22HTC

Hey everyone. Long time corvette owner and all around car enthusiast. I’ve owned a c5Z, c6Z, c7Z, and most recently took delivery of an AO HTC 10 days ago from Hendrick Chevrolet in Cary NC. That being said, I drove the car around town, put 40 miles on the clock by the time I got it back to my driveway. My wife came out to see the obnoxiously orange midlife crisis machine I purchased and wasn’t really impressed at all. She wasn’t impressed, not by the pure joy on my face, but because I went to show her the fully automatic convertible feature and the convertible top got stuck halfway through it’s cycle. She said, and I quote “Wow….that’s great.” So I called the dealership and they sent a tech out to take a look at it, all the time I’m hoping it was user error on my part. He came and spent about an hour looking through codes, resetting windows, even disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it (I know now how to access the battery at least, yikes). In short, there was nothing he could do, this was a Saturday and he assured me that someone would get a hold of me on Monday. Monday came around and they found a covered trailer to haul my car back to the dealership on Tuesday. Wednesday of last week they started the process of figuring out the issue, by Thursday they were confident that they nailed down the problem and had the part overnighted for installation on Friday. Friday they said the corvette tech was on the phone with GM and a field engineer was in the area to take a look at the problem. Apparently the problem is that since the top is neither completely up or completely down they are having a hard time programming it to work. End of Friday and the general manager rang me up and said that the issue wasn’t fixed and nobody works Saturday and Sunday but assured me that he was sorry and he would make sure that the car would be detailed and a care package would be sent when they dropped off the car at my house this week. I don’t really know why they would have to detail a car with 46 miles on it but, whatever. Anyway, I waited until around 2 in the afternoon to get a status update and was sent to voicemail and about an hour later I got a call. “They are working on it with GM but they haven’t made any progress, we will keep you up to date when we find anything out.” Now it’s Tuesday, I’m hoping they can pinpoint the issue and fix it. Now the problem I have is, they had no issue cashing my check, they have my money and I have a very expensive toy that was rendered useless after 40 miles of driving. I’ve been sold a defective product that they have no idea how to fix. This has sucked all the joy out of the experience of finally getting my grubby hands on one of these cars. Buyers remorse abounds. At this rate my plate and title will come in the mail before they can fix it. The display was reading “obstruction” when I engage the convertible button. Has anyone else had an issue like this? I breezed through these forums and couldn’t find anything like this but may have missed it. If so….HELP ME! Lol. Thanks for listening and I know people will say “should’ve gotten a coupe” which is really helpful after the fact.

Route99

Welcome to the Forum, and congratulations (hopefully) on your C8!
Bummer about the roof issue. I am sure many can share your angst with a major purchase having a glitch right out of the box.
I would encourage you to post your info in the C8 section. This is a "hello" section with members ranging from C1 to C8 owners, where in the C8 section, almost everyone there has or is waiting for their C8 and you will have a better shot at HTC information.
Best wishes for a quick fix (although it is already too long), and hopefully your C8 joy experience will return!

Vetteman Jack

Moving this to C8 General.

Phil1098

Number one, since their crystal ball was out getting polished, why would they have had an issue cashing your check? Have they told you come get it, because it can't be fixed, that's all you get for your money? I doubt they have given up, it's a machine and it can/will be fixed. That's WHY all manufacturers provide a warranty. Failures occur on a bath tub shaped curve, they are highest when new (because it's man made on we screw stuff up) and at the end of it's useful life. Sorry it's in the shop, but it will be fixed and you will enjoy it for as long as you would like to after it's done.

Joynt

Sorry to read this. That has to be frustrating. I hope they can figure out the problem and find a quick solution. The C8 really is a fun car - hope you get past this soon and on to the fun part.

22HTC

So I stopped by the dealership this morning shortly after my post. The tech working on the car found the issue, to my knowledge replaced two motors a sensor and the door switch that was cutting out. He raised and lowered the top half a dozen times while I was standing there and it seems in working order. They said that this was a “one off” case that they haven’t encountered. I was just the lucky one they could use my car as a guinea pig. I’m glad they figured it out and now have a baseline if something similar happens to another HTC in the future. That being said, I realize there are a ton of moving parts and yes there are a ton of things that could go wrong with the top. I was hesitant about going for the convertible even though it was heavier (but not heavy enough to really effect the performance). As for the difficulty of modding the car, I promised myself I wouldn’t do that. My c6Z was twin turbo with a built engine and meth pushing around 1100 rwhp. You want to talk about things that can go wrong? Lol. I’m going to keep my C8 stock and until the warranty runs out, not touch it. Hoping to get a call from Hendrick before the rains set in so I can get it back to my garage. Thanks all for the support and if something else happens I’ll be sure to return to this thread.

LIE2ME

For whatever it's worth, from what I have read, the tops on these HTCs have been relatively problem free and I am surprised you have had all this difficulty. I would suggest to give the dealer more time to repair the mechanism and give your C8 experience a fresh start. These are truly amazing machines and in the long run, I believe you will be happy...

22HTC

Hey Phil. I get your point and I’m a pretty anxious guy. Hope you can understand my trepidation though.

gearup72

Be patient my friend. My car had the check engine light come on before delivery. I had to decide to accept the car or walk. I took delivery and the CEL came back on in the first week. They changed the ECU and O2 sensor. I have put 8,500 miles on it without issue and love the car. So, my advice is to give them time to fix the issue. The car is worth the wait!

Foosh

I'm in the "don't worry column." This problem should be easily fixable once identified and likely never re-occur.

90sundevil

Wasn't there some post on here about the top not working and having to drill a hole in the top liner to get to the problem.

LANZ06

That is only if the top is in tHe closed position and will not open.

Phil1098

I'd have a bigger concern that my wife hates the car. The car will get fixed.................

heisnuts

Same here. I am actually impressed to hear the dealer took care of getting the car back to the dealer and have been very communicative and honest as to what has been happening while they have had your car. There would have been a lot of other dealers who would have directed you to Chevy's road side assistance number and then not given you any updates as the car was sitting on their lot.

I know it is really frustrating and disappointing, but hang in there as once everything is fixed and you are back in the drivers seat all of that will fade away and the smile will be back as you are enjoying a car that has over a 8 month wait currently to buy at MSRP.

BryanKlingele

I encourage you to read this thread since I've already been there and hopefully this will also assist your dealer with a solution.

Bryan

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-problems.html

PColasanto

The HTC is totally worth it when you get it working. Sucks but I echo those saying to be patient. In fact, you'll have to be even more patient, because the miles from 40-500 will be even more painful. But once you get there, man this car kicks ***.

Best of luck!

Korbek

Have the dealer check the wiring for all the HTC mechanisms. There have been HTC failures reported here on the forum due to wiring not being properly set into the grooves or whatever you call it where they normally reside. Difficult problem to pin down which could explain why your dealer hasn't found the issue.

Hopefully it is as simple as that and good luck! I've owned HTC roadsters for the last 13.5 years (four Mercedes SLKs and now my C8 I picked up last week). Have never had a single issue and I hope that luck continues. Problems can be a disappointing PITA but once it is fixed you won't regret it. At least not because of the HTC mechanism.

Grey

Well guy first welcome to the joint. There have been a few cases of the top stuck issues here on the forum. Most Likely a sensor out of adjustment, they can get that corrected. Does take some time to go thru the entire sequence of steps to find the gremlin within. But after that you'll be fine. You'll find plenty of good advise and help on here and some stupid chit as well so sort it out you'll be fine.

So the car will be corrected,------ the matter of a pissed off southern lady, that one is not under warranty it's gonna cost ya. Have you bought a new kitchen recently? Maybe one of the English Green houses. I could give you my philosophy on the subject, but its not considered wokey.

NextOne

OP: Hang in there. Good to hear the responses you've gotten thus far from Hendrick. Impressed they sent out an enclosed trailer to pick it up.

Big Lebowski

Op: Sorry your experiencing and I get that it took the luster off your new car experience. The HTC is amazing and GM will get it fixed...eventually. I would be feeling the same way you are, but be patient...it will be worth the wait. Gratefully, no issues with my HTC (knock on wood) and I love it.