A C8 Corvette owner in Florida went viral for all the wrong reasons last year when his beloved mid-engine sports car fell off a lift while in a dealership’s service bay. Chevrolet eventually stepped in to resolve the situation with the customer, but it was still a slightly embarrassing moment for both the automaker and the dealership involved.
Now, another C8 Corvette has fallen off a lift while being worked on, although the details on this story are scarce. A Corvette Forum member posted photos of the Rapid Blue Corvette partially hanging off a two-post lift in some type of service center this week and provided no backstory on the images, only saying they were sent to him by a family member.
It’s not clear if this mishap occurred in an official Chevrolet dealership service center or a private third-party shop. General Motors does provide in-depth C8 Corvette training to service employees that will be working on the mid-engine sports car, so the employee should have known better if this was an official Chevy shop, but mistakes can still happen no matter how much training or preparation someone has.
The above diagram is part of this service technician training for the C8 Corvette. It shows the correct points to hoist a C8 Corvette from, along with the areas where employees should not attempt to put it on the lift. It’s not clear if this particular incident was caused by the employee failing to put the vehicle on the lift properly, or if there was some other issue or failure with the lift itself.
Chevy stepped up to help the owner of the C8 Corvette that fell off the lift last year, so we wouldn’t be surprised if it steps in to resolve this matter as well – assuming this did indeed happen at a Chevy dealership service center, of course.
We’ll provide an update on this story if we hear any more information, but for now, be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more mid-engine Corvette news, Corvette C8 news, Corvette news, Chevrolet news, and 24/7 GM news coverage.
Comments
A video of this incident would be a viral masterpiece, especially if the owner was present. What a bad day. There’s no excuse for this kind of incompetency.
I’m sure the tech knew what he was lifting. He did get it up in the air, the problem was he didn’t have enough experience to understand the way the weight distribution would change once’s his hands and tools got involved next time hopefully he will use is brain and use a additional support to counter this motion I’m sure he went running when she started to move
The Fiero suffered similar fates back in the day.
Dealers would drop the engine cradle and the car would nose over forward.
I had a friend who lost his car this way. The dealer replaced it but it was a mess for a while.
This is why you should take your vett to the dealer for service. You’ll have a much better chance of getting the situation rectified.
The last incident with the C8 falling off a lift did happen at a Chevy service center, however.
That’ll leave a mark.
Nah. It will buff out!
You might think that given this is NOT a front engine car, that the people working in servicing would understand that there is far more weight on the back than on the front. Even GM has specific lifting points clearly pointed out. The other side of the story is that it would be 100% safe on a four post lift where none of the car is hanging out in mid air, but is sitting on its’ four wheels instead.
It seems that the obvious thing for Chevy to do is to pack four lightweight metal spring or plastic plugs with the car, maybe with a molded “not a lift point” phrase or tag or something like that. Add it to the Pre-Delivery Inspection list to plug the round tie-down holes, so that mechanics or oil changers or tire dealer employees wouldn’t think of those holes as lift points.
I know that some would say “just do it right.” But at least two owners have had their C8s screwed-up because of this, so why not make it relatively foolproof? The Japanese call it poka yoke, a phrase meaning “to avoid errors,” or we would say, “make it so it cannot be screwed-up!”
As an engineer, I’ve always lived by the axiom, “Just when you think you’ve invented something that’s idiot-proof, someone will invent a better idiot.”
While that sounds good in theory, nobody is going to be able to read that when the frame is 5 inches off the ground, dark, and they’re trying to position a lift arm under it. It might make the problem worse: guy sees a plug and thinks that’s exactly where he’s supposed to lift.
Good point. But the problem is that the hole itself looks like a lifting point. So what is there now is a 50/50 invitation to do it wrong, unless you know it, or you have enough knowledge of the chassis to be concerned about the weight distribution (unlikely), or you are going to always look in the owner’s manual, none of which are very robust. Maybe if it was something that covered the shipping hole, AND was designed in appearance that would at least cause them to think. Maybe the word “Warning” and in an odd color. I’m not saying I have the right answer, but I’m confident that something could be done that is better than what it is now. It should be tested with people who work on cars to see what works.
What isn’t good is to have a C8 destroyed every few months.
Cars fall off lifts on a regular basis, it’s not just a C8 thing. Go look on YouTube. Unfortunately, they also kill workers on a semi-regular basis as well. The Automotive Lift Institute has a book that’s provided with every lift that tells you exactly where to lift each car model, but guess who bothers to read?
this is why i bought my own jacking pucks and will install them myself using red locktite so they stay on permanently . they are bright aluminum anodized red in colour so you cannot miss seeing them. peace of mind for a little money !!
“Unsafe At Any Height” Someone needs to call Ralph Nader!
This is one reason why I have oil changes in my C7 done at a Chevy dealer that has a dedicated facility for these set up like a Jiffy Lube or similar where you drive in over a pit and the car never is lifted.
Of course they might have been doing some other sort of work in the case of the dropped C8.
Odds are pretty good that they managed to total it with a drop from six feet or more.
I wouldn’t hesitate to take my car to this dealership for an oil change. What are the chances that the technician will ever make this mistake twice?
Just a hunch, but I suspect that this was a carrier ending event for that tech. Even so, I expect that they will have to find a new way to screw things up.
Yes, but now he’s working fast food at McDonalds and making $15 an hour.
Oh, if he made it once he’s a good bet to make this mistake again.
Of course, as noted by Jared, it is highly likely that he will have to make his mistake somewhere else.
I wouldn’t want the car after that. I’ll demand a new one again.
It dropped at least six feet (see level of the lift in the photo) and soI suspect it is totaled.
Insurance company (either owner’s or dealer’s) will pay for it and then make back a lot of their money by parting out the stuff not ruined by the fall.
In the words of Oscar Madison from Odd Couple Movie, ‘Now it’s garbage’. Still feel sorry for owner and mechanic.
I hope it wasn’t getting the PTI done.
Take a page from the NASCAR teams — red arrows pointing to the desired jacking points. And maybe flat black plastic plugs to go into the tie-down holes. Way less expensive than dropping a car on the floor. I worked for a manufacturing company that made very critical items. Goof proof had a very specific meaning!?
And yet goofs will find a way.
I have to believe that this isn’t a GM/Chevrolet dealership’s service department, after the first one fell off last year – there had to be a company-wide come-to-Jesus meeting that fully detailed every aspect of raising a C8 with a two-post lift and explaining to everyone that they will undoubtedly be terminated, as I have believe the original tech was.
Unless Chevy is OK with handing out C8’s because of stupidity?
Where do I get in line for those free Corvettes?
To quote Forrest Gump: “Stupid is, as stupid does…”
“Just when you think you’ve invented something that’s idiot-proof, someone will invent a better idiot.” – That’s FUNNY…👍
Dealerships are independent franchises.
GM can make things like computer video training, but what happens when things get busy and the one Corvette guy who bothered to do it is out sick, and the service department manager needs to get cars done to bring in the hours?
GM isn’t handing out anything for free. It’s going on the dealership’s E&O insurance.
From the service providers point of view the fault lies entirely with the customer, for had the customer not taken his car to that particular service shop this would never have happened. It is obviously the customers at fault for had he taken his car to some other service shop (Chevy dealer or quick lube joint) they may have had the problem but certainly it wouldn’t be this particular service provider.
I’m sure that when the lawyers for the service shop get hold of this particular situation they will likely use this type of argument to substantiate their claim that their client is not responsible for any damages.
The solution is who can hire with the most expensive lawyer, they will most likely win the case and the poor customer will suffer the loss.
I had a similar situation in 1967 where my 65 Corvette fell of the lube shop lift and the company hired a very expensive lawyer. I didn’t have anywhere the money to hire a good lawyer, as a result I suffered the loss and had to repair the car on my money, though the company was ordered to cover my legal expense. THE SHOP ALWAYS WINS.
I’m thinking this is an attorney. LOL
My response to the dealer. Tell me when my new car will be arriving and provide me with a rental for free until I get it.
Another sad situation regarding dropping a car from a lift.ANY CAR! Could have been worse it could’ve been a truck or someone get hurt.All of the technology,all of the engineering involved,etc.BUT,NO COMMON SENSE!
Remember,detailed service information is so prevalent these days for proper service procedures and ready for this? LIFTING POINTS!! If not sure about anything? FIND OUT! READ,READ,READ!!!! Old saying folks,”An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure!!!
First problem is they(dealer/shops) rather someone quick and cheap on payroll,instead of someone that takes their time and knows what they’re doing. And the customers or just at fault as shop because a lot of people rather go to a five minute oil change and risking screwing up their car rather then taking it to a shop to have a oil change and a routine checkup,the right way.
I’d be picky on going to just ANY Chevy dealership to have service performed on my Corvette even if I bought from them especially if they don’t sell many vettes
Sure most Chevy dealers will order a corvette for you but do they know anything beyond taking your money to order it.
One of the bigger GM dealers in Phx that I bought my Yukon Denali from did a simple service only to put in 10 quarts of oil, he forgot to zero out the dial.
I checked the oil level before I left (hard to trust some idiots shops hire), they ended up draining out 4 quarts to bring it to the proper level.
I’m buying my C8 from the largest Corvette dealer in Arizona, this dealer I think I can trust for service, they sell and service more corvettes, about 3 times more than any other dealer in Az.
Blaming the customer for going somewhere they trusted and was referred to has to be a lawyer looking for a guilty client to represent.
No way is the customer responsible for shops that don’t have trained employees to do the job they was hired to do properly.