About to Order, Engine Failure Questions

[CA139]

I sincerely hope this does not annoy anyone. I am a long time enthusiast who has reached financial independence in middle age and because of the rapidly changing environment for cars going to electric and manual transmissions going the way of the dodo I am in the process of picking up a few different performance cars to store, drive occasionally like on weekends or when its nice out and keep for a long time, like decades long past the point when all cars will be not fun as in automatic and especially electric. EV owners rave about one pedal driving, I absolutely adore three (3)!

Am in my late 40's and my objective is to keep these cars the rest of my life to cherish as I enjoy driving. The CT5 V Blackwing is one but the reports of motor failures is giving me some pause. I know it won't be in production much longer so I have two questions.

1. Does anyone especially working at a dealership or in the industry have an idea of how likely this engine failure is? I am looking for approximate likelyhood but I know there's no way to predict because they will go when they go suddenly there's no anticipating the problem AND

2. As production ceases over the next year or two, if my car should fail will there be a reserve of motors? How does it work to get a new engine especially something so bespoke and hand made on an out of production car?

Even though mileage will be very low like a few thousand miles per year 3-4k tops I am concerned if the motor should fail down the line when they stop making them how availability for replacement parts could be.

Thank you for your time

 

[1Evil55]

The motor is more common than you realize. Parts will be just as available as batteries. Don't bogart all the cool stuff. Also FEV

 

[jbawden]

Do you by chance have an excel spreadsheet detailing the cars you're interested in? I'll do my best to nudge you back towards being an emotional buyer like the rest of us here.

Even if you knew the exact historical failure rate, on an individual basis that is nearly irrelevant. It's a mechanical thing, mechanical things fail and if you drive it say another 30-40 years then it could fail, or it won't, no one can predict how good the car you get will be and for how long. A failure is for future CA139 to worry about and there will always be options. Life is short, circumstances change, so save and close that spreadsheet and start looking for allocation!

 

[668LT4]

1. 6 years 70k powertrain warranty
2. There are over 5000 CT5-V Blackwings produced from 22-24. Somewhere you can find a thread on our forum where a guy lists every one he has found on the internet with a motor failure. It is maybe 30 or 35 cars? Out of 5000+.

I'm not worried about mine. If something happens in the next 6 years, I'll get a motor replacement.

If you want the most fun to drive manual sedan ever, it is the CT5-V Blackwing. The overwhelming majority are fine. Many of us here bought one to keep forever and then hand it down.

You might also be hearing a lot about the L87 6.2L V8 motor that has been all over automotive news. It is a fast growing nightmare for GM. Now, if our LT4s have the same parts as those L87s... but so far, the numbers don't bear that out.

 

[ngoni]

If you're concerned and you want to keep the car beyond the initial warranty, the GM extended warranty makes sense if you buy it early on. Just a couple visits to the dealer would probably make you break even on the cost.