Mar 4, 2020
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No more key'ed access to the trunk for 2023+ C8's. Money saving? If the latch mechanism fails, which has happened, one is required to drill a 3 inch hole in the rear decklid to open the trunk!! WTF!!

G.M announced 6/14/22*** that all 2023+ Corvettes will LOSE the lock cylinder behind the license plate to open the rear hatch in the event of electrical system faults. The rear fascia will still have the provision FOR a lock cylinder, but it will not be installed. The new solution in the event of loss of electrical systems is to use a 3" hole-saw to separate 3" of the rear hatch to stay latched into striker. From there the fasteners holding the latch in can be accessed.

Makes you wonder if the production cost saving will surpass the warranty repair amount to the rear hatch after cutting it open. Here is the verbiage:

"If you need to access the rear compartment on a 2023+ model year Corvette:

Attempt to open the rear hatch /rear compartment using all 3 electrical attempts. Try the interior switch, the exterior touch pad, and the key fob. This will electrically command the rear hatch/rear compartment to release. There is no alternate method to gain access to the rear hatch / rear compartment if these attempts do not work. The vehicle will have to be damaged in order to open the rear hatch / rear compartment. See the section later in this document titled, "Accessing the rear hatch / rear compartment with a seized up latch."

Accessing the rear hatch / rear compartment with a seized up latch:

First obtain a 3" hole saw for the following procedure. Send the vehicle to a body shop as needed. Starting at the trailing edge of the rear hatch / rear compartment, measure forward 3 and 1/2". Make this mark at the centerline of the panel. This will be the center of the hole that will have to be drilled into the panel. This will place the pilot hole location right in a portion of the stingray emblem when it has been positioned properly. Drill a 3" hole through the rear hatch / rear compartment panel. This will allow the technician to lift the rear panel upwards and the small 3" cut-out portion of the panel will stay attached to the rear latch / striker assembly. The servicing technician will then have access to the fasteners that hold the latch to the vehicle and can continue servicing the vehicle from there."
 
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No more key'ed access to the trunk for 2023+ C8's. Money saving? If the latch mechanism fails, which has happened, one is required to drill a 3 inch hole in the rear decklid to open the trunk!! WTF!!
Wow. Hard to believe GM would do something that stupid. What's next? Break the window if the door doesn't open.
 
Well that’s the final straw. First the flying frunk (I could make jokes for an hour using flying frunk as the base material) now this whole rear trunk fiasco….what’s next? An unknown virus sneaking out of a secret lab in China causing world wide panic?

Nope just gonna hang on to that pre-revolutionary war antique. Ain’t progress grand.
 
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I have a 4.5" hole saw that is bent. It cuts ovals. $25.00 OBO. :Biggrin:
LOL! That's too "Blue Oval" for this forum! Do you have one that cuts in the shape of crossed flags?
 
The tag line for the Z06 is "Putting the world on notice"..................yep having the customer needing to drill and destroy the panel to open the hatch if the electrical part fails really puts those other car manufacturers on notice for the stupidity this really is.

Can you imagine Porsche/Ferrari mentioning this to the owners of their new rides of those makes needing to wreck their car to open a panel???

OTOH, not that you should have to do this separately yourself after paying these current prices for these cars. It does mention the provision is there for a lock cylinder so how about getting a cylinder and install on your 2023 car (if that's possible)??

Tony
 
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But a win for aftermarket suppliers. I can see it now, ACS Composites and ZL Add Ons will be offering colour coded, powder coated, hole saws with C8 logos complete with blades autographed by Zora himself. ACS will be offering carbon fibre permanently installed trunk access panels, $975 plus tax unpainted. Can be bundled with frunk locking tabs as well. Of course the trunk access panel will require the ZL Addons hole saw.

None of it really matters though if your C8 won’t move because the 3 day old transmission packed it in.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but if your key fob battery is the only thing dead, you now have no way to get into your 2023 C8 now. Fine I guess if you are parked beside a store that sells the fob battery or have a spare one in your car errr... pocket....
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but if your key fob battery is the only thing dead, you now have no way to get into your 2023 C8 now. Fine I guess if you are parked beside a store that sells the fob battery or have a spare one in your car errr... pocket....
The fob has a key integrated in it that opens the driver door and the trunk on a 2020 to 2022 C8. So you open the driver door with the key. Pull the wire under the dash to open the frunk, where you have stashed a 10 mm wrench so you can disconnect the battery to reset the car. Phew! I'm out of breath.
 
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The fob has a key integrated in it that opens the driver door and the trunk on a 2020 to 2022 C8. So you open the driver door with the key. Pull the wire under the dash to open the frunk, where you have stashed a 10 mm wrench so you can disconnect the battery to reset the car. Phew! I'm out of breath.
Yup.... C6 and C7 also have a keyfob key that opens the trunk. Pull the wire opens the drivers door. Insert your key fob in a slot (glove box on the C6 and steering column on the C7) to start the car. Sounds like the 2023's are SOL. I guess they could get a belt holster and carry around their cordless drill and a 3" hole saw. I wonder if the 2023 has the keyfob slot. Kinda useless if you can't get in the car though.
 
The tag line for the Z06 is "Putting the world on notice"..................yep having the customer needing to drill and destroy the panel to open the hatch if the electrical part fails really puts those other car manufacturers on notice for the stupidity this really is.

Can you imagine Porsche/Ferrari mentioning this to the owners of their new rides of those makes needing to wreck their car to open a panel???

OTOH, not that you should have to do this separately yourself after paying these current prices for these cars. It does mention the provision is there for a lock cylinder so how about getting a cylinder and install on your 2023 car (if that's possible)??

Tony
I'm sure Porsche/Ferrari/Lambo etc. have their own such issues ("Oh, I see the engine has to come out to change the timing belt")
In all fairness, the lock mechanism itself would need to have an issue before you will need to resort to cutting a hole. In that case maybe the lock cylinder would not even work. My point is, it's not worth worrying about, as the chances are very very small this scenario would play out.
Having said that, I will certainly look into retrofitting a lock cylinder to my 2023 after it arrives.
I would do so just for fun, adding to my list of such projects like the factory engine bay lights retrofit, the radiator grill guards, etc.
 
I'm sure Porsche/Ferrari/Lambo etc. have their own such issues ("Oh, I see the engine has to come out to change the timing belt")
In all fairness, the lock mechanism itself would need to have an issue before you will need to resort to cutting a hole. In that case maybe the lock cylinder would not even work. My point is, it's not worth worrying about, as the chances are very very small this scenario would play out.
Having said that, I will certainly look into retrofitting a lock cylinder to my 2023 after it arrives.
I would do so just for fun, adding to my list of such projects like the factory engine bay lights retrofit, the radiator grill guards, etc.
Sorry not quite the same thing. Lots of makes of vehicles have stupid procedures to get at certain engine stuff when you need to do replacement or maintenance of engine parts etc etc. We all wish for the engine compartment space like a 78 Lincoln Continental in current cars but that's not happening obviously.

My Suzuki SX4 needs the bumper removed to get access to the water pump for replacement (it can be done without bumper removal but it's a major PITA). Smart cars need to pull the engine and trans together for clutch replacement.

If we are talking GM, well look at the stuff you need to remove on the C8 to replace the DCT (the whole back part of the car). On LT engines if you want to replace the cam you need to remove the oil pan to get the front cover off. On LS engines (and I think LT engines) front cam covers are not dowelled so you need some special tool to be able to reinstall the front cover and line it up properly (whereas a couple of dowels would've made install of that cover simple and proper). LS & LT engines need the heads removed to replace lifters..............I could go on.

But no make of vehicle manufacturer that I can think of requires a customer to totally f-up a body panel of a car just to be able to gain access. A GT2 RS has a pull strap inside to open the doors. They don't say to a customer "if you need to open the door or any other panel of your $500k vehicle" break out the hole saw and put a hole in the panel to be able to open it. That just sounds totally stupid for GM to even mention to a customer of a 2023 Corvette that they pay major $$$$$$$$ for to now destroy that panel if you need to access it and the electrical system konks out preventing "normal" access.

With price increases of each new model year you'd think keeping a key cylinder on the newest model year vehicle is a no brainer, which idiot in the GM Corvette engineering chain of command thought hole sawing your trunk panel was the smart move for gaining access to a storage area?????
 
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I'm not saying it's a brilliant idea that GM had. It's another dumb cost cutting measure. Am I going to worry about it? No.
Am I ever going to let them saw a hole in my car? No way no how. I'd find another way. Assuming I haven't already retrofitted the lock, then I'd drill out the former key cylinder access hole and go to town with some bent coat hangers. Now there is a thought! I think I will try it anyway if I get around to getting the hole cut out for a cylinder, I'm curious of it's possible.
 
The electrical portion of the trunk lock is probably some kind of solenoid that when energized will unlock the mechanical latch holding down the trunk lid. The previous model cars with a key cylinder will have some kind of rod that should unlock the latch mechanically with a turn of the key.

GM most likely just decided to not add the key cyl. and rod that attaches to the mechanical lock, ALA the latch are the same between 2020-23 retrofitting the key cyl. and associated parts should not be a big deal.
 
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