Flame Red

I have owned various Corvettes for 20 years but never one that was brand new till now. All the ones I had before were well broken-in but fine cars. At the end of April I bought a 2015 Z51 Coupe A8 with 10 miles on the clock trucked up from a Miami dealer. I thought this would be a dream but instead it turned into a disappointment.

First ride was to the beach and I got the dreaded hard shift into 1st gear at low speeds. Thanks to the forum I knew about it and figured it would learn eventually.

Drove it home and stopped to get gas. Filler her up and on restart she backfired like a bomb (I kid you not) and stalled. I restarted her and she ran rough. Pushed the On-Star button and they told me that I had had codes in the ECM and TCM but it was odd that they could not pull the codes and I should take it to the dealer ASAP.

Dealer had it for 3 days and reflashed the TCM with the brand new software that just came out to fix the downshift problem. They could not pull the codes either with their Tech tool.

Got it back and it seemed fine, no more harsh downshifts in to first at low speed - at least for short trips under 1 hour drive.

Now yesterday I took her for her second drive over one hour. Got to my destination and turned her off and did my business and a few minutes later got back in to restart her. Engine had to crank for what seemed an enternity but did start with no backfile but ran real rough. After driving a while I got the check engine light and the tranny began downshifting into first at low speed hard again, but not nearly as hard as during the first incident. I dropped it right off at the dealer.

I don't know what they found at this point but they are going to contact GM engineering and see what they recommend. I do not know yet if they were able to pull codes or not.

Looks like my baby is a prisoner for the long holiday weekend and I had a bunch of mods to do to her

Just ranting here - looking if anyone ever had a check engine light and GM was unable to pull the codes?

J_Vette_Manuel

That sucks! I noticed you live in Windermere, what Chevrolet store are you taking it to?

Flame Red

Keith @ Autonation on West Colonial is the best in Central Florida. He has been the go-to guy here for years. Sadly, he is having health problems currently and I wish him the best. I did not buy the car there as Autonation would not discount any vettes. But they still seem to be the best for Vette Service. Jon Hall up in Daytona is also know for their Vette service.

J_Vette_Manuel

Interesting, I bought my '14 brand new from Airport and got a good amount down...

I have serviced it there, but had issues. Now I have a good relationship w/ the GM and Service Manager so I'm trusting this won't be an issue! Good luck with your car!

Waytofastvette2006

It's the corvettes soul trying to reject an automatic transmission



Sorry your having troubles man ! Makes me feel lucky I've had 11k trouble free miles.

$$$frumnuttin'

It's a complicated machine....auto or manual?

b4i4getit

Third sentence in his post says A8.

OldJedi

Not sure how close you are to Stingray Chevrolet in Plant City. They sell a lot of Vettes and their service department has a good reputation.

thrilled

Anyone can have bad luck.With them turning out so many there's going to be A couple that
Aren't perfect.A rough idle I believe that most of them have A little of that from time to time.
Just be patient.I'm sure they'll get it right for you.

Dave1

Leave it at the dealer until it gets completely fixed......

None of that sounds any good and I'm sorry that after spending that much this car isn't performing as advertised....

Keep a record what the car is doing, dates and speeds, everything.....

Log what the dealer has told you and keep receipts and diagnostics along the way.....

They only get so many chances to get it right before they start replacing expensive parts.....

bigblock427

I am sorry to hear you are experiencing problems with your Vette. I have a 2014 Z51, that I have had for exactly one year. My Vette has 12,000 miles on it and I have not had one problem with mine.

I am completely satisfied with mine. Hang in there and hopefully they figure out the problem soon, and you will be enjoying your Vette.

Greg00Coupe

I feel for ya!!! Someone will figure it out...... and you will be good to go.

dpb

OK, so I was having problems that they diagnosed with bad wires, then bad plug, then bad injectors. When all of that was replaced it still ran rough and they found a broken valve spring on #7 cylinder!!!! After that spring was replaced she ran like a charm!!! Apparently no code reader could catch it. It was reporting a P0300. Did a compression test running and found 0 compression on #7. Removed valve cover and found broken spring. This was the second one he had with broken valve spring. The other customers was a catastrophic failure that lunched the motor!!! Hope this helps. dpb

WelderGuy

It's hard to imagine how the valve didn't hit the piston with the spring broken. I'd want them to pull the plug to do a borescope inspection to be sure there's no damage.

Vetteman Jack

Sorry you are having the problems with your new car. Hope the dealeship can figure it out and get your car back on the road and running right.

dpb

I was told that the spring keepers stayed on and the spring, which broke in the middle wrapped around itself keeping the valve up, so it did not drop onto the piston. Got to see the borescope inspection...clean as a whistle!! dpb

Lacoven

Funny I just lost a motor after lifter replacement, wonder if the valve spring issue had anything to do with it.

Flame Red

Thank all of you for your sympathy. I had taken off for an extended holiday weekend to do some mods and the ritual cleaning but now just sit here sulking.

I don't think it is a broken valve spring as it seems to idle and run fine when they cleared the code the first time. But hey, what do I know?

Yes, I am carefully documenting the occurrences. I bought the car from a dealer in Miami but I live in Orlando. I contacted the owner of dealer in Miami and he said he will help me if this 2nd repair does not work. Whatever that means.

I believe the Florida Lemon law kicks in on the 3rd repair for the same issue, or if the car is in the shop for 15 days total. I am not sure if that means the lemon law kicks in after the 3rd attempt or on the 3rd attempt. I am not sure if the 15 days include weekends & holidays where the service department is not opened. I hope it does not come to that. One thing is for sure, I will not be as patient as some of the others on this forum who posted threads where their car is in the shop for a month or more. If the problem reoccurs and it qualifies for the Florida Lemon law I will immediately exercise that and go after GM aggressively with the goal of getting a fresh car equipped the same even though the law states the remedy is a full refund. But I think it is an arbitration process and I can see it taking forever. I will at least consult with an attorney that specializes in these as the first visit consultation is free to get these questions answered.

But I really, really hope that my luck turns and they find something simple, like a bent pin, or crimped wire, etc. I know these things are very difficult to find. What really bothers me is they cannot pull the codes, or the codes disappeared even though the check engine light is on.

The forum member that bought my old C6 mentioned he used to have a 69 Vert. You know, I am beginning to get the idea having a car free of computers is starting to become appealing!

ben dover

Good for you. Hold'em to it.

1SG_Ret

Sounds like you have a plan going forward. I would definitely exercise the lemon law at the first opportunity if problem cannot be diagnosed with complete certainty and fixed so the car operates perfectly.

That being said, experience tells when they are guessing on cause, it's likely to never be resolved fully.

There is always the "luck factor", so it's not impossible for them to stumble upon the problem. Without a code, its going to take a pretty sharp mechanic to figure it out, especially if it involves two or more components causing the problem.

A shame too, as this is your first new Corvette (the C7 was my first also).

Just keep perspective as this thing unfolds. Ultimately this issue will be resolved to your satisfaction with either a completely fixed auto or another brand new one.

Aggravation is the only thing non reimbursable in this case, however, that is something you have control over.

Best of luck to you. Keep us informed as the situation unfolds.