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I'm helping my father look for a C7 and had some questions. I've been in the corvette world for 15yrs now and stay pretty current on everything, but I was hoping to get some long term reviews from guys that have owned a C7 for a while.
My old man is looking for a 15-18 2LT-3LT. I've had the opportunity to drive a fair amount of C7s from a friend that rents them. I've driven 14-18s including Stingrays, Grandsports and a Z06, with both the 7spd and 8spd. I rented my father an 18 Grandsport last year to go for a day cruise with me with my Vette.
Long story short, I know the C7s are amazing cars, but my experience with them has only been for short runs here and there. Like I said I'm hoping to get info on things like common issues, things to avoid etc. Specifically I've been told to watch out for 14s and 15s as they had a lot of electrical bugs. I'm really curious about this because we found a beautiful 15 Z51 3LT A8 with MSRC and with only 17k miles for a great price.
2016 added front camera and apple car play / android auto. These were big selling points for me compared to the 2014 / 2015. Some of the issues that have afflicted certain model years including bad paint jobs should be apparent and / or revealed in the car history reports.
They are all money pits. I've loved the C7 i had so much, Stingray, that I threw more money in the pit and bought a new Z06 last week. 5500 miles and 0 problems with my A8 in the old Stingray, of course i hooked it up to the RANGE AFM disabler as soon as i could. I bought a muscle car with 8 pounding cylinders, not a 4 banger. A8 put in my new Z06 too. A8 is good for an additional 100 hp above a Z06, up to 755hp in a ZR1. (I'll get on my personal opinion box for a sec and opine that the problem with the A8 comes when the motor electronics (Automatic Fuel Management) tries to lug the engine and takes it out of V8 balance to put it into V4 mode to save fuel. GM admits it causes severe vibrations in the drivetrain when this happens. So RANGE AFM eliminatior turns off AFM permanently. Case closed for me, now back to original report.) First Z06 checkup today for 500 mile oil change and complimentary alignment check: slightly out of alignment - fixed, and no other problems. Stingray was slightly out of alignment too first time for maintenance, easily fixed for free.
But jump back to the macro level. 145,000+ c7 corvettes produced since 2014 through 2019 (march.) Only 22% have been manuals. So over 113,000 C7 vettes running around out there with A8 trannys. now, go up to the first sticky on this forum, "A8 transmission failure tracking" graphs are hard to understand at first, but the bottom line numbers: 94 forum members reporting A8 problems. 94 problem trannys reported. 450,000 registered users on this forum.
For your creampuff. IF this car is at a Chevy dealer, ask why it is not a Certified Pre-Owned used car. CPO gives you a 1 year bumper to bumper warranty plus a years maintenance, plus 100k powertrain warranty, (which the 15 originally had, but newer models do not) IF not at a chevy dealership, get the VIN number and ask your local Chevy dealer to pull the maintenance records on it. IF possible get a Chevrolet Corvette Technician to do a pre-purchase inspection of it. Test drive it yourself and see if you can detect warbles or rumble strips when driving it at speeds up to 60mph.
I don't know the price but whatever it is, it is alot of money to not have perfect knowledge of the car you are considering buying. I've never met an 89 year old lady who is giving up her vette, which was only driven to church on sunday. Nobody ever sold the best car they ever owned, your detective work is to determine what flys are in this ointment and if can you live with them. Good hunting.
PS, what was my money pit problem on the original Stingray? one month after i bought it GM issued a Secret 10 year additional warranty on the gas tank: Special Coverage 17469. (you can find this coverage if applicable in the "my chevy" webpage for your car.) Seems the tank can split at the top and leak fumes and gas on the floor. They won't fix/replace the gas tank unless the owner complains of fumes (12 hours labor!) so their actuaries figure it is cheaper the car catch fire and deal with the lawyers after the fact. Ok if you live with it every day, but i keep my vette at my vacation home, gone months at a time, and don't want to come back to a charred car/house one day. I never claimed you were crawling into bed with Saint Mary Barra when you buy a Vette.
So it sounds like the A8 problem is similar to the A6 issues with the AFM. I have a 2014 Silverado that vibrates on the highway in V4. I know it's a common problem and a lot of guys fire the AFM delete.
The car is it a Audi dealer, but it's part of an auto group with a Chevy dealer. It's listed as a CPO through them, but not the same protection as a Chevy CPO (only 6mos). It has a clean, one owner carfax. I was thinking I'd try to pull the maintenance records from a gm dealer. I used to be a mechanic full time, and still do it part time at an independent shop. I've got a buddy that is a GM tech so I can have him pull all the info on it.
I did a little searching last night on the transmission and 3LT dash issue. What a shame with the dash. The 3LT is such a nice interior to have that kind of problem. It's a shame GM doesn't step up and correct these issues on their flagship.
As far as the money pit, did I mention I've owned a Vette for almost 15yrs?
OP, since you are looking at used Vettes...as part of your pre-purchase inspection have a diagnostics performed to make sure that the car has not been a tuned and is still set to factory specs. Any cost to have the diagnostics performed would be worth the peace of mind knowing any warranty would not be voided because of a prior tune. Best of luck with your search.
Sounds like a 2LT / 3LT Z51 or Grand Sport will do just fine for your Dad.
Z51 and GS have the same performance upgrades but the GS has additional/wider body panels and wider tires. It sounds like it will come down to what "look" he likes better - the Z51 or the GS. Definitely go with at least a 2LT...I suggest a 3LT for all the bells and whistles. I had a 2014 Z51 / 3LT (which was bulletproof) and had zero dash issues (as many have posted they too didn't have an issue) but then a few folks have posted they did have an issue...so make sure you look at the condition of the dash if you go 3LT.
Best of luck - you can't go wrong with either the Z51 or the GS.
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The A8 is the main problem in the ‘15-18 cars. Lots of reports on the forum about that issue, but remember there are a lot of owners that have no problems with the A8 also. If you can get an extended warranty thrown in, or at least at a good discount, it would be a smart move.
If your dad is planning to track the car, then one of the "Z" vettes is a good choice as their capabilities can only be truly used on the track. If he plans mostly GT cruising the Stingray still has power you can't legally use on the street. The additional systems and components on the Z cars means higher initial price and possibly more maintenance expense for something he isn't using. If it ain't on the car it can't break.
Agree that the 2LT is the best bang for the buck, as it gives the goodies missing on a 1LT and IMO the 3LT adds some cabin items that don't add to the functionality of the car.
Good hunting!
There have been reports of the following on a fairly consistent basis here (for what thats worth):
A8 Warble issue (torque converter)
3LT leather dash issues
GS/Z06 bent/cracked wheels
Do a search on each and you'll find many threads.
With all that said, find what you like and if you can get it at your price, do it. These cars are pretty reliable and great to drive. Best of luck.
I would also check the paint quality, especially where body panels meet each other. There seem to be a new thread every day about someone having paint issues ( peeling paint ).
So it sounds like the A8 problem is similar to the A6 issues with the AFM. I have a 2014 Silverado that vibrates on the highway in V4. I know it's a common problem and a lot of guys fire the AFM delete.
The car is it a Audi dealer, but it's part of an auto group with a Chevy dealer. It's listed as a CPO through them, but not the same protection as a Chevy CPO (only 6mos). It has a clean, one owner carfax. I was thinking I'd try to pull the maintenance records from a gm dealer. I used to be a mechanic full time, and still do it part time at an independent shop. I've got a buddy that is a GM tech so I can have him pull all the info on it.
I did a little searching last night on the transmission and 3LT dash issue. What a shame with the dash. The 3LT is such a nice interior to have that kind of problem. It's a shame GM doesn't step up and correct these issues on their flagship.
As far as the money pit, did I mention I've owned a Vette for almost 15yrs?
Good thinking to come on here for suggestions/advice. My thought is to utilize the experience of your GM tech buddy. I don't assume that he works exclusively, or even on C7s but it still will help that he knows "the system." There are some unique items for the Corvette of course which many techs who work on them daily would know about over the six year model run.
At some point you/your father will have to pull the trigger and buy or not, but so far you're doing the homework that counts for the long term benefit of owning the car. Just on this thread alone you've gleaned a couple of things, not least of which is that the gen is a bit different even from the prior gen. Good luck.
06-04-2019, 08:46 PM
C7 advice needed
