2019 Chevrolet Corvette: What to check before buying

Factory wheels bend and crack under normal street driving, mostly on Grand Sport and Z06 cars. The first sign is usually a highway vibration that feels like an out-of-balance tire. Later, cracked rims leak air and trigger low-pressure warnings. Bends show up as early as 3,000 miles, and cracks appear from about 11,000 to 32,800 miles, often on several wheels at once. Some cars need wheel repairs year after year. Dealers often call it a non-warranty item. A cracked wheel that loses air at highway speed is a real loss-of-control risk.

The 8-speed automatic shudders under light acceleration, roughly between 25 and 80 mph, and it can feel like driving on a washboard road. It often starts early, around 3,400 to 4,399 miles. Dealers trace it to the original transmission fluid and treat it with a triple fluid flush under service bulletin 18-NA-355. The flush usually stops the shudder, but not always. Some reports also describe a hard lunge when the car first engages 1st or 2nd gear, grinding shifts blamed on the torque converter, and a broken shifter cable.

Every engine complaint involves a major failure that needed a full engine replacement. A recurring theme is the wait: cars sit at dealers for months because replacement engines are back-ordered, and owners pay for rentals in the meantime. One reported cause is a failed high-pressure fuel pump that made the engine run lean. That melted spark plugs and sent smoke out of the engine compartment, with no warning lights. A replacement engine can also throw misfire and knock codes.

Power steering assist cuts out without warning, including at highway speeds, and returns only after a restart. These reports match recall campaign 19V086000. A separate complaint is a bumping, grinding metallic noise in slow, tight turns and in reverse, starting around 1,000 miles and getting worse. A Chevrolet bulletin calls it normal tire chatter. On the ZR1, a front splitter installed without its center support bracket can come loose at speed, scrape the ground, and make the front end hard to control.

Fuel leaks and a gasoline smell around the parked car are the main complaints, along with a filler neck that does not seal. Owners point to an extended warranty GM offered for fuel tank and fuel receiver leaks on earlier C7 Corvettes. Dealers may say the 2019 is not covered, though GM has shared repair costs near the end of the 3-year/36,000-mile warranty. With only two complaints, this is a minor pattern, but a fuel leak still needs prompt attention.