NHTSA Complaint #10325957 — 2001 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

ELECTRONIC COLUMN LOCK SYSTEM FAILURE. I GOT THE FAMOUS, "PULL KEY WAIT 10 SECOND" MESSAGE AND THEN THE COLUMN LOCKED. I LOOKED IT UP ON WWW.CORVETTEFORUM.COM AND FOUND A BUNCH OF INFORMATION REGARDING THIS ISSUE. APPARENTLY THIS IS BY FAR THE MOST COMMON SAFETY ISSUE WITH ANY C5 CORVETTE. AFTER UNHOOKING THE BATTERY AND SHAKING THE STEERING WHEEL VIGOROUSLY, I GOT THE STEERING WHEEL TO UNLOCK. I CALLED THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP (HENDRICK DURHAM AUTO MALL) AND EXPLAINED WHAT WAS GOING ON. THEY TOLD ME I HAD ALREADY HAD THE RECALL PERFORMED IN 2005. I INFORMED THEM THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER RECALL THAT WAS RELEASED IN 2006 THAT REMOVES THE LOCKING PLATE FROM THE STEERING COLUMN. THEY FOUND THE RECALL THAT I WAS REFERRING TO AND AGREED TO TAKE A LOOK AT MY CAR. I DROPPED IT OFF AT THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THAT THE RECALL HAD EXPIRED AND NEEDED TO PAY THE DEALERSHIP TO PERFORM THE RECALL. I WAS NEVER INFORMED OF THIS RECALL, I FOUND IT ON THE INTERNET AND INFORMED THE DEALERSHIP. THE RECALL I HAD WAS 04006B, AND THE NEWEST RECALL WAS 04006C. IT LOOKS LIKE IN ORDER FOR ANYONE TO GET THE RECALL PERFORMED THEIR STEERING WHEEL HAD TO LOCK UP FROM 2006-2008 AND TO TAKE IT TO A DEALERSHIP TO GET THE RECALL DONE, OR PAY THE DEALERSHIP TO DO IT. IT SEEMS LIKE JUST ABOUT EVERY C5 CORVETTE OWNER HAS TO DEAL WITH THIS DEFECTIVE STEERING COLUMN SYSTEM SOONER OR LATER. THERE'S EVEN AFTERMARKET PRODUCTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO TRY AND REMEDY THIS PROBLEM SINCE GM CAN'T SEEM TO. *TR