Best thing GM could do is have Kevin teach some other car guys (& gals) what he knows so there will be people to "carry on." Kevin's knowledge is in-dispensable.

GM,are you listening?

 

please get everyone organized (maybe a sticky) to send a letter to whomever to say what an asset he was. It sure sounds like he did alot of thngs right for alot of people.

 

Wow! Just can't believe this!! Kevin, just the best when my "05 was built on 2/08/05. GM really needs a wake-up call!

 

Kevin is the best asset that GM has! It's too bad GM can't see the good will this man spreads. Kevin gave my son and me a tour to watch my car being built and that's something my son and I will never forget!

 

While it's not yet functional, it does appear that the new website for the BG Assembly Plant is going to have a tool to show VINs being built. Click on the Vette image after the intro.

 

$350 to take an every day tour of the factory or to get up close and watch your own car be assembled? $350 for an every day tour.... NO WAY, Jose!!!!!

Gburg

 

Lemme see if I get this right.
~$500 for the NCM delivery option and now an additional $350 for a plant tour?
Hmmmm so we're talking about ~$850 tacked onto the final negotiated price, is that right?

They can keep it.

Drop-ship the car at my dealer & call me when it's ready for pickup.

 

Kevin was of great help to me while my car was on a 3 week quality hold.
GM does not get it!
Gm needs to be firing at the top end (executive) maybe they will get rid of the fat (overpaid) execs and hopefully the same thinking execs that came up with the little GM badges that many of us remove ASAP.
I for one am looking at the new Toyota Supra that is due out in 2007.

P.S. GM I've owned 9 corvettes, I'm not the customer you want to lose.

 

I concur with the rest of you. Kevin was a real asset to GM in the way he planned and conducted the "walks" to see your car built. There were many facts, interesting stories etc that would come out in conversations with Kevin that someone who had not worked the line, as Kevin had, could do. No disrepect to the NCM staff, but GM should continue the Kevin tours. Also, $350 is too much money. The goodwill generated in the customer base by Kevin is impossible to put a price on and enlightened management would realize this. If GM feels they need to charge for the tour, they could charge less than $350 and still make a profit on a 1/2 day tour.

There is one other possible motive behind this. It may not be GM's doing at all. The NCM is on a big drive to make money. They may have made the proposal to GM to take over the tours.

 

This is not the case.

Kelly Boca
NCM Delivery Team (summer only)

 

Hi all,
I e-mailed Wil last evening after seeing this post. I got a call this afternoon from Wil's office on my cell phone. I can tell you that after the call it appears that the intent is to ensure that more people can take advantage of this great perk. As it stands now, I'm told that for every 2 people who wish to do this special tour with Kevin (By the way I did the tour with Kevin on Sept 27, 2004) he has to turn down 2 to 3 people because he just cannot accomodate all the demand for this very popular tour. Kevin does have other duties at the BG Assembly Plant and this was not his only function. I was told also that there have been 4 retired personnel that have already been selected to do this tour(s). It appears that several more will be selected and they will all have similar knowledge of the entire process at the plant. That is all the details I can share with you guys now. I for one was most impressed that they took the time to call me. I expressed my concern that this service is a very important image thing for the Corvette Team and I for one did not want to see a valued asset like Kevin taken away from what he does. I was assured that Kevin is being taken care of but that changes became necessary because of the volume of requests for the tour. I was told there would be a charge for the tour, don't know how much. The rest of the changes will be announced in about two weeks. Stay tuned.
Bob
PS Apparently Wil does read e-mail from guys like me.

 

Kevin's great - met him while on a regular tour after I picked up my C6 in NC. Really gives a s*** about Vettes and the customers who buy them. See where that got him?

 

This news comes as a Hugh disappointment due to the fact that my son and myself just returned from B.G. last week from watching our car being built. Kevin spent 4 1/2 hours with us as we watched our car being assembled. Kevin explained the build process as we followed the car through the assembly line. He introduced us to numerous technicians along the line as they performed their job flawlessly with great pride for this car.The detail for quality was impressive and made me feel even better about the decision to buy this car.
Don't take this wrong my friends, Kevin is not a tour guide, he is a Kentucky Redneck Muscle Car Enthusiast and proud of it and will tell you so.This man loves high performance Chevy Muscle cars and knows how to work on them / drive them. I found the man to be the genuine article, not a programed robot that tells the same story over and over, day in and day out. He is passionate about corvettes and the one he personally owns himself. He lets you set the agenda as to what you want to talk about and see, providing it is in the marked area for plant visitors. Kevin has a wealth of knowledge regarding corvettes and answered every question we asked of him. Kevin also took photos of the build and our picture with the car at numerous build points along the assembly line. These photos are priceless to us and will preserve our memory of that day forever.
I know now that if I had a problem or a question regarding corvettes that wasn't being answered or solved here in my local area, he would be my go to guy.
Another thing that I noticed from the technicians in the plant was the level of respect that they showed Kevin and his guess. When our car reached the station to be cranked up, they let my son fire it up and then thanked us both for ordering the car. About 15 minutes later, Roger Hagan presented us with a Birth Certificate and let me drive it off the line as a tour group of about 30 people watched. What a great experience that was. These are the kind of memories that will last a lifetime and it would be a Hugh mistake for GM to stop or remove Kevin from this job. He is an asset to the Corvette Assembly Plant and to Corvette owners, past, present, and future. I plan to send an email to Wil Cooksey also and I hope other forum members will do the same to preserve this neat Perk!
PS Thanks GlennH for recommending to do the trip to watch the build, it was worth every penny.

 

Crankshaft,
I really enjoyed reading about your experience and I'm glad that I provided one of the reasons to go. Plus you let your son crank it up for the first time. Man, you'll never forget the look on your son's face! I was so delighted to watch my 6' 4" 'kid' crank up this gorgeous car. Only thing better would have been if the Silver Z06 that was right behind my car all day was ours! But I love my C6, best car I've ever owned. As far as Kevin, you hit it on the head. What a country gentleman. I remember him telling me as I was listening intently (I'm a little hard of hearing and he's an admitted low talker) that not to focus on him, to focus on the plant. If GM could harness the enthusiasm and pride at that plant and infuse it in all their other plants we would not know what a Toyota, Nissan, or Honda was!!!!!

Thanks,
Glenn

 

This is just bad news.

 

 

Let me get this straight..... If I went to Bowling Green to tour NCM and I wanted to go on a Plant Tour, it would cost me $350?!?!? I am not watching my Vette built, just an ordinary every day Plant Tour is $350?
If I am not picking-up my Vette at NCM, I would never pay $350 for a plant tour. How many NCM visitors would pay $350 for an every day Plant Tour. Or are we discussing a special four hour plant tour for folks picking-up their Vette from the Assembly Plant, as part of their NCM Experience?

Is there a less than four tour of the Corvette Assembly Plant?

Gburg

 

No, it is not $350 for the normal plant tour, that tour is only a few bucks and is not to watch your OWN car being built. Nor does this have to do with the NCM delivery option R8C (unless they are changing that too). Build tours and museum delivery are two separate events and are not related - you can do either or both. They are on separate days, the day your car is being built is not the same day you would be picking it up at the museum - you'd have to do 2 different trips there.

I think it would be a good thing if they can adjust the tour format so that more people with cars ordered can see them being built - as long as the intangibles are still there (i.e. Kevin's experience). Charging $350, well that may be a bit steep.

I would encourage everyone to write Wil Cooksey in support of the current tours and specifics about what an asset Kevin is to those tours and the other information he provides. Please don't send rants about GM or assumptions that simply aren't true.

 

I'm going to be unpopular and weigh in on GM's side.

I opted for Museum delivery in Feb ’98 and again in Nov ’05. For the C6 I also opted to fly down and spend about four hours doing things like riding in my car before its wheels ever touched the ground, starting it the first time, driving it off the line and having Kevin explain thousands of details plus take pictures of me and friend with goofy smiles on our faces.



Was this better than a day at Disney World? Hell, was this better than a week at Disney World? You bet!!!

Any of us who have run businesses know that it costs a bundle to deploy a knowledgeable employee for an hour. Let's use an estimate of $70 just for kicks (my guess is that a veteran Bowling Green line employee costs more). So, GM absorbed about $300 to make me happy, no lets make that $500 ‘cuz I used Kevin a bunch before going down there)…. and I’m grateful. Lets assume Kevin can do this for 200 people a year…. Hmmmm, $100,000, just about the number used earlier in this post.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a great experience and if GM wasn’t concerned about its very survival I’d be all over their case… but the real world is that they are concerned. I’ll gladly pay (and my wife will still think I’m nuts) for the next go round.

Finally, I’m going to say my Museum guide (in the plant tour) for the R8C delivery was a retired BG employee and he was great. That tour was 4 ½ hours and he would have spent all day with us if we wanted. My son-in-law asked 2,000 questions and if the guide didn’t know the answer, he found someone who did.

For my part, I’m glad they are finding a way to continue both the general tour program and Kevin’s ad-hoc program instead of just blowing them away as a cost cutting move.

 

Sounds like a worthwhile service but my only question is what percentage of Vettes that are purchased use this service or even know who Kevin is?

1%
2%

It really sounds like GM is trying to expand a worthwhile service not eliminate one.

Why not wait and see before we freak out?

I for one would never pay the cost no matter how little or how much it is.