For those who have not yet heard, a new Camaro 2SS broke down on the way home from the dealership. That car happens to be mine (..and wife's). We've been informed that a voluntary recall is being announced by GM as a result of our breakdown. This is good info for all owners and not meant to tarnish the reputation of GM or the otherwise outstanding beast of a machine that the Camaro definitely is. So for everyone's viewing pleasure and benefit, here's my story:

As far I know, our Camaro 2SS is the first one to breakdown unfortunately. On the way home from the dealer the car suffered a complete electrical shutdown killing the motor…while driving. Fortunately I was alone in the car (babies were home with mom) and it happened while driving through a parking lot. Thankfully I was not in heavy traffic, or in an intersection, or making a pass on a 2 lane road, or stranded in the middle of nowhere, etc. But the electrical shutdown left me with the onboard Onstar disabled, the power windows fully open, and the key locked in the ignition. At least I was at a location with access to a phone, plus I have a cell (a good idea for those who don't). FYI - If this happens to anyone and you place the shifter in "park" it will lock and won't go back to "neutral." DO NOT allow the tow service to drag the car onto the flatbed (...and yes, he actually suggested that because he could not find a release mechanism), there IS a manual disengage lever (refer to owner’s manual) to get automatic shifter back to "neutral" from the "park" position, allowing the vehicle to roll freely. The passenger side console trim panel must be pulled off and a small access cover plate removed (need Phillips screwdriver here). Analysis from the service department techs showed that the battery cable had shorted to the starter casing, cause is undetermined whether, improper cable routing, heat, torque of motor (weak mount bushing) or a combination of the above is at fault. There has been a voluntary recall announced and I'm relieved GM is looking closely at this due to the potential safety hazard this type of malfunction presents. Fortunately it happened when and where it did, things could have been much…much worse. It remains to be seen if GM/and or dealer will provide anything beyond a standard warranty covered repair job after my embarrassment of having the highly anticipated Camaro breakdown and towed away in front of so many people, along with the utter disappointment of not even getting the car home to my driveway. The replacement parts are in and the Camaro is back at the dealer being fixed today, we'll see if my $5,000 dealer mark-up bought me anything more than a "warranty repair" to restore my confidence in this car's reliability (...a complimentary extended GM warranty would be wonderful ). Coincidentally, today is the official Camaro unveiling at dealerships nation wide. I hope GM does well with this new sexy beast of a car, and I also hope that no one else experiences this unfortunate and potentially dangerous malfunction.

Image of battery cable positioned above starter:


Image of cable looking up and aft:


Image of cable disconnected:

 

Did a jar of Vasoline come with that $5000?


Sorry....forgot to add the required "REFUSE CAMARO MARKUPS"

 

Do you have a link to any official GM acknowledgment of the recall?

 

Those are indeed unfortunate circumstances. Sorry you had to experience that. Hopefully this is just an isolated incident.

Also, sorry you had to pay that markup!

 

Glad to hear that you are fine. My driver side front suspension fell off (yes, fell off) my Saab after the dealer did work on it. Thankfully, it happend as I turned into my driveway. So, like me, someone was looking out for you. I hope this is the last we hear of this issue.

 

I am sorry that it happened to you, the whole markup thing is kind of a sore spot with me (if you couldn't tell). I'm not as upset with the dealers making a profit as I am with the people who are willing to pay them and make the markups possible.

Hope they take care of it and get it back to you soon. It would definitely tick me off if it were mine.

 

Yeah that sort of thing certainly isn't fun. In my 2000 I had a somewhat similar experience when the nut holding the positive wire to the fuse box loosened up. I was on I45 south going to Galveston when the lights and gauges would die and the car would stutter then it would come back. I actually had no clue what was going on. Then on the big bridge on the causeway the thing died again and when the power came back I had to restart it while coasting down the bridge... It came back but died for good a short bit later. I pushed it into a Texaco and spent a long time looking at the battery and alternator before I just randomly touched the fuse box and saw that the nut and wire were very loose.

I also had a Walbro fuel pump die while exiting from the freeway at about 65mph.... What surprised me was how far an Fbody can coast from that speed. Made it quite a ways down along the feeder and then perfectly parked in a space at a Kroger's supermarket

 

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=685651

 

Here's a link to the bulletin that was later posted in IOMega's thread concerning the recall

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/att...5&d=1241643815

 

Is there a recall for the front bumpers cracking? Or is that just an isolated case on a preproduction car.


http://www.5thgen.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12896

 

read the first post in the thread you just linked and it will tell you it was a pre production bumper and its been fixed.

 

I hear ya MetalDragon, and it's not a practice I engage in. I've always paid well under MSRP for all of my vehicles, and certainly would have waited to do so under normal circumstances. In this situation however, it was the very first pre-order made back on day one (Oct 13 '08) at our local dealer. This car is also my wife's dream and being the first to receive one (at least here in CA's central valley) made the occasion extra special for her. Obviously, it won't be long before you start seeing them everywhere, but in the mean time it's still rare and I have to admit that having the only one around certainly gets it's share of turning heads and dropping jaws. You would not believe how many people come up and take photos, ask questions, or simply gawk speechlessly. Considering the grand scale of the camaro's comeback (looks, performance, etc.), the premium paid to be among the first is not an unfair trade-off. Years from now I'll look back and think "yeah, we paid a premium, but damn...it was so worth it. " Besides, now that I've been behind the wheel and enjoyed my investment, I realize what a bargain everyone is getting for MSRP. This package is so complete, it could have easily sold for the mark-up I paid. So if you get one at MSRP or less, then good for you. But me, I have no regrets...other than my infamous breakdown of course .

 

Wiring Shorting out? Shameful! This is just shameful after all the testing from the months passed. How often do you hear a recall within the first couple weeks' of a vehicles release, especially that of a starter wire short? And in this case, turn off and stall the vehicle to conclude. Too Early and Too soon for any recalls.

I'm am sorry new owners!!!!!! This sucks big time for the new Maro owners!!! Already, part of your vehicle needs repairing. What happen to Value, Performance, and quality U.S. made?

I expect better quality from a vehicle when forking over $30k......especially when markup is involve during this time of the economy and how some GM dealerships will have to fold shop soon.

Markups such as these show how undetermined and self-centered some business are when it comes interest of boosting the economy. Greed in the mortgage company of making those unwarranted loans have led us into the current predicament.

 

It did not happen to any of the CTF cars. There were two cases.

 

Just food for thought, many cars have minor issues like this out of the gate. I say "minor" because in my opinion, this is minor compared to some other recalls that involved hundreds of thousands of vehicles that were catching on fire in the ignition column or careening into oncoming traffic when the front suspension decouples.

This is a 30 minute cable replacement that affects 300 cars. Yes, it sucks and yes, it is an inconvenience, and yes if it happened to me I wouldn't be exactly thrilled about it but in the global scope of things, I do not feel that it is something that needs this amount of negative emphasis placed on it. That's just me, I don't expect everyone to see my point of view.

Cars and trucks these days are complicated. Bowling ***** and tennis shoes are not and even they sometimes encounter issues as simple as they are.