Hi Folks,

I have 2000 Corvette, 6-speed, that I bought used about 2 years ago. Almost 2 years ago I got the steering column lock failure and had the car towed to the local dealer for the repair. The repair was to perform the "Recall", I only had to pay for towing. I believe the "Recall" version was the latest, I have a 6-speed and they removed the locking plate.

Last Friday it happened again. I called the dealer and had the car towed in again. Today the service rep. tells me I need new parts to replace the ones that were installed during the previous "Recall". I think it was $134 for parts, probably labor also.
I told him that I didn't think I should be charged for the parts since it was part of the "Recall" and they failed, also. This is about the third version of the "Recall" and they still don't have it correct.
His stance is that they only warrantee parts for 12 months/12,000 miles and it's been more than that.
Has this happened to anyone before? Should I be charged?
Thanks,

Mike

 

That is the GM "policy" .... however ..... try calling Customer Service and see if Chevy will do anything to help you. 1-800-222-1020

Also, look into putting a CLB in place of the GM harness. The GM harness seems to fail fairly consistently .... here's where to get a "good" CLB ....

http://www.corvettesofhouston.com/index.php?cPath=29_42

Good luck,

 

Funny-GM's loyalist customers and what do they do. It get's harder everyday to stay w/ the General.

 

Funny, I had my 2000 A4 Vette serviced in 2000, or certainly no later than early 2001 for the column lock recall. Not sure what they did but that must have been the first generation recall procedure because they did NOT remove the column lock. The steering wheel still locks when I turn the car off and unlocks when I turn it on. I cannot turn the steel wheel with the car off. However, although I had the problem with the column lock not releasing several times before I took it in for the recall, I have never had a single problem with it since they serviced it so many years ago.

All that aside, I think it's a complete and total load of BS that you should have to pay a penny, including tow charges, for anything related to that column lock no matter when you bring it in or how many times you have to bring it in. This is an issue that THEY created through faulty parts and design, and a failure of the QC process to catch something so important and potentially life threatening. For liability reasons alone I would think they would want every one of those column locks removed from every car, and to ensure that there were no issues, whatever the cost.

I see that they've already removed your plate so you can't dangle in front of them the possibility of a huge lawsuit if you get killed as a result of it locking up, but you have options with your approach ranging from asking very nicely, to giving them a lot of bad press, especially on the Corvette forums. Of course they've already gotten about as much bad press as they can get for this issue lol. As BlackZ06 said though, try going through customer service, you likely won't get anywhere with the dealer. I think you have a good shot of not paying for this, and you shouldn't.

 

You might be having a "senior moment" there .....

The first recall ..... 04V060000 .... was issued on February 6th 2004 (go to http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...callsearch.cfm and enter the above campaign number) so it is unlikely you had the recall done in 2001 .....

You should consider a CLB for the car ... with the first recall performed on your car, should your column lock fail you will face the problem that the steering column is locked. If your column is locked your only recourse is either fixing the problem where it occurs, or getting the vehicle towed ... and towing can be a PITA with a locked column .... mine locked while parallel parked on a city street. I had to arrange for the tow to come late at night when other vehicles were not in front of it.

Don't know where you are in Cali .... but the valley Chevy dealer's down around Bakersfield and Santa Maria seem to be complete azzholes .... I was doing an HPDE at Buttonwillow and had a problem .... called the "local" Chevy dealer in Bakersfield and their attitude was "get it towed and we'll look at it next week ... we're really busy ... screw off" ..... interesting attitude just because I had not bought the car from them.

Again, I'd recommend you consider a CLB ... if that GM "fix" fails it will leave you stranded.

 

Trust me, whether it was under an "official" recall or not, this was in 2000 or 2001, no senior moments that bad yet in my 30's. I can provide all the reasons why I know for a fact that's the case but just trust me on this one. They were well aware of the issue at the time and did not charge me anything for repairing it or for the tow from my house, though of course the car was under warranty at the time since it was only a 2000.

As I mentioned, the problem occurred a number of times when I would go out to start my car, and whatever they did to it I've never had it happen once since then in the roughly 70K miles or so I've put on since it was fixed. Ironically that's probably the ONLY thing a dealership has fixed on the car that I didn't have problems with afterward. Can't tell you how many times I took it in for problems with the gas gauge back in 2000-2002 under warranty. You'd think after replacing the sensor or sending unit about 4 times they'd start to think maybe it's something else. Of course we all know what that problem is now, but at the time I was clueless and obviously so were they. For the record that was the Santa Monica dealership, though I haven't been all that thrilled with the one in Valencia either.

Anyway, since I've never had a problem with it after they worked on it I don't plan on touching it or letting anyone else touch it unless/until there's a problem. Since it was apparently never taken in under an "offical" recall notice, and I'm the original owner (whether that matters or not), I'll just take it in under the recall should something happen. I have AAA and don't go on any long trips since my mobility is still imited from a near fatal skydiving accident, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if the problem occurred and wouldn't go away.

Thanks for the advice though and I'l read up on the CLB just to familiarize myself with it. Hope we both have better luck with our dealers in the future .

 

Somebody please explain to me why you take your Corvette to the stealership for anything?

 

Thanks for your response.

Does anyone know how to reset the BCM or whatever, when and if the car leaves me stranded again? I've heard taking out two fuses for ten minutes, removing the battery terminals for 15 minutes, etc.
What do they do at the dealership to get the car to move again?
I am reluctant to install the CLB at this time, because I've read that the original "Recall Fix", must first be deleted. I just want to get my car back first.

My dealership is replacing a relay and harness, and charging about $315for labor and parts.
I asked if was the same relay and harness that was installed during the first time the car left me stranded and he didn't know the part number that was installed at that time, but I suspect it's the same.

Even if they replace the "Failed" relay and harness, they still must reset the "code" that was set by the failure.
Does anyone know the procedure for the reset?

Thanks,

Mike

 

Hi,

As for "EDenney's" recall in 2001, unless I'm having a senior moment, I think I read that there were at least 3 versions of the recall. The earliest recall did not remove the locking plate.
The second version might have removed the locking plate on automatic Corvettes.
The third version removed the locking plate on 6-speed cars also.
I assure you, I'm not an expert here.

I also have a 2003 Corvette, I bought new, had no issues with the steering column lock. I received numerious recall notices in the mail and finally took the car to the local dealership for an oil leak in transaxle and at the same time I had the "Recall fix" performed. I have not had a single issue with the column lock, even after the "Fix".

Thanks,

Mike

 

I agree with JCLARKSNAKES ...do not take your corvette to the dealer for column lock..(Oh yeah, they are experienced in these matters.. ) get a CLB and put it in yourself or have someone else do it...This has been going on for years..

 

I had to fight with GM but finally got them to reimburse over $500 for a BMC replacement.

The secret seems to be contacting the right person - the local Regional Service Manager for my area was a real dickwad but after going over his head, I got all sorts of apologies and very quick action (I hope they fired that SOB!)