grahampre1

I am the proud new owner of a black 2003 ZO6. At app. 300 miles the D.I.C. notified me to have the Active handling system serviced. The dealer pulled down the code and could not find the problem. Subsequently they took the car for two test drives to see if they could get the light to come back on which it did not. I brought the car in with 382 miles and they returned it with 440 miles. I thought this was excessive and although I am quite upset I know there is nothing I can do and any damgage that could of been done should this have been a joy ride is done. I would appreciate anyone's input on whether they consider this to be excessive or if I am just being a overly concerned owner.

At this point they are telling me to bring the car back if and when the problem shows it's head again.

Thanks - New ZO6 owner


[Modified by grahampre1, 11:14 PM 4/23/2003]

QUIKAG

I would consider that VERY excessive and be pissed. Your car hasn't even reached the 500 mile break-in, but you can be assured your new Z06 was abused. It's partially your fault for leaving a new Z06 with the dealer and not giving them explicit instructions to NOT drive the car.

Good luck!! :cuss

jackmott

Id try to flip out and demand a new car.

when that fails, try to get some other concession

like a free extended warranty etc

Piranha

:iagree:
Try to get some free s&!#... ha ha.

Congrats on the new Z06 and great color selection.

DIYdreamcar

I would be insane!! I would start with the general manager of the dealership and work my way up! (I would also check to see if they threw any over-rev codes or anything like that, look in the tech tips section for how to check codes and what they mean) I would demand if not a new car, then a GMPP major guard to 84/100000 and a new set of tires at their cost. I don't care what their reasoning is 60 miles is EXTREMELY excessive for any repair. They should be able to do that in a MAXIMUM of 10 miles and that is being generous.

'sic 'em tiger

-Ed

PS Let us know what happens

SmokieTheZ

Just for comparison, I took my car in at about 10k miles with the same “service active handling / traction control” warnings. They fixed the problem with a software update and did not drive the car at all. I’d be seriously upset about 60 miles of joy riding. Go for a big time extended warranty. :mad

Ruby6spd

That's pure Bullsh*#,, I would go back to the dealer and get a hold of the owner and tell him exaclty how I felt...

Noggles

:mad :mad :mad waayyyy too many miles.

Sandy S

Perhaps try looking at it from the other side. What would you have said if they asked you to drive it for 60 miles to see if you could get the light to come on? Perhaps they were just trying to fix the car. Intermittents can be hard to find sometimes.

bowtiebandit

:iagree: How owuld you have felt if they handed it back with 0 mile and told you thet douldn't duplicate your concern? Would you be mad then?
SInce I was not there nor where any of you, you cannot tell they where joyriding. Some of these systems are extremely complex and I would like to believe that the tech was trying to fix it right the first time. 60 miles is alot I agree but I've put over 100 on certain vehicles I've worked on but your writer should have explained this situation to you first and gotten your approval.
My usual road tests vary from 4 to 14 miles on any " normal " repair.

I know, flame the dealers as usual but put yourselves in our shoes once.

Jaxxkat

I would be anoyed. I automatically ask that my cars not be driven unless the mechanic has to test it. In Pa the state inspection requires a test drive it seems, so I went with him on the test.. Ide like to have a vallay switch installed on my new ZO6 with only 100 hp for them to use, better yet 50hp..I read once that the O2 sensor can be switched to fool the computer and it will reduce the power way down.. The Chevy dealer I will bring my car too sells a lot of Vettes , I think thats a better choice for service, they would most likely know our concerns.. :flag

sbmrinaldi

I am not a mechanic, but most of the trouble issues can be detected by computur diagnostics and don't require the "old test drive." Simply plug the car into a computer and away they go. I would be real upset unless they could give my some sort of viable excuse. I was going to have a amp/sub installed in my Z and called a place locally that has done work for me in the past. After they hear what kind of car it is the guy told me it would be best to leave it there the night before. No way in hell. A 2-3 hour job does not require my car to be anywhere over night. Some people have *****. :cuss

Sandy S

I would just have a chat with the service manager. The big problem could be that they should have called you first about what they were doing and given you the choice of them driving it or you driving it.

I am not a professional mech but I do lots of work on cars and I do understand electronics and computers. Many times the computer codes just don't help. Sometimes you have problems without codes and sometimes the codes are misleading.

I spend most of last winter with an intermittently sick Dodge Caravan that I and multiple mechanics worked on (including Dodge). The codes were no help. It turned into an exercise of replacing the top items, and then driving it for a week or month and see if it needs to be towed home. Upon which it would start working again. Then repeat the process... If it would have stayed broken, it would have been easy to fix.

grahampre1

I first want to thank all of you who have been giving me your input. Here is an update on the situation.

Also you should know that I have purchased many vehicles from the dealership in question for both personal use and for my contracting business so I have a long standing relationship with them.

I agree with you that my mistake is not explicitly directing the service department to not drive the car. I would have been more than happy take the car back if there computer could not diagnosis the problem. Although this makes me even more angry because the service writer never called me with the status and to ask if it was alright if they logged miles on the car.

Today I am going to meet with the service writer, my salesman, and the technician for and explanation of how they justified the need for two test drives, the second of which I am concerned about the most. The tester that originally drove the car is highly qualified on corvettes being on of the first qualified technicians on the zR1 and he is at retirement age. Someone with his experience would not make a rookie move of a 5th to 2nd downshift, etc.

I also checked the codes and there were no overrev codes recorded (obviously they could have been deleted). I will keep you updated - and be assured!!!! - This will never happen again. :reddevil

rbartick

I am guessing that you got a C1288 or a C1287 Steering wheel sensor code. That code is not uncommon in a brand new Z06. My car threw those codes about 10 times when it was an infant. They eventually stopped coming back over time. I usually just cleared the codes while I was driving down the road.

An intermittent code is pretty darn tough to diagnose on the dealer's Tech II. A test drive is certainly necessary. As far as the mileage goes I'll admit that 60 miles is excessive. They probably drove it around for a few hours trying to get the code to appear. When I was getting the C1287 & C1288 codes in my car my local dealer told me that they also wanted to drive my car around for a while. I never brought the car in and decided to wait until the code appeared on a more frequent basis, something which never happened. I haven't seen those codes in close to a year.

I doubt they did any damage to your car. Even if they revved it to redline a few times everything is going to be fine. Just relax & enjoy the car.


[Modified by rbartick, 11:24 AM 4/25/2003]

Kenny94945

Yep, talk with the SM first and ask why.

Could be someone drove it home (looks like commute miles) trying to reset the code.

Ask the SM, in other words they cleared the codes and then try to have them reset. Let the SM tell you that.

If the message was still on the car when you dropped it off, the codes would be available without a test drive as written earlier.

rbartick

The D.I.C. service "message" was probably gone and the code was stored as a history "H" code. The dealer can do some quick tests on the related sensors with his Tech II, but chances are really good that all sensor tests will pass with a history "H" code. The ONLY way to reproduce a problem with a reoccuring history code is with a test drive. If you do not like that option just enter diagnostics & reset the history codes yourself and wait until they occur more often.

Nabbs

rbartick has the right attitude about this. Although I understand that nobody likes the dealers driving their car, I don't think this is worth getting your panties up in a bunch over. When it comes to service (especially warranty work) dealers always have a way of making you feel like a second class citizen...its just the way it goes. If you freak out about every mistep on their part its going to seriously effect the enjoyment of your Vette.

I would talk to them and express your displeasure and settle for free oil changes or something to that effect. Just make sure the car is not scratched or there is no visible damage. Other then that, use this as a lesson not to use that dealer and to specifically tell them to not drive your car. Additionally, do what rbartick did and wait for the problem to present itself again and then bring it back (don't clear the codes).

You have to pick and chose your battles, I don't see this as being one that is worth going to war over.

Seriously 60 miles is nothing in the ownership of a car. Take the car out on a nice day and throw 60 miles of your own on it, I'm sure you'll forget about it.

-N

CAPN17

:iagree:

Crushinator

Thats way too many miles! :mad :mad :mad I just got my Z06 back today after getting the 3rd gear in the transmission completely rebuilt. When I took the car in the odometer read 3,661 miles. When I got it back, it read 3,665 miles. Sounds like they were joy riding with yours. :cuss :cuss :cuss


[Modified by Nat02Z06, 6:50 PM 4/25/2003]