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Write a letter to Mary Barra. Not kidding. That’s a joke. GM touted their super expensive UV additive they developed with the C6 ZR1. Clearly there’s a supplier issue.
I contacted Chevrolet Custom Care via phone regarding this to potentially escalate things, however that didn't go to plan. I was informed that because the dealership has already submitted a claim to GM with photographs and I was provided the technical document stating that the discoloration is normal there is nothing that could be done. I explained that the issues described in the technical document only pertains to one portion of my concerns, the discoloration, and the delamination noted was left unacknowledged... I was instructed to bring the vehicle back to the dealership and have them submit another claim regarding just the delamination without mention of the discoloration and proceed from there. Unfortunately I feel like I'll just be running around in circles and I'm not going out of my way to drive to the dealership and back for just this (20 miles each way). I will likely end up doing this to humor things, but I am not hopeful regarding the situation - I fully believe that my only option will be refinishing the pieces which I really don't want to do.
In the interim I have drafted a letter that will be submitted to Chevrolet Customer Care and General Motors detailing the situation, my history of GM performance vehicle ownership, and dissatisfaction with what is occurring to their halo car. The letter will include detailed photos and history of the failures - some of those photos I have included below:
This photo is from when I took delivery of the vehicle. I had observed the small dot circled in the exposed carbon fiber but figured it may have been a minor manufacturing defect and wasn't worth noting. I guess the joke is on me since it has propagated to the issue now at hand.
This is a close-up showing the current condition of the exposed carbon fiber on the hood of my vehicle. Note that it has significantly discolored overtime, and the forward most portion is covered in the marks... Unfortunately I am now seeing more and more of those small dots appear on the engine cover as well as shown here.
Close-up look at the imperfections beginning to appear on the engine cover.
The two photos above provide a visual of how much the carbon fiber has discolored relative to it's original state. Note that only the locations fully exposed have discolored hinting that this is caused by UV exposure and not heat... All other exposed carbon fiber components of the vehicle are the same as they were when new.
I visited the dealership once more as directed by Chevrolet Customer Care and spoke with the service manager regarding the matter. As CCC requested I had the service manager resubmit a claim regarding only the delamination issues and not the yellowing - I won't hold my breath on this though.
While speaking with the service manager he informed me that he not only sent the initial claim to GM, but it was also sent to the Corvette Brand Quality Manager, no specific names were mentions but I know that to be Jeff Strausser. He says that he was told the issue is "just chipping from road debris". I didn't respond to that statement, but if it were road rash I have a hard time seeing how it can be concentrated on that lone piece and the rest of the nose is pretty much fine and the rash would be felt by the touch...
Does anyone know if Mr. Strausser is on this forum, or if there is a way I can reach him? I'd like to send a copy of my letter to him as well.
Does anyone know if Mr. Strausser is on this forum, or if there is a way I can reach him? I'd like to send a copy of my letter to him as well.
I'll get it to him. He's a very very good guy. Met him at Carlisle in 2016 seen him there every year since. Hes hung out with me at my reserved spot and we shot the **** for a while. He loves these cars very passionate and when things aren't handled in a reasonable way he gets steamed about it. He's personally helped me with my 2016 and the reason I had the faith to order a late 2019 Z06 to my spec (I have an exposed cf roof but not the hood as I was worried about color match - none do because they're painted by the vendor not at the plant - neither are the mirrors or the roofs but the edges of the roof is nothing and the mirrors stick out off the car it's not terrible like the hood. So bad in certain light I couldn't live with that).
I have his cell and email. I cant imagine how busy he is with C8 but he usually answers me back within a reasonable time.
I've put him in contact with people on here before and many have responded back that he stepped in and handled the issues.
I'll get it to him. He's a very very good guy. Met him at Carlisle in 2016 seen him there every year since. Hes hung out with me at my reserved spot and we shot the **** for a while. He loves these cars very passionate and when things aren't handled in a reasonable way he gets steamed about it. He's personally helped me with my 2016 and the reason I had the faith to order a late 2019 Z06 to my spec (I have an exposed cf roof but not the hood as I was worried about color match - none do because they're painted by the vendor not at the plant - neither are the mirrors or the roofs but the edges of the roof is nothing and the mirrors stick out off the car it's not terrible like the hood. So bad in certain light I couldn't live with that).
I have his cell and email. I cant imagine how busy he is with C8 but he usually answers me back within a reasonable time.
I've put him in contact with people on here before and many have responded back that he stepped in and handled the issues.
Thank you SO much! This is what I love about forums, a community with common interests coming together to help others out. Fingers crossed!
At Ron Fellows school. Most cars looked good. The attached car didn’t. From the number of chips in front fascia and hood, this car has been here a while.
At Ron Fellows school. Most cars looked good. The attached car didn’t. From the number of chips in front fascia and hood, this car has been here a while.
Ouch!!! I think that they got all of the ZR1's at one time. There is video of them being driven there.
The various parts catalogue websites online (e.g. GM Parts Direct) has them all listed...
Hood
List Price: $9,584.79
"Sale" Price: $6,239.69
Insulator (Blower Cover)
List Price: $3,823.50
"Sale" Price: $2,364.65
ouch! That’s why GM doesn't want to replace them. GM should be meeting with the supplier and Getting this corrected. It looks like an issue with the spec/build/manufacturing process.
Someone is producing an aftermarket product that vents the part above the supercharger- is this part having the same issue?
as a ZR1 wannabe, i am sorry to learn of this new GM pushback on CF body parts. If I am fortunate to buy one of these, the first stop will be to a paint shop to paint the exposed carbon fiber parts to body color to prevent further degradation. It's not keeping original, but I can't keep spending 10 grand every few years to keep carbon fiber exposed. As to receiving GM satisfaction, the following motion made by GM (February 2020) in a NC court to dismiss the "Chevy Shake" reveals the GM cards in legal actions:
Here are the highlights:
First, GM says its warranty doesn’t cover design defects.
Second, it talks about the law of merchantability. Legally, new cars have to work. But, GM says that doesn’t mean they have to be perfect. It means they have to drive and GM says they do.
Third, GM says the case doesn't meet the requirements for a class action.
Good luck with the GM warranty claim chain of command. And if you are so fortunate to get new parts, do consider painting them to keep this from re-occurring.
CF yellowing has been a common defect known since the first supercars used it.
Before we all start a Corona type Panic , if YOU have a LEGIT problem not caused by road rash, coatings, PPF wrongly applied etc , sometimes Chevy Customer Service and/ or some Dealerships have NO clue how to handle it. Let me know. Ill check with the General. All the speculation what they may or may not do is
Going to bump this back up for a presumably final update...
I did manage to generate a case with General Motors on an "executive" level, unsure if it arose from the letters distributed or from connections via the forum. Regardless I've been having phone conversations with my assigned contact for the first month primarily discussing the issues/concerns at hand, elaborating on the letter and photos provided, coordinating with the dealership, etc. Essentially what it boiled down to is that the dealership has told GM that the delamination/bubbling is "chipping" and because of that GM cannot help further on the matter. I pushed back a bit stating that a majority of the "chipping" cannot even be felt by touch, but it was a moot point as they said nothing can be changed even if I went to another dealership and they stated otherwise (i.e. not chipping). So pretty much because one person at my local dealership denoted it as "chipping" that is the final ruling.
Honestly - I forget what I paid for it. I did buy it during one of their "sales" and then waited 6 months to get it as it was during a period Weapon-X was having quality problems with their CF maker. I understand that many of the pieces they were getting were being rejected in their QA receiving process.
While the wait was a PITA I'd a lot rather have it that way instead of getting something that didn't fit or with some other problem.
The interior of cowl vent is "empty" and the suction created by the vent allows the intercoolers to "breathe" much better. The slotted L brackets that the cowl attaches to (using the hardware the previous cover used and also attach to the engine have some vertical adjustment available by loosening the engine attach bolts and pushing them down. I also increased the slot height on the engine side of the bracket with a dremel so the vent would sit and bit lower to increase the clearance between the vent and the edges of the hood.
I've had no clearance issues. Being taller the new cowl does intrude slightly into the bottom of the HUD display slightly but it is not a distraction.
The forward hood extraction vent "wing/flow director" is also a part of the "kit" and is in black so there is not a CF "color" mismatch between the two pieces. The factory forward vent was GM yellow.
Going to bump this back up for a presumably final update...
So pretty much because one person at my local dealership denoted it as "chipping" that is the final ruling.
OP, sorry to hear this. GM should have corrected the problem if it was not the result of everyday use. That would have been the proper and fair way to handle the situation. I guess they were convinced it was not their responsibility.
02-13-2020, 10:32 PM
