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I could use a few opinions on this situation....
Just bought a new 2018 stingray almost been a month now and discovered the rear hatch leaks water into the car, I dont have it in a garage so if it rains or i go thru a car wash water comes in enough so i need to put a rag there to keep the carpet from getting soaked.
Took it to a dealer close to my house ( not were i bought the car ). They could not figure out where the leak is coming from exactly but they assume its rear hatch related or the glass isn't sealed properly they dont know for sure what it is.
So....they give me my car back a week ago and say they'll get back to me....today they called me a said GM want's to replace the entire hatch, this means order a new one, once it gets here send it off to a body shop to get painted then pull the glass out of my current hatch and re do the whole thing. Prolly a couple weeks with out the car. Also not guaranteed this will fix the problem.
My question is... would you go-ahead with this plan ?
Here's the area i am talking about.... it leaks on both sides , passenger side leakes worse though.
Well it appears you don't have many options. Make sure you get a loner while its being done.
Yes it sucks but do it and if it solves your problem - good.
If there are problems after its done, the dealer has to make it good.
AND IGNORE THE POSTERS THAT SAY "CALL A LAWYER"
Well it appears you don't have many options. Make sure you get a loner while its being done.
Yes it sucks but do it and if it solves your problem - good.
If there are problems after its done, the dealer has to make it good.
AND IGNORE THE POSTERS THAT SAY "CALL A LAWYER"
thanks for your thoughts!
the problem is... i dont want a new car with a re sprayed rear hatch! what if the paint doesn't match color wise or orange peel ect ect ( iam pretty picky and paint for a living )... there are a lot of what if's here. bottom line its a total hassle and not what i thought i was buying.
thanks for your thoughts!
the problem is... i dont want a new car with a re sprayed rear hatch! what if the paint doesn't match color wise or orange peel ect ect ( iam pretty picky and paint for a living )... there are a lot of what if's here. bottom line its a total hassle and not what i thought i was buying.
Yeah, I agree. You said it leaks in the car wash, why not go through with a flashlight and watch and see if you can see where it is leaking. Or lay back there and have someone pressure wash it a bit (not too close though). If you can find where it is leaking you might be able to just replace a seal instead.
^^^ That's what I'd do. Crawl back there and have somebody hit the car with a hose. You should be able to figure out where it's coming in.
From there - it should be an easy fix. Could be the seal around the rear glass, could be the weather stripping around the hatch, but it's definitely not the "hatch" itself. I don't see what replacing it would accomplish that pulling the rear glass and/or replacing the weatherstripping wouldn't do separately.
on crawling in the hatch and doing some investigating on your own at first.
And then, if you still have doubts the new hatch would fix the problem, and if you are concerned about paint match, I would at least request that the dealer paints and assembles a complete new hatch (new glass, new weatherstripping,...) because re-using your old parts would probably look like a mess anyway in the end. That way, if the new hatch does not fix the problem, at least you can put the old original one back on, and keep looking for the real solution...
As a suggestion to find the leak...try spraying the hard panel parts with baby powder or talcum powder...when the water leaks in, it will leave a trail in the powder. After a few trys, you should be able to track down the entry point. The powder will clean up with a little soap and water.
The hatch assembly is not a very complex design. If there are no holes or gaps in the weather-stripping, then the only other thing that can leak is the seal between the glass and the hatch. because of the channel around the weather-stripping, I would expect it is the seal around the glass, but it happening on both sides seems unlikely.
I am no expert, but I once stayed at a Holiday Inn...
Seriously, I would try this. I saw this done on the Wheel Dealer show on Velocity. Edd China is very cleaver. He rented a smoke machine, you know like a theater would use. He closed the windows on the car with the machine on and a few minutes later he could easily see where the smoke was leaking out from the window.
I have found that most Stealerships don't know how to deal with window seals. They usually farm out that work to outside specialists.
The other thing is to check the laws of your state. Document EVERYTHING, and when you qualify under the Lemon Law in your state - Lemon it if you are not happy. It varies, but something like usually 30 days in the shop or 3 visits for the same repair.
Last edited by Flame Red; Apr 25, 2018 at 08:43 AM.
I would try and eliminate and isolate the problem. First I would tape the seam up completly between hatch and body and spray with water, if it leaks then your problem is with the window seal if not it is the seal on the hatch area. It has to be one or the other. I have done this on my previous C5 and it works. Good luck
I'm really surprised this didn't raise it's little head when GM put the car through the high pressure water test at the factory. Got to wonder if something happened during delivery.
I'm really surprised this didn't raise it's little head when GM put the car through the high pressure water test at the factory. Got to wonder if something happened during delivery.
Yeah like the guy at the factory really cares. Maybe it was quitting time.
I'm really surprised this didn't raise it's little head when GM put the car through the high pressure water test at the factory. Got to wonder if something happened during delivery.
bingo! It’s a brand new car , had I bought a used car that would be a different story and a different conversation.
when you buy something from a store and it doesn’t work properly you simply return it..
spent 47k on a brand new Corvette and it has problems from day one why is this my problem now?
I know this comes off sounding like I am a whiny little crybaby but I’m wondering if anyone else here understands my point ? Try and put yourself in my shoes with your Corvette.
frankly it’s just a base Car nothing special every Chevy dealerships gets a few of these ...honestly I want to give them my car back and they can give me a Nother that’s what I would like to do before I start going down the road of having this thing worked on.
When I picked up my 14 Z51 we saw a flaw in the rear hatch (looked like a dent). We told the dealer that we would not except a repair, we wanted a new hatch that was painted at the factory. They agreed after a few phone calls and 4 weeks later the new hatch (painted) arrived. 4 years later and all is good. I wish you well with correcting this issue.
bingo! It’s a brand new car , had I bought a used car that would be a different story and a different conversation.
when you buy something from a store and it doesn’t work properly you simply return it..
spent 47k on a brand new Corvette and it has problems from day one why is this my problem now?
I know this comes off sounding like I am a whiny little crybaby but I’m wondering if anyone else here understands my point ? Try and put yourself in my shoes with your Corvette.
frankly it’s just a base Car nothing special every Chevy dealerships gets a few of these ...honestly I want to give them my car back and they can give me a Nother that’s what I would like to do before I start going down the road of having thprobablyis thing worked on.
I would not let them touch the car. Get in the hatch have someone run a water hose. You will probably find the leak yourself. Or bring it to a good body shop have them find it. Replacing the hatch is like cutting off your foot for a toe nail. Regarding you argument about bringing it back,, going in,,when you buy from GM you just never know what you will get wrong.
Last edited by kaplana08; Apr 25, 2018 at 01:52 PM.
Reason: spelling
When I picked up my 14 Z51 we saw a flaw in the rear hatch (looked like a dent). We told the dealer that we would not except a repair, we wanted a new hatch that was painted at the factory. They agreed after a few phone calls and 4 weeks later the new hatch (painted) arrived. 4 years later and all is good. I wish you well with correcting this issue.
interesting .... maybe that’s the way I should approach this .
if they agreed to send a new hatch with factory paint I guess I would be cool with that, once I agree to a repair then there is no turning back .
The other thing that bothers me is they still don’t know why it’s leaking so they’re just throwing parts at it.
Is the hatch aligned properly is it being pulled all the way down?
I would not let them replace it until you can verify that is the problem
That was my first question to them ...is this thing out of adjustment? Their response was there are only a few small adjustments that can be made and our tech didn’t feel there was any issues there.
this is what they said..either the window seal is defective or the hatch itself is deformed in someway Even though we still don’t know where water is coming from Replacing the entire hatch “should” fix it.
after a long conversation with the service advisor even he admitted If it was his car he wouldn’t have the rear hatch replaced !!!!!!! How about that crazy
I'm on my sixth (actually 7th, but that's another story)... Corvette. I have amassed more than 700,000 miles in Corvettes. I have had Corvettes serviced, for one reason or another, in California, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida. There may be another or two, but I've forgotten.
The people who made your car want to replace the rear hatch under warranty to resolve a leak. This is a no brainer - do it.
Why in the world would you want to do all the nonsense that others are suggesting here?
Your Corvette - as special as it is to you - is a mass produced car.
GM/Corvette will make it good. Quit worrying about the car, get it fixed, and get on with your life.
Flame away fellow Vette owners... flame away!
I'm on my sixth (actually 7th, but that's another story)... Corvette. I have amassed more than 700,000 miles in Corvettes. I have had Corvettes serviced, for one reason or another, in California, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida. There may be another or two, but I've forgotten.
The people who made your car want to replace the rear hatch under warranty to resolve a leak. This is a no brainer - do it.
Why in the world would you want to do all the nonsense that others are suggesting here?
Your Corvette - as special as it is to you - is a mass produced car.
GM/Corvette will make it good. Quit worrying about the car, get it fixed, and get on with your life.
Flame away fellow Vette owners... flame away!
Rear hatch replacement HELP!
on crawling in the hatch and doing some investigating on your own at first.
