Chevrolet Corvette 427, Z06 Owners File For Class Action Against GM

A group of owners of 7-liter V-8 powered, 2006-2014 Chevrolet Corvettes have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against General Motors claiming those models have excessive valve guide wear that leads to engine failures.

The filing, which was made Wednesday, said General Motors is aware of the problem, but has yet to come up with a solution.

The 19 owners have filed more than 70 claims, “including violations of the RICO Act, unjust enrichment, negligence and fraud,” reported Law360.

GM began testing vehicles using the “wiggle method,” said the owners, and when the test found many of the cars had valve guides out of spec, the automaker dropped the test because it “would lead to more repair and investigations than it wished to perform.”

This isn’t the first time this year the Corvette has been in the spotlight due to engine failures.

In July, Gary Gastelu of Fox News experienced an engine failure in the current-generation Chevrolet Corvette Z06 powered by the new LT4 V-8. Earlier in the year, owners were experiencing engine failures at under 1,000 miles on the clock.

In response, General Motors instructed owners to follow the break-in period and change their oil at or before hitting 500 miles.

“We now encourage all owners to change their oil at 500 miles to remove possible contaminants created during the engine break-in process. And, as always, we encourage the use of Mobil 1 synthetic oil – which is a factory fill for all Z06 models, and Stingray Z51 models – and encourage owners to follow the engine break-in process detailed in the owner’s manual,” said Monte Doran, a spokesman for Chevrolet.

During Motor Trend’s “Best Driver’s Car” test this year, the Corvette Z06 finished dead last — or not, as MT placed it as a DNF — due to performance issues.

“It didn’t work. The damn Z06 retarded spark by 8 degrees, and the 1.7-liter TVS supercharger refused to make boost. No one knows why,” said Motor Trend’s Jonny Lieberman.

General Motors blamed the lack of performance on “bad gas”, but all cars in the test received their fuel from the same source.