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.

 

If I were in your shoes I would feel the same way. Sounds like you got a lemon. Fortunately, most are not! Good luck with your next car.

 

I can understand how you feel.

 

Dang that sucks. Perhaps after the 3rd trip to the dealer, you could've asked for lemon law buy back return and got your money back.

If it's any consolation, my 98 has 64k miles and runs just fine

 

Couldn't go for lemon law. The tows were spread out too far apart for the law to be in effect in my case. I believe (maybe attorneys could shed some light) it needs to be the same issue more than three times in 18 months.

 

I understand. I would be ready to dump it too.

 

Too bad you had that kind of experience with your Vette. I've had 3 of them and haven't had any where near the troubles that you have had!

 

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.

 

Three years and you've only driven a little over 12K miles

Good luck with your next car.

Bye

 

Sounds like you have had your share of problems.....

I bought my vette used its a 1998 and has about 68K on it... Other than maintance and oil changes and one water pump.... Its been flawless.....

Sorry you had the gremlins of all Gremilns....

 

Sorry to hear. My first C5 was the exact same way. I loved it despite the issues, but there were alot of issues, and when it was time for it to go, I knew it. Maybe it's current owner is having better luck.

My 2nd C5 (after a 1.5yr hiatus) broke down at 300 mi, and I thought "here we go again" but since then I've been lucky (knock on wood).

Sorry of your troubles, enjoy what you do get!

 

..give ya $1000 for it...

...Id give less but thats as low as I will go based on your discription of your crummy car...


oh yea ..tow it here

 

I can understand how you feel after all that, BUT...

Sounds like the battery problem was actually a component drawing power, and they didn't bother to fix the actual root of the problem.

Replacing the battery --> Do the same thing = Get the same result.

I totally agree with your comments about interior.

Good luck.

 

I have 27654 on my 03 mn6 coupe. The main trouble that I have had is the rear seal leak on the drivers side rear end. Other than that no troubles. Sorry you got a late Friday afternoon car, or a lemon, or one that had every possible thing go wrong.

You obviously that an electrical issue. But on the other hand 12k is extremely low miles in 3 years. That is probably not enough miles to keep the charge up all the way. The new cars constantly draw power. My 68 Camaro show car draws nothing when it is sitting there. It could sit for months and still start. That will not happen with the new cars.

 

I some what have to agree with you. I have been in love with the car since 9 also. I 65 pulled into our driveway for a visit and I told my Dad I would have one some day, and the week before we had 7 Ferrari's in the drive way and got to ride in all 7 of them.

The plastic gears in the lights are just dumb. I have replaced with brass but never should have had to do that.

The interior fit leaves some thing to be desired.

My 87 pickup has battery drain after sitting for 3-4 weeks but it is a stinking Ford and I have always had problems with any Ford I owned or rode in. I think you did have something wrong with the electrical.

With all that said I am still very happy and excited every time I go out to the garage for something and see MY Corvette in MY garage and I get to drive it. I too believe your car had some gremlins and sorry to hear that.

Good luck next time and hope you stay with your dream.

 

I recently when on the tour at the Corvette Plant in Bowling Green and at the end of the assembly line for that day they had at lease four Corvettes parked on the reject line going over them because of some sort of failure..hmmm I said to myself are these the lemons for the day; and who will get one? Again that number I saw isn't bad for the number of Corvettes produced in a day..
So cut your loses and move on.
Good luck to you.
Rsty

 

Sorry to hear about your problems with the car. I bought mine used (a 98) and it has been a great car so far. I hope you have better luck with your next car!

 

Most vehicles have idiosyncracies. And, some vehicles seem to have specific issues that never go away. However, in all the vehicles (foreign and domestic) that I ahave ever owned, the Corvette C5 remains as one of the most trouble free that I have ever encountered. Good luck with your next purchase!

 

103,000 miles on my FRC; over 30k miles in the past few years, if it breaks I fix it

there is no other car i'd own for <30g, nothing is even close

 

Thanks for leaving another low milage vette someone else can enjoy...