NHTSA Complaint #11477266 — 2007 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

This particular Corvette C6 model (2005 through 2013 model years) has a well known and documented problem with the automatic transmissions. Upon engine startup, it oftentimes will not shift out of the Park gear. When the Chevrolet Customer Service people were called about this, their response was that they are well aware of this problem with the C6 model years. The Customer Service people said that a Recall was not issued because the way to address this problem is to: Shut off the engine, put the ignition in the Accessory mode, then try and shift the transmission into Neutral. If it is able to shift into Neutral, then start the engine. Once the engine starts, then try and shift the transmission into the Drive or Reverse gear. If this sequence doesn't work, we were told just to keep repeating this sequence over and over. There have been occasions when we had to repeat this sequence at least half a dozen times and there have also been occasions where we were stranded in parking lots and had to leave the car and come back to it later to try again. This is a safety concern due to the real possibility of being stranded at night in parking lots. There aren't any warning lights or messages. There also aren't any advanced warnings, in terms of symptoms. The only way the problem manifests itself, is when the car cannot be shifted out of the Park gear. Whenever the car is brought into service, including at Chevrolet dealers for such items as oil changes, the mechanics try shifting it out of the Park gear and when they can't, they will call and ask us what to do. The added concern here is that if the mechanic physically forces the shifter out of the Park gear, the entire shifter and possibly the transmission will be damaged. We are the original owners of the car and it only has 18,000 miles on it. This problem first appeared about two years ago but it is happening much more often now.