Yes, work was performed in 2021. Car was still under the GM “Certified” used car warranty and the 3 year bumper to bumper warranty continuation.

FYI I did find 2 GM Technical Service Bulletins :

01-08-42-001M issued 2020 and 01-08-42-001K issued 2017. I can’t download them on my phone but you can find them and print them off or pdf file them on line. There may be others.

The TSB’s are vague at best with more focus on what isn’t warranty i.e. impact damage, cleaning chemical breakdown etc. The 001M reaffirms that the headlights are vented and will cloud up internally even in a high humidity environment but allegedly clear up once the light heats up the internal bezel housing. That’s all well and good but hard water stains don’t magically lift off with heat and drying. If anything it likely compounds the problem.

With my 19’Z I was told from the selling dealer in FL that the previous owner washed the car at the local power car wash regularly. So much so that the rear view camera had water in it making an interesting view on the heads-up display. There was also water in the license plate light bezel/s. Of course those two items weren’t covered under warranty yet failed due to the same reason.

So I went 1 for 2 with the more expensive headlights replacement under warranty due to the “safety issue” which is apparently how my local dealer processed it thru GM.

At any event it was another timely point to have the rear lower CF panel refinished and repainted due to road rash when it was removed and then added PPF.

I still believe you should pursue it further thru a good dealer.

Also wondering if the aftermarket headlight assemblies are any better than the factory headlights. They definitely cost less.

 

I recently got to see the C8 Z06/Z07 car at the dealership tour (the yellow one) and the headlights already had the streaking inside. This is a car that definitely doesn't have PPF on it and likely hasn't been driven a whole lot. With that said, it still has the same issue so odds are very good your replacement headlights will as well, unfortunately.

 

I can’t believe this problem is carrying over to the C8 ZO6! I was thinking of someday getting one (maybe) I rather have your C7 ZR1. It’s very discouraging to know most likely will have this problem. Really makes me want to run out and put well over $100,000 for one 🧐

 

My ZR1 has the issue too and my warranty will be running out shortly. I'll be making a trip to the dealership before that happens, though. Check out the problems I found with the new C8 Z06 here:

 

Thanks for the link👍Hopefully they take care of that for you. I love your ZR1 better then any C8 IMHO I want it! 😭

 

Oh my goodness! Isn’t there any quality control anymore

 

I do, too! I sold my C8 in preparation for the Z06, though and the headlight issue is definitely disappointing considering it's been happening since at least the C7 generation maybe longer. It's something that should have been fixed by now but here we are. I'm going to get GM to warranty my headlights on my C7 and watch them very closely to see if it happens again to the new ones or not.

 

You may be more right than you know.

Your thought got me thinking. Anyone been to the Bowling Green assembly plant and actually seen the Corvette production line process? I haven’t.

Question is does BG leak test every vehicle with a heavy dousing of water spray, lights on wipers going etc. as part of the assembly process?

If true GM is likely recycling and reusing the water being applied during the leak test to the vehicles. There also may be high pressure air centrifuges blowing the excess water off the vehicles as they exit their respective leak test station/s.

If that’s all true it could very well be the first time the headlight lenses get their 1st application of internal hard water stains we are experiencing. Pretty average.

 

I am now at the BBB for autos or step 3 in there warrenty booklet when getting screwed. I can't believe they feel they do not need to warranty this part on new cars . Thanks for all the info and all these responses tells me it wasnt me and GM has a problem.. This is a hugly expensive repair and we should not have to pay for or deal with this just to get them to fix it. Thanks again , will see what the BBB thing and maybe a YouTube video does.

 

So there is apparently two rounds of water testing at Bowling Green Assembly. Here’s comments from the Corvette museum:

After the Dynamic Vehicle Test (DVT) is what’s known as Launch Water Test, a water test that is much longer than the standard water test (more than 250% longer), a supplemental water test to the standard test, was proposed by the plant and is not performed elsewhere. “When we bring a new vehicle to production, trying to seal a car up is more difficult than you might think. For all intents and purposes this test really submerges the car so we can find leaks.” Kai also shared that this particular test they can earn their way out of by making sure they don’t have leaks and reduce it to an audit.

Then following Customer Acceptance Review and Evaluation CARE is the normal water test with 110 different checks.


In short there’s plenty of water (recycled ?) dousing
vehicles during the production assembly process.

I’m now even more confident this just may be a possible source of the headlight internal hard water stains that miraculously show up at the dealerships on new vehicles after delivery and a bit of drying time.

 

By the time our C6 had 90k miles, the headlight lenses were pretty beat up. I purchased a rebuilt set with new lenses from a private rebuilder somewhere in the South, probably Florida.
I don't recall the details, but they were poor enough that I returned them to the seller for refund, bit the bullet and bought new GM $$$.

 

That's some awesome information. I bet you are right . GM should be covering this as a warranty item we shouldnt have to live with it. Obviously it leaks or doesnt drain somehow. Over time will get worse I would guess. Thanks so much for this assistance

 

It's not just C7's and C8's, my CTS has the same issue.............

 

Unbelievable, and I suppose dont warranty them either . No more GM for me. Never had issues with Acura or Honda . In fact had Acura years ago just fell out of warranty buy about 1k miles . Took in for what was a $500 part alone. They repaired and called it goodwill warrenty . Have bought 4 Acura since then. No more GM and will be selling this thing, nice looking but stops there.

 

Had moisture in the headlights in my Audi S5. Unlike the C7 the lights in the S5 were easy to take out. It was not a sealed system. There was a vent hole at the bottom. I assume it was humidity. Used a hair dryer to get rid of the water.