meadowz06

Here is why. Have you ever been to the plant? I actually saw a worker taking a smoke break 3 feet from the assembly line. The Z06 should have the quality of a Lexus. It is more expensive than almost any brand new Lexus. But sub par materials combined with sub par labor=poorly made car.

jimman

Apparently all you that criticize the problems with the Z06 run a perfect life and companies you work for must cherish and pay you well for no mistakes. I've been in Manufacturing for many years and I can't remember ever working with anyone waking up in the morning planning to do a bad job full of mistakes that day. I have worked with people and including myself make mistakes now and then, it happens. Or do the Lexus workers work error free while the Corvette guys screw up

outnumbered

Good points. It is always the service in the end that will save a customer from straying. Most people can accept issues. In the long run it is how the issues are handled. If Gm or any other auto maker stands behind their flaws, sales will take off. If they fail to service, sales will plummet.

Many small businesses are very successful even though they are not the best. If they understand customer service, they will then maintain a value perception.

The whole Lexus thing is interesting. They spend a lot of effort kissing your a** at the service department. They understand that is where it ends. If they maintain the perception by emotions, They Win!

Ruf-Racer

That's it! The smoking worker broke the ash tray b/c he was pis*ed?


Cheers

R

docb

I'm not crazy about this, I love the car. But I'm not indifferent to it either, and I'm not excusing GM. As for the people that imply this is expecting perfection from the line workers, it isn't. Fact is though, these things aren't one time occurrences. They're common, and they are failures in quality control. That makes GM look bad, and it hurts them. They are now no longer the #1 automaker in the world in sales. Is that because they don't know how to build a performance car? Of course not. While I realize there are a lot of reasons for this, lack of quality is one of them. If we give them a mulligan for these dumb problems, they will be less motivated to fix them, and the cycle will continue.

05C6spdvert

My point is that people are lot more critical of one another and we all would be a little better off if we gave each other as much grace as we give the General and his Corvette.

Foosh, while I understand and generally agree with you, most of the probs I hear about from other makes are a little easier to swallow. A roof panel flying off is a pretty dramatic thing as is drivetrain noises and failures. I would gladly trade a sensor failure or a power window module blowing out than either one of those two things. Reliability ratings do not isolate specific problems, they only count the incidences.

I have had some problematic cars, Mercedes in particular, but they never left me stranded or had any major failures of drivetrain or components. While I no longer drive them and thought the same probably worse of Mercedes, it would be very hypocritical to wave off these problems on the Vette that leave the car inoperable even though in truth I really like it and am very happy to see GM so successful with the car.

I do think GM is taking this stuff seriouysly and while they appear to be slow to react, I think they are making substantially better cars.

Foosh

As I've said, the ashtray is a dumb problem, and also a trivial one.....bad GM!

What are the other "dumb problems?" Roof? Clutch packs? Shifter rattle?

On the roof, yes GM pushed the envelope in number of places to save weight. Every weight-saving component matters on an entire car. People here are fond of punishing them for it (see also hatch pull-down threads). They went to a new roof material, tried to bond it to the light weight aluminum structure, and got burned..........bad GM. I give them points for trying to save weight. They learned a lesson and went back to a tried and true heavier SMC formula. There are tens of thousands of cars with perfectly fine polycarbonate roofs, going on 3 years, but the failure rate was unacceptable, and they admitted it. Just for the record, I've heard of fewer than 5 roofs here actually flying off, for the hysterical crowd.

However, I'd rather have them continue to try to explore the performance envelope on the Corvette line. Porsches does. Ferrari does. Lambo does. BMW does. Mercedes does. They've all made mistakes in the process. Was it dumb? Not according to my definition.

On the clutch packs, remarks of the hysterical poster several posts above notwithstanding, we're not talking about "transmission failure." We're talking about a noise that only occurs below 5mph, when the differential fluid is cold, and when performing a very tight turn. Wow................ It has nothing to do with the functionality of the differential or transmission, and can be left alone forever! Some people would rather toss out a proven design that can handle a supercar levels of torque, so they can have Lexus quiet at 5mph on a tight turn, with skinny tires. The laws of unintended consequences apply here, and if people here want to see differential failure, tossing out a bullet proof diff. that happens to make a little noise under very arcane circumstances with very fat tires is insane.

On the shifter **** noise, see paragraph above.

The reason for comparing the Z06 to other performance cars is that they get abused more often, by definition. People buying Camry, Lexus and Honda don't tend to beat up those cars. Duh...........

What are the other "dumb problems?" And BTW, the reason GM is not #1 is that most people want a cheaper, better econo-box. Toyota delivers that very nicely, with considerably lower labor rates and cost-structure. They are relatively new to the U.S. Check back in 30 years, and some other country will be kicking Japan out of the U.S. Korea is working on it.

However, this is a "performance car" forum.

Exterminator

Foosh, it's a short trip for many.

docb

In my case, a driver's seat that creaks whenever I move, gaps between interior panels, some stereo issues (like it blows). I hear what you're saying Foosh, and the car is wonderful. Still, for something in this price range, quality should be better. Period.

BlaznZ06

I don't blame the workers. They only put together the parts the bean counters purchase.


By the way, Good debate never hurts anything. It will only make cars better if the company will listen. This is why Dodge sits down with its owners group once a year and asks for their in put as to the production of the Viper. This is why certain colors (popular colors) will not be on the '08, to keep the value of those cars in that selection higher.

Gary2KC5

Ken, that wasn't the point...believe me I hold GM accountable for their stuff. My point was they spent the $$ where it counts...on hand built race engines for the street and not on exotic leather ashtrays.

outnumbered

$2.00 valve springs included.

One thing for sure, all cars have problems. They wouldn't have service departments if they didn't. They only have an in house Jiffy lube.

BrokerDon

What differences did you notice on your 06Z vs. 07Z?

355Spider

Had my my roof reglued and 16K miles later not even a stutter. Runs perfect. Better than both my M3s, Infinity and Landcruiser. Very happy camper.

Performance Junkie

I guess you forgot that the valves dropping and toasting the engine is "OK" for a performance car bargain.
Bargains are a bargain if you get your moneys worth.
Stop making excuses for sub standard manufacturing.
They need to get it right and it's clear why they are now the second largest auto maker on the planet.
I love Vettes as much as anyone of you. Have spent countless hours building and modding them.

GM get your act together
Shifters, Half Shafts, Roofs, Water Pumps, Valves, Ash Trays, etc....what a bargain. Phaleeeeeeze.

Performance Junkie

Oh...did I mention the oiling system starving the crank and wiping out mains...but thats OK too.......it's a bargain.

05C6spdvert

Better than an M3? Thats just not possible.

jimman

Give us the facts not I heard from someone who heard from someone else. How many produced and how many failed. I've talked to all the Z06 owners here in our community and none have had a single problem. So as far as I'm concerned car is pretty damn good.

805Z06

First off... I love my Z06

Always been a big fan of German sports cars, they build excellent quality cars (to some extent)

I still love my Z06

My Vette is built by GM , but I love me Z06

Does the vette have issues, yes, there is a lot more I could add to the list (fenders popping out, interior panels poping)

I still love my Z06

My logic, it's a beast and I love what it has to offer, what I don't like, I modify... I have changed parts of the interior for better quality

But it does not bother me, I got a killer car for the money,

I have changed lots of parts of the car and will change a lot more, to custom it the way I want, that is the best part of having a muscle car..

The car has minor issues, and like many have said, if has too much to offer than to go crazy on small issues, if GM charged an extra $10k for better quality, I would pay it....

but I still love my Z06

I just got back from a two day event at the track It felt so good to kill almost ever car out there, and it was so fun to drive, it's an animal

I wish the thread starter the best of luck and hope you resolve your issues and enjoy the beast and appreciate what it has to offer, be carefull

A toast to all other Z06 owners and pride of ownership

BlaznZ06

You can talk to me all you want.


Main crank bearings and internals went at 14k miles. Got pics if you need them.
Tranny at 14,050 miles.