My Broken 5th Bow Story - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

ChrisZXWJ · 03-30-2017, 07:45 AM

I thought I'd share a recap of my broken 5th bow story.

I have an early 2012 build convertible. I read the horror stories of everyone who had their 5th bow break early on. I made it 5 1/2 years without an issue.

I'm in upstate New York, and in February, we had a streak of warm weather. After two days of 60+ degree weather, I tried to put the top down to clean the carnage left in the back seat from our son (yup, I have a car seat in a Camaro convertible). The 5th bow finally gave way.

I called "the largest volume dealer" in upstate NY (not sure if I'm supposed to name names or not) and made an appointment the next day. They confirmed that indeed, the 5th bow was broken and quoted $1,500+ for a repair.

At 63,000 miles and 5 1/2 years old, my car was well out of warranty. The GMEPP warranty I had purchased wouldn't touch any convertible top components. Knowing the 5th bow was a fairly well documented problem that GM probably should have recalled, I called Chevrolet Customer Service and opened a case, documenting my problems.

Fortunately, I grew up next to a (now retired) GM regional executive. I reached out to him to see if he still had any pull within the company. He reached out to his contemporary counterpart with my case number and details. At that point, things sped along quite nicely.

The service manager begrudgingly called me a day or two later, asking to see my car himself. I trudged out to the dealership again (which is not even really remotely convenient for me) and he confirmed again that yes, indeed, the 5th bow was broken. He said he'd reach out to GM to see what could be done and would be in touch. He got back to me after a few days and after throwing me under the bus, said that GM would cover the labor on the repair if I paid for the parts, amounting to about $800 with tax. This paragraph is laced with a bit sarcasm because he was probably one of the most insincere people I've worked with in a while - he was easily the most sour part of this whole experience.

I realize there's a 'fix' people have mentioned in other posts on the forum for about $200. That aforementioned son takes up quite a bit of time and I really didn't have it in me to try to tackle the repair myself right now, so I accepted the offer from GM.

They had my car for two nights and the repair appears to have gone smoothly. The top looks like it might be able to fit a little tighter than it currently does, but I don't really have any memory of how it looked before. My biggest complaint on the actual repair is the grubby fingerprints left all over the canvas and glass.

I hope that my experience helps someone who might be in a similar situation. My thanks go out to the forum members I had sent messages to for advice. If you're in a similar situation, feel free to reach out via private message.

Royal Tiger · 03-30-2017, 10:59 AM

Thanks Chris. I'm glad you got a decent outcome. I'll save you my truly horrendous experience with the dealer and the worthless "help" Chevrolet customer service provided. If you can call it that. I love GM, but this whole incident (not my top thank god) has me strongly considering a different brand down the road.

Baba · 04-03-2017, 10:31 AM

Glad everything worked out for you!

samman11 · 04-03-2017, 12:53 PM

I had mine repaired as well, but was fully covered under the 90 day used car warranty. Let's hope the new repair lasts longer than the original

OrangeVert · 04-03-2017, 02:29 PM

Excellent, Chris! If my 5th bow goes, after hearing others' horror stories, I would bring it to the selling dealer Rogers Chevrolet 800 miles away in Woodhaven, MI. Bought from Becky and even though she's in sales, I know she would do everything she could to help facilitate the repair.

18LTLoveIt · 04-03-2017, 09:27 PM

Worked out in the end, 800 is a lot better than 1500. I wonder what causes them to break?

Jonesm24 · 04-05-2017, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeVert

Excellent, Chris! If my 5th bow goes, after hearing others' horror stories, I would bring it to the selling dealer Rogers Chevrolet 800 miles away in Woodhaven, MI. Bought from Becky and even though she's in sales, I know she would do everything she could to help facilitate the repair.

Hopefully they won't send yours over to Safelite to have it fixed or repaired. They had my car 2 times and for 5 weeks within a 2 month period. And it still wasn't fixed correctly. Fixed it myself and repaired 5th bow and so far so good now.

Deputy347k9 · 10-13-2017, 05:47 PM

Like many here I have had problems with local Chevrolet dealership. We moved to NC from Maine during 2012. At that time my wife's vehicle was a 2010 GMC Denali SUV. A wonderful vehicle that had always been serviced at dealerships in Maine. Arriving here and extremely busy situating the new home I took the Denali into a local Chevrolet dealership for oil/lube, everything else was perfectly fine.

Sitting in the waiting room a young man from the service desk came in to speak with me. He advised me that my front brake pads and rotors were as he said, "dangerously bad" and needs immediate attention. I forget now but he quoted me something like $800.00. Having turned many wrenches in my years I told the young man that I would have to discuss this with the wife, besides I could actually view the rotors that looked perfectly find.

Just down the road I discovered a GMC dealership. Why not! Stopped in told the gentleman that I had just relocated from Maine and wanted to know if he could take a quick look at my breaks. "sure why not". He had the vehicle inspected and then had me speak with the service tech. I was then told that the current pads had well over 50% of their life and the rotors were in great shape! I was upset.

Long story short, Parker GMC is the only place my Camaro goes.

A neighbor just purchased a 3/4 ton Chevrolet diesel truck from the very same dealership, $71,000.00!!!! Had it less than a week and he had problems with a loose seat, clutch fan acting up as well as about 5 scratches. They couldn't duplicate the clutch fan noise and said the seat was within factory specs. Regarding the 5 scratches they had someone with a little bottle of touch up cover the scratches, looks like hell on the side doors. I warned him!

When I purchased my Camaro I actually flew to Dayton, Ohio to get it.

Larry

03-30-2017, 07:45 AM	#1
ChrisZXWJ Drives: 2012 Camaro Convertible Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Webster, NY Posts: 12	My Broken 5th Bow Story I thought I'd share a recap of my broken 5th bow story. I have an early 2012 build convertible. I read the horror stories of everyone who had their 5th bow break early on. I made it 5 1/2 years without an issue. I'm in upstate New York, and in February, we had a streak of warm weather. After two days of 60+ degree weather, I tried to put the top down to clean the carnage left in the back seat from our son (yup, I have a car seat in a Camaro convertible). The 5th bow finally gave way. I called "the largest volume dealer" in upstate NY (not sure if I'm supposed to name names or not) and made an appointment the next day. They confirmed that indeed, the 5th bow was broken and quoted $1,500+ for a repair. At 63,000 miles and 5 1/2 years old, my car was well out of warranty. The GMEPP warranty I had purchased wouldn't touch any convertible top components. Knowing the 5th bow was a fairly well documented problem that GM probably should have recalled, I called Chevrolet Customer Service and opened a case, documenting my problems. Fortunately, I grew up next to a (now retired) GM regional executive. I reached out to him to see if he still had any pull within the company. He reached out to his contemporary counterpart with my case number and details. At that point, things sped along quite nicely. The service manager begrudgingly called me a day or two later, asking to see my car himself. I trudged out to the dealership again (which is not even really remotely convenient for me) and he confirmed again that yes, indeed, the 5th bow was broken. He said he'd reach out to GM to see what could be done and would be in touch. He got back to me after a few days and after throwing me under the bus, said that GM would cover the labor on the repair if I paid for the parts, amounting to about $800 with tax. This paragraph is laced with a bit sarcasm because he was probably one of the most insincere people I've worked with in a while - he was easily the most sour part of this whole experience. I realize there's a 'fix' people have mentioned in other posts on the forum for about $200. That aforementioned son takes up quite a bit of time and I really didn't have it in me to try to tackle the repair myself right now, so I accepted the offer from GM. They had my car for two nights and the repair appears to have gone smoothly. The top looks like it might be able to fit a little tighter than it currently does, but I don't really have any memory of how it looked before. My biggest complaint on the actual repair is the grubby fingerprints left all over the canvas and glass. I hope that my experience helps someone who might be in a similar situation. My thanks go out to the forum members I had sent messages to for advice. If you're in a similar situation, feel free to reach out via private message.

04-03-2017, 10:31 AM	#3
Baba Drives: 2011 Camaro 2LT RS Convertible Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: USAREUR, CONUS/DOD-A, VA Posts: 1,745	Glad everything worked out for you! __________________ 2011 Camaro 2LT RS Convertible Summit White Black Leather 3 Pedals Build Date: 06/27/2011 Purchased: 07/30/2011 Title Received: 08/15/2011 1984 Camaro (3rd Gen.): Traded: 1987 "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

04-03-2017, 02:29 PM	#5
OrangeVert "Catharine" Drives: '11 2SS/RS LS-3 IOM/IO vert Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Southern NH Posts: 2,132	Excellent, Chris! If my 5th bow goes, after hearing others' horror stories, I would bring it to the selling dealer Rogers Chevrolet 800 miles away in Woodhaven, MI. Bought from Becky and even though she's in sales, I know she would do everything she could to help facilitate the repair. __________________ Last edited by OrangeVert; 04-03-2017 at 02:30 PM. Reason: grammar

10-13-2017, 05:47 PM	#8
Deputy347k9 Drives: 2014 Ashen Gray Convertible Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Havelock, NC Posts: 1,328	Like many here I have had problems with local Chevrolet dealership. We moved to NC from Maine during 2012. At that time my wife's vehicle was a 2010 GMC Denali SUV. A wonderful vehicle that had always been serviced at dealerships in Maine. Arriving here and extremely busy situating the new home I took the Denali into a local Chevrolet dealership for oil/lube, everything else was perfectly fine. Sitting in the waiting room a young man from the service desk came in to speak with me. He advised me that my front brake pads and rotors were as he said, "dangerously bad" and needs immediate attention. I forget now but he quoted me something like $800.00. Having turned many wrenches in my years I told the young man that I would have to discuss this with the wife, besides I could actually view the rotors that looked perfectly find. Just down the road I discovered a GMC dealership. Why not! Stopped in told the gentleman that I had just relocated from Maine and wanted to know if he could take a quick look at my breaks. "sure why not". He had the vehicle inspected and then had me speak with the service tech. I was then told that the current pads had well over 50% of their life and the rotors were in great shape! I was upset. Long story short, Parker GMC is the only place my Camaro goes. A neighbor just purchased a 3/4 ton Chevrolet diesel truck from the very same dealership, $71,000.00!!!! Had it less than a week and he had problems with a loose seat, clutch fan acting up as well as about 5 scratches. They couldn't duplicate the clutch fan noise and said the seat was within factory specs. Regarding the 5 scratches they had someone with a little bottle of touch up cover the scratches, looks like hell on the side doors. I warned him! When I purchased my Camaro I actually flew to Dayton, Ohio to get it. Larry __________________

03-30-2017, 10:59 AM	#2
Royal Tiger Account Suspended Drives: 2013 2SS/RS Convertible Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Lehigh Valley, PA Posts: 3,873	Thanks Chris. I'm glad you got a decent outcome. I'll save you my truly horrendous experience with the dealer and the worthless "help" Chevrolet customer service provided. If you can call it that. I love GM, but this whole incident (not my top thank god) has me strongly considering a different brand down the road.

04-03-2017, 12:53 PM	#4
samman11 Drives: 2011 Camaro SS Convertible Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 671	I had mine repaired as well, but was fully covered under the 90 day used car warranty. Let's hope the new repair lasts longer than the original

04-03-2017, 09:27 PM	#6
18LTLoveIt Drives: 2018 Hyper Blue LT RS Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Phoenix AZ Posts: 1,474 View My Garage	Worked out in the end, 800 is a lot better than 1500. I wonder what causes them to break?