C8 Corvette Falls Off Lift at Dealership

One stupid mistake ruined this new Corvette, and the owner is understandably upset.

We’re proud to admit that we’re Corvette obsessed here at Corvette Forum. Besides our usual work for the homepage, scouring the forums, and browsing car listings, we’ve filled our social media feeds with Corvettes, too. Over on Facebook, we’re members of the C8 Corvette Owners (And Friends) group.

Usually, the mood is pretty positive over there. Everyone is showing off their shiny new Corvettes, and everyone is still buzzing with excitement about the 2020 Corvette. However, we saw a post this weekend that made our heart sink.

A dealership was servicing a Torch Red C8 belonging to Jake Miller, when it fell off of the lift and crashed to the ground. Auto Evolution came across the post in a different Facebook group, where the owner responded, understandably upset. “That’s my f***ing car, how the hell did this get on Instagram?”

He knew about the incident, but he didn’t know that the photos had been shared and that he had become an overnight celebrity for all of the wrong reasons. He explains that it was not an equipment issue, but operator error that ruined his Corvette.

The Wrong Way to Lift a Corvette

With the engine now being in the middle of the car, the weight bias is shifted rearward. Lifting a C8 the same way you’d lift a C7 — or any other Corvette — is a recipe for disaster. Falling backward off the lift is exactly what will happen. Luckily, no-one was hurt, but the incident could have been a whole lot worse.

Chevrolet has developed training for every aspect of C8 Corvette service, from basic to major services. Naturally, lift training is part of the program, and this balance issue is explained in the training. However, it’s possible that the tech who made the mistake wasn’t trained on the Corvette — or they simply forgot.

We reached out to Miller, but we haven’t received a response. It’s probably for the best, as he’s still on the process of working with the dealership to figure out how to make things right. We wouldn’t want to compromise that.

We can’t imagine how frustrating this situation must be for Miller. If it were up to us, the dealer would buy back Miller’s car at full MSRP and find him a brand new one. We hope that, no matter what happens, he’s happy in the end.

Photos: Auto Evolution/Jake Miller

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