2017 Chevrolet Corvette Problems

What owners report

Owners of this model year mostly report wheel problems: cast rims that crack along the inner lip and let air escape slowly, and rims that bend or go out of round and set up a vibration. The cracks usually show up first as a low tire pressure message rather than a visible failure, and many owners say they had not hit a pothole or road debris. A smaller but consistent group describes the power steering assist cutting out while driving, sometimes with a dash warning.

1. 1
   Wheels

   Cracked wheels causing slow tire air loss

   • 187 complaints (73%)
   • median 15,400 mi at 3.0 yrs old (131 state mileage)
   • 1 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • owner-quoted repair $900 (median of 21 quotes)
   • filed 2018–2026

   Complaints describe a tire that keeps losing air, a tire pressure warning on the dash, and a tire shop or dealer then finding one or more cracks on the inside lip or barrel of the rim. Owners often say the car was driven normally and that they recall no pothole or impact, and several report cracks in more than one wheel or repeat cracks in a wheel already replaced. According to the complaints, some dealers replaced wheels under warranty while others declined, attributing the cracks to road impacts or wear, and some owners paid out of pocket or had wheels welded. Most reports in the sample come in between roughly 3,000 and 25,000 miles, with a number below 10,000 miles and a few past 60,000.

   1 related service bulletin

   What to check: Ask whether any wheel has been replaced, welded or straightened, and have the car put on a lift so the inner lips and barrels of all four rims can be inspected for hairline cracks. Check the tire pressures cold and recheck after a week, since these cracks often show up as a slow leak rather than a visible break.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Rear rim has cracked, have gotten repaired twice and cracked again. Car also has a vibration as if other rims on my car are bent or cracked. I currently do not drive the car very far because I'm afraid of getting strained somewhere. I have replaced the cracked rim with another rim from a rim shop that sales replica wheels”

   NHTSA complaint #11363968, filed 2020-10, 20,000 miles

   “I went out to my vehicle to drive it to work and saw that I had a low tire pressure warning. The pressure was 19 PSI, and normal should be 30 PSI. I inflated the tire to normal pressure, and a week later the pressure had dropped to 9psi. I took my vehicle to discount tire assuming I had a tire puncture, but after removing the wheel and tire they immediately detected a crack in the wheel. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11301715, filed 2020-01, 23,430 miles
2. 2
   Wheels

   Bent or out-of-round wheels causing vibration

   • 91 complaints (35%)
   • median 11,000 mi at 2.8 yrs old (75 state mileage)
   • owner-quoted repair $1,000 (median of 14 quotes)
   • filed 2017–2026

   Owners describe a shake or wobble that varies with speed, sometimes noticed soon after buying the car used, that a tire shop traces to one or more wheels being bent or out of round and unable to be balanced. Several complaints say the vibration appeared after a small bump at low speed, while others say it developed in ordinary driving. According to the complaints, some dealers documented the bent wheels but declined replacement, describing it as impact damage or wear, and owners paid for straightening or aftermarket wheels. Reported from a few hundred miles up to about 45,000 miles, with most in the sample under 15,000 miles.

   What to check: Drive the car at highway speed and note any steady shake through the wheel or seat, then ask a tire shop to spin-balance all four wheels and measure run-out before you buy. Ask for any prior wheel repair invoices or a wheel and tire protection plan history.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “Car was vibrating while driving and getting worse. Took to local tire shop for balance. Tire shop informed me I had 2 front and 1 rear bent wheels. Next trip to dealer for warranty work asked to have bent wheels replaced. Bent wheels were documented on work invoice but replacement was denied. Note wheels have never been inspected for cracks but do currently hold air.”

   NHTSA complaint #11385943, filed 2020-12, 4,664 miles

   “When driving the car vibrated. I took the car to the local chevy dealer to get the wheels balanced and was told two of the wheels could not be balanced because they were bent. In spite of my 3yr, 36k mile bumper to bumper warranty (which was in force) I was told chevy would not cover the cost of repairs.”

   NHTSA complaint #11361340, filed 2020-09, 6,019 miles
3. 3
   Steering

   Power steering assist drops out while driving

   • 15 complaints (6%)
   • median 9,488 mi at 2.8 yrs old (9 state mileage, few)
   • filed 2017–2026

   Complaints describe a "service power steering" message appearing and the steering suddenly becoming much heavier, sometimes at low speed in a turn and sometimes at highway speed. Owners report that restarting the car sometimes restored assist and sometimes did not, and that the problem returned intermittently; one complaint notes a dealer could not determine the cause. Several owners link the symptom to the electric power steering recall campaigns for this model. Reported from about 8,000 to 74,000 miles, with cases both in city driving and on the freeway.

   Recall 19V086000Recall 25V175000

   What to check: Check with a dealer whether the electric power steering recall work has been completed for this VIN, since the campaigns were released in stages. On a test drive, watch for the steering warning message and confirm the effort feels normal at parking-lot and highway speeds.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I've had 2 occurences where I get the service power steering. Drive carefully message and the car becomes harder to steer/turn. On the first occurence the issue went away after restarting the car. Now, the check engine light stays on and the car remains hard to steer even after restarting / waiting a day. Both occurrences happened while the car was in motion. First driving on the street and now it happened while driving on the freeway.”

   NHTSA complaint #11300862, filed 2020-01, 33,000 miles

   “The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Corvette. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH on a straight roadway, the power steering warning light illuminated, and the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact drove the vehicle back to his residence and turned the vehicle off. When the contact restarted the vehicle, the vehicle regained power steering functionality. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but had reoccurred several times. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11511576, filed 2023-03, 9,488 miles

Buying note. Wheel condition is the main thing to verify on this model year: have the rims inspected off the car for cracks and run-out, and budget for replacement wheels if any are found. It is also worth confirming that the electric power steering recall has been applied to the specific car.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.