Welcome to the Corvette Forums at the Corvette Action Center!

Transparent Lift-Off Top

Problem with transparent top

  • you have/had the problem with your top

    Votes: 9 32.1%
  • you have NOT had the problem

    Votes: 17 60.7%
  • It's on the passenger side

    Votes: 7 25.0%
  • It's NOT on the passenger side

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • It runs front to back

    Votes: 6 21.4%
  • It does NOT run front to back

    Votes: 1 3.6%

  • Total voters
    28
  • Poll closed .

silver98

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Messages
202
Location
southeast PA
Corvette
1998 Sebring Silver Coupe
OK folks,
I just got off the phone with Gm / Chevy. I have the streak / scratched, lamination seperation, or how ever you want to characterize it, issue on my 98. The issue appears to be indemic to all of these tops and manifests itself only on the passenger side, running longitudinally (front to back).
GM said they were unaware of the problem, indicating I am the first to notify them of this. Whatever. So I thought it might help if a poll was conducted to determine the percentages out there.

If you have the lexan / glass top, do/did you have the problem?
If you do / did, is it on the passenger side?
Does / did it run front to back?
 
It's just a couple years old (versus 6), but I haven't seen anything like that on mine. Any clue when the delamination started? Andy
 
I don't have it, but my top is newer then the car.
 
Mine is cracking perpendicular from the side. A small crack but still a crack.

98 Coupe
 
I had a '97. There was crazing throughout the entire panel, loss of clearcoat along the front edge, and a stripe about 3/4" wide from front to back over the passenger side.
 
Have not experienced the issue - but do have crazing all over.
 
I had the same problem with my 96', I've seen it on almost every C4, and most early C5s. I've been trying to baby the top on my new C5 and with the luxury of two tops, I use the painted top when it is below freezing to prevent the lexan one from exposure to extreme temperatures. Hopefully it will last longer that way.
 
GM must be taking Ostrich lessons

I was just on with GM's customer care center on either 3/3 or 3/4 2005 discussing, among some other issues related to GM Certified Cars, the longstanding problem with these tops. They tried to sound surprised when I told them also, obviously either they have had their heads buried in the sand for the past 8 years or buried up somewhere less mentionable. Of course they know, but at $1200 retail per 'glass' top, they want us to eat it. When I first noticed this problem with my car about a month ago DURING DELIVERY at the dealership and brought it to their attention, they went NUTS! They jumped all over me about how they would not fix or replace that top ... how surprised were they for a bunch of GMers who supposedly don't know about this issue? Obviously they either swapped the good top on the car I bought for a bad one prior to delivery or kept the car so dirty and mostly in the dark when I saw it that I failed to notice it. Ultimately I walked out of the deal but later that week they made about a 1/3 monetary adjustment for the top and, because I really wanted the car, I bit and closed the deal. When I took the car to a place called the "Corvette Shop" in Orange Couny, NY, the owner said they all do that and he's known about it for years. I have a bumper to bumber warranty on my car for the next two months but since GM said they do recognize this as a defect or a problem, I cannot have it replaced under warranty. These guys NEVER own up to their mistakes. Perhaps if they did, they'd have a much greater owner loyalty and sell a lot more product.
 
silver98 said:
OK folks,
I just got off the phone with Gm / Chevy...GM said they were unaware of the problem, indicating I am the first to notify them of this. Whatever....QUOTE]

;LOL :L ;LOL :L

Was his name Jon Lovits?
 
iteachflyin said:
I was just on with GM's customer care center on either 3/3 or 3/4 2005 discussing, among some other issues related to GM Certified Cars, the longstanding problem with these tops. They tried to sound surprised when I told them also, obviously either they have had their heads buried in the sand for the past 8 years or buried up somewhere less mentionable. Of course they know, but at $1200 retail per 'glass' top, they want us to eat it. When I first noticed this problem with my car about a month ago DURING DELIVERY at the dealership and brought it to their attention, they went NUTS! They jumped all over me about how they would not fix or replace that top ... how surprised were they for a bunch of GMers who supposedly don't know about this issue? Obviously they either swapped the good top on the car I bought for a bad one prior to delivery or kept the car so dirty and mostly in the dark when I saw it that I failed to notice it. Ultimately I walked out of the deal but later that week they made about a 1/3 monetary adjustment for the top and, because I really wanted the car, I bit and closed the deal. When I took the car to a place called the "Corvette Shop" in Orange Couny, NY, the owner said they all do that and he's known about it for years. I have a bumper to bumber warranty on my car for the next two months but since GM said they DO NOT recognize this as a defect or a problem, I cannot have it replaced under warranty. These guys NEVER own up to their mistakes. Perhaps if they did, they'd have a much greater owner loyalty and sell a lot more product.

Obviously, if you read this sentence in a previous reply earlier in this thread, I meant it as highlighted here, not as I stated it there. Sorry.
 
Sampling Size Skewed

I am certain that lots more of us have this problem than have responded. The number of respondents so far total 31 and graphically make the appearance that the problem may not be as prevalent as it is. There shouldn't be more than 1 glass top that experiences this foul up. Certainly there are many and the problem manifests itself continually in the same manner. That's good I believe from an engineering standpoint because it should limit the number of causal relationships markedly that the GM techs should have to examine. So what's taking GM this long (8 years) with this mess to examine it, solve the problem and own up to the CUSTOMERS that purchased this option in good faith? I, for one, simply don't understand business anymore. I KNOW it is both more effecient and more productive in the long run to do business the RIGHT way, to hold to ETHICAL values and to build CUSTOMER LOYALTY, than to not. Isn't it required any longer of anyone in the business world to take AT A MINIMUM, Business 101 before they are let loose. Business everywhere has lost sight of the fact that the customer pays them, the customer is their boss, not the guy above them in the pecking order. It's our dollars, or lack thereof, that run their companies and NOTHING ELSE.
 
I can only speak from my experience with my C4's. On my 96, I had the transparent top replaced under warranty. About 60 days later, top started to crack. If I had taken it back right then, they would have replaced it again for me. I had a lapse of intelligence and showed it to them about 2 years later. They told me they could not do anything for me. Crack has not gotten any worse since then, so I am keeping it as it is. I do not want to invest into another top to have the same thing happen again. I have been told by other vette owners that ALL the transparent tops crack.
Save the Wave!
 
2002 coupe, dual roof option. Sorry to hear that so many of you are having this problem. This made me go out and take a closer look at mine, but it looks fine. I use the transparent top almost exclusively. The car is garaged when not in use, but still feels the bite of Wisconsin winters, temperature-wise, since I drive it all year round when the roads are dry. Knock-on-wood.
 
My top has the same thing. It has 21k miles and i hardly drive it int he rain. just that nice GM quality i guess.
 
I have received further information from material scientists indicating that the problem is caused by a flaw in the resin. It is most prevalent in the 97 - 99 year Vettes. Most of the prolem stems from the fact that GM required a quick (and large) supply of the transparent tops. This led to a rush into production of a resin based poly that was insufficiently tested and provided by an over-extended supply chain.

Chevrolt Customer Service called me last Saturday morning at 9:00 AM ( unfortunately, it was my only day to 'sleep in' in over 3 weeks, so needless to say I was quite groggy when I answered the phone. I had sent them data from this and other polls I posted in the attempt to determine the extent of the problem (which yielded a mean avg of 24.62%). Chevy's respones was that if more affected people notified them the issue might be esclated, but as the results indicated <25%, and the poll was not scientific, my issue was the only one on record.

When queried about the tech bulletin issued on the flaw, I was told by Chevy Customer Service, that the issue lied with the dealers and there was no further information or remedy on the issue. The next question posed by CCS was "Are you satisfied with the response to your issue by CSS?", I honestly told them no, nothing has been addressed and no solution proffered, to which CSS said OK, thank you we will now close your file.

So in the inimitable words of a famous pig...... That's All Folks!

Thanks everyone for your response. When it bothers me enough, I'll get an after market replacement on my frame.

Very Respectfully and with much appreciation,
Joe
 

Corvette Forums

Not a member of the Corvette Action Center?  Join now!  It's free!

Help support the Corvette Action Center!

Supporting Vendors

Dealers:

MacMulkin Chevrolet - The Second Largest Corvette Dealer in the Country!

Advertise with the Corvette Action Center!

Double Your Chances!

Our Partners

Back
Top Bottom