Quality Concerns: Early C8 Z06 Breaks Within First 1,000 Miles

C8 Z06 quality is already called into question as this example dumped its transmission fluid all over the ground.  

Come on GM. We JUST warned you about this. We said that a new Corvette brand would be ruined if quality was not elevated. It was the FIRST thing on our list. And now here we are watching a video about one of the very first Z06 Corvettes dropping all of its transmission fluid all over the ground before the car even has 1,000 miles on it. That does not bode well for the Z06 itself, let alone a whole new Corvette brand. Sure, this could be an anomaly. And it may even be caused by abusive driving. We don’t know quite yet what the root cause is. But regardless, it is not a good look to have one of the very first of these highly anticipated cars being pushed around a garage on dollies.

The car in question is an Accelerate Yellow Z06 that was recently purchased by YouTuber Stradman. Yes, we know most of these early cars seem to go to YouTube stars which can be frustrating. But the flip side for us is that when there is an issue, we typically have it well documented. And that is the case here. On TheStradman YouTube channel a video is posted showing the Z06 having a quality crisis and dumping transmission fluid all over the garage.

Nasty Surprise

The Z06 was recently shipped to the home of the new owner and parked in an underground garage. Apparently at some point during the night the Z06 decided that it no longer wanted any of its transmission fluid. A significant puddle of fluid was seen spreading from underneath the car. There was a reasonable concern about starting the car in that condition. However, the car would not go into neutral without being started. So, it needed to be put on dollies and pushed out of the way so the other exotic cars could get out. Probably the biggest first world problem in history, but it is what it is.

The Issue

With this being a nearly brand-new car, any issue should be covered under warranty assuming GM can’t prove the car was abused in a manner that would cause this issue. But the quality question will continue to linger long after this is fixed. The Z06 is billed as a supercar killer. And from a performance standpoint it is. But given the current state of this Z06, I could walk around my local racetrack faster than this Corvette. The greatest ability is availability. And if your fancy new C8 Z06 is laid up in a garage somewhere then it is not available for you to enjoy. We are not going to say that the exotics from Lamborghini or Ferrari are paragons of reliability. But we would hope that the Corvette quality would surpass those high-strung supercars.

One Example

This is only one example, and one data point does not constitute a trend. But it is a bit of a black eye for GM out of the gate. If there are additional examples of this type of failure reported in the near future that is really going to cast serious doubt on this Z06 project. There was already some concern about GM building a flat-plane crank engine and how durable it would be. This fluid leak raises another area of concern that we all hope is a one-off anomaly.

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