought a sports car to drive it like a maniac, only to find that you can out handle it in a <$12k family car. It took me over $2k to figure out what the problem was because I thought it was the shocks I upgraded to Bilstein, and that didn't solve it so I thought it was sway bars and upgraded to Z06 sways and that wasn't it so I finally bought the most expensive tires I could find (Pirelli Pzero Rosso) in the WIDEST measurements , which finally fixed it.
Last edited by vectorz; Jun 20, 2006 at 12:25 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 87,048
Likes: 25
From: "when lightning strikes twice, the funerals insane, the funerals insane"
St Jude Donor '14-'15
Originally Posted by ValiantSailor
Im sorry you have bad luck with your Vette and love your Sentra. I for one never lease a vehicle, I committ totally to the fact I will keep it for a long long time. I bought my 2004 New and have 22K on it now..
What does leasing VS buying have to do with anything when we are talking about quality?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by sailohio
Oh my gosh. Dude, you should never buy or lease another performance car. Comparing the suspension with a Sentra? What are you thinking? After all this time you are suprised the battery goes dead after you let it sit for weeks? You have to call a tow truck when the battery is low? Four times? How old are you? You don't know how to jump start a car? Dude. Back to car ownership 101. You ought to take the bus.
1. The suspension on my sentra is set up for full autocross.
2. No car I have ever owned has discharged in two weeks.
3. It was too dead to even take a jump start. The tow operator tried also to jump from his truck and that didn't work.
4. By the way, I'm 45.
Its people like you who are what I call internet tough guys who hide behind a computer and think they have ***** because they spout off garbage on a keyboard.
Learn to be more civil and think (if possible).
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by Dave68
I had a coworker who bought a new Suburban a few years back. Since it was bought primarily to haul kids around and those kids soon had their own vehicles, the Suburban sat for days and somethimes weeks at a time. Problem after problem surfaced and the owners were less than happy. Then, someone (maybe it was I) told them to drive the dang thing more often. They started driving it every day and lo and behold, the problems stopped. For the last three years they have had zero problems, The moral: drive the car or sell it.
Regarding your suspension issues: 90% of the problem is the type of tire you are using; the runflats are horrible for everything but steering response. I recall Car & Driver's first road test of the BMW Z4. They were shocked at the dartiness/lack of confidence-inspiring behaviour of the suspension and steering - that is, until they realized that the car was equipped from the factory with runflat tires!
Seats: Unfortunately, the average American is close to 300 lbs and many car manufacturers feel as if they have to accomodate all those lard-butts. Lotus, on the other hand, maintains no such desire. Try to fit a 300-lb person in one, I dare you! Of course, Lotus sells far fewer sportscars than does Chevrolet, but for those who do fit, handling is on another level.
That being said, I must mention that I don't blame you at all. Right now, I beleive Porsche is the most reliable upper-level sports car out there. I wouldn't get one, but you may want to consider one.
Good luck.
Dave
Regarding your suspension issues: 90% of the problem is the type of tire you are using; the runflats are horrible for everything but steering response. I recall Car & Driver's first road test of the BMW Z4. They were shocked at the dartiness/lack of confidence-inspiring behaviour of the suspension and steering - that is, until they realized that the car was equipped from the factory with runflat tires!
Seats: Unfortunately, the average American is close to 300 lbs and many car manufacturers feel as if they have to accomodate all those lard-butts. Lotus, on the other hand, maintains no such desire. Try to fit a 300-lb person in one, I dare you! Of course, Lotus sells far fewer sportscars than does Chevrolet, but for those who do fit, handling is on another level.
That being said, I must mention that I don't blame you at all. Right now, I beleive Porsche is the most reliable upper-level sports car out there. I wouldn't get one, but you may want to consider one.
Good luck.
Dave
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by NSTG8R
you obviously got a few issues if you were car savy or even remotel ... nevermind.
good luck and im sorry you didnt enjoy your experience.. but please dont be that guy who had one bad experience and now is against them and trash talks the car.
good luck and im sorry you didnt enjoy your experience.. but please dont be that guy who had one bad experience and now is against them and trash talks the car.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by OC1Dave
beckel: Lease (since you apparently don't know any better) yourself a Toyota or Honda. Either will fit your personality much better and you will be much happier. You can than come back on this board and brag about your gas mileage and the number of red ***** on the Consumer Reports "tests".
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by DRJJ1
STICK WITH YOUR IMAPALA, RESIGN YOUR MEMBERSHIP HERE AND STOP WHINNING,,,YOU PROB DON T KNOW HOW TO CARE FOR THIS CAR AND YOU LEND IT OUT TO ANYONE WHO ASKS,,,
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by repo
Maybe you should resign your membership untill you LEARN HOW TO POST.
The first indicator of an IQ deficiency is poor verbal and written skills.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by JTS97Z28
My 99 hardtop has been a wonderful car. Sucks that you have to resort to driving a 04 Impala though
For what its worth no car is perfect. If you knew what my mother went through with her newer BMW 5 series you wouldnt feel so bad.
For what its worth no car is perfect. If you knew what my mother went through with her newer BMW 5 series you wouldnt feel so bad.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by BrianWe
Allow me to offer my $0.02 on your battery issue. If I am out of line, too bad as you wished us good luck already. Let's suppose you bought a car which was on the lot for a month or so. The battery only had a surface charge left. It starts, you drive it home and let it sit. Dead battery #1. Dealer replaces battery (stand up guy) with a new one (surface charge only by the way) and same thing happens. And so and so on. If you never fully charge the battery by driving the car, why are you surprised you have trouble. Jumpstart the car, drive it and you will be good to go. You would be surprised how a car will run when it gets driven on a semi-regular basis.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by SilentFright
We could have done without this statement. You probobly wouldn't have been flamed if you had just stuck to your personal case and closed more politely. We do not all share your opinion. 
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
Originally Posted by Corvette1996LT1
Sounds like you got a lemon and had a few dealer problems. To bad, Corvettes over all is a very well built car (for the money) and are very fun to drive. I will say based off your comments about noise, tires, and how it handles If I were you I would stay away from real sports cars. Sounds like it's not really your type of car to drive, when you start comparing Family cars to a Corvette, Maybe your better off just looking at Corvettes then driving them.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 121
Likes: 0
From: Upper Saddle River NJ
To all those who answered and offered some constructive information and sympathy, thanks.
To those who decided that this was their opportunity to bash someone they don't even know, good luck to you too even though you exposed your attitudes for the world to see.
I still like the car, and would like to buy another, but I feel that unless GM gets their **** together, then they may lose another customer.
To those who decided that this was their opportunity to bash someone they don't even know, good luck to you too even though you exposed your attitudes for the world to see.
I still like the car, and would like to buy another, but I feel that unless GM gets their **** together, then they may lose another customer.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,723
Likes: 1,089
From: NE OH
St. Jude Donor '09-'10
Originally Posted by D&C Performance
i love how people are nocking this guy becuase he drives an impala a sentra and a corvette. 
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 87,048
Likes: 25
From: "when lightning strikes twice, the funerals insane, the funerals insane"
St Jude Donor '14-'15
Originally Posted by ValiantSailor
Everything.
Quality is quality, whether you lease own rent, or whatever. Because he leases and you buy the quality of his same product should be less than yours?
Pro
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 506
Likes: 24
From: Atlanta GA
Originally Posted by OC1Dave
beckel: Lease (since you apparently don't know any better) yourself a Toyota or Honda. Either will fit your personality much better and you will be much happier. You can than come back on this board and brag about your gas mileage and the number of red ***** on the Consumer Reports "tests".
You sound like an average joe and probably would be better off driving an average joe car like the ones you compare the vette's suspension to.
