Other fuel system problem on the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette
When other fuel system problem gets reported
Owners of the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette report other fuel system problem at a median of 50,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles, from 21 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 30,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 90,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 60,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
24% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30,000 miles | 39,000 miles | 49,940 miles | 79,500 miles | 90,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$2,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 19 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2016, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 2008 carries the most reports, with 141; the 2009 has 27. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
09 corvette will only take half-tank of gas,auto-shutoff. To fill tank have to turn nozzle upside down to fill. This method causes fuel over flow and spillage on the ground. Dealer says it is gas pumps here in california that are at fault and not the corvette. 28 million cars that the pumps work on. This leads me to believe that there will be a fire involved accident as well as pollution escaping from the fill nozzle.. There are 14 other corvettes here with the same problem. Gm says it is not their problem. Help b4 one of us gets burned to death. It is also defeating the fume recovery system and releasing most into the atmosphere. *tr
Hi, I bought the corvette used. The first time I filled it all the up with gas I noticed a very strong gas smell the next day in my garage. I hoped it would go away or it was just something I wasn't aware of about the car since I just bought it used. The next time I filled it up the same thing the whole garage smelled like gas the next day. Did some research online and found out there are allot of the c6 corvettes with this defect. If you fill the car up over half full gas leaks from the top of the tank down the inside and on to the tailpipe. Called the dealer and they refused to fix it or recall the defective part. Im afraid of two possible things happening either the car catching fire or the fumes igniting my gas water heater thats in the garage as well. Hope you guys can get something done about it. Thanks for your time. *js
Strong odor of gas in garage, dealer determined problem to be faulty fuel module, crack discovered with smoke test. The gas smell was so strong I was afraid to leave the car in the garage for fear of an explosion or fire, I notified chevrolet and their only reply was thank you for being a gm customer. Cost of repair was $2731.39, which gm refused to reimburse saying car was no longer under warranty. *tr updated 3/15/16 *js
Also reported on the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other engine problem
Fuel pump failure
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Other electrical problem
Complete engine failure or seizure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 27 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other fuel system problem happen on the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette?
Across 21 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 50,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette?
27 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 7.6 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed