[longhairchris]

Warning, rant ahead! I am a diehard GM guy, owned old Cadillacs, a Suburban, and now a 1996 Camaro Z28 and a 2002 Yukon Denali. None of my other cars have cost as much to repair in such a short time as my new-ish Camaro SS.


Since shortly after I bought it lightly used back in 2018, I have dealt with the A8 transmission shudder issue. I went through 2 fluid changes per the TSB, along with a few "could not duplicate" visits. Finally got the torque converter replaced under powertrain warranty this past March. Victory!


A few weeks later, felt a shudder come back. It felt different this time, and occasionally would pop up "service stabilitrak". Then threw a code, for misfire on #7. Changed the plug on that cylinder, no change. Back to the dealer, they said I need a new bank of injectors. I thought for sure it would be covered by powertrain warranty (I'm at 56K at this point), but injectors are NOT covered. What!?! Cost came out to $1700 for this repair, which took 5 weeks due to shortage of parts, because of COVID. Ugh. I debated doing the work myself, but could not find injectors at the time. In hindsight I should have sent them all out to a rebuilder. I thought I would be done with repairs for the forseeable future.



Three weeks later, while driving home the dash blinks, then the car shuts off. No power steering, which is just great because I had shoulder surgery two days after getting the car back from the dealer and I'm still recovering from it. The car died completely, couldn't pop the trunk, unlock doors, nothing. Call the tow truck, and we can't get it on the flatbed because the car needs power to shift out of park. Found a youtube video on how to pry up the bezel and stick a screwdriver into a little hole to release the shifter.


Dealer says the starter wire rubbed and shorted out to the starter heat shield. Now repairs are $1400 for something I feel is a design flaw, and a dangerous one at that. It also fried an amp in my trunk, powering the 6x9s I installed in the deck (inline fuse failed to blow?). I am livid at the repairs I have had to do and the money that I'm out. It feels like the dealer has had the car more than I have this year.


Needless to say I'm really cheesed about this. I no longer have confidence in the car, and it's bleeding me dry. I really really enjoy driving this thing. It's a beast. But I feel like a fool to keep it any longer. I can't take the abuse anymore.



Hey GM, are you listening?

[ScatPack]

Originally Posted by longhairchris

Warning, rant ahead! I am a diehard GM guy, owned old Cadillacs, a Suburban, and now a 1996 Camaro Z28 and a 2002 Yukon Denali. None of my other cars have cost as much to repair in such a short time as my new-ish Camaro SS.


Since shortly after I bought it lightly used back in 2018, I have dealt with the A8 transmission shudder issue. I went through 2 fluid changes per the TSB, along with a few "could not duplicate" visits. Finally got the torque converter replaced under powertrain warranty this past March. Victory!


A few weeks later, felt a shudder come back. It felt different this time, and occasionally would pop up "service stabilitrak". Then threw a code, for misfire on #7. Changed the plug on that cylinder, no change. Back to the dealer, they said I need a new bank of injectors. I thought for sure it would be covered by powertrain warranty (I'm at 56K at this point), but injectors are NOT covered. What!?! Cost came out to $1700 for this repair, which took 5 weeks due to shortage of parts, because of COVID. Ugh. I debated doing the work myself, but could not find injectors at the time. In hindsight I should have sent them all out to a rebuilder. I thought I would be done with repairs for the forseeable future.



Three weeks later, while driving home the dash blinks, then the car shuts off. No power steering, which is just great because I had shoulder surgery two days after getting the car back from the dealer and I'm still recovering from it. The car died completely, couldn't pop the trunk, unlock doors, nothing. Call the tow truck, and we can't get it on the flatbed because the car needs power to shift out of park. Found a youtube video on how to pry up the bezel and stick a screwdriver into a little hole to release the shifter.


Dealer says the starter wire rubbed and shorted out to the starter heat shield. Now repairs are $1400 for something I feel is a design flaw, and a dangerous one at that. It also fried an amp in my trunk, powering the 6x9s I installed in the deck (inline fuse failed to blow?). I am livid at the repairs I have had to do and the money that I'm out. It feels like the dealer has had the car more than I have this year.


Needless to say I'm really cheesed about this. I no longer have confidence in the car, and it's bleeding me dry. I really really enjoy driving this thing. It's a beast. But I feel like a fool to keep it any longer. I can't take the abuse anymore.



Hey GM, are you listening?

News flash. GM isnt listening. They dont care about your repairs. Just get what you need done, and go buy a mustang already.

And another news flash, for $1700 you can buy just about the biggest, baddest fuel injectors on the planet. Go aftermarket if you are out of warranty.

[UnknownJinX]

Unfortunately, like any other mass-produced product, there will be lemons here and there. Other than the A8 shudder, the other issues don't seem to come up all that often.

Also, if you are out of warranty, I don't see why you insist on bringing the car to the dealer. Find a good local indie shop to do it.

[Altered Carbon]

How many miles did it have on it when you bought it? Was it modded when you bought it? How many miles did you put on the car before the problems started? Then how many before the next set of problems? I'm just curious, because, that all seems like a lot of problems.

[LT4Greg]

Trade it in on a newer model Camaro and move on if you want to stay with GM. If not then trade it in on another brand. I understand what you are going thru but GM is not listening and it’s time to let it go to someone else. Good luck.��

[ThirdGenNut]

That sux dude. Im not telling you what to do but i lease before I buy ESPECIALLY if its GM.
I have a Gladiator right now that drives like its always 9 beers ahead of me.
Fiat says "Its cool bro". I will be ghost riding it back to the dealer when the lease is up.

[I`m Batman]

2016 SS M6, bought it new, zero problems.

[Aragorn]

That really blows man, I am sorry that you had to go through all that. The a8 shutter for sure is the biggest reliability paint point, but over all our cars are not known for reliability. In my humble opinion there are only a couple brands left out there that are still very reliable.

[LT1ornothing]

Buying the 1st model year of any car is a gamble. Buying a used muscle/sports car and expecting everything to go right is an even bigger gamble. I had a chance to buy a used 2016 SS in the low 20k range, the used SS and c7s I test drove all felt abused. I said screw it and bought a new 2020 LT1 no options for 31k OTD when covid was causing a new car sales drought. Best decision for me, the depreciation will hurt tons, but not the kind of pain you are currently going through.

I think if you want a reliable muscle or sports car, buy new and not the 1st model year. If not keep rolling the dice on a used one. Hint: almost no one buys an SS and babies it, it will most likely be well used for what it was made for, go fast and/or race.

[Deputy Dog]

With so much Transmission work and that starter meshing with the flywheel its a good possibility those starter wires got shifted during the repairs.

[Chutzpah]

Originally Posted by longhairchris

Warning, rant ahead! I am a diehard GM guy, owned old Cadillacs, a Suburban, and now a 1996 Camaro Z28 and a 2002 Yukon Denali. None of my other cars have cost as much to repair in such a short time as my new-ish Camaro SS.


Since shortly after I bought it lightly used back in 2018, I have dealt with the A8 transmission shudder issue. I went through 2 fluid changes per the TSB, along with a few "could not duplicate" visits. Finally got the torque converter replaced under powertrain warranty this past March. Victory!

What!?! Cost came out to $1700 for this repair, which took 5 weeks due to shortage of parts, because of COVID. Ugh. I debated doing the work myself, but could not find injectors at the time. In hindsight I should have sent them all out to a rebuilder. I thought I would be done with repairs for the forseeable future.



Three weeks later, while driving home the dash blinks, then the car shuts off. No power steering, which is just great because I had shoulder surgery two days after getting the car back from the dealer and I'm still recovering from it. The car died completely, couldn't pop the trunk, unlock doors, nothing. Call the tow truck, and we can't get it on the flatbed because the car needs power to shift out of park. Found a youtube video on how to pry up the bezel and stick a screwdriver into a little hole to release the shifter.


Dealer says the starter wire rubbed and shorted out to the starter heat shield. Now repairs are $1400 for something I feel is a design flaw, and a dangerous one at that. It also fried an amp in my trunk, powering the 6x9s I installed in the deck (inline fuse failed to blow?). I am livid at the repairs I have had to do and the money that I'm out. It feels like the dealer has had the car more than I have this year.

Needless to say I'm really cheesed about this. I no longer have confidence in the car, and it's bleeding me dry. I really really enjoy driving this thing. It's a beast. But I feel like a fool to keep it any longer. I can't take the abuse anymore.



Hey GM, are you listening?

A few weeks later, felt a shudder come back. It felt different this time, and occasionally would pop up "service stabilitrak". Then threw a code, for misfire on #7. Changed the plug on that cylinder, no change. Back to the dealer, they said I need a new bank of injectors. I thought for sure it would be covered by powertrain warranty (I'm at 56K at this point), but injectors are NOT covered.

I hope you have your work slip for this... injectors should be covered for 5 years from the in service date ( first owner) or 60k miles. Sounds like they may owe you $$.

[2SS Capt]

Originally Posted by Chutzpah

A few weeks later, felt a shudder come back. It felt different this time, and occasionally would pop up "service stabilitrak". Then threw a code, for misfire on #7. Changed the plug on that cylinder, no change. Back to the dealer, they said I need a new bank of injectors. I thought for sure it would be covered by powertrain warranty (I'm at 56K at this point), but injectors are NOT covered.

I hope you have your work slip for this... injectors should be covered for 5 years from the in service date ( first owner) or 60k miles. Sounds like they may owe you $$.

Absolutely!!!

[IceGoaliePaul]

Here is what I read from your story:

You had the A8 shudder due to GM screwing up the torque converter engineering . Dealer replaced the torque converter but in the process misrouted or otherwise damaged the starter wiring.

Occasional arcs, discharges from the starter wiring causes glitches and spikes in the electrical system which causes errors and codes. Possibly the cylinder 7 driver latched up and burnt out the injector. Dealer replaced the injector. They elected to replace them all even though they lIkely could have done just the one.

3 weeks later the the starter wiring arcs and welds itself permanantly killing the car completely. Amp probably kills itself from reverse current flow from it's large capacitors. Fuse does nothing as they are only there to protect wiring from overheating and melting (can take 100ms to several seconds to blow). Dealer finally fixes their screwup.

Of course this is all just a guess but my many years of electronics troubleshooting experience says that rarely do you see multiple unrelated failures in a system.

[VinnAY]

In and of itself never buy used cars. New one's have problems but the risk is a lot higher with a used ride.