2008 Chevrolet Corvette

I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE THIS FALL WITH ABOUT 12500 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. STARTING SHORTLY AFTER PURCHASE I WOULD OFTEN NOTICE THE SMELL OF GASOLINE IN MY GARAGE. AFTER INSPECTION, NONE OF MY OTHER VEHICLES ARE LEAKING FUEL. AFTER SEARCHING FOR A LEAK, I TURNED TO CORVETTE FORUM, WHICH HAS A DISCUSSION ON FUEL LEAKS IN THE 2008 MODEL YEAR CORVETTE. EVIDENTLY WHEN THE GAS TANK IS 3/4 OR MORE FILLED WITH FUEL, THERE IS A LEAK WHICH DEPOSITS RAW GAS ON THE TOP OF THE GAS TANK, FROM WHICH IT DRIPS OR EVAPORATES. I CONSIDER THIS LEAK A FIRE HAZARD, AND URGE NHTSA TO REQUIRE A RECALL TO FIX THE PROBLEM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PROMPT ATTENTION TO MY REQUEST. *TR

IT IS A VERY WELL DOCUMENTED OCCURRENCE ON C6 CORVETTES THAT ON MANY CARS, WHEN THE TANK IS FULL, FUEL LEAKS OUT ON TOP OF THE FUEL TANK. THIS HAPPENS WHEN THE CROSSOVER PIPE BETWEEN THE TWO TANKS BEGINS TO LEAK. YOU WILL NOT FIND ANY FUEL ON THE GROUND, BECAUSE IT SITS ON TOP OF THE TANK. WHEN YOU BEGIN DRIVING IT WILL FALL OFF ONTO THE EXHAUST PIPE AND BURN OFF. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY HAZARD, AT ANY TIME IT COULD CATCH FIRE AND LEAD TO INJURY AND/OR DEATH. THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS THREADS ON CORVETTEFORUM.COM REGARDING THE ISSUE AND NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE. THIS AFFECTS MANY CORVETTE OWNERS, MYSELF INCLUDED. THE FUEL SMELL WHEN I WALK INTO THE GARAGE IS EXTREMELY POTENT, IT EVEN BEGINS ENTERING MY HOME! THE VAPOR CAN CAUSE A FIRE IN THE GARAGE, BEING A WATER HEATER IS PRESENT, AND CAUSE SEVERE PROPERTY DAMAGE. THIS IS A HUGE ETHICAL CASE FOR CHEVROLET; WELL DOCUMENTED SAFETY DEFECT, AND NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE ABOUT THIS! NOTHING THE OWNERS HAVE DONE TO CAUSE THE ISSUE, A DEFECT IN THE DESIGN AND/OR MANUFACTURING IS TO BLAME. SOMEONE COULD DIE FROM THIS SAFETY ISSUE, SOMETHING MUST BE DONE! *TR

I SMELLED GASOLINE IN THE CABIN OF MY 2008 CHEVROLET CORVETTE COUPE BASE MODEL. I TOOK IT TO LONESTAR CHEVROLET TO CHECK OUT THE PROBLEM. THEY KEPT IT OVERNIGHT AND REPORTED NOT TO BE ABLE TO SMELL WHAT I SMELLED. THEY REPORTED TO HAVE DONE A "SMOKE TEST" AND CHECK ALL CONNECTIONS BUT WAS UNABLE TO FIND ANY PROBLEM. I HAVE NOT SMELLED IT AS MUCH SINCE BUT VERY FAINTLY A COUPLE OF TIMES. *TR

AFTER FUELING MY 2008 CORVETTE, I NOTICED THE STRONG SMELL OF GASOLINE PRESENT ON THE INSIDE OF THE CAR. I DIDN'T GIVE IT MUCH THOUGHT AS THE SMELL WENT AWAY AS I DROVE. BUT, THE NEXT TIME I GOT INTO THE CAR, THE SMELL WAS THERE AGAIN. EACH SUBSEQUENT TIME I GOT INTO THE CAR, THE SMELL WAS PRESENT UNTIL THE TANK WAS HALF EMPTY. AT THAT POINT THE SMELL WENT AWAY, UNTIL I FILLED THE TANK AGAIN AND THE PROCESS BEGAN ANEW. I HAVE BLOGGED WITH MANY OTHER OWNERS OF VARIOUS YEARS CORVETTE MODELS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM. I AM AFRAID THE FUMES THAT CREATE THE SMELL COULD ULTIMATELY IGNITE AND CAUSE A SERIOUS FIRE. AS MENTIONED, THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. MANY OTHERS HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR

WHEN I FILL MY CORVETTE FUEL TANK PAST 1/2 TANK OR MORE, I SMELL AND INGEST FUEL VAPORS/ODOR...ENOUGH TO CAUSE ME AND MY PASSENGER HEADACHES AND LIGHT HEADEDNESS, FEELINGS OF BEING SICK. MY GARAGE FILLS UP WITH THE FUEL FUMES/ODOR ALSO...I HAVE TO AIR IT OUT FOR A LONG TIME AND EVEN LEAVE THE GARAGE DOOR OPEN TO HELP DISSAPATE THE FUEL VAPOR/ODORS. INSIDE THE VEHICLE GETS AN INTENSE FUEL VAPOR/ODOR. I EXCHANGED THE FUEL CAP WITH AN OEM FUEL CAP WITH NO IMPROVEMENT. THE ODOR OUTSIDE THE CAR SEEMED TO BE COMING FROM DIRECTLY BEHIND THE DRIVER SIDE/FUEL CAP AREA. I DARE SAY THAT I CANNOT DOWN PLAY THIS FAINT FEELING AND HEADACHES FROM THE STRONG FUEL ODOR THAT THIS VEHICLE GIVES OFF, ESPECIALLY INSIDE THE COCK PIT/CAB OF THE VEHICLE....IT'S VERY INTENSE. THOROBRED CHEVROLET OF CHANDLER ARIZONA COULD NOT FIND THE SOURCE OF THE ODOR BEFORE THE CAR WENT OUT OF WARRANTY...GO FIGURE! THE FUEL FUMES ARE EVEN STRONGER WHEN THE WEATHER IS WARMER. HERE IN ARIZONA, WE HAVE TEMPERATURES IN THE 110 TO 120 DEGREE RANGE AND THE FUMES ARE BLUNTLY UNBEARABLE AT THAT POINT THIS FUEL DEFECT THING IS OCCURRING DAILY...DRIVING HOME WITH A CAR COOKED IN THE SUN AND FUEL INFUSED IN THE COCK PIT BEARS HEAVY UPON ME...THE SMELL NEVER GOES AWAY...LIFE SUCKS WITH A $740 CORVETTE PAYMENT I DON'T LIKE DRIVING IT ANYMORE BECAUSE GM WON'T RECALL OR FIX IT. *TR

LAST SUMMER STARTED TO SMELL FUEL IN THE CAR AFTER IT HAD BEEN SITTING, SMELL WASN'T NOTICEABLE DURING WINTER. NOW THAT SUMMER IS APPROACHING, I GET A BAD FUEL SMELL AFTER THE CAR HAD SAT FOR A FEW HOURS. IT PERMEATES THE PASSENGER CABIN. I TOOK THE CAR TO DEALER WITH 44K MILES, TECH FOUND THE DRIVER SIDE FUEL TANK HAS LEAK IN PLASTIC SEAM WHERE THE FILLER NECK IS ATTACHED TO THE MAIN BODY OF THE TANK. THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THESE CARS (2005 THRU 2012). SEARCH ONLINE FOR "C6 CORVETTE FUEL SMELL", YOU WILL SEE NUMEROUS EXAMPLES REPORTING FUEL SMELL WHENEVER THE TANK IS MORE THAN HALF FULL ON THE GAUGE. GM STATED THE FUEL TANK IS NOT COVERED UNLESS THE VEHICLE WAS EQUIPPED WITH CAL EMISSIONS (7YR/70K MILES) OTHER WISE ONLY 2YR/24K MILES. THE TANK IS THE SAME TANK USED ON ALL MODELS. GM IS SELECTIVELY COVERING SOME REPLACEMENTS AND REFUSING OTHERS. WITH A LOW MILEAGE VEHICLE, I WOULDN'T EXPECT TO NEED TO REPLACE A FUEL TANK. I BOUGHT THE CAR WITH ROUGHLY 25000 MILES ON IT LAST JUNE. I BELIEVE THE TANK HAS BEEN LEAKING EVER SINCE AND MAYBE BEFORE I OWNED IT. SINCE GM WILL NOT COVER IT, I'M NOW LEFT WITH A $3000 REPAIR ESTIMATE TO REMOVE AND REPLACE THE TANK. I HAVE A 2007 GM 4WD PICKUP WITH 117,000 MILES OF ROUGH ROADS, OFF ROAD, ETC AND NOT A DROP OF FUEL LEAKING FROM IT. HOW DOES A VEHICLE ONLY DESIGNED TO DRIVE ON THE STREET, THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLES GM MAKES, NOT HAVE BETTER FUEL TANKS. THIS IS A FIRE/EXPLOSION RISK AS THE FUEL RUNS DOWN THE BACK OF THE TANK, THEN DRIPS ONTO THE HOT EXHAUST RUNNING RIGHT BEHIND THE TANKS. THIS SEEMS VERY SIMILAR TO THE C5 CORVETTE FUEL TANK PROBLEMS (ALMOST SAME BODY STYLE). I DON'T KNOW WHY GM HASN'T DESIGNED A FIX FOR THIS AND RECALLED ALL THE TANKS TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC OTHER THAN PROFIT REASONS. I WILL PAY TO CHANGE THE OLD TANK OUT THIS WEEKEND TO MAKE IT SAFE TO DRIVE AGAIN AT MY OWN EXPENSE. *TR

DOES SOMEONE HAVE TO DIE? OUR BRAND NEW 2008 BASE MODEL CORVETTE HAS LOST POWER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, 5 TIMES DRIVING TO OUR HOME. THE 4TH TIME MY HUSBAND WAS ALMOST REAR ENDED BY A TRUCK! FIRST TIME WE HAD THE CAR A WEEK. 2ND TIME THE DEALER SAID IT WAS THE GAS. WE USE CHEVRON TEXACO. 4TH TIME THE LIAISON FROM CHEVY SAID THAT OIL WAS GETTING INTO OUR GAS FROM A BAD IGNITION SWITCH. DOESN'T MAKE SINCE. 5TH TIME WAS SAME DAY AS 4TH TIME. IT DROPS FROM 45 TO 10 AND GOES ALL THE WAY DOWN TO 1ST GEAR. THE RPM GOES UP AND DOWN. IT BACK FIRES! WE HAVE BEEN TAKING IT TO THE LOCAL CHEVY DEALER IN KINGMAN AZ. THE 4TH TIME IT HAPPENED MY HUSBAND PULLED OVER BUT DIDN'T TURN OFF THE CAR, AND WAITED FOR SOMEONE FROM THE DEALERSHIP TO DRIVE UP AND GET IN THE CAR FOR A DRIVE. IT WAS IDLING UP AND DOWN FOR ABOUT 15 MIN THEN IDLED FINE. AFTER HOOKING UP A COMPUTER SCANNER TO THE CAR THEY STARTED UP THE HILL. THEY DROVE 2 MILES 45 MILES PER HOUR, THEN IT JUST DROPPED TO 5 MILES PER HOUR SURGING BACK AND FORTH. MAKING THIS THE 5TH TIME! FOOT WAS STEADY ON THE THROTTLE. HUSBAND WAS TOLD TO HOLD IT TO THE FLOOR, AND THEN IT BACK FIRED REAL LOUD AND STOPPED COMPLETELY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! TURNED OFF KEY OPENED AND CLOSED DOOR TO RESET COMPUTER. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON NOW. DROVE DOWN TO DEALER. IT'S BEEN THERE 9 DAYS SO FAR THIS TIME. 7/23/08 THE LIAISON FROM CHEVY CALLED AND SAID THAT OUR CAR DOES NOT MEET THE CRITERIA FOR A BUY BACK! WE ARE FEARFUL OF BEING REAR ENDED AT A HIGH SPEED! WE'VE HAD TO CANCEL TRIPS WE HAD PLANNED TO TAKE IN THE CAR. WE STILL DON'T HAVE OUR CAR FIXED, AS THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT IS WRONG. NO CORVETTE TECH HAS BEEN ON SITE TO CHECK OUT OUR CAR. ONLY BUY PHONE! EACH TIME THEY HAVE SENT THE CAR HOME STATING THAT THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED, TO GO AHEAD AND DRIVE IT. SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED IF THIS CAR ISN'T FIXED, AS THERE IS NO WARNING THAT THE CAR IS GOING TO JERK TO A STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! *TR