NHTSA Complaint #10078571 — 2001 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

STEERING COLUMN LOCKED - LOCKING PIN DID NOT RELEASE DURING KEY TURN BUT ENGINE TURNED OVER. THIS OCCURED THE SAME WAY THREE TIMES. FIRST TIME WAS A YEAR AGO. HAD DEALER REPAIR IT BUT THEY CLAIMED IT WAS A WEAK BATTERY, THEY CHARGED IT AND SIMPLY SAID THEY RESET IT.. DUE TO HOW LONG THEY HAD IT, I HAD TO RENT A CAR WHICH ULTIMATELY COST ME $350. SECOND TIME, A DIFFERENT DEALER CLAIMED IT WAS THE BCM NEEDING REPROGRAMMING AND THAT IT WAS NOT THE SAME THING AS THE CURRENT RECALL AT THE TIME (SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO THE PCM) DESPITE THE SEEMINGLY SIMILAR EXPLAINATION OF THE RECALL. IT WAS JUST OUT OF WARRANTY AND LEAD TO A COST OF $275. THE THIRD TIME, SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED AGAIN AND THIS TIME THE SAME DEALER CLAIMED IT WAS THE STEERING COLUMN LOCK ACTUATOR OR OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE SOLENOID. THEY ARE NOW IN THE PROCESS OF REPLACING THE WHOLE LOCKING ASSEMBLY FOR $315 ($175+LABOR). ALL THREE INCIDENCES OCCURED WITH A WEAKENED BATTERY YET THE ENGINE HAD NO PROBLEMS TURNING OVER SUGGESTING THAT DAMAGE COULD HAVE OCCURED. EACH TIME, I WAS STRANDED WITHOUT A VEHICLE FOR SEVERAL DAYS AND THE TOTAL COST IS NOW ROUGHLY $1000 OUT OF MY POCKET. I SHOULD ALSO MENTION THAT SINCE TOW TRUCKS ARE NOT DESIGNED WITH THE CORVETTE IN MIND, EACH AND EVEY TIME MY VEHICLE GETS TOWED, I HAVE TO ASSIST THE TOW TRUCK SO AS TO AVOID FURTHER DAMAGE WHILE THEY BARELY GET THE VEHICLE ON THE FLAT BED. THIS ALONE IS ENOUGH STRESS LET ALONE THE COST OF THE TOWS. *AK