1998 Chevrolet Corvette

I WAS A VICTIM OF THE CORVETTE STEERING-COLUMN LOCK. I READ AN ARTICLE JUST NOW THAT A SPOKESMAN OF THE NHTSA SAID "IT IS A DEFINITE PROBLEM, BUT NOT A SAFETY ISSUE". THIS IS A RIDICULOUS STATEMENT CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT WITHOUT WARNING A DRIVER CAN BE STRANDED ANYWHERE AT ANYTIME. IN MY OPINION, AND I'LL BET SOMEWHERE IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM THEY'LL AGREE WITH ME, GM IS BLATANTLY PLACING CORVETTE DRIVERS AND THEIR PASSENGERS IN DANGER OF BEING STRANDED ANYWHERE AT ANYTIME AND IN MY OPINION SHOULD BE HELD COMPLETELY AND WITHOUT RECOURSE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY HARM< DAMAGE<DISCOMFORT<FEAR, EVEN MISSING A BALLGAME DUE TO BEING STRANDED BY THIS KNOWN PROBLEM THAT NO ATTEMPT HAS BEEN MADE TO CORRECT BY THE MAKER (AND I DON'T MEAN GRACIOUSLY REPLACING THE DEFECTIVE PART AFTER THE DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE!) THERE IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH UNCOMPREHENSIBLE DANGEROUS RAMIFICATIONS. GM KNOWS THERE'S A PROBLEM, THEY KNOW THERE IS A CORRECTION (THE STEERING COLUMN LOCK BYPASS). THEY ARE AT THE VERY LEAST MORALLY RESPONSIBLE TO RECALL AND INSTALL THIS PART IMMEDIATELY AND PROBABLY LEGALLY "IF NOT BUT FOR THE NON-ACTION OF GM TO MAKE ANY REASONABLE ATTEMPT TO CORRECT A KNOWN RELIABILITY PROBLEM....FEAR,DANGER,,ROBBED WHILE WALKING TO PHONE BOOTH(OR RAPED,MURDERED,KIDNAPPED)????? (YOU FILL IN THE BLANK) WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED" . I SUGGEST A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT... GM NEEDS TO PAY FOR THE DISREGARD OF THE SAFETY AND VERY LIVES OF THEIR CUSTOMERS AND THEIR FAMILIES WITH THE ONLY THING THEY SEEM TO CARE ABOUT... THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR. REF. IN EA02-031 *CJS

THE PASSENGER SIDE SEAT BELT JAMMED FOR AT LEAST THE FIFTH TIME AFTER THE DEALER INSTALLED THE CLIP REQUIRED BY THE RECALL. AN ACCIDENT OCCURRED A FEW MINUTES AFTER THE LAST JAM. MY PASSENGER WAS VERY LUCKY NOT TO HAVE BEEN INJURED WITH MORE THAN A BRUISE ON HER LEG AND A BUMP ON HER HEAD. WHEN SHIFTING FROM FIRST GEAR INTO SECOND AT ABOUT 35 MPH (ENGINE SPEED AT ABOUT 3300 RPM), THE REAR END CAME AROUND TO THE LEFT CAUSING THE CAR TO DO A 180. THE TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM NEVER INTERVENED AS IT HAS DONE MANY TIMES IN MUCH LESS SEVERE SITUATIONS. THE CAR THEN WENT SIDEWAYS ACROSS TRAFFIC INTO A CURB AND THEN OVER THE CURB INTO A FENCE ON THE EDGE OF AN OVERPASS. A POLICE OFFICER WAS A FEW CARS BEHIND ME AND SAW THE ENTIRE INCIDENT. IN HIS POLICE REPORT HE ESTIMATED MY SPEED AT 35 MPH. *AK

THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP WHILE IN MOTION. "STEERING COLUMN LOCK" APPEARS IN THE DASH BOARD . I WAS UNABLE TO STEER THE CAR. THE ENGINE TURNED OFF. THIS IS WHILE DRIVEING. TWO OTHER TIMES IT OCCURED WHILE PARKED IN MY GARAGE. THE DEALER REPARED THE "MOTOR" THAT CAUSES THE STEERING COLUMN TO LOCK.SPEED AT FAILURE WA S20-25 MPH. *AK REF. IN EA02-031 *CJS

PE-99-066; WHEN DRIVING 5 MPH AND WHEN ATTEMPTING TO BACK UP VEHICLE STALLED AND THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP WHICH CAUSED CONSUMER TO HIT A CURVE. AFTER STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP, A MESSAGE WAS DISPLAYED ON DIAGNOSTIC CENTER WHICH INDICATED TO REMOVE THE KEY FROM IGNITION FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES. CONSUMER NOTED THAT READING SHOULD HAVE DISPLAYED PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT IN ORDER TO PREVENT THE PROBLEM. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY FURTHER DETAILS.*AK REF. IN EA02-031 *CJS

STEERING COLUMN LOCKED UP AND CAR DIED WHILE BACKING OUT OF PARKING SPACE ON FRIDAY EVENING. DEALER COULD NOT WORK ON IT UNTIL MONDAY AND CAR WAS READY MONDAY EVENING. THEY 'REPLACED THE STEERING LOCK SOLENOID AND RELAY PIER TAC' (THEIR WORDS AND SPELLING). I AM CONCERNED THAT IF THIS HAPPENS WHILE I AM PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC, I COULD BE INVOLVED IN A TRAFFIC FATALITY. I'VE RESEARCHED THIS PROBLEM AND FOUND COUNTLESS SIMILAR PROBLEMS REPORTED ON THE WEB SITE WWW.CORVETTEFORUM.COM. IT SEEMS TO RE-OCCUR AFTER REPAIR. GM HAS KNOWN ABOUT THE DEFECT SINCE 1997 AND DONE NOTHING TO FIX IT. HOW MANY COMPLAINTS WILL IT TAKE BEFORE THE NHTSA FORCES GM INTO A RECALL? REF. IN EA02-031 *CJS

ON TWO OCCASIONS, ONCE WHILE DRIVING AT 35MPH, THE STEERING COLUMN COMPLETELY LOCKED UP AND COULD NOT CONTROL VEHICLE. NARROWLY MISSED BEING IN AN ACCIDENT. UPON RESEARCHING THIS PROBLEM, IT HAS BEEN REPORTED BY OTHER CORVETTE OWNERS. THE DEALERS SOLUTION WAS TO REMOVE THE KEY FOR 10 SECONDS AND TRY AGAIN. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AND VERY DANGEROUS. I AM NOW AFRAID TO EVEN DRIVE THE CAR. WILL IT TAKE A HEAD ON COLLISION BEFORE GM FIXES THIS VERY UNSAFE DEFECT? PLEASE SEND WHATEVER PAPERS NECESSARY TO SIGN SO THAT THIS IS THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED. REF. IN EA02-031 *CJS

I HAVE A 1998 C5. LAST NIGHT I WAS DRIVING DOWN A DRIVEWAY WHEN THE "SERVICE COLUMN" LOCK APPEARED ON THE DIC DISPLAY. THE MESSAGE " PULL KEY AND WAIT 10 SECONDS" APPEARED AS WELL. THE STEERING COLUMN LOCKED UP AND THE CAR SHUT DOWN. I WAS IN MOTION GOING DOWN THE DRIVEWAY WHEN THIS HAPPENED. ONCE THE CAR CAME TO A STOP, I HAD TO PUSH IT BACK UP THE DRIVE WAY TO GET IT OUT OF THE WAY, SINCE THE ENGINE WOULD SHUT OFF IF WHEN I TRIED TO RESTART THE CAR. I TRIED MULTIPLE TIMES TO RESTART THE CAR, HOPING IT WOULD UNLOCK THE STEERING COLUMN. IT DID NOT UNLOCK. I AM VERY UPSET THAT A "THEFT DETERRENT DEVICE" IS MORE OF A SAFETY HAZARD! I DON'T KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I WERE ON THE ROAD SOMEWHERE AND THE STEERING COLUMN WOULD HAVE DECIDED TO "LOCK UP". WHAT IF KIDS WERE NEAR THE CAR AND THE CAR DECIDED TO LOCK THE STEERING AND SHUT DOWN? WHEN THE CAR SHUTS DOWN YOU LOOSE CONTROL OF THE CAR AND POWER BRAKES. THIS 'FEATURE' IS NOT SAFE IF IT DECIDES TO RANDOMLY LOCK UP THE STEERING COLUMN. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE FOR CHEVROLET'S AMERICAN SPORTS CAR TO HAVE A SECURITY SAFETY FLAW IN IT. I REFUSE TO OWN A CAR BY ANY COMPANY IF THE SECURITY FEATURE WHICH WAS MEANT TO PROTECT THE CAR FROM BEING STOLEN, ACTUALLY MAY CAUSE INJURY OR WORSE TO THE OWNER OR PASSENGER RIDING IN THE VEHICLE. WHAT IS THE FIX FOR THIS ISSUE? I DO NOT WANT THE SAME PARTS REPLACED FOR THIS. THIS IS A FAULTY PART ON THE PART OF GM AND SHOULD BE RESOLVED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. I HAVE READ ABOUT OTHER C5 OWNERS AND THE SAME EXPERIENCES THEY HAD. THIS CAR RETAILED FOR OVER $41,000. A CAR OF THIS STATURE, CLASS, AND PRICE SHOULD BE SAFE TO DRIVE AT ALL TIMES. I HAVE MADE GM AWARE THAT I HAVE FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE NHTSA TO LOOK INTO THIS ISSUE. WHAT WOULD GM DO FOR A STRANDED CUSTOMER, WHO IS OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, AND THAT CELLS PHONES ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE FOR COMMUNICATION? THIS IS A DANGEROUS FEATURE *AK REF. IN EA02-031 *CJS