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Clearly, this should be a recall item. Owners deserve the peace of mind that this would provide - knowing that such a defect was acknowledged in advance of going through the hassle of calling, scheduling, and then possibly test driving and pleading the case to "service writer X.."
Not going to rise to the level of a recall because there are no safety issues.
A8 cars are an annoyance now since they have warranties ... I don't see how anybody would take chance of buying a used A8 car several years from now when warranty is gone ... Never hear of A6 issues ...
What is total labor and parts cost for replacing the TC ???
The main reason when is was looking for my low mile convertible around 1 1/2 years ago I chose the a 14 model with the A6 over a 15 with A8. Had read about some problems back then about the A8. Drove them both and really hard to tell the difference in around town driving between the two and since I had no plans on tracking I went with the A6. No problems with it thus far but have only 2500 miles on her to date. Hate to keep hearing about these problems...
Clearly, this should be a recall item. Owners deserve the peace of mind that this would provide - knowing that such a defect was acknowledged in advance of going through the hassle of calling, scheduling, and then possibly test driving and pleading the case to "service writer X.."
I also had the torque converter problem on my 14. As I have a previously posted this will never be a recall problem for one very good reason. It comes down to dollars. Torque converters are expensive. It is way less expensive for GM to replace rather than do a recall. Also, and less significantly recall tend to be safety related and not so much functional. A failing torque torque converter is not going to hurt anyone. It comes down to dollars people plain and simple.
^^Thanks for posting and confirming the A6, also had TC replacement.
Originally Posted by bosco1
The main reason when is was looking for my low mile convertible around 1 1/2 years ago I chose the a 14 model with the A6 over a 15 with A8. Had read about some problems back then about the A8. Drove them both and really hard to tell the difference in around town driving between the two and since I had no plans on tracking I went with the A6. No problems with it thus far but have only 2500 miles on her to date. Hate to keep hearing about these problems...
2500 miles is not a lot. I have over 6000 on my A8 and no issue. I do agree there are fewer A6's with the issue, but I am not sure its worth avoiding the newer car over that. When you bought yours it probably made sense, but I am making this point for other considering a new car.
please keep us informed. If this happens to me AGAIN now on the supposed fixed 2017 I'm going to sue them without hesitation.
Come on!!! Calm down. Lawyering up will get you nowhere. It's only a torque converter. It has also happened to me and is a simple fix, but it does take a couple of days to dissemble the underside of the car. This is off topic, but one of the major problems we have today in this country, is that people want to run to an attorney every time they have a problem. Grow up!!!
A8 cars are an annoyance now since they have warranties ... I don't see how anybody would take chance of buying a used A8 car several years from now when warranty is gone ... Never hear of A6 issues ...
What is total labor and parts cost for replacing the TC ???
The 2015 model has a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.
The 2015 model has a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.
No A6 issues! Really? I have an early build 14 that was twice sent to Nashville for "quality control checks." The car only has 9600 miles. It is never tracked and never been raced or driven hard. I am a waxer and not a racer. It has only been garaged in a temperature controlled environment and is always covered and on a charger (Cetek). Get the picture. I have been through two flex plates, two torque tubes, and of course the torque converter. As I understand it the main reasons for the A8 problems are twofold. 1. In order to accomodate the extra gears in the same volume there is less space for transmission fluid, and thus the overheat issues after 4 hot laps 2. GM has thus far declined to add the extra oil cooling to mitigate this issue. In a nutshell GM has produced a very high performance car at a very lowball price relative to the competition. And, they have basically succeeded.
The 2015 model has a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.
. . . or 5 years, whichever comes first. Unfortunately, since many of these cars don't get driven very often, I'm afraid there will be a large number of under 10K miles cars out of powertrain warranty.
I also had the torque converter problem on my 14. As I have a previously posted this will never be a recall problem for one very good reason. It comes down to dollars. Torque converters are expensive. It is way less expensive for GM to replace rather than do a recall. Also, and less significantly recall tend to be safety related and not so much functional. A failing torque torque converter is not going to hurt anyone. It comes down to dollars people plain and simple.
The 2015 model has a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.
Originally Posted by Foosh
. . . or 5 years, whichever comes first. Unfortunately, since many of these cars don't get driven very often, I'm afraid there will be a large number of under 10K miles cars out of powertrain warranty.
Unfortunately, GM knows this.
Realistically, the typical new Corvette probably goes out of the bumper-to-bumper warranty at about 15k miles and out of the longer powertrain warranty at about 25k.
A pretty low bar to meet, and they don't seem to be doing very well even with that.
I sure did. It was in the shop for over 5 weeks. Repairs were done under the factory warranty, fortunately. If I had paid for all the parts and labor myself I have roughly calculated a cost between $9000-$10,000. I did purchase an additional 2 year warranty when I purchased the car on which I have another year and a half to go. Given the high cost of repairs if I elect to keep the car I will have to consider adding additional warranty. It was depressing to me when I compared the part number of the old torque converter to the replacement. It was the same number!! Given that it is the same part number what is the potential of this happening again? I am intrigued by the possibility of a mid engine corvette, but can you imagine what the reliability, repairs and upkeep on this beast might be?
Last edited by Nobull; 04-24-2017 at 07:45 PM.
Reason: spelling error
Your point is well taken but I wonder if a safety argument couldn't be successfully made (surging drivetrain..?..).
Disappointing -
I have to agree with you, although some may say its a stretch. We all know the 1-2 and 2-1 shifts in traffic are annoying...right? Well I was in a Lowes parking lot approaching the entrance/exit where pedestrians were crossing in front of me. I was coasting/decelerating about 12 MPH. Well it decided to downshift and the car lurched forward. I got some dirty looks from a few that were crossing, so its not impossible for an incident to occur because of this.
Granted some people never really mastered the art of crossing a street (without yellow flashing lights), but thats another story - another rant.
Hopefully your experience was a rare event. TC failure with no warranty is a good way to ruin one's day.
And a very good reason not to tune your car these days given GMs aversion to allowing warranty work on tuned cars. They are mechanical and electrical beasts with lots of parts and some will fail. Having the ability to have them fixed on GMs dime for a few years is a huge deal that I don't want to give up. In fact I will buy an extended warranty before the 26th month if I am keeping the car. To many expensive parts that could break particularly given the level of power these cars have and their complexity.
I picked up a new 17 GS I ordered last month. 1200 miles now. Right from the start The transmission did not feel right to me. Maybe its just me and I am not use to the a8. all previous vets were a6 or m6. At first I thought the car was missing because that was what it felt like. In my case I believe this is normal but a normal I don't care for. That going to v4 at such low speeds is crazy. I also noticed when I picked up my car that it had 30 miles on it. I was told that they were put on at the factory as quality control. I wonder if they were trying to get it to run properly. Maybe I am being paranoid.
Beautiful car. Watch it, but my A8 was a bit squirrely the first 1000 miles but the last 2500 have been perfect. Drive it like you stole it (in 300 more miles) and it will love you. The other thing is either get a Range Technology AFM limiter or always drive in Manual and shift with the paddles. Keeps it out of V4 mode.
I also had the torque converter problem on my 14. As I have a previously posted this will never be a recall problem for one very good reason. It comes down to dollars. Torque converters are expensive. It is way less expensive for GM to replace rather than do a recall. Also, and less significantly recall tend to be safety related and not so much functional. A failing torque torque converter is not going to hurt anyone. It comes down to dollars people plain and simple.
Someone over on the C6 section is stating that they were told an A8 recall is now in effect. I have found no evidence of this, and would assume that it would be widely discussed here... However, another poster verified it.... (?) Gov't sites have no such recall listed.
I have C7 and I agree that they don't have as much room as the C6. My wife and I are just average to small size. Me at 6 ft and 145 LBs. If I was any bigger it would not be good. The reason being is that the seat bolsters and fit are tighter than on a C6, even with adjustments. I have plenty of leg room and head room. I like the looks just as much as the C6 for the most part. If you can fit in a C7 they seem to feel like they hold the road a little better going around corners, etc. I really like those C6s though.
04-19-2017, 10:14 PM
The main reason when is was looking for my low mile convertible around 1 1/2 years ago I chose the a 14 model with the A6 over a 15 with A8. Had read about some problems back then about the A8. Drove them both and really hard to tell the difference in around town driving between the two and since I had no plans on tracking I went with the A6. No problems with it thus far but have only 2500 miles on her to date. Hate to keep hearing about these problems...
