95jersey

You may remember my previous thread about my 2nd roof delamination and my struggle with GM to fix the issue under recall/warranty.

I am dealing directly with the service manager at this dealer, which is a brand new dealership in a mega auto mall. They specialize in Hummer, Cadillac and Corvette. So, the dealer comes back and tells me it is very complicated and expensive repair ($2000+). They need to purchase an entire new roof, repaint, and so on. (just setting the stage here...)

Finally, he tells me they ordered the roof and are sending it out to be painted. He tells me once it comes in from being painted, the repair itself will literally take minutes and can be done while I wait. At this point I am perplexed as to how replacing a fixed roof panel on a Z06 is going to take minutes. I assume they are using the new bolt solution.

I start to really dig into the guy on how it is only going to take minutes to remove a headliner and other insulation material to bolt on a new roof and put everything back together in minutes. He tells me they aren't touching any of that, and the entire roof is removeable and pops right out with a few bolts and proceeds chuckle that I didn't know my roof is removeable. After dealing with this guy for 2 weeks, upon hearing his incompetence, I am just BLOWN AWAY!!

I tell the guy it is a Z06 and the roofs do not come off like the coupe's (I've had a few). They are permanently fixed to the car. Now this is the service manager of a major dealership selling high end cars and I have to educate him on his own product?!?! He is now completely baffled and admits to not knowing the Z06 roof is a permanent fixed roof (compared to coupe). It sounds like he has now ordered the wrong part and is getting the wrong part painted (dumb @ss).

Maybe I am expecting too much. Now my next fear...is do I want this dealership to even touch my Z06. I can now imagine these douchbags trying to remove the roof with a blow torch or something

Really GM, I am TRYING to be a good American and buy your cars and I really want something to be proud of, but now I just feel like

LFZ

typical dealerships.....this doesn't suprise me. Just imagine, if you hadn't said anything, they would have tried to install that removable top on your car...how funny would that be. I'd start looking for another dealership to handle this problem.

btw, this is being covered under warranty right???

383vett

What part of the country do you live? There is a good dealership in the bay area which has helped many Corvette owners, Abel Chevrolet. Call RichieRich.

mirage2991

GM has no need for good americans to buy their vehicle or suport local dealers, they have the Gov printing them some $$ ...I mean would you go to work if you had a tree growing $100 bills? lol

un-freakin' believeable! I'm a firm believer of the "you're only promoted to your level of incompetance" , and your story just keeps on adding to the proof that it is such today!...

Keep us posted! hey maybe they can just use some gorilla glue and glue the new roof on top of the old one...LOL

MarkRx

a dealer installed transparent roof panel on a Z06, sweet! j/k

95jersey

I am in NJ. The sad thing is that my previous dealer who was just awesome, closed down. I have another dealer that I think will help.

To answer the previous question, no it is not handled under warranty as body panels are not covered under GMPP. Also since the recall was performed once before, they can not use the recall a 2nd time. They wanted me to for $500 for the repair. I am still in talks with the regional rep to waive that cost or at least reduce it significantly.

3LZZ06

Hey don't be surprised if the Corvette engineers read your post and impliment it as the new state of the art fix...

Maybe with a slight modification, they'll try JB-Weld...

dmuellenberg

You are correct that your warranty won't cover this, but this is a recall (not a warranty issue) and should be at no cost to you. I took mine in the first time and they just added some more glue, which is what the recall recommended. But it didn't hold for long and the recall states that if the regluing doesn't work, then the roof needs to be replaced, which is what they did to my car at no cost to me. Since this is a recall, there is no time limit for getting it fixed. You should not have to pay to have this fixed.

1stZ

There's no excuse with the service manager's acting like a know it all, only to not have clue! Good thing you mentioned it to him in advance. That said, I would find out who their "master technician" is in their shop & request for that particular person to do the job. You have that right! Although the service manager acted like a douch, he won't be doing the actual work. So it is only important that the person doing the job do know what he/she is doing.

But if you would feel comfortable starting over with a new dealer, then do just that. I would even go as far as talking to the master tech in person & try and develop a rapor.

Omega Man

For the record, the roof does unbolt from the Z06. Ask me how I know...

The bolts are made to tighten and are not removable. Once removed, they must be replaced. Mine started turning when they were taking the roof frame off and it caused a little delay waiting for parts.

Bottom line is that they fixed it.

Here are the bolts that hold the roof frame onto the body



Here are the bolt holes that hole it on



Here you can see the foam from the temp fix that a previous dealer performed. It failed.



Here is my "Z06 Targa Top" It is "Rare"

vettluver

Does anyone know where I can find a copy of the original recall? I purchased my car used, checked the recall, it has been done - re glueing the roof panel, and now it is coming apart again. I am about to start a battle with the local GM dealer and want to have my guns loaded when I go in.

I found a recall on another automitve site, but it just gives two options - re glue it or replace it. There is no specific criteria for a replacement roof, but I think that's what should have happened in the first place.

allanlaw

There was a specific criteria, based on the amount of separation detected by sliding a shim-type measurement stick between the roof and the frame. It was in a fairly long bulletin to the dealers.

Click here

vettluver

Thanks AllanLaw,

I read the buletin, and yes, there are specific criteria, but at the end under Dealer Recall Responsibility, it states, "dealers are to service all vehichles subject to this recall at no charge to customers regardless of mileage, age of vehichle, or ownership, from this time forward" Am I wrong to assume that if the criteria are correct, the dealer should replace the roof panel? Should the same replacement criteria not apply to roofs that had the adhesive applied but came back at a later date because they delaminated?

This will sure help me out when I go to GM. I hope it helps others out as well. I'll keep posting to advise all on the status of my war!

WhiteDiamond

You need to find another dealer. One that can read the recall. It is in english, so this may pose another problem for them.....................

allanlaw

If a delaminated roof is shown to the dealer and the car was subject to the recall, the above-quoted language would require the dealer to service it, as many times as necessary, end of story, if the language is to be given its normal meaning. After all, it is a product safety recall, and if the dealer were to ignore the problem and something bad happened afterwards, the dealer would be in very deep doo doo.

dmuellenberg

Here is some info I found on the recall:


RECALL: 2005 - 2006 Chevrolet Corvette
NHTSA Campaign Number: 06V181000

www.nhtsa.dot.gov
Manufacturer GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Recall Date: MAY 24, 2006
Potential Number Of Units Affected: 30793
Description STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS
Summary ON CERTAIN 2005-2006 CHEVROLET CORVETTES EQUIPPED WITH PAINTED ROOFS, THE ADHESIVE BETWEEN THE ROOF PANEL AND THE FRAME MAY SEPARATE.
Consequence IF THERE IS A COMPLETE SEPARATION, THE ROOF PANEL MAY DETACH FROM THE VEHICLE AND IT COULD STRIKE ANOTHER VEHICLE AND CAUSE INJURY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE.
Remedy DEALERS WILL INSPECT VEHICLES FREE OF CHARGE FOR POTENTIAL ROOF PANEL-TO- FRAME SEPARATION AND ADD THE SPECIFIED ADHESIVE FOAM OR REPLACE THE ROOF WITH ONE HAVING ADHESIVE FOAM. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON AUGUST 4, 2006. . OWNERS MAY CONTACT CHEVROLET AT 1-800-630-2438.

Notice that under Remedy is says to 'add foam or replace the roof with one having the adhesive foam'.

Since you already had the foam added, they need to replace your roof (free of charge).

dmuellenberg

Technically, the bolts don't hold the roof down, they hold the roof 'frame' down. The roof panel itself is glued to the roof frame.

Vito.A

The C6 roof delamination is actually a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall # 06041C dated May 2007. It applies to 2005-2007 Corvette coupes with painted tops and Z06
There were two bulletins prior to this, Rev A and B, but rev C is the latest.

The bulletin explains inspection and repair procedures. You can inspect your roof panel under the headliner. If you have a white panel, it is the newer SMC fiberglass material. If it is black, it is the earlier polycarbonate lightweight panel. The problem is the black light weight polycarbonate panel has a different expansion coefficient from the magnesium frame and in summer heat will delaminate.
The initial fix was to re-bond the panel, but it also has instructions for replacing the earlier polycarbonate panel with the newer SMC panel.

My experience is you need to print out this bulletin and take it with you. The more educated you are the better chance you will have of getting the repair done properly.

Landru

You mean I have a removable panel on my ZCar, under the paint, somewhere.
Who knew.

obzidian

Sounds like typical BS.. and honestly, I wouldn't spend a dime if its a recall. I don't care how many times it takes, they need to fix it and fix it right.