NHTSA Complaint #10285909 — 2003 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

WHILE DRIVING, MY VEHICLE'S WARNING SYSTEM FOR THE ACTIVE HANDLING & ABS SYSTEM ACTIVATES DURING NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS. IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT BOTH OF THESE SYSTEMS WOULD DEVELOP A PROBLEM AT THE SAME TIME. UPON RESEARCHING THIS, I DISCOVERED THAT GM REALIZED A FLAW IN THE DESIGNING OF THE WIRING HARNESS THAT IS CONTAINED WITHIN THE STEERING COLUMN THAT IS RESPONSIBLE. GM HAS DESIGNED A PART TO FIX THIS, BUT AT THE OWNER'S EXPENSE. IN THESE TYPES OF VEHICLES, THE ACTIVE HANDLING & ABS IS A SAFETY FEATURE, AND I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT WHENEVER THE WARNINGS ARE ACTIVATED THESE SAFETY FUNCTIONS ARE NO LONGER FUNCTIONING AS THE COMPUTER BELIEVES THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THEM WHEN THERE ISN'T. THE WARNINGS DO NOT COME ON AT THE TIME OF START UP, BUT ONLY AFTER DRIVING THE VEHICLE FOR ABOUT 5 MILES. IF THERE IN FACT WAS A PROBLEM WITH THESE FEATURES, A WARNING WOULD COME ON AT START UP. GM HAS FOUND THAT THE WIRING HARNESS BECOMES STRETCHED FROM CONTINUED USE OF THE TELESCOPING STEERING COLUMN OVER THE YEARS WHICH CAUSES THE FALSE WARNINGS. OTHER DRIVERS HAVE REPORTED POWER STEERING FAILURE AND OTHER PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS. THIS IS A DESIGN FLAW THAT COULD CAUSE DRASTIC PROBLEMS IF THE COMPUTER FALSELY DISENGAGES THESE FEATURES, ESPECIALLY THE ABS DURING DRIVING IN THE RAIN OR SNOW. THESE VEHICLES RELY ON THESE SYSTEMS FOR SAFE OPERATIONS. ONCE THE WARNING COMES ON, THERE IS NO WAY TO CHECK TO SEE IF THE ACTIVE HANDLING FEATURE IS ON OR OFF, AS THE COMPUTER WILL NOT ALLOW THE SYSTEM TO BE CHECKED. *TR