Corvette reliability
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Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2017
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From: Chapel Hill NC
Corvette reliability
Thinking of buy a new Vette, but am apprehensive about the Consumer Reports ratings regarding the in-car electronics and owner reliability, both much worse than average. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.
Popular Reply
Jul 7, 2017, 06:43 PM
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2016
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From: Bainbridge Island WA
1. One of the serious problems with Consumer Reports is that they do not share their data. You don't know how they arrived at their conclusions. Think about it. In any scientific paper the data is provided as 'open source' to allow someone else to replicate the study and conform or refute it. With Consumer Reports they basically say "Trust us!" and you come to your own conclusions. This wouldn't be tolerated in any other realm.
2. Electronics. In any graph of electronics failures what you see is a peak in failures at about six months of ownership. The graph falls rapidly until you reach about a year and flatlines at the base level for the next nine years or so, when it gradually starts rising as the equipment nears end-of-life. In other words, if electronics is going to fail, it will normally do so within the bumper to bumper warranty period. If it doesn't fail, it will last for the time you have the vehicle, or fail just after your extended warranty ends!
3. Any extended warranty is placing a bet that you won't have any catastrophic failures. If you did, they wouldn't be in business. So who do you trust? Your own sense of impending doom, or the guy who writes these policies as a living every day and depends on the income to feed his family?
4. You will not get reliable data by listening to anecdotal reports. Guys with issues loudly gift us with lengthy threads about their travails. Guys without problems simply enjoy their cars and rarely tell you. That does not mean their issues are not valid. It's just that you cannot tell how widespread they are from those kinds of complaints. And when someone goes ballistic, you're only getting half the story.
There is an old joke that appeared in one of the car magazines. It was either Car & Driver, Road & Track, or Motor Trend. I forget which. In the background you see three or four bespectacled men in white laboratory coats, a couple with clipboards in their hands. One by one they are driving cars off a cliff and carefully noting the results. Two guys are viewing this in the foreground. One says to the other, "Oh, that's Consumer Reports testing cars again."
2. Electronics. In any graph of electronics failures what you see is a peak in failures at about six months of ownership. The graph falls rapidly until you reach about a year and flatlines at the base level for the next nine years or so, when it gradually starts rising as the equipment nears end-of-life. In other words, if electronics is going to fail, it will normally do so within the bumper to bumper warranty period. If it doesn't fail, it will last for the time you have the vehicle, or fail just after your extended warranty ends!
3. Any extended warranty is placing a bet that you won't have any catastrophic failures. If you did, they wouldn't be in business. So who do you trust? Your own sense of impending doom, or the guy who writes these policies as a living every day and depends on the income to feed his family?
4. You will not get reliable data by listening to anecdotal reports. Guys with issues loudly gift us with lengthy threads about their travails. Guys without problems simply enjoy their cars and rarely tell you. That does not mean their issues are not valid. It's just that you cannot tell how widespread they are from those kinds of complaints. And when someone goes ballistic, you're only getting half the story.
There is an old joke that appeared in one of the car magazines. It was either Car & Driver, Road & Track, or Motor Trend. I forget which. In the background you see three or four bespectacled men in white laboratory coats, a couple with clipboards in their hands. One by one they are driving cars off a cliff and carefully noting the results. Two guys are viewing this in the foreground. One says to the other, "Oh, that's Consumer Reports testing cars again."
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,568
Likes: 264
From: Near Charlotte NC
My neighbor is a Chevy mech/tech.
Says mechanical stuff is very good.It's not that the electronics are bad,but when they do go bad,it's very expensive to fix/replace.
One of the reasons ppl buy the extended warranty.
\db2
Says mechanical stuff is very good.It's not that the electronics are bad,but when they do go bad,it's very expensive to fix/replace.
One of the reasons ppl buy the extended warranty.
\db2
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 249
Likes: 194
You raise a good point. I hope this helps.... Consumer reports listed the 2017 as "Recommended" with owner satisfaction 5 out of 5, and predicted reliability as 3 out of 5, with a very good overall rating. The vehicle's "electric system" received the highest possible rating, but what you're referring to--"in car electronics"--was the only category below average, and it got lowest possible rating.
Personally, I have found the interface with my iPhone works great, with apple play, as well as all the other Nav, weather, and controls very easy to use. The only minor problem I experienced was only once did the radio "freeze up" not respond to commands while using my bluetooth to play tunes. But this fixed itself after stopping and restarting the car. That's the only computer "glitch" or bug I've found for the in-car electronics--all else works flawlessly. Keep in mind that this car does so much, and is extremely sophisticated electronically, that I'd still rate it far above average-- and I'm comparing it to Mercedes and Jaguars that I've owned. i look forward to other comments from owners, and I hope this helps! Best, PDXC7
I should add that I'm 100% satisfied with my 2016 C7! Best vehicle I've over owned.
Personally, I have found the interface with my iPhone works great, with apple play, as well as all the other Nav, weather, and controls very easy to use. The only minor problem I experienced was only once did the radio "freeze up" not respond to commands while using my bluetooth to play tunes. But this fixed itself after stopping and restarting the car. That's the only computer "glitch" or bug I've found for the in-car electronics--all else works flawlessly. Keep in mind that this car does so much, and is extremely sophisticated electronically, that I'd still rate it far above average-- and I'm comparing it to Mercedes and Jaguars that I've owned. i look forward to other comments from owners, and I hope this helps! Best, PDXC7
I should add that I'm 100% satisfied with my 2016 C7! Best vehicle I've over owned.
Last edited by Steve Garrett; Jul 7, 2017 at 08:51 PM. Reason: Merged Posts
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2008
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From: NJ
Very few Corvettes break down. I would say at least 75% of Corvette owners are extremely **** and picky. That causes them including me to make a lot of claims and complaints which are detrimental to somebody not understanding Corvette life when trying to look at the Corvette as a serious daily driver. My first Corvette 2008 with 93000 miles on it purchase from the original owner I had all the records. Outside of an Ave unit replaced a door speaker a power window motor battery and other maintenance items in the five years he owned it and put all those miles on it nothing else was changed on the car.
of course when I got it it needed a torque tube which was very expensive but I was able to work out a deal with the mechanic at my buddy Speed Shop and I purchased it from GM brand new one complete assembly I think the list was almost 2,000 maybe I paid 800 900 bucks at $300 for the installation which also included my long tube headers.
that's just my experience with them. But my buddy has on his performance shop for 12 years now and there are plenty of high mileage Corvettes of all generations that come in only to get enhancements very little maintenance work needs to be done on them outside of routine
of course when I got it it needed a torque tube which was very expensive but I was able to work out a deal with the mechanic at my buddy Speed Shop and I purchased it from GM brand new one complete assembly I think the list was almost 2,000 maybe I paid 800 900 bucks at $300 for the installation which also included my long tube headers.
that's just my experience with them. But my buddy has on his performance shop for 12 years now and there are plenty of high mileage Corvettes of all generations that come in only to get enhancements very little maintenance work needs to be done on them outside of routine
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,017
Likes: 169
From: SE VA VA
CR said the same thing about the C5 in (at least, 2001).
Seems to me there are still a bunch of those around, lots with high mileage, and they are running just fine (including mine)
My C7 is a '14. No major issues, and very few minor ones.
Seems to me there are still a bunch of those around, lots with high mileage, and they are running just fine (including mine)
My C7 is a '14. No major issues, and very few minor ones.
Last edited by aj98; Jul 7, 2017 at 05:30 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,085
Likes: 710
From: Sunnyvale CA
My C5 worked well until close to 125K miles. I traded it in on a '17 GS but can't complain about the C5.
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Verdad Gallardo
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From: Bainbridge Island WA
1. One of the serious problems with Consumer Reports is that they do not share their data. You don't know how they arrived at their conclusions. Think about it. In any scientific paper the data is provided as 'open source' to allow someone else to replicate the study and conform or refute it. With Consumer Reports they basically say "Trust us!" and you come to your own conclusions. This wouldn't be tolerated in any other realm.
2. Electronics. In any graph of electronics failures what you see is a peak in failures at about six months of ownership. The graph falls rapidly until you reach about a year and flatlines at the base level for the next nine years or so, when it gradually starts rising as the equipment nears end-of-life. In other words, if electronics is going to fail, it will normally do so within the bumper to bumper warranty period. If it doesn't fail, it will last for the time you have the vehicle, or fail just after your extended warranty ends!
3. Any extended warranty is placing a bet that you won't have any catastrophic failures. If you did, they wouldn't be in business. So who do you trust? Your own sense of impending doom, or the guy who writes these policies as a living every day and depends on the income to feed his family?
4. You will not get reliable data by listening to anecdotal reports. Guys with issues loudly gift us with lengthy threads about their travails. Guys without problems simply enjoy their cars and rarely tell you. That does not mean their issues are not valid. It's just that you cannot tell how widespread they are from those kinds of complaints. And when someone goes ballistic, you're only getting half the story.
There is an old joke that appeared in one of the car magazines. It was either Car & Driver, Road & Track, or Motor Trend. I forget which. In the background you see three or four bespectacled men in white laboratory coats, a couple with clipboards in their hands. One by one they are driving cars off a cliff and carefully noting the results. Two guys are viewing this in the foreground. One says to the other, "Oh, that's Consumer Reports testing cars again."
2. Electronics. In any graph of electronics failures what you see is a peak in failures at about six months of ownership. The graph falls rapidly until you reach about a year and flatlines at the base level for the next nine years or so, when it gradually starts rising as the equipment nears end-of-life. In other words, if electronics is going to fail, it will normally do so within the bumper to bumper warranty period. If it doesn't fail, it will last for the time you have the vehicle, or fail just after your extended warranty ends!
3. Any extended warranty is placing a bet that you won't have any catastrophic failures. If you did, they wouldn't be in business. So who do you trust? Your own sense of impending doom, or the guy who writes these policies as a living every day and depends on the income to feed his family?
4. You will not get reliable data by listening to anecdotal reports. Guys with issues loudly gift us with lengthy threads about their travails. Guys without problems simply enjoy their cars and rarely tell you. That does not mean their issues are not valid. It's just that you cannot tell how widespread they are from those kinds of complaints. And when someone goes ballistic, you're only getting half the story.
There is an old joke that appeared in one of the car magazines. It was either Car & Driver, Road & Track, or Motor Trend. I forget which. In the background you see three or four bespectacled men in white laboratory coats, a couple with clipboards in their hands. One by one they are driving cars off a cliff and carefully noting the results. Two guys are viewing this in the foreground. One says to the other, "Oh, that's Consumer Reports testing cars again."
Last edited by mschuyler; Jul 7, 2017 at 06:51 PM.
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Last edited by Kevin A Jones; Jul 7, 2017 at 09:40 PM.
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From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Another problem with so called electronic issues is complaints aren't filtered for dumb operators. Somebody comes into the shop because something isn't working and it turns out it was an operator problem. That still gets counted as an electronic problem. Most of the problems fall into the operator category. Even on poorly designed interfaces people should get used to the various foibles of the system but drivers seem to be a dumber section of the population and can't remember what they did two days ago.
Bill
Bill
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2013
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From: East Lansing, MI
Another problem with so called electronic issues is complaints aren't filtered for dumb operators. Somebody comes into the shop because something isn't working and it turns out it was an operator problem. That still gets counted as an electronic problem. Most of the problems fall into the operator category. Even on poorly designed interfaces people should get used to the various foibles of the system but drivers seem to be a dumber section of the population and can't remember what they did two days ago.
Bill
Bill
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 2,786
Likes: 2,327
From: Central UT
Hey OP, welcome to the forum. Get a C7, you'll love it!
* '15 Z51, no issues at all.
* '17 GS, replaced a/c compressor. Stuff happens. Fixed by dealer and a perfect experience.
* Do some owners of C7s have bad experiences with their cars? Absolutely. So do select owners of every single brand because stuff happens.
* The 'reliability of Consumer Reports' is very suspect. Because my company does risk oversight and analytics for multiple auto manufacturers - for limited warranty, CPO, and VSCs - I can tell you without question that CR is very often way off in their assessments. Their data sources are extremely biased. The data we have is as non-biased as you can get - billions of dollars of claim information on virtually all brand/models. With all this information, do I purchase extended warranties on cars? Depends. If I'm going to keep a car with a lot of technology for a long enough period of time, I'll purchase them at cost plus $100 so the dealer associate can make a little $ but not the typical 100% mark-up.
Hope you get a C7 and enjoy the heck out of it!
* '15 Z51, no issues at all.
* '17 GS, replaced a/c compressor. Stuff happens. Fixed by dealer and a perfect experience.
* Do some owners of C7s have bad experiences with their cars? Absolutely. So do select owners of every single brand because stuff happens.
* The 'reliability of Consumer Reports' is very suspect. Because my company does risk oversight and analytics for multiple auto manufacturers - for limited warranty, CPO, and VSCs - I can tell you without question that CR is very often way off in their assessments. Their data sources are extremely biased. The data we have is as non-biased as you can get - billions of dollars of claim information on virtually all brand/models. With all this information, do I purchase extended warranties on cars? Depends. If I'm going to keep a car with a lot of technology for a long enough period of time, I'll purchase them at cost plus $100 so the dealer associate can make a little $ but not the typical 100% mark-up.
Hope you get a C7 and enjoy the heck out of it!
Last edited by Hopper12; Jul 8, 2017 at 01:31 AM.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2017
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From: Chapel Hill NC
Extended Warranty
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 2,786
Likes: 2,327
From: Central UT
^^^^ As part of our risk oversight, we often help set the 'dealer costs' for different programs - not only in automotive, but also power sports, outdoor power, consumer electronics/appliances, etc.
I can't share the specific information, but here is what generally happens: we calculate the actual costs for different model/configurations, the OEM will add a small 'safety margin' and a small margin to cover internal costs, and this becomes the dealer cost that is generally marked up 100% by the dealer. This 100% mark up is where the real profits are in VSCs (many OEMs carry the risk themselves - if they use an insurance company to underwrite the risk, the u/w can also make quite a bit of profit. Not a fan of that structure, but there are reasons for it).
The best thing to do is find a dealer who is willing to take a cut on their margin. Here is one who is a forum sponsor who seems to do a really good job. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ion-plans.html
I can't share the specific information, but here is what generally happens: we calculate the actual costs for different model/configurations, the OEM will add a small 'safety margin' and a small margin to cover internal costs, and this becomes the dealer cost that is generally marked up 100% by the dealer. This 100% mark up is where the real profits are in VSCs (many OEMs carry the risk themselves - if they use an insurance company to underwrite the risk, the u/w can also make quite a bit of profit. Not a fan of that structure, but there are reasons for it).
The best thing to do is find a dealer who is willing to take a cut on their margin. Here is one who is a forum sponsor who seems to do a really good job. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ion-plans.html
Last edited by Hopper12; Jul 8, 2017 at 09:48 AM.
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From: Spring Texas
Race Director
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From: Hurst, TX USA
2014 owner here. two minor issues in 27K miles. Twice the infotainment screen rolled like an old TV set and had to be replaced and they had to replace a noisy belt dampener. All were done while I waited in the service waiting room during a normal service. And both were caused by defects that have been corrected in later years.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,904
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From: Cedar Falls Iowa
The most obvious reliability concern to me would be the automatic 8 speed. I bought a manual, and I'd only buy the car again with a manual. The reliability of the rest is probably no different than any other modern car.