Just purchased 2008 Corvette with 46,000 miles. Not able to shift out of park
2008 Chevrolet Corvette
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
More warning signs than most Corvette years
Owner complaints for the 2008 Chevrolet Corvette are substantially higher than the model-year median of 29.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Corvette years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
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When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
414 reports with mileage · 126 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Fuel/propulsion System. Review the 356 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Exterior Lighting. Review the 46 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Electrical System. Review the 39 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
Power Train complaints
31 reportsShifter will not shift from park after starting engine.
The vehicle would not shift out of Park. Car has less than 20,000 miles. This happened once in a while at first then over time increased to almost every other time the car was started. I took it for repair and was told after searching the VIN # that my 2008 was installed with a 2007 shifter and gear. They said Chevy had nume…
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The vehicle would not shift out of Park. Car has less than 20,000 miles. This happened once in a while at first then over time increased to almost every other time the car was started. I took it for repair and was told after searching the VIN # that my 2008 was installed with a 2007 shifter and gear. They said Chevy had numerous problems with the 2007 shifter and changed the 2008 parts so this would not happen. I had to replace both parts at around $2,500.00! I also had to wait on the parts to be found and there was only one available in the entire U.S. Chevy should have to pay for my repair since a 2007 part(s) should not have been placed in a 2008!
The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Corvette. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift from PARK or REVERSE. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and diagnosed that the shift lever needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failu…
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The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Corvette. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift from PARK or REVERSE. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and diagnosed that the shift lever needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
At first I couldn’t get it out of Park sometimes. Then it became more frequent & finally it wouldn’t go into Reverse or Park from Drive. The only available gears were Neutral & Drive. My son had to come & disconnect the battery because it wouldn’t turn off all lights & accessories. Since it wouldn’t start in Neutral I had to hav…
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At first I couldn’t get it out of Park sometimes. Then it became more frequent & finally it wouldn’t go into Reverse or Park from Drive. The only available gears were Neutral & Drive. My son had to come & disconnect the battery because it wouldn’t turn off all lights & accessories. Since it wouldn’t start in Neutral I had to have it towed to my Chevrolet Dealership. This car only has 34469 miles on it so I’m not understanding how this could be happening! As it has now sat in the repair yard since July 29, 2021 waiting on parts to fix the problem to the tune of $1300 I think GM should cover that cost. I have kept this car in excellent shape & am proud of it, I get many remarks on its beauty! There is no reason this should happen on a car with 34468 miles on it. I have since seen many forums where a lot of other Corvette owners have had the same issue! $1300 is just the cost to repair the car to get it started so they can perform the maintenance I had an appointment for in the first place!
After starting the automatic will often not shift out of park. After turning off the engine and/or waiting 2-3 min. sometimes it will allow shifting and sometimes this may take several tries. When away from home this could become a MAJOR safety problem if someone needed medical attention etc. So far, I have always been able to g…
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After starting the automatic will often not shift out of park. After turning off the engine and/or waiting 2-3 min. sometimes it will allow shifting and sometimes this may take several tries. When away from home this could become a MAJOR safety problem if someone needed medical attention etc. So far, I have always been able to get it work after time, but as I have checked on the web, others have been stuck. Also, a lot of people disable the safety "lockout" (which seems to be the problem) which is there to make sure the car is started in Park. The dealers know about this problem on C-6 Corvettes but want $$$ to replace the entire shift assembly. Without a mandated recall a lot of people will use the instructions on the Web to defeat the lockout creating safety issues for current and future owners when cars are sold. This happens almost 50% of the time I start the car and seems to be getting more frequent and take longer to function.
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION HAVING ISSUES SHIFTING OUT OF AND INTO PARK. VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY IN A PARKING LOT.
THE VEHICLE DROPPED A CYLINDER HEAD VALVE AND WAS FIXED UNDER ORIGINAL FACTORY WARRANTY IN 2012. IT WAS FIXED BY THE DEALER USING FACTORY PARTS. IT WAS ON THE FREEWAY AND THE MOTOR LOST ALMOST ALL POWER. I HAD TO GET TOWED. IT HAPPENED AGAIN IN 2016 AFTER 20,000 MILES AND RELIGIOUS OIL CHANGES. THIS CAR WAS MAINTAINED METICU…
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THE VEHICLE DROPPED A CYLINDER HEAD VALVE AND WAS FIXED UNDER ORIGINAL FACTORY WARRANTY IN 2012. IT WAS FIXED BY THE DEALER USING FACTORY PARTS. IT WAS ON THE FREEWAY AND THE MOTOR LOST ALMOST ALL POWER. I HAD TO GET TOWED. IT HAPPENED AGAIN IN 2016 AFTER 20,000 MILES AND RELIGIOUS OIL CHANGES. THIS CAR WAS MAINTAINED METICULOUSLY. THEY CYLINDERS WERE FOUND TO BE AT FAULT OF DESTROYING AN EXHAUST VALVE BOTH TIMES. ADDITIONALLY, THE NUMBER 8 CYLINDER WAS FOUND TO BE CONSUMING OIL, WHICH DESTROYED MY CATALYTIC CONVERTER. THIS IS ALL WITH A VEHICLE WHICH HAD UNDER 40,000 MILES (WITHIN POWERTRAIN MILEAGE WARRANTY, BUT EXPIRED DURATION WARRANTY)
WHILE PARKED, AFTER STARTING THE ENGINE, EVEN WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE, THE CAR WON'T SHIFT OUT OF PARK.
VEHICLE CONTINUALLY IS STUCK IN PARK. VEHICLE HAS 26K MILES.IT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MONTHS, SINCE APRIL OF 2018. RESEARCH FROM CORVETTE FORUM SHOWS THIS IS A CONTINUAL ISSUE WITH C6 CORVETTES (2005-2013), AND THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS. I CONTACTED CHEVROLET AND THEY WILL DO NOTHING...THEY SHOULD ISSUE A VOLUNTARY RECAL…
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VEHICLE CONTINUALLY IS STUCK IN PARK. VEHICLE HAS 26K MILES.IT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MONTHS, SINCE APRIL OF 2018. RESEARCH FROM CORVETTE FORUM SHOWS THIS IS A CONTINUAL ISSUE WITH C6 CORVETTES (2005-2013), AND THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS. I CONTACTED CHEVROLET AND THEY WILL DO NOTHING...THEY SHOULD ISSUE A VOLUNTARY RECALL OR A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN AS THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.
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