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Last year my neighbor Klaudia came over and informed me of her 2020 C8 HTC "Cable failure", and how she had to use a wire tie to help close the convertible top. This week while putting the top up on my 2022 C8 convertible in our driveway, I heard a sudden binding sound, then I noticed my top was not operating properly, turns out the same cable as Klaudia's broke or malfunctioned on my car. I imagine that if two neighbors that don't travel together and have various year C8 productions, this must be a problem through at least a two-year production line. I am taking my car in today for the repairs, but I would love to know if anyone else is having this problem? On both of our cars, the Cable issue has been on the Driver's side, and in order to close the top, you have to fold under the retracting black trim piece (I don't know what this is called). Folding the black trim piece is not a fix but will allow the top to close until you can get your car in for repairs.
Separate issue I experienced involving the convertible top. A few months ago, while putting the top up I also heard a loud sudden binding sound. When I looked to see what happened I noticed the paint where the trunk and convertible top come together at a raised profile point, both trunk and top have a 1/4" chip of paint missing showing the white composite body panel (Driver's side also). I took the car to my Dealer's Body Shop, where I was informed the trunk was not properly aligned during production. This repair is also being taken care of with this Body Shop / Repair visit today.
GM Premium Platinum DOES NOT cover it. I just found out today for my 5 year old 2021 C8. I plan on the zip tie method until I figure out a path forward. Dealership repair bill would have been $1229.71
IMPORTANT EDIT: The dealership was the one that told me the repair was not covered, so I called GM Platinum Warranty (800.743.7896) myself, to ask why. The first guy said "it should be covered', so I said I would like to speak to someone with authority that could give me a definitive answer. After providing him with the part numbers of the cable and the cable/bracket, I was told it indeed was covered, and to have the dealer call again.
I relayed this information to my service adviser, and 10 minutes later I received a thumbs up call from him.
........ I took the car to my Dealer's Body Shop, where I was informed the trunk was not properly aligned during production. This repair is also being taken care of with this Body Shop / Repair visit today.
That same issue can also happen if you put something in the trunk that affects the closing of the lid. It does not take much, and it is not necessarily noticeable especially since it auto closes. I have put something in there that just gently touched the trunk lid as it closed - and I noticed that on the edge toward the front of the car, it was very slightly raised. And there is very little clearance there in the first place - so that slightly raised edge will contact the tonneau when it lifts - at least one forum member reported that happening due to something in the trunk.
My right side "pod" did not retract while putting the top up when I was on vacation in the mountains.
Luckily I was able to manually tuck the pod under as the hatch was retracting on it's own. (slowly going down)
Managed to get it locked down so I wouldn't get wet driving home. (500+ miles)
I heard a noise after putting the top up prior to this failure. (about an hour before)
I was sitting at a pull over with the engine off. Then I heard a loud noise. Like something hitting the car.
Maybe it was the cable. I put the top down when I was at Deal's Gap and when I tried to put it up again the pod didn't retract.
Heading to the dealer soon. My car was built on 06/30/21. It will be 2 years old in a day.
Just took my 23 in for the first oil change and dealer advised convertible cable had broken, and added its the third one in 2 months, and they of course are on backorder. He is going to zip tie it in the meantime. This could have led to some damage so I was lucky. Would be on the lookout as it is a design flaw in the dealers opinion.
Just took my 23 in for the first oil change and dealer advised convertible cable had broken, and added its the third one in 2 months, and they of course are on backorder. He is going to zip tie it in the meantime. This could have led to some damage so I was lucky. Would be on the lookout as it is a design flaw in the dealers opinion.
@dlbonder What exactly is the design flaw leading to failures?
@dlbonder What exactly is the design flaw leading to failures?
The wire suddenly breaks and a loud thud is heard when the moving piece it controls flips hard upward into the roof. There is both a drivers side and passenger side wire. After snapping its now out of position to close on the convertible roof. Entire mechanism needs to be replaced. Problem is it’s the same poor design so both sides prone to same issue, and new part no different .
The wire suddenly breaks and a loud thud is heard when the moving piece it controls flips hard upward into the roof. There is both a drivers side and passenger side wire. After snapping its now out of position to close on the convertible roof. Entire mechanism needs to be replaced. Problem is it’s the same poor design so both sides prone to same issue, and new part no different .
Could someone perhaps post a picture of the wire/mechanism with the roof partially open so I can better visualize this?
Thanks for posting a photo of the issue. Now I can ask the question I have been thinking about. Did your cable actually snap, or did it pull free from a retainer clip? And, is it possible to repair it? I'm not suggesting you should attempt that - its under warranty and I would let the dealer fix mine because these tops are sensitive. But looking carefully at your photo, I can see what might be a metal clip in the plastic holder where the cable goes. I marked that in your photo, attached. Also attached is a photo of mine. In this photo you can see that the metal piece is in place. I don't know if it is a retainer cip, or actually part of the cable (like a "button" on the end of the cable"). Your photo looks like it has a small ball on the end (or is that just frayed cable) that might fit into a retainer clip.
The wire suddenly breaks and a loud thud is heard when the moving piece it controls flips hard upward into the roof. There is both a drivers side and passenger side wire. After snapping its now out of position to close on the convertible roof. Entire mechanism needs to be replaced. Problem is it’s the same poor design so both sides prone to same issue, and new part no different .
Jeez, one of the reasons I decided on the HTC were the responses to this thread indicating it's reliability:
Compare the number of posts regarding HTC issues with the number of posts about transmission issues. Folks like to point out that 1) the forum members only represent small cross section of total ownerships, and 2) folks tend to report issues, possibly leading to an distorted perception of how often a problem really occurs. And, actually, I believe that. But the relative frequency of reported problems on the forum might be of interest. Its my perception that there is far more disccusion of transmission issues, than for HTC mechanism issues. And how many engine issues do we report on the forum. Having said that, I took an extended warranty because I do have concerns about the transmission and the top. The top is complex, and even if it proves to be generally reliable, if it does fail, it will be costly to repair. The same is really true of the transmission, even if it is generally reliable, it will be very costly to replace, and the only repairs we have read about are valve body replacements, a replacement of a filter housing, (and very recently someone said there is a clutch replacement procedure on the fourm).
Failures of the HTC are still rare. Far more complaints about the DCT than top failures. Mine is more than 2 years old with 20K miles and the top up and down all the time. Still works fine.
Edit: I see Andybump beat me to it with the same basic thought.
C8 Convertible HTC Cable Failures
