vntgmbk

So I took a factory tour last week during my TPW and it now appears I was able to see my car but unfortunately being taken apart after being built in the "rework" area as the guide called it. I never got a 3800 code update but when I called my dealer, when I got back a week later they then updated my code to 3800 and confirmed it was finished being built the day I was there so it must have been my car as I was able to get 10ft from it and was able to confirm it was the exact car I ordered as the passenger side door was open. A guy had the right fender well out and also the hood up and appeared to be somewhat disassembling the car in the area of the dry sump reservoir. I wasn't allowed to speak to the person disassembling my car unfortunately. My guide who was very informative and experienced just said "you should hope that isn't your car as that is where the cars go when they fail some tests and they can't figure out why". So since my car is still at 3800 a week after it has been built, I assume they are still trying to figure out what is wrong with it. My dealer said they have no way to contact anyone at the factory even though we have a vin#. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts as right now I am ready to cancel the order as I haven't been able to get any answers as to why my brand new $90k car has been built and now being disassembled by a factory worker. Thanks in advance for anyone able to help get me some info!

jvp

Your guide was very knowledgeable (not to cast doubts upon the NCM folks) but, perhaps, overstated things a bit. Think about it this way: if a car is built and a challenging or interesting problem pops up with it: where better to have that discovered? You literally have the best Corvette technicians in the world right there.

Don't panic. Don't knee-jerk and cancel your order over this. And don't expect constant updates because you won't get them until a different event code hits. Relax and let those aforementioned best Corvette techs in the world do their job. They'll do it and you'll have a perfectly-working car when they're done.

Speedforhire

Better resolved at BG, than the stealership. Don't sweat it OP.

However, you didn't post any specs of your car. Color? Options? Etc.?.......

Greg00Coupe

I feel your pain and concern but agree that they will get it right. Hang in there perhaps another week and it will all be good.

Doubt the factory would give out this information.

JoesC5

Five or six years ago, a bunch of us were visiting the plant and the museum. One of our guys had a C5 with a CEL. Local dealer(large forum dealer) had had no luck finding/fixing the problem even though they had worked on the car multiple times.

When we were at the plant early one morning, one of the GM engineers was talking with us and my friend asked him about his C5's CEL and the engineer asked him to drop off his C5 that afternoon and they would take a look at it.

During lunch, my friend was excited about finally he was going to get a resolution. We dropped off his car at the plant after lunch and when we went back later that afternoon, the engineer said they thought they had it fixed. No CEL.

As we were driving back to Missouri the next day, the CEL came back on.

A couple of weeks later, my friend gave up and traded it for a new C6 GS.

vntgmbk

I truly appreciate all the responses assuring me that it is all going to be OK in the end. Maybe I am not being realistic in looking for input as to how to get info from the factory. I have owned many corvettes over the years so I am not a newbie in that respect . I think from my point of view, seeing my brand new car being disassembled right after being built is hard to dismiss and feel that it is going to be OK. Like most on this forum,I have had to work very hard and save for a while to justify spending this amount of money on a car. For the brief time I watched this person working on my car, I never saw a fender cover being used to protect the paint and to me that is a concern on a brand new car. I use a fender protector when I am working on any of our cars no matter how old they are. Again I am sure if they nick the paint they will be glad to get the bottle of touch up paint out and touch it up etc. but would that really be acceptable on a brand new almost $90k car? Maybe I am just too particular and this kind of thing should be expected and accepted in the GM world. I don't think from my POV it is. Please don't take this post as me being a whiner as it is not meant to spoil anyone elses great experience by any means. It is just harder to accept and be positive about when it is your own car being taken apart and reworked even if it is at the factory. Thanks for all the kind words!

JMB

Don't believe JVP for a minute!
After working for the largest Aerospace Company in the World I can tell you exactly what the "rework" area is....the car does not meet engineering requirements, PERIOD! Since you are aware of this I would press the issue to understand EXACTLY what was being repaired....the problem with having a vehicle "reworked" when new is that unless ALL of the parts/assemblies that do not meet Engineering requirements are replaced or repaired "properly", your car may have a nagging problem because the engineer responsible to disposition the problem as "fixed" may get "leaned" on by Production to buy it off "as is" to keep the Production line moving......gee ask me how I know

lgodom

You're not overreacting. Nobody would want to see their undelivered car disassembled. At least the factory has the resources and expertise to make the repairs. When I toured the factory there were a couple of cars in the rework area. Chances are it has already been repaired and you'll never find out what was wrong. I'd just wait it out and look over the fender area for damage when you're taking delivery. If it's damaged upon delivery, then you could reject it.

BOBSZ06

Nonsense!
Very unique situation with you being there and it's your car. Every right to ask to be informed about your car at the time or provided the opportunity to talk to someone else later about the situation.
I would have insisted.

etekberg

Unless you don't.

davepl

Would there be any info in GMGlobalConnect on the VIN? I think you have a VIN by 3800, I don't recall. I can have it checked if you like.

vntgmbk

I totally agree! I tried to be persistant and asked several times but our guide said since he works for the NCM, he is prohibited from talking to factory people about their job(union thing maybe?) and cannot allow me to talk to the person who was working on my car. He was a nice guy and very apologetic but said that was the rules. I was with my wife so I filtered my response. If I don't get a detailed explanation as to what was wrong and what was done, I will refuse the car and take it up with my dealer as to getting my money back.

Kracka

I would rather it be the factory figuring out the issue than the dealership. All new machines will have issues of some sort, that is why warranties exist. I would personally appreciate the extra QC attention your car is getting.

BOBSZ06

While at the plant you should have contacted the PR dept at the plant. And asked to be informed about the situation with YOUR car.

http://www.corvetteassembly.com/Faci.../about_us.html


Lauren Langille
Bowling Green Assembly & Spring Hill Manufacturing
Mobile 931-398-8191
lauren.langille@gm.com

vntgmbk

Yes that is also a great concern of mine! They think they have found the problem, then they retest it and it passes so they move it on to the dealer, I get it then the problem shows up again, it goes back to a dealership to sit and wait while the clueless mechanic replaces everything under the sun before finally contacting GM for help and then we are back to square one. In the meantime the car is paid for and sitting on a lift once again being disassembled. Not good as I am sure GM won't say. "we are going to give you a new car until it's back to the dealer several times and I envoke the lemon law".
Don't need that additional stress in my life!

Thanks! That is exactly the kind of help I need right now. I have already left Lauren a voicemail a couple of minutes ago as soon as I saw your reply. Let's see if she calls me back and can get me some info. I am really disappointed that the high volume dealer, I purchased the car from cannot provide me with any help.
thanks again!

pelotonracer2

What color is your car? I saw a couple cars that were pulled off line during our factory tour AND several others that were in the "issues" area at the end.

vntgmbk

AW,Jet Black, 2 LZ, 7M

I think you toured a couple days after me and after mine had been pulled.. Mine was the one, probably still sitting on the lift being taken apart.

sunsalem

A wise decision IMO.

pelotonracer2

Some cars are just pulled from production (at any time during the build process) and held for QC checks.

I was told by my tour guide that the factory WILL NOT disclose any issues they may have with your particular car, but that the cars are fixed BEFORE they leave the plant. I saw several cars being worked on AFTER they were built, to the right side of the rollers. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I saw a silver Z06/GS that had been pulled and tagged from the production line that was just sitting on the floor. It was tagged for QC. Maybe your car got the 2 week QC pull. I actually would not mind that at all as they look at everything before it is put back into the production line. I was told the cars can be pulled at any time during production, NOT just at the end. They can even be chosen when they are sitting in the parking lot waiting to be transported.

pelotonracer2

The production line is not stopped when cars are sent to the reworking area. They can remove a car from the production line conveyor in about 4 minutes, but the reworking area is for cars that come off the production line fully built that do not pass the roller test (or were tagged for other issues, sometimes just needing a missing part). During our tour, there were approximately 6-7 cars in this area being worked on out of about 30 spots, so I don't see how production timing can be altered. The only cars that I saw being pulled were cars tagged for QC OR cars that were in overrun hold (still on the conveyor but up above or off to the side and out of the way). I was told they were lower priority vehicles, but had been painted with other batches of the same color. You can tell when a car has been removed and put back on the production line sometimes because it's an off color. Usually you will see 5, 6, 7 or 8 cars in a row, all the same color and then a one off stuck between them.

A couple of the cars in overrun (repair area) were missing fenders or had fenders that didn't match. I hear this is pretty normal and they replace the fender (or other body panel, hood or hatch) with the right color AFTER the car comes off the assembly line. sometimes there is a paint issue and they just put a fender or hood on with another color and tag it, then in rework area they get the right color installed. The car is complete when it hits the rollers but sometimes there is a part(s) that need to be replaced and that is done in the rework area.

FWIW, normal production is around 130 cars a day and they can boost production up to around 170 cars when needed (with an extra shift). When we took our tour of the plant, we could see the board stating how production was going and for most of the tour they were at 0 or -1 or -2 but it changes by the minute as the line is stopped from time to time (especially for bathroom breaks etc) but usually someone is there to step in while the worker goes to the bathroom.