CloudLS9

I brought my ZR1 in to Hendrick Chevrolet for the following:
-Oil change
-Alignment (car bump steers)
-Clutch master cylinder #14717: Special Coverage (clutch occasionally sticks)
-Diagnose rattling. I suspected the isolator. I have a CarMax extended warranty that should cover the supercharger if needed.

They called me and told me that the supercharger tensioner is making so much noise that they can't tell if the supercharger isolator is making noise as well. They weren't sure if the tensioner was covered under warranty but said they would call in check. If it's not, they are saying $631.23 for this.

The real kicker is that they are saying that both the front rotors are chipped and not covered under warranty. They want $4700 to replace. Here is the thing. When I bought the car less than a year ago from CarMax, I took it to Hendrick Chevrolet for a PPI during the CarMax return window. I expressly asked them to check the brakes out for any signs of damage as I know they are expensive and not covered by warranty. They said everything on the car looked perfect. Here we are less than a year and 5K miles later and they are chipped. I have never taken the wheels off since then and have never tracked the car.

Does this look like something that can happen from normal daily driving in <5k. I'm wondering if service tech may have removed wheels without guards and chipped? Do they have to remove wheels to align? I have never taken the wheels off myself and Hendrick is the only person who's ever worked on the car. Maybe this is just from normal driving, but I thought they were supposed to last the life of the car if you don't track it.

I'd appreciate any insight you guys may have. Thanks.

phipp85

The two chips on the outside face of the rotor look to be from normal wear and tear. I had a chip or two in mine from road debris bouncing around in there and/or getting caught in between the outer diameter of the rotor edge and the caliper body. Worth noting that I was running 18” wheels so there was a less room for trash to get out.
The chip on the inside face looks very fresh and I believe that is wheel removal damage.

edit: I see both picture are of the inside face of the rotor. The bottom picture looks like fresh damage caused by a wheel.

leadfart

Well, I'm a novice to ZR1's, since I just bought mine a week ago! That said, I ran to the garage to inspect my rotors, and they look fine, so far. However, if you are not having any issues with stopping, I would wait on the rotors. First pic does look like normal wear and tear, inside pic looks like somebody's boo-boo.

I now know that you can buy little booties to protect the rotors, when working on them. Learn something everyday!

CloudLS9

Thanks for the reply. Do you think they both need replaced or just the 2nd one?

Also.. if they did this when removing the wheel.. no clue how to prove or disprove. Any chance this happened while they were aligning the car? The service manager sent me this photo after his techs brought him out to see.

Eric Reeves

If your just driving around town and stuff I would not be too worried but would monitor it for cracking. Replacements can be had a lot cheaper than from GM. https://www.racingbrake.com/product-p/cr26.htm

CloudLS9

Does this look like the rotor may have contacted the wheel here or is this just an unrelated scratch in the inner wheel barrel?

Eric Reeves

It appears that is the backside of the rotor looking out through the wheel. While mounted, there is no way the wheel contacted the back side of that rotor even if your removing the wheel. Contact would be on the front if your putting the wheel back on. Debris got in there and caused this.

Bigjsn250

You can easily hit inside of the rotor when taking the wheels off. Lift the wheel up and let the top tip outward. Whoever did it sure is not going to admit to it knowing what those rotors cost.

leadfart

Yep!

chatcher

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-2017-C...53.m2749.l2649

You need some of these. They eliminate the chance of chipping rotors.

mirage2991

shop amazon too, they have had rotors in the past for a good price as well...if you are not tracking the car, move on...

backnblack2003z06

The scratch in the wheel looks like its directly in line with the rotor making me think debris got in there and scratched it and chipped the rotor. If it happened putting it on or taking it off I would think it would be farther back as the wheel probably wouldn't hit the rotor until it was clear of the studs.

Tonylmiller

I think I would just buy some cheaper rotors. If they still work, save them for when you sell the car.

TTZ06VETTE

Be careful with Hendricks. I have had nothing but problems with them in regards to service. Had to go all the way up to the Regional NE head of customer service. In my case it was their BMW dealership. Their sales team was great but the Service department is terrible. pM me if you want details but I have two good friends who experienced the same customer service problems. When it came time for a new car last year I purchased an Audi simply because I didn’t trust their service department.
In my opinion your rotors are still fine. The chips aren’t bad enough to replace at this point. Lot of miles left.

P.S. - I just use the grey foam pipe insulators you can buy from Home Depot or Lowe’s for a couple bucks in 5 foot lengths to wrap the rotors when removing or replacing the wheels. They are split on one side and have adhesive. Cut to length and just wrap the rotor.

CloudLS9

Thanks guys. I think I'll hold off on replacing the rotors for now, but I'll closely inspect them periodically. Is this level of wear even normal or atypical at 25k miles? How much longer do you think they may last? When the time comes to replace them, I'll get the OEM rotors from the place Eric linked.

The rotors weren't the only drama yesterday. I definitely have a bad tensioner that is making noise, but they won't know if the supercharger isolator is bad until they replace the tensioner. Hendrick said they spent all day on hold or getting transferred around with Fidelity. This is the company Carmax used to provide my warranty coverage. The real kicker is that Fidelity said they don't offer a policy for the ZR1 and that CarMax never should have sold me a policy on this car. This was clearly frustrating as I have a signed contract and paid for the warranty coverage with Fidelity. Maybe I should have gone with GMPP?

This morning Fidelity said they will honor the contract. They will pay for the tensioner replacement, and the supercharger if need be, but Hendrick doesn't have any of the parts yet. Regardless of what happens here it looks like I'll just out the $100 deductible. Fidelity is now saying they'll even pay for me to get a rental car if need be so things are looking up.

Today Hendrick is replacing the clutch master cylinder for free as per the GM service bulletin. They had the parts for this and admitted they could have done it yesterday, but they left the car sitting on a lift all day while trying to sort the warranty coverage for the unrelated supercharger noise. At least Hendrick was willing to do this so I wouldn't have to spend the day on the phone.

If I hold off on the front rotors for a little while, I'm just looking at the cost of alignment, oil change and $100 deductible. This isn't so bad, but I'm going to keep a close eye on these rotors.

CloudLS9

With mine you couldn't see the chip unless the car is on a lift as the chip is on the inside. Also, depending on where the wheel is you may not see a potential chip until you rotate the wheel 360 degrees.

I took multiple photos at the dealer with the car on a lift while spinning each of the wheels. There was only the one big chip shown in the 2nd photo. The rest of the blemishes on the front rotors were like the 1st photo.. just a little bits coming off around the edges here and there. The back rotors looked perfect.

My plan is to take a photo with flash under each side of the car periodically. I expect the wheel will stop in different places each time I pull I my garage. Also, by comparing photos over time I hope to be able to gauge if they are getting worse or staying the same.

leadfart

Mine has 28K on the clock, and as far as I can tell, the rotor and pad wear look very even, and it will stand you on your head. I went ahead and purchased a 2 year/24K warranty from our GMEPP vendor. That gives me a little piece of mind, although I know it won't cover rotors.

After two years, I will decide whether to mod it or not. I see myself keeping this one for a long time. I don't like the C7's, don't every see myself in one.

Plus, I really love this car. It was well taken care of by the previous owners, and it shows. The ZR1 is my king of hill car. I love my Corvettes!

CloudLS9

I feel the same way. The C6 ZR1 is sure to be a timeless classic. When I bought this car my wife gave me a little flack about trading cars every year or two.. asking why can't I just keep one car and be happy with it. I told her I hadn't found a car worth holding on to for the long haul like her that could keep my interest like her. (We've been together since high school). I said "I think this car really could be the one".

This morning she told me that if I'm just going to flip this car like all the others, don't drop any money in the rotors. She said if I replace the carbon ceramic rotors, this car is going to be my second wife and I have to keep it for life. So now I've got some thinking to do. These CC rotors are starting to feel like another engagement ring.

leadfart

Sounds like your wife is a keeper! Just like the ZR1!

Yarbie

Carmax is the worst possible place to buy a car. They have been investigated for selling cars with tons of problems.

good luck and sorry about your issues.