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I just got my C8 delivered last week. I am the first owner of the car and today I was driving up PCH towards Malibu. Went up to 100-110 mph at times. Drove for about 100 miles. I stopped to get something to eat. Got back in my car and proceeded up the canyons for some spirited driving. The car is already broken in at 1300 miles.
I decided to pull off the road to take some pictures of the car. I put the car in park with the parking brake on and left the engine running. After I got the shots I wanted, I proceeded to drive down the canyon and within 15 seconds I heard the front hood latch click/thump (same sound you hear when you press the button to pop the hood) right before I saw the hood fly up and heard a snap. Luckily the hood did not hit my front windshield. I had my windows down and my roof off, did not have the radio on and it was quiet road. There were no warning lights that the hood latch was open/disengaged. Even when the hood flew up, there was no indicator light or beeping.
I put the hood back down as carefully as I could. There is some damage on both my front fenders (clear coat gouged) and the hood hinge is definitely bent. I had no choice but to try my best to close the hood since I was in an area with no reception in order to keep driving. In the closed position, the hood is now about 3/4 to 1 inch lower than each fender. Super paranoid I tried to drive as slowly as I can home, but I did reach speed up to 55 mph. Thankfully it did not happen again.
I saw youtube videos and even read articles where youtubers and GM spokesperson blames it on user error. I guarantee you guys this is not user error. I even reviewed the photos I took 15 seconds before it happened. My hood was definitely closed. I did not open the front trunk for the last 100 miles either. It should have blown open at 100mph if that was indeed the case.
First 2 are photos taken 15-30 seconds before the hood flies open.
Sorry to hear. Your case is very typical of this. I'm losing track but I'm counting 12 cases now in the forums.
Mine is the video on YouTube and similar circumstances with no warning. I used the PDR as a dashcam, so far the only person to catch it happening. I recommend everyone uses their PDR this way.
There is likely damage to the hood attachment points, there is another thread here showing an extreme example. Look for cracking around the back of the hood attachment. But likely that the hood is toast. Likewise the hinges. The fenders need to come off to attach the hinges and should get repaired and repainted along with a new hood.
Anything in your Frunk. Presume you will take this to the dealer and try to get them to repair this under warranty. Let us know what GM does or does nothing.
Another poster @Rudyq also had this happen and added theirs to the thread. This picture illustrates the cracking at the hood attachment. Mine had a crack starting in this area as well.
Did you not know about this issue? I don't think I would drive it until I got it fixed or at least mechanically secured somehow.
There is no fix from GM so it comes down to owners coming up with creative solutions. I think GM expecting people to randomly know about this issue and provide their own fix is not a good solution.
GM needs to retrofit ALL new C8's with a mechanical, secondary safety latch and divide the compartment as to reduce the area so there is no way for a small child to fit in there. This is not acceptable under any circumstances.
GM needs to retrofit ALL new C8's with a mechanical, secondary safety latch and divide the compartment as to reduce the area so there is no way for a small child to fit in there. This is not acceptable under any circumstances.
^ This
They should send their engineers to take a look at the 911 they acquired to benchmark the C8 against.
Not only does it have a mechanical-only safety latch, the child release handle in the frunk is a large lever connected to a cable that must be pulled outward, as opposed to a button push "generating electrons."
That also cures the issue GM is alluding to as "operator error." The Porsche frunk lid is latched by the purely mechanical secondary even if not fully closed.
I imagine it was quite scary when it occurred. Glad no one was hurt.
Another urging to report this to NHTSA. The more data the NHTSA and GM have the quicker it can be escalated and resolved. I think the no warning light and chime may be an important clue. I think the same was stated in the other thread. Perhaps a sensor that tells the computer the latch is open, or the car is moving is failing or having connectivity issues. Where was your FOB when the hood opened? Did you open the frunk when you stopped to take pictures? Not saying you left it open, it looks fully closed. Just trying to understand the sequence of events. Small details matter. When enough details are given, then maybe a pattern will appear between all the failures. Mechanical failures are usually easy to identify, something is broken and it stays broken when they check. Electronic or programming gremlins can be much harder.
I am glad I pulled my fuse at the dealership before taking mine home. They need to retrofit a mechanical secondary latch NOW. They only have about 6,000 cars built, way better to do it now before they have 20,000 built, multiple lawsuits, deaths, and any bigger of a black eye than this already is.
08-03-2020, 12:54 AM
SERIOUS PROBLEM: Hood opened at 30mph
